Do the Women Directors’ Board Attributes Moderate the Link Real Earnings Management − Future Performance? Evidence From French Context

In this study, we question the legitimacy of women directors through the performance of their attributes on corporate outcome. The three fundamental questions are the following: Is there a negative causal relationship between real earnings management (REM) and future performance (FP) in France since the gender reform was introduced ? Did the demographic and statutory attributes of women directors moderate this relationship? How did the introduction and enforcement of gender quotas affect the moderation variable on FP? The empirical analysis is conducted from a sample of 155 non-financial firms listed on Euronext Paris Index over the 2011–2016 period. Our results show that REM is negatively significantly associated with Return On Assets and Tobin’s Q one year ahead; and independent, interlocked, and financial expert serving on the audit committee moderate this relationship. The regressions from gender reform evidenced that the quota introduction has a negative effect on the interaction term, while we found a positive effect of the quota enforcement on the interaction term. These results are consistent with Scapin (2015) who stated the cost reduction of gender reform decreased with time. This study contributes to the literature by examining the women directors’ legitimacy through the performance of their statutory and demographic attributes under a gender quota context