Women on the Board and Firm Performance of Thai Publicly Listed Companies in the SET100, 2008-2017

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between firm performance and women on the board of directors of the top 55 non-financial public companies listed in the Thailand Stock Exchange (SET) over the past 10 years (2008-2017). The regression results suggest that women inclusion on the board as well as the ratio of women contributes positively to firm performance as measured by Tobin’s Q and return on assets (ROA), but not on the return on common equity (ROE). The study also finds that women on the board as an independent or non-executive director may be related to better corporate performance. However, there is no evidence that women directors’ networking capacity and/or foreign education contribute to better firm performance. Overall, this study seems to indicate that having women on the board may help firm performance by mitigating agency problems, but not through resource capacity nor the supposedly less-risky behavior of women on the board.