We show that investor preferences for diversity have had a significant effect on the initial returns earned by U.S. firms going public with gender diverse boards over the past decade. There is no difference in economic fundamentals, such as profitability, between these firms and firms without...

A company’s ability to hire is important because productive employees are a major driver of firm value. Many labor market participants claim to use workplace diversity statistics to help them assess their goodness-of-fit with firms, but it is unclear if these statistics actually influence the...

We study the relation between board gender diversity and initial public offering (IPO) price formation. We find that IPOs experience significantly greater underpricing when the firm’s board has at least one female director, relative to when no women sit on the board. The underpricing effect is...