Does gender diversity in the audit committee influence corporate dividend policy? Evidence from French listed firms

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the gender diversity of audit committees has a significant impact on the level of a dividend payout ratio using a sample of French firms listed on the Société des Bourses Françaises 120 (SBF 120) index after quota law enactment (from 2012 to 2019). While previous studies examined the effect of board gender diversity on dividend policy, we focus on women representation on audit committees. In fact, women membership in board committees reflects their involvement in corporate governance and decision-making, especially in a context where gender diversity is enforced. Overall, our results are in line with the outcome hypothesis and show a positive effect of female representation in audit committees on corporate dividend payouts. Additionally, we show that the size and independence of audit committees are positively related to the dividend payout ratio. Our findings are robust for alternative measures of dividend payments.