‘Quota voor vrouwen in raad van bestuur werpen hun vruchten af’
Beursgenoteerde vennootschappen die een algemeen beleid voeren met aandacht voor gelijke kansen tussen mannen en vrouwen rapporteren winstcijfers van een hogere kwaliteit. Onze masterproef bevestigt het belang van genderdiversiteit binnen de raden van bestuur en ondersteunt de invoering van de Belgische quotawet.
Quotawet
België keurde in 2011 het wetsvoorstel goed dat, in de raden van bestuur van alle Belgische beursgenoteerde vennootschappen, tegen 2017 minstens één derde vrouwen moet zetelen. De quotawet heeft als doel een eind te maken aan de mannenbastions die veel grote bedrijven nog altijd zijn, het gelijke kansen beleid tussen mannen en vrouwen te bevorderen en vrouwen een kans te geven op een topfunctie. Op deze manier gaat men de strijd aan tegen het glazen plafond dat vrouwen belemmert carrière te maken en dus topfuncties onmogelijk maakt. Tegenstanders van de wet argumenteren dat de verplichte invoering een belemmering is voor het bedrijfsleven en de zoektocht naar geschikte vrouwelijke bestuurskandidaten eerder een kwestie van kwantiteit dan kwaliteit zal zijn. Echter uit internationale studies blijkt dat raden van bestuur waarin de man-vrouw verhouding (genaamd genderdiversiteit) optimaal is, zij betere financiële resultaten behalen. Vrouwen nemen namelijk minder risico’s dan mannen en ze zorgen voor een betere doorstroming van informatie waardoor de transparantie binnen de raad van bestuur stijgt, die voordien enkel uit mannelijke leden bestond. Daarnaast behoeden ze zich meer voor claims en reputatieschade en kunnen zij Corporate Governance (goed bestuur) verbeteren. Rekening houdend met de voordelen van genderdiversiteit en de moeilijkheid om geschikte kandidaten te vinden, hebben minder grote beursgenoteerde ondernemingen twee jaar meer tijd, tot 2019, om aan de verplichtte quota te voldoen.
Ons onderzoek: invloed op de gerapporteerde winst?
Ons onderzoek, op Belgisch niveau, bevestigt de internationale context van hogere kwaliteit van de gerapporteerde winst in relatie tot een stijgend aantal vrouwen in de raad van bestuur. Als we bijkomend ook rekening houden met de grootte van de onderneming aan de hand van de verschillende Belgische beursindexen, zien we een nuance. Grootte (Bel20) of kleine (Belsmall) beursgenoteerde ondernemingen vertonen een hogere kwaliteit van de gerapporteerde winstcijfers in relatie tot een stijgend aantal vrouwen in de raad van bestuur. Onze resultaten zijn een argument om de invoering van de quota wet, tegen 2017 voor grote ondernemingen, en tegen 2019 voor kleinere beursgenoteerde ondernemingen niet in vraag te stellen.
De gunstige invloed van genderdiversiteit kan niet altijd aangetoond worden. Ons onderzoek heeft naast de raad van bestuur ook de invloed onderzocht van een vrouwelijk gedelegeerd bestuurder (CEO), die de taken van het dagelijks bestuur op zich neemt, en een vrouwelijke financieel directeur (CFO), die verantwoordelijk is voor de voorbereiding van de financiële cijfers. Onze resultaten kunnen geen gunstig effect aantonen van een vrouwelijke CEO of CFO op de kwaliteit van de gerapporteerde winstcijfers. De huidige quotawet legt enkel verplichtingen op binnen de raad van bestuur, en niet op het niveau van het hoger management (CEO en CFO). Ons onderzoek bevestigt dat de afbakening van de quotawet enkel voor de raad van bestuur, en niet voor het hoger management de goede keuze is.
Besluit
Genderdiversiteit in de maatschappij en in het bedrijfsleven is een uiterst actueel onderwerp. We tonen het gunstig effect aan op de kwaliteit van de gerapporteerde winstcijfers. Onze resultaten ondersteunen de keuze van de wetgever voor de verplichtte invoering van de quotawet.
A Strengthened Commitment to Equality between Women and Men, A Women‘s Charter. 2010.
Abbott, L. J., S. Parker and T. Presley. 2012. Female Board Presence and the Likelihood of Financial Restatement. Accounting Horizons 26: 607-629.
Adams, R., and D. Ferreira. 2004. Diversity and Incentives in Teams: Evidence from corporate boards, Working paper from Stockholm School of Economics.
Adams, R., and D. Ferreira. 2009. Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance, Journal of Financial Economics 94: 291 -309.
