The paper highlighted today is a neat companion to last week’s on the subject of how high status women on company boards in China led to better corporate governance (CG) and less corporate shenanigans.
This weeks offering, from Qurat Ul Ain of the Xi’an Jiaotong University (et al.), takes a look at another key indicator of CG, dividend payout, to see if gender heterogeneity (mix) on Chinese company boards has an effect?
It does, and for the benefit of investors in that the more women on a board the more progressive a dividend policy is likely to be. The effects are felt more reliably when three or more board members are female and the effect is more pronounced in State Owned Entities.
Echoing last week’s piece it’s the quantum and force of female directors that’s critical. Investors (and CG-ranking service providers) should therefore take especial note of this point and not be blindsided by tokenism in this regard.
You can read the paper in full via this link More Women, More Dividends but unless the argument doesn’t make intuitive sense to you I wouldn’t bother. The main point is as clear as a crystal bell.
Happy Sunday.