Are Gender Board Quotas Effective? A Synthetic Control Method Analysis of the Italian Case.

Abstract: The lack of women in leadership positions in the corporate sector is widespread throughout Europe. In this thesis, I study the efficacy of the Italian Gender Board Quota law no. 120/2011 in reducing such disparity in the Italian context. The impact of the policy is analysed with the innovative synthetic control methodology, which creates a no-policy scenario for Italy. By comparing the synthetic counterfactual with the actual evolution of number of board seats occupied by women, I find that this figure would not have increased without a policy intervention. Before the policy, women on boards of public listed companies were less than 50. After the policy, they rose to more than 150, while in a no-policy scenario they would be fixed at around 50. This finding suggests that affirmative action policies such as Gender Board Quota laws are important tools to improve diversity in historical male-dominated environments and to inspire other women to achieve similar leadership positions.