Adams, R. B., S. Gray and J. Nowlan. 2010. Is there a Business Case for Female Directors? Evidence from the Market Reaction to All New Director Appointments; 23rd Australasian Finance and Banking Conference.
Adams, R. B., S. Gray and J. Nowlan. 2011. Does Gender Matter in the Boardroom? Evidence from the Market Reaction to Mandatory New Director Announcements; working paper.
Adler, N. J. 1997. Global Leadership: Women Leaders, Management International Review 37(1): 171-196.
Advies van het Europees Economisch en Sociaal Comité over het voorstel voor richtlijn van het Europees Parlement en de Raad inzake de verbetering van de man-vrouwverhouding bij niet-uitvoerende bestuurders van beursgenoteerde ondernemingen en daarmee samenhangende maatregelen (COM(2012) 614 final — 2012/0299 (COD)), Publicatieblad van de Europese Unie.
Akinobu, S., and T. Takada. 2009. Managerial Ownership and Accounting Conservatism in Japan: A Test of Management Entrenchment Effect. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting.
Altamuro, J., A. L. Beatty and J. Weber. 2005. The effects of accelerated revenue recognition on earnings management and earnings informativeness: Evidence from SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101. The Accounting Review 80(2): 373-401.
Ashbaugh-Skaife, H., D. W. Collins, W. R. Kinney Jr, and R. LaFond. 2008. Accounting Review. 83(1): 217-250.
Barber, B. M. and T. Odean. 2001. Boys Will be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 116(1): 261-292.
Barua, A., L.F. Davidson, D. V. Rama and S. Thiruvadi. 2010. CFO gender and accruals quality. Accounting Horizons 24(1): 25-39.
Bear, S., N. Rahman and C. Post. 2010. The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation. Journal of Business Ethics 97: 207-221.
Becker, C., M. DeFond, J. Jiambalvo and K. Subramanyam. 1998. The effect of audit quality on earnings management. Contemporary Accounting Research 15: 1–24.
Bernardi, R., S. Bosco and K. Vassill. 2006. Does Female Representation on Boards of Directors Associate with Fortune‘s 100 Best Companies to Work for List? Business & Society 45(2): 235–248.
Bilimoria, D. 2006. The Relationship Between Women Corporate Directors and Women Corporate Officers. Journal of Managerial Issues 18(1): 47-62.
Bill, F., H. Iftekhar H. and W. Qiang. 2013. The Impact of CFO Gender on Bank Loan Contracting. Journal of Accounting, Auditing en Finance 28(1): 53-78.
Bøhren, Ø., and R. Ø. Strøm. 2010. Governance and Politics: Regulating Independence and Diversity in the Board Room. Journal of Business Finance en Accounting 37(9/10): 1281-1308.
Bøhren, Ø. 2013. Female directors and board independence: Evidence from boards with mandatory gender balance, with Siv Staubo, Working paper.
Brady, Isaacs, Reeves, Burroway and Reynolds. 2011. Sector, size, stability, and scandal Explaining the presence of female executives in Fortune 500 firms. Gender in Management: An International Journal 26(1): 84-104.
Brammer, S., A. Millington and S. Pavelin. 2009. Corporate Reputation and Women on the Board. British Journal of Management 20(1): 17–29.
Campbell and Mínguez-Vera. 2008. Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance. Journal of Business Ethics 83(3): 435-451.
Caramanis, C., and C. Lennox. 2008. Audit effort and earnings management. Journal of Accounting and Economics 45(1): 116-138.
Carter, D. A, B. Simkins, J. Simpson and W. Gary. 2003 Corporate governance, board diversity, and firm value. The Financial Review 38(1): 33.
Chapple L., and J. Humphrey. 2013. Does Board Gender Diversity Have a Financial Impact? Evidence Using Stock Portfolio Performance. Journal of Business Ethics.
Clatworthy, M. A., and M. J. Peel. 2013. The impact of voluntary audit and governance characteristics on accounting errors in private companies. Journal of Accounting en Public Policy: 32(3): 1-25.
Cohen, D. A. 2003. Quality of Financial Reporting Choice: Determinants and Economic Consequences. Northwestern University.
Daily, C. M., S. T. Certo, and D.R. Dalton. 1999. A decade of corporate women: Some progress in the boardroom, none in the executive suite. Strategic Management Journal 20: 93–99.
Darmadi. 2011. Board diversity and firm performance: the Indonesian evidence. Corporate Ownership and Control; Corporate Ownership and Control: 8.
De Vriese, C. 2006. Corporate Governance en economische Performantie: een analyse van Belgische, beursgenoteerde ondernemingen; eindwerk RUG.
