Do gender-diverse boards affect corporate governance and board performance?

一直以来，人们都非常关注如何打造更加多元化的公司董事会。英国政府资助的戴维斯2011- 2015年报告概述了商业案例，并设定了有助于推动这一议程的目标。从2011年到2018年，富时100指数成分股公司中女性董事的数量从152人增加到305人。然而，其他地方的研究表明，将董事会多样性与财务业绩联系起来的结果好坏参半。考虑到“价值创造”这一更广泛的视角，将董事会更多元化与更好的管理治理流程联系起来，理由是女性的监督力度更大，观点不同，愿意提出棘手的问题。富时成分股董事长在对董事会进行评估时给出的反馈是，由于存在不同的观点，多元化会带来更高质量的辩论，而这反过来又会为整个企业带来更好的结果。然而，除了一些值得注意的例外，大多数着眼于构图和表现的研究都没有考虑到“输入”和“输出”关系之间的过程。通过对美国、加拿大和英国20多年来董事会中女性的描述性数据，作者试图对性别多元化的董事会是否以及如何影响公司治理和董事会绩效进行更细致的理解。拟议的博士学位将通过三个相关项目解决这些问题，这些项目将投资者动机与董事会构成以及主席对多元化董事会有效运作的影响联系在一起。机构投资者在构建投票策略时关注哪些多样性因素？多样性报告是英国治理准则的一部分，但往往没有完全遵守（财务汇报委员会，2018年）。从机构投资者那里收集的调查数据将决定他们的方法是否符合他们参与公司多样性问题的动机。在问责制、监督和风险方面，多元化董事会与同质董事会的表现不同吗？金融市场行为监管局（FCA）通过监管回报、授权请求和监管活动收集受监管公司的数据，对这些数据进行分析后，应该可以了解行为风险与董事会构成之间的相互作用。他们还持有投诉、可疑活动报告和执法案件的数据。UoEBS已经可以访问BoardEx的专有数据，FCA也建议使用FCA / PRA数据来处理审慎风险；潜在的FCA关于薪酬结构的数据；以及Mifid II数据，其中包含执行交易的交易平台的相对详细信息，包括个人特征。埃克塞特领导力中心（ExCL）和FCA正在签署保密协议，以合作访问他们的数据集。主席在确保多元化董事会的有效性方面扮演什么角色？通过对董事会主席和潜在的董事会评估者的采访，这项工作将增加我们对董事会动态的了解-行为和社会认知过程解释多样性如何以及为什么影响精英群体的表现。接触到这样的个体往往是这类研究的主要障碍（Leblanc & Schwartz, 2007）。以我的网络和ExCL的网络，这是这个提议的一个优势。由于在公司董事会主席领域的实地研究如此有限，它将在一个非常实用的层面上，从董事会工作人员和与董事会一起工作的人那里直接提供见解，以更好地理解商业和多样性结果的动态和影响。

There has been much focus on creating more diverse corporate boardrooms. The UK government-sponsored Davies reports of 2011-15 outlined the business case and set targets to help drive this agenda. By-and-large corporations embraced the targets with the number of women sitting on FTSE 100 boards increasing from 152 to 305 from 2011 to 2018. However, research elsewhere reveals mixed outcomes when linking board diversity to financial performance. Considering the wider lens of "value creation", link greater board diversity and better managed governance processes, citing women's greater monitoring, differing perspectives and willingness to ask difficult questions. Feedback from FTSE Chairs in board evaluations is that diversity creates better quality debate as there are different perspectives and this, in turn, leads to better outcomes for the business as a whole. However, with some notable exceptions, most of the research looking at composition and performance fails to consider the processes between those 'input' and 'output' relationships. With more than 20 years of descriptive women on boards data in the USA, Canada and UK, a more nuanced understanding is sought of whether and how gender-diverse boards affect corporate governance and board performance. The proposed PhD will address these issues over three related projects which tie together investor motivations to board makeup and the impact a Chair has on the effective running of a diverse board.1. What diversity factors do Institutional Investors pay attention to when constructing their voting strategies?Diversity reporting is part of the Code of Governance in the UK but is often not fully adhered to (FRC, 2018). Survey data collected from institutional investors will determine whether their methods match their motivations for their engagement on corporate diversity issues.2. Do diverse boards behave differently to homogenous boards in terms of accountability, oversight and risk?The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) collects data on regulated firms via regulatory returns, authorisation requests and supervisory activities, which when analysed should allow an understanding of the interplay between conduct risk and board composition. They also hold data on Complaints, Suspicious Activity Reports, and Enforcement Cases. UoEBS already has access to BoardEx proprietary data and the FCA is also suggesting the use of FCA / PRA data on prudential risk; potential FCA data on compensation structures; and Mifid II data containing relatively detailed information on the trading desks carrying out a trade, including individual characteristics. Exeter Centre for Leadership (ExCL) and the FCA are in the process of signing Non-Disclosure Agreements to collaborate in access to their data sets.3. What is the role of the Chair in ensuring the effectiveness of a diverse board?Through interviews with board Chairs and potentially board evaluators, this work will add to our knowledge of board dynamics - the behavioural and socio-cognitive processes explaining how and why diversity affects performance in elite groups. Access to such individuals is often a major barrier to this type of research (Leblanc & Schwartz, 2007). With my network and that of ExCL, this is a strength of this proposal. With such limited field research in the area of corporate board Chairs, it will provide insight directly from people working on and with boards, at a very practical level, to better understand the dynamics and influences of business and diversity outcomes.