Women on bank boards and risk-taking: A cross-countries analysis on the moderating role of masculinity

Abstract

This study examines the effects of board gender diversity on a bank’s risk by applying a moderate multiple regression analysis on a dataset covering the years 2008-2017 and comprising 110 banks from Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Masculinity, a country-level cultural dimension incorporating the behavioural expectations surrounding men and women in a society, is used as a moderator. Results suggest that high country-level masculinity stresses the risk-aversion of a bank’s women directors, therefore compromising financial performance. To mitigate the negative effects of high country-level masculinity, this paper provides several suggestions. First, banks should change their stereotypical depiction of the “ideal worker”. Second, banks should question the cultural motives underpinning the entrance of women directors in the “boy’s club”. Last, banks should create a more egalitarian workplace where the distribution of rewards does not strengthen the privileges of the established elites.