Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from Dutch and Danish Boardrooms

Drawing on the business case for gender diversity, this article examines whether board gender diversity has a positive effect on firm performance, based on evidence from the Netherlands and Denmark. We use empirical data on 186 listed firms observed in 2007, of which 102 Dutch and 84 Danish. Of these firms, almost 40% have at least one woman in the boardroom. Within boards the average share of women is only 5.4%. In order to investigate the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance, two-stage least-squares estimation is applied, using Tobin's Q as a measure of performance. Our findings indicate that there is no effect of board gender diversity on firm performance. This implies that the business case for board gender diversity is not supported for this particular sample. Our finding seems in line with most European research.Corporate governance, firm performance, board diversity, female board representation

Out-of-school childcare: exploring availability and quality in EU member states

While a large number of studies focuses on childcare facilities for preschool children, attention for out-of-school facilities is limited. The implicit assumption seems to be that facilities to combine work and care activities are less relevant once children reach the school-going age. Yet, in most countries school hours are only part-time and not compatible with a full-time working week. This study adds to the literature by providing the first overview of the availability and quality of out-of-school childcare in 27 EU member states. The results show that only a few EU countries have a well-developed infrastructure of out-of-school care services. In addition, the (structural) quality of out-of-school care varies across the member states. Given the importance of a supportive infrastructure, a further investment in a comprehensive out-of-school care system remains important, both from the perspective of the (female) participation rate and the well-being of children