AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Did Board Gender Quotas Break the Glass Ceiling in Europe?
AEA Papers and Proceedings
(pp. 529–35)
Abstract
Nine European countries adopted gender quotas for companies' boards of directors between 2005 and 2021 before the European Parliament adopted an EU-wide quota in 2022. Using 25 years of data, we estimate the quotas' effects on female shares of corporate directors and senior executives of large public companies. We find that while the female share of nonexecutive directors increased by 20 percentage points within 6 years after a quotas' adoption, women's representation among CEOs or other senior executives hardly changed. These results suggest that policymakers interested in increasing gender diversity among senior executives might need to consider more targeted policies.Citation
Matsa, David A., and Amalia R. Miller. 2025. "Did Board Gender Quotas Break the Glass Ceiling in Europe?" AEA Papers and Proceedings 115: 529–35. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20251077Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G34 Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance
- G38 Corporate Finance and Governance: Government Policy and Regulation
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- K22 Business and Securities Law