Legitimate women and board advisory tasks

Addressing the call of many scholars about a stronger focus on board advisory tasks, this paper examines the importance of gender diversity for board advisory tasks. Specifically, it investigates: (1) the relationship between a critical mass of women on board and the ability of the board to provide advise to management by leveraging board’s members experiences and competences, and (2) the influence of women being legitimated for board position by the title of chairwomen or chair of a committee, on advisory tasks. Using a sample of the largest listed companies in Italy during the period 2007-2017, the results show that gender diversity, measured as a critical mass of women, has a negative effect on advisory tasks. In order to be felt legitimate and acquire recognition by the other members of the board, women need an important position within the boardroom. Our findings show that legitimate women have a positive and statistically significant effect on advisory tasks. This confirms the argument that when women are legitimate, the knowledge of a diversified board is more likely to be used by the board.