Dechow, P., R. Sloan and A. Sweeney. 1995. Detecting earnings management. The Accounting Review 70(2): 193–225.
Dechow, P., and C. Schrand. 2004. Earnings Quality, Research Foundation Publications: 1 - 152.
Dechow, P., W. Ge, and C. Schrand. 2010. Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences. Journal of Accounting and Economics 50(2): 344-401.
Delaere, D. 2011. Performance on multiple choice and essay examinations, eindwerk.
Demerjian, P.R., B. Lev, M. F. Lewis and S. E. McVay. 2013. Accounting Review 88(2): 463-498.
DiTomaso, N., and C. Post. 2007. ‗Diversity‘, in S. R. Clegg and J. Bailey (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies (Sage, Thousand Oaks):397–401.
Doyle, J. T., W. Ge and S. McVay. 2007. Accruals quality and internal control over financial reporting. The Accounting Review 82(5): 1141-1170.
Dutillieux, W and A. Gaeremynck. 2006. De invloed van Corporate Governance op de waardering en prestaties van ondernemingen. Tijdschrift voor Economie en Management: LI, 2.
Eisenhardt, K. 1989. Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review. Academy of Management Review 14(1): 57–74.
Erhardt, N. L., J.D. Werbel and C.B. Shrader. 2003. Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance, Corporate Governance: An International Review 11: 102–111.
Evans, G. S. 2013. Fiscal Irresponsibility Due to Lack of Women on Boards, International Journal of Arts and Commerce.
Faccio, M, M Marchica and R. Mura. 2012. CEO Gender, Corporate Risk-Taking and the Efficiency of Capital Allocation. working paper.
Fafatas, S. A. 2010. Auditor conservatism following audit failures. Managerial Auditing Journal 25(7): 639-658.
Fama, E. F., and M. Jensen. 1983. Agency Costs and Residual Claims. Journal of Law and Economics 26: 327–349.
Farrell, K.A., and P. L. Hersch. 2005. Additions to corporate boards: the effect of gender.Journal of Corporate Finance 11: 85–106.
Fields, M. A., and P. Y. Keys. 2003. The Emergence of Corporate Governance from Wall Street to Main Street: Outside directors, board diversity, earnings management, and managerial incentives to bear risk. The Financial Review 38: 1–24.
Filip, A., and B. Raffournier. 2012. The impact of the 2008-2009 financial crisis on earnings management: The European evidence. Illinois International. Journal of Accounting Symposium, Ontario — Canada, July 5–7.
Francis, J. R., E. L. Maydew and H. C. Sparks. 1999. The Role of Big 6 Auditors in the Credible Reporting of Accruals. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 18(2): 17-34.
Francis, J., R. LaFond, P. M. Olsson and K. Schipper. 2004. Costs of Equity and Earnings Attributes. The Accounting Review 79(4): 967-1010.
Francis, J. R. and Wang D. 2008. The joint effect of investor protection and big 4 audits on earnings quality around the world. Contemporary accounting research 25(1): 157-191.
Grosvold J., S. Brammer and B. Rayton. 2007. Board diversity in the United Kingdom and Norway: an exploratory analysis. Business ethics: A European review 16(4): 344-357.
Gu, Z. Y., C. J. Lee and J. G. Rosett. 2002. Information Environment and Accrual Volatility. A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University: 1-23.
Guberna. 2012. Onderzoeksrapport naleving van de Belgische corporate governance code 2009 bij de Bel 20, Bel Mid en Bel Small ondernemingen jaarverslagen.
Gul, F. A., B. Srinidhi and J. Tsui. 2007. Do female directors enhance corporate monitoring? Some evidence from earnings quality. Working paper. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Gul, F. A., M. Hutchinson and K. M. Lai. 2013. Gender-Diverse Boards and Properties of Analyst Earnings Forecasts. Accounting Horizons 27(3): 511-538.
Gula, F. A., B. Srinidhib and A. C. Ng. 2011. Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices? Journal of Accounting en Economics 51(3): 314-338.
Habib, A., and M. Hossain. 2013. CEO/CFO characteristics and financial reporting quality: A review. Research in Accounting Regulation 25.
Harrison, D., and K. Klein. 2007. What's the Difference? Diversity Constructs as Separation, Variety, or Disparity in Organizations. The Academy of Management Review.
Haw, I., D. Qi, D. Wu and W. Wu. 2005. Market consequences of earnings management in response to security regulations in China. Contemporary Accounting Research 22: 95–140.
Hawarden, R. J. and S. Mars. 2011. Locating women board members in gendered director networks; Gender in Management: An International Journal 26(8): 532-549.
