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57 Eur. J.L. & Econ. 1 (2024)

handle is hein.journals/eurjlwec57 and id is 1 raw text is: European Journal of Law and Economics (2024) 57:1-35 https:Ildoi.org/l 0.1007/s10657-024-09795-y Gender equality within boards: comparing quota and soft law Sophie Harnay Fabienne Llensel Antoine Reb4rioux2 - Gwena8l Roudaut3 Accepted: 30 January 2024 / Published online: 4 March 2024 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024 Abstract In 2011, Britain and France introduced affirmative action policies aiming at improv- ing board gender mix in listed companies. While the reforms were similar in terms of target and timing, Britain opted for a 'soft law' (comply or explain) approach, while France enacted a mandatory quota. Using difference-in-differences analyses, we examine the differential impact of these two reforms on board composition and on women empowerment within boards. We first show that the quota has been asso- ciated with a more rapid adjustment of the gender mix without significant disruptive effects on board composition. However, we report that the quota has induced a more limited access of women to monitoring committees within boards, relative to soft law. As these committees are the most influential, this evidence shows that the quota came at a cost when considering within-board women's influence. Keywords Company boards - Gender inequalities - Leadership positions Quota- Soft law - Board committees JEL classification J16 - J78 - K22 - G34 - G38 E Sophie Harnay sophie.harnay@gmail.com Fabienne Llense fabienne.llense @parisnanterre.fr Antoine Reb6rioux antoine.reberioux@gmail.com Gwena61 Roudaut gwenael.roudaut@polytechnique.edu EconomiX (UMR 7235), UPL, Universit6 Paris Nanterre, 200 Avenue de la R6publique, 92001 Nanterre, France 2 LADYSS (UMR 7533), Universit6 Paris Cit6, 8 Place Paul Ricoeur, 75013 Paris, France 3 D6partement d'6conomie, Ecole Polytechnique, Route de Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France I_) Springer