Protagonismo feminino no Conselho de Administração, gerenciamento de resultados e performance: Análise do contexto brasileiro, regional e de países emergentes

Abstract

Nowadays, organizations have set goals and created several actions to balance genders in leadership positions. Although far from ideal, the representation of women in management positions has grown in Brazil and abroad. This study investigated female protagonism at the firm and country level and the credibility of companies for a sample from Brazil and emerging countries. The study analyzed the credibility of companies in two ways: management of real results and performance (market value). The work also analyzed female protagonism in two ways: women's participation in the boards of directors of firms and gender equality policies in the countries. In addition, the study verified whether women in high-ranking positions in firms combined with a lower perception of corruption in the country could influence firm performance. It is inferred from this study that a greater presence of women on boards of directors can improve mechanisms of transparency in the disclosure of accounting/financial information and contribute to the development of national contexts that are more equitable in terms of gender and reliable with regard to corruption. The study was divided into two trials. In the first essay, we analyzed the relationship between the participation of women on the board of directors and the level of Real Earnings Management (REM) of Brazilian firms that make up the IBRX100 index, in the period 2010 to 2020. We also investigated whether the control family influences this relationship. As a complement, the study sought to understand the Brazilian regional context, examining whether the location of companies has an impact on the relationship between gender diversity and REM. The REM proxy followed the method of Roychowdhury (2006), a seminal author who detects the manipulation of real activities through the investigation of abnormal movements in operating cash flow, discretionary expenses and production costs. As for the method, in test 1, linear regression was used with panel data for two periods: years 2010 to 2020 in the case of results for the general sample (Brazil) and years 2010 to 2016, in the case of data from the regional sample. The results found in the first study illustrate the importance of including female individuals in the top management of Brazilian companies, especially in family-owned companies. Subsequently, the second essay of this dissertation studied the level of gender equality and the level of corruption in the country and the market performance, analyzing the context of emerging countries. With regard to the method, in test 2 two multi-level regression models were implemented, with company-level and country-level variables, adopting a sample of emerging countries and a time horizon from 2016 to 2021. As a result, the second test demonstrates that the presence of women in senior management is associated with more favorable national scenarios with regard to gender equality and a lower rate of corruption, which are beneficial points for the performance of organizations. This work aims to encourage firms to expand the number of women in leadership and decision-making positions, as well as to elucidate the relevance of gender-affirmative policies. The study advances in the scientific literature on the effects of gender diversity on corporate transparency and performance, thus contributing to the understanding of corporate credibility by encouraging the presence of women in leadership positions. In practice, it aims to encourage, by demonstrating the benefits associated with female occupation in senior management, an improvement in gender equality both in Brazil and in emerging countries.