Healy, P. M., and J.M. Wahlen. 1998. A review of earnings management literature and its implications for standard setting.
Hermalin, B., and Weisbach M. S. 2003. Boards of Directors as an Endogenously Determined Institution: A survey of the economic literature, Economic Policy Review.
Hili, W., and H. Affes. 2012. Corporate Boards Gender Diversity and Earnings Persistence: The Case of French Listed Firms. Global Journal of Management and Business Research 12 (22).
Hillman, A. J., and T. Dalziel. 2003. Boards of Directors and Firm Performance: Integrating Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives. Academy of Management Review 28: 383– 396.
Hillman, A. J., C. Shropshire and A. Canella. 2007. Organizational predictors of women on corporate board. Academy of Management Journal 50 (4): 941-952.
Holliday K. 2000. no longer rare: the old boys club is getting a getting a new look. financial executive.
Huang H., Y. Yan, J. M. Fornaro and A. Elshahat. 2011. Market reactions to audit committee director's gender: Evidence from US-traded foreign firms. International Journal of Banking and Finance 8(1).
Hung, M. 2001. Accounting standards and value relevance of financial statements: an international analysis. Journal of Accounting and Economics 30 (3): 401-420.
Westphal J.D., and M. K. Bednar. Pluralistic Ignorance in Corporate Boards and Firms' Strategic Persistence in Response to Low Firm Performance.
Joecks, J., K. Pull and K. Vetter. 2013. Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Performance: What Exactly Constitutes a 'Critical Mass?‘ Journal of Business Ethics 118 (1): 61-72.
Jones, J. 1991. Earnings management during import relief investigations. Journal of Accounting Research 29: 193-228.
Jurkus, F., J. C. Park and L. S. Woodard. 2011. Women in top management and agency costs, Journal of Business Research 64: 180–186.
Khana, W. A., and J. P. Vieitob. 2013. Ceo gender and firm performance. Journal of Economics and Business 67: 55– 66.
Kim, J., R. Chung and M. Firth. 2003. Auditor conservatism, asymmetric monitoring, and earnings management. Contemporary Accounting Research 20: 323–359.
Klenke, K. 2003. Gender Influences in Decision-making Processes in Top Management Teams. Management Decision 41 (10): 1024 -34.
Kothari, S., A. Leone and C. Wasley. 2005. Performance Matched Discretionary Accrual Measures. Journal of Accounting & Economics 39 (1): 163-197.
Krishnan, G.V., and L. M. Parsons. 2008. Getting to the bottom line: an exploration of gender and earnings quality. Journal of Business Ethics 78: 65–76.
Kryvko, A., and P. Reichling. 2012. Corporate governance and performance of european commercial banks; conference paper.
La Porta, R., F. Lopez-de-Silanes, A. Shleifer and R. W. Vishny. 1998. Law and finance. Journal of Political Economy 106 (6): 1113–1155.
Lam, K., P. McGuinness and J. Vieit. 2013. CEO gender, executive compensation and firm performance in Chinese-listed enterprises. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 21: 1136–1159.
Lückerath-Rovers, M. 2013. Women on boards and firm performance. Journal of Management & Governance 17 (2): 491-509.
McKinsey & Company, Women Matter. 2010.
McVay, S. E. 2006. Earnings management using classification shifting: An examination of core earnings and special items. The Accounting Review 81 (3): 501-531.
Miller, T., and M. D. C. Triana. 2009. Demographic Diversity in the Boardroom: Mediators of the Board Diversity–Firm Performance Relationship. Journal of Management Studies 46 (5): 755-786.
Milliken, F. J., and L. L. Martins. 1996. Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups. Academy of Management Review 21 (2): 402-433.
Nguyen, T., S. Locke and R. Krishna. 2013. Does boardroom gender diversity matter in a weak corporate governance system? Evidence from a transition market. Working paper.
Niskanen, J., J. Karjalainen, M. Niskanen and J. Karjalainen. 2011. Auditor gender and corporate earnings management behavior in private Finnish firms. Managerial Auditing Journal 26 (9): 778 – 793.
Pagalung, G., and B. Sudibdyo. 2012. The Determinant Factors Of Earnings Quality And Economics Consequences. Journal Economy 16 (1): 105-122.
Palvia, A., E. Peni and S. Vähämaa. 2012. Do female CEOs and Chairs constrain bank risk-taking? Evidence from the financial crisis. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Macroeconomic Analysis and International Finance.
Palvia, A., E. Vähämaa and S. Vähämaa. 2013. Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking Industry during the Financial Crisis; Proceedings of the 25th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference.
