This paper aims to investigate to what extent board gender composition affects the gender pay gap among employees. We focus on the gender pay gap, as a proxy of gender equality performance. Specifically, we examine the hourly gender pay gap, further extend analysis at each pay quartile, and the bonus pay gap. We formulate hypotheses arguing that, women directors on boards act as ‘agents of change’ who reduce the gender pay gap among employees or as the weak and strong version of ‘ cogs in the machine’ who do not influence or even enlarge the gender pay gap. We employ unique employer-employee-linked data from the UK to test these hypotheses.
Period
6 Jul 2023
Event title
The 39th EGOS Conference : Corporate Governance and Enacting Good Life