Abstract

Many studies have investigated the impact of female directors on firm performance, but the results are still largely inconclusive. This paper aims to analyse the direct relationship between these variables and to explore the moderating role of female owners on the relationship between females on board of directors and firm performance. The main hypotheses are tested, through a panel regression model with cross section random effects, on a sample of 380 firms over the period 2008-2012. Our main findings show that the presence of women on company board does not affect firm performance. However, this relationship becomes significant when we consider the moderating role of the female presence in ownership. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.