Peni, E., and S. Vahmaa. 2010. Female executives and earnings management. Managerial Finance 36 (7): 629-645.
Penman, S. H., and X. J. Zhang. 2002. Accounting conservatism, the quality of earnings, and stock returns. The Accounting Review 77 (2): 237-264.
Powell, M. and D. Ansic. 1997. Gender Differences in Risk Behavior in Financial Decision Making: an Experimental Analysis. Journal of Economic Psychology 18 (6): 605-28.
Richardson, G. 2013. Women on the Board of Directors and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness: An Empirical Analysis; An Empirical Analysis Paper; Concurrent Proceedings.
Rivas, J. L. 2012. Co-opting the environment: an empirical test of resource-dependence theory. International Journal of Human Resource Management 23 (2): 294-311.
Robinson, G., and K. Dechant. 1997. Building a Business Case for Diversity. Academy of Management Executive 11: 21-30.
Rosener, J. 1990. Ways Women Lead. Harvard Business Review 119-125.
Roussard, and Graindourze, Verschillen in earnings quality op Euronext Brussel, eindwerk, 2010.
Schipper, K., and L. Vincent. 2003. Earnings quality. Accounting horizons 17: 97-110.
Sercu P., H. Vander Bauwhede and M. Willekens. 2002. Earnings Quality and the Role of Stakeholder Monitoring and Governance Mechanisms in Privately Held Firms. Research report no. 0235, KULeuven.
Shawver, T. J., P. C. Bancroft and J. Senneti. 2006. Can the ‗clan effect‘ reduce the gender sensitivity to fraud? The case of the IPO environment. Journal of Forensic Accounting 7: 185−208.
Shrader, C. B., V.B. Blackburn and P. Iles. 1997. Women in management and firm financial value: an exploratory study. Journal of Managerial Issues 9 (3): 355-372.
Singh, V. 2007. Ethnic diversity on top corporate boards: a resource dependency perspective. International Journal of Human Resource Management 18 (12): 2128-2146.
Singh, V., S. Terjesen and S. Vinnicombe. 2008. Newly appointed directors in the boardroom: How do women and men differ? European Management Journal 26 (1): 48-58.
Srinidhi, B. F., A. Gul and J. Tsui. 2011. Female Directors and Earnings Quality. Contemporary Accounting Research 28(5): 1610-1644.
Su, Liu, Lan. 2011. Does Female Directorship on Independent Audit Committees Constrain Earnings Management? Journal of Business Ethics (99): 369–382.
Sweeney A. P. 1994. Debt covenant violations and managers‘ accounting responses. Journal of Accounting and Economics 17: 281-308.
Terjesen, S., and V. Singh. 2008. Female Presence on Corporate Boards: A Multi-Country Study of Environmental. Journal of Business Ethics 83 (1).
Terjesen, S., R. Sealy and V. Singh. 2009. Women directors on corporate boards: A review and research agenda. Corporate Governance: An International Review 17: 320–337.
The Quota-instrument: different approaches across Europe. Working Paper European Commission‘s Network. 2011.
Thiruvadi S., and H. Huang. 2011. Audit committee gender differences and earnings management. Gender in Management: An International Journal 26 (7): 483-498.
Tucker, J. W., and P. A. Zarowin. 2006. Does income smoothing improve earnings informativeness? The Accounting Review 81(1): 251-270.
Vander Bauwhede H., M. Willekens and A. Gaeremynck. 2003. Audit firm size, public ownership, and firms' discretionary accruals management. The international journal of accounting. 38 (1): 1-22.
Vinnicombe, S., V. Singh, R.J. Burke, D. Bilimoria, and M. Huse. 2008. Women on corporate boards of directors: International research and practice. London: E. Elgar.
Warfield, T. D., J.J. Wild and K.L. Wild. 1995. Managerial ownership, accounting choices, and informativeness of earnings. Journal of Accounting and Economics 20: 61-91.
Watts, R. L., and J.L. Zimmerman. 1978. Towards a positive of the determination of accounting standards. The Accounting Review 53.
Watts, R. L., and J.L. Zimmerman. 1986. Positive Accounting Theory, Prentice-Hall, London.
Weili, G.E., D. Matsumoto and J. L. Zhang. 2011. Do CFOs Have Style? An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of Individual CFOs on Accounting Practices. Contemporary Accounting Research 28 (4): 1141-1179.
Ye, K., R. Zhang and Rezaee. 2010. Does top executive gender diversity affect earnings quality? A large sample analysis of Chinese listed firms. Advances in International accouting, (26): 47-54.
Zuobao, W., and F. Xie. 2010. CFO Gender and Earnings Management: Evidence from China, research paper.