Are gender diverse boards better for corporate governance? evidence from Australian judicial decisions

The need for gender diversity on corporate boards has been argued on two bases - gender equality and business benefits. The latter argument claims that gender diverse boards result in enhanced firm value (defined variously as firm profits, stock value and reputational value). The problem with most of these studies, however is that they fail to prove causality. This paper seeks to determine whether there might be a third argument i.e. a ‘legal argument’. In other words, it asks if boards that are gender diverse are better able to meet the law’s expectations from corporate boards. For this, I review relevant judicial decisions in order to see what the law expects of corporate boards. I then co-relate this with the benefits that gender diverse boards might provide according to various empirical studies in this regard in order to evaluate whether gender diverse boards are better equipped to meet their legal obligations.