The Illusion of inclusion: Examining trickle-down effects of board gender quota regulation in India

Abstract

Proponents of board gender quotas argue that such policies ought to generate trickle-down effects in the form of higher female executive appointments within organizations because of female directors’ motivation and ability to correct firm level gender imbalances. In this study, we argue and show that such normative arguments may not be reflective of social realities of historically male dominated corporate boards. Grounding our theoretical ideas in the attention based view, we argue that such policies increase appointments of female directors because of the mandated shift in firm level attention towards the issue. However, given the controversial nature of such policies and gender differences in status and power, such policies may have unintended consequences of negative trickle-down effects where firms reduce appointment of women in senior executive positions. Analysis on a sample of 185 largest, publicly listed firms in India during 2008-2017 find support for our theory.