Gender equality implementation in corporate governance: the experience of Belarus
DOI: 10.34130/2070-4992-2020-2-100-109
УДК 658.14.011.1
Мазоль С. И. – к.э.н., доцент, Академия управления при Президенте Республики Беларусь, г. Минск, Республика Беларусь, e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.
Мазоль О. И. – научный сотрудник, Центр экономических исследований BEROC, г. Минск, Республика Беларусь, e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.
The article reveals the concept of responsible investment with an emphasis on one of its fundamental principles – the principle of gender equality. Approaches to assessing the impact of gender balance on the quality of management and efficiency of corporate governance in companies in both developed and developing countries, as well as on changes in the economic indicators of companies that fulfill or do not fulfill gender balance in corporate governance are presented. The analysis of the situation in the field of gender equality in corporate governance in the Republic of Belarus is carried out. The article presents the financial profile of the studied companies assesses the economic condition of companies in terms of return on assets and equity, as well as the coefficient of financial leverage. A correlation and regression analysis of the impact of gender balance on the financial indicators of the assessed companies was carried out within the sample. Despite the fact that there is no significant correlation between the gender balance indicator and the financial indicators, an increase in the influence of gender balance on financial indicators is revealed when women occupy important positions in the top management of companies in terms of influence on managerial decision-making. Measures aimed at ensuring gender balance in corporate governance, which are implemented by national governments together with market infrastructure institutions, are disclosed. In particular, it is noted that in order to encourage companies to maintain gender balance, developed countries introduce voluntary or mandatory standards, as well as take various measures aimed at meeting these requirements, including applying penalties to companies in case of non-compliance with legally established standards.
Keywords: сorporate governance, responsible investment, gender equality, market value, gender quota, financial sustainability
References
1. Lui J. ESG investing comes to age. Morningstar, 2020. 16 Feb. Available at: https://www.morningstar.com/features/ esg-investing-history (Accessed 15.04.2020).
2. PricewaterhouseCoopers Survey: ESG factori v investirovanii [ESG factors in investments]. PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, 2019. 28 p. (In Russian).
3. IMF World economic outlook (October 2019). Global Manufacturing Downturn, Rising Trade Barriers. IMF, 2019. 208 p.
4. Lins K., Servaes Н., and Tamayo А. Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis. Journal of Finance, 2017, 72 (4), pp. 1785–824.
5. Catherine M., Daily S., Certo T., Dalton D. A. Decade of Corporate Women: Some Progress in the Boardroom, None in the Executive Suite. Strategic Management Journal, 1999, 20 (1), pp. 93–99.
6. Terjesen S., Sealy R., Singh V. Women directors on corporate boards: A review and research agenda. Corporate governance: An International Review, 2009, 17 (3), pp. 320–337.
7. Desvaux G., Devillard-Hoellinge, S., Baumgarten P. Women Matter – Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver. McKinsey &Company, 2017. p. 28.
8. Pletzer J. L., Nikolova R., Kedzior K. K., Voelpel S. C. Does Gender Matter? Female Representation on Corporate Boards and Firm Financial Performance – A Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE, 2015, 10(6), pp. 1–20. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473005/ pdf/pone.0130005.pdf (Accessed 24.05.2020).
9. Post C., Byron K., Women on Boards and Firm Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 2014, 58(5). Available at: https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/amj.2013.0319 (Accessed 24.05.2020).
10. Kalabihina I. E., Tarasov A. A. Gendernoe ravenstvo i economicheskoe razvitie v Velicobritanii [Gender Equality and Economic Development in Greate Britain]. Rossiiskiy economicheskii internet-zurnal [Russian Economic internet-journal]. Available at: Available at: http://www.e-rej.ru/Articles/2010/Kalabikhina_Tarasov.pdf (Accessed 19.02.2020). (In Russian).
11. Mezenceva E. B. Vsaimosviaz economicheskogo rosta i gendernogo ravenstva (na primere rossiskich regionov) [Interrelation of Economic Growth and Gender Equality (on the Example of Russian Regions)]. Materialy XIII Aprel'skoj mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii po problemam razvitiya ekonomiki i obshchestva: v 4 kn. [Proceedings of the XIII April International Scientific Conference on Development Problems of the Economy and Society: in 4 volumes]: Vol. 2. Moscow, Publishing house of the Higher School of Economics, 2012, 656 p. pp. 363–376. (In Russian).
12. Pravovie garantii i realzatsia principa gendernogo ravenstva: practiceskoe posopie [Legal Guaranties and Implementation of Gender Equality Principle: Toolkit] / G. A. Vasilevich [et al.]; ed. by S. A. Balashenko, V. V. Sasakevich. Minsk, publ. center of the BSU, 2018. 126 p. (In Russian).
13. United Nations Development Programme, Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2021. UNDP, 2018. 28 р.
14. OECD Toolkit for Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality, Implementing the 2015 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life. OECD Publishing, 2018. 126 р.
15. Republic of Belarus. Nacionalny plan deistvii po obespeceniu gendernogo ravenstva v Respublice Belarus na 2017– 2020 [National action plan on implementation of gender equality principle in the Republic of Belarus for 2017–2020]. Nacional'nyj pravovoj Internet-portal Respubliki Belarus' [National Legal Internet-portal of the Republic of Belarus]. Available at: http://www.pravo.by/document/?guid=12551&p0=C21700149&p1 =1 (Accessed 19.02.2020). (In Russian).
16. OECD Corporate Governance in MENA, Building a Framework for Competitiveness and Growth, Corporate Governance. OECD Publishing, 2019. 186 р. 17. Warth L. Gender Equality and the Corporate Sector. UNECE Discussion paper series, 2009, 4, 24 р
For citation: Mazol S. I., Mazol O. I. Gender equality implementation in corporate governance: the experience of Belarus // Corporate Governance and Innovative Economic Development of the North: Bulletin of Research Center of Corporate Law, Management and Venture Investment of Syktyvkar State University. 2020. No. 2. P. 100–109. DOI: 10.34130/2070-4992-2020-2-100-109.