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This study aims to intend to check if female board representation affects performance and risk and to analyse the evolution of the demographic aspects of the presence of women on boards in Brazil.

The authors used a sample of 150 Brazilian publicly traded companies from 2010–2018, with different measures of firm performance, firm risk and women’s presence on the board. The study approach is based on a set of ordinary least squares, quantile and panel data regressions.

The presence of women on the board has a positive effect on all of our accounting and market performance measures. However, the result of the impact on risk is not conclusive. The study also found that the number of females on the board has a more significant effect at the lower levels of firm performance measured by return on equity, but at the higher levels when measured by Tobin’s Q. Regarding return on assets, the more significant effect happened on the extremes of the performance distribution. The study findings point that market investors place more value in female presence on the board than in director positions.

By estimating the impact of women’s presence on the boards of directors in firm performance and risk, this study aimed to verify this impact in different aspects of the company. In addition, the authors did so in a sample with many years, making it possible to evaluate the historical evolution of the feminine presence in the boards of administration as well as in the groups of directors, assisting Brazilian legislators with new evidence about the possible impacts of Draft Law 7179/2017.

This paper aims to empirically verify the impact of the mandatory dividend law on the investment of publicly traded companies.

The sample includes 212,595 observations from publicly traded companies from 47 different countries over the period from 2000 to 2016. The authors estimated a regression model by panel data methods to show the impact of the mandatory dividend on firm’s investment, more specifically in their sensitivities of investment to cash flow and to growth opportunities. In addition, the average treatment effect on the treated was estimated through sample matching.

The results indicate that the mandatory dividend have a direct and indirect impact on corporate investment.

Legislators and economic agents can use the results of the present research to evaluate the continuity or implementation of this legal mechanism (mandatory dividend) to evaluate economic moments favorable to its use or to create different legal rules to smooth the impact of this mechanism on the investment of companies.

This study aims to investigate the association between board diversity and systematic risk. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on agency and resource dependency theories.

Using a panel data set of 788 firms listed in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets index from 2015 to 2020, the authors apply Panel-Corrected Standard Error estimation method to test the three proposed hypotheses and the two-stage least squares method is adopted for the endogenous test.

The results suggest that board-specific skills diversity (BSSD) and board independence (BIND) have a negative impact on systematic risk. On the other hand, board gender diversity does not affect systematic risk. The findings reinforce the relevance of board diversity for reducing systematic risk and offer valuable insights for policymakers and investors, suggesting that the presence of directors with specific skills and independent directors could reduce firms’ systematic risk.

The study extends the scope of agency and resource dependency theories by suggesting that the BSSD and BIND reduce agency costs and bring critical resources to the firm’s survival.

The findings support policymakers and managers in reducing systematic risk. In addition, the results demonstrate the importance of policies that encourage board diversity and BIND.

The study demonstrates how companies can reduce systematic risk through board diversity and BIND.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between board diversity and systematic risk only in emerging markets.

This paper aims to analyze the performance determinants of listed companies in the Iberian Peninsula, focusing on the analysis of the effect of gender diversity and the structure of the board of directors.

To achieve this aim, the authors analyzed 97 listed companies, of which 23 are Portuguese and 74 are Spanish, between 2015 and 2019. The authors use Arellano and Bond’s (1991) generalized method of moments system model to test the hypotheses.

The results show an important impact of corporate governance variables on corporate performance. Specifically, board size, average director age and board academic qualifications are crucial to explaining profitability and market value. Moreover, the authors identified a nonlinear relationship between gender diversity and profitability and market value levels due to critical mass theory and quotas that enhance more social justice. The authors concluded that the corporate performance determinants differ depending on the performance measures.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze the nonlinear effect of gender diversity and board structure (size, educational qualifications and average director age) on the performance of Iberian listed companies as a single market.