Public recognition of gender equality in the workplace and its influence on firms' performance

Abstract

The strong presence of gender inequality in companies has been given great attention at an institutional and research level. In order to acknowledge organizations committed to eliminating this gender gap, a seal of distinction for equality in the workplace was created at an institutional level in Spain. Although this type of public recognition can improve gender equality in the workplace, the aim of this research is to study whether it also has a favorable impact on the financial performance of Spanish companies. To do so, the variation in financial performance has been analyzed before and after the concession of this distinction, taking into consideration its relationship with a series of economic and gender variables. The implementation of a panel data regression has shown that sales, worker efficiency, and how efficiently directors manage the company have a positive influence on financial performance in the period subsequent to institutional recognition for adopting equality measures in the workplace. In addition, if the person presiding the company is a woman, this implies a positive influence on financial performance.