Boardroom Gender Diversity : A Behavioural Economics Analysis

Research on boardroom gender diversity is dominated by conflicting studies attempting to show why boards should or should not be more gender diverse. Instead of contributing to that debate, this paper presupposes that boardroom gender diversity is a valuable goal and asks why boards are not already more gender diverse. It does so by focusing on the behavioural economics of the boardroom gender diversity transaction (BGDT) within a transaction cost economics framework. Having done so, a new theoretical framework for understanding the selection and appointment of board candidates is constructed. It is hoped that such understanding will encourage the development of achievable ways to reduce the inefficiencies within the BGDT