Our research paper explores the role of board gender composition on pay-related outcomes in the UK. Using administrative data from firms with at least 250 employees since 2017/18, we employ a method based on Bartik (1991). Our approach relies on the regional aggregation of the share of female directors. This is exogenous to firm-level wage determination. The findings reveal that a more gender-diverse board can reduce the pay gap by over 3%, as female directors are associated with better outcomes for other female employees. This effect is more pronounced among higher-productivity firms, which often exhibit a higher Gender Pay Gap due to female under-representation and within-firm inequalities. When looking jointly at the board nationality and gender composition, gender is significant for any outcome in company boards where more than 51% of directors are UK nationals.

Read the full working paper: https://www.productivity.ac.uk/research/mind-the-gender-pay-gap-the-role-of-board-gender-composition/

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