Are Quotas the Most Suitable Tool to Ensure Equal Representation of Women in Company Boards?

Abstract

When we look at the corporate structures and more specifically to the corporate boards we will notice that the high levels of the bodies governing the biggest corporations are heavily dominated by men. Whereas in some cases the all-male board room may be justified by either lack of equally qualified and skillful female counterparts, for example, this seems to be the case less and less often. According to some authors, having women in the company boards leads to more stability and more sensible risk – taking, as well as more attention being paid to the long term goals of the company and its shareholders. Therefore, states have been trying to influence the companies to ensure close to equal number of women occupying board positions. A very controversial yet useful tool which the governments have been using is the quotas. In this paper, the author will try to analyze whether or not we need quotas and if they are as effective as we think. Eventually a new more intermediate approach will be briefly suggested.