Women on boards: quota fillers or contributing members? Evidence from Indian IPO firms

Abstract

Gender quotas on company boards have been a popular instrument for authorities looking to promote inclusion. India is one of the first emerging markets to implement gender quotas. India has accepted gender quotas by enacting the Corporations Act of 2013, which requires all publicly traded companies to have at least one female director. Using a hand-collected dataset on various board features, the current study intends to investigate the influence of board gender diversity on IPO listing gains. The study's findings show that the rule enacted under the Companies Act boosted gender diversity among enterprises after 2015, but not to the extent that it should have. Firms which, at face value, seemed to be complying with gender quotas actually end up appointing members from their own family and these quotas does not serve the purpose.