ABSTRACT

Women in corporate leadership roles are gaining recognition in business strategy decision-making. However, the impact of women’s business leadership roles in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has only recently gained attention due to the considerable gender equality reforms. This study explores the extent to which gender-empowerment institutions affect the performance of firms operating in the different countries of the MENA region. Using firm-level panel data, the study deploys a country-level measure of the women’s empowerment conditions in eleven MENA countries and explores its impact on both the market-driven and accounting-driven measures of corporate performance. The results show that the institutional conditions promoting gender empowerment are a significant and positive predictor of corporate performance. The effect materialises directly and indirectly through board diversity. It is weaker with respect to the accounting-driven measures of performance and stronger with respect to the market-driven measures of performance. Institutions and culture mitigate the effect. Policymakers and private agents should coordinate their efforts to empower women’s position in the whole MENA region with tangible benefits on corporate performance.

摘要

担任企业领导职务的女性在商业战略决策中获得认可。然而，由于相当大的性别平等改革，女性在中东和北非 (MENA) 地区担任商业领导角色的影响最近才受到关注。本研究探讨了性别赋权制度对在中东和北非地区不同国家经营的公司绩效的影响程度。该研究使用公司层面的面板数据，在 11 个中东和北非国家部署了国家层面的女性赋权状况衡量标准，并探讨了其对市场驱动和会计驱动的企业绩效衡量标准的影响。结果表明，促进性别赋权的制度条件是企业绩效的重要且积极的预测指标。这种影响通过董事会多元化直接或间接地体现出来。它在会计驱动的绩效衡量方面较弱，而在市场驱动的绩效衡量方面较强。制度和文化减轻了这种影响。政策制定者和私人代理人应该协调他们的努力，以增强女性在整个中东和北非地区的地位，并为企业绩效带来切实的好处。