Board Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from Chinese Firms

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of gender diversity on firm performance. There is a large literature examining the role of corporate governance, particularly board diversity on firm performance. Empirical identification of a causal link of board diversity is difficult due to omitted variables and selection. To address this issue, this paper will focus on Chinese firms and exploit time-variation due to the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution had a differential effect on women's investment in human capital at an early stage, resulting in a shortage of female board representatives. Exploiting geographic variation the paper aims at identifying the causal link of board gender diversity on firm performance.