jepr İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi 2148-3876 Istanbul University 10.26650/JEPR1716025 Policy of Treasury Microeconomics (Other) Maliye Politikası Mikro İktisat (Diğer) Diverse Boards, Stronger Results? Gender Diversity on Boards and Firm Performance in Turkey https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3347-3085 Bahar Belgin Galatasaray University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3486-1701 Yılmaz Altuntaş Elgiz Galatasaray University, Faculty of Communication 08 13 2025 12 2 519 527 06 08 2025 07 22 2025 Copyright © 2014, Journal of Economic Policy Researches 2014 Journal of Economic Policy Researches

Board diversity has become a prominent topic of discussion within the realm of strategic management. This study specifically examines gender diversity as a key dimension of board heterogeneity. Notably, women remain under represented on corporate boards in general. In Turkey, the inclusion of women on corporate boards and efforts to enhance gender diversity are relatively recent developments. In 2012, for the first time in Turkey, the Capital Markets Board recommended that companies have at least one woman on their boards of directors. This study examines the effectiveness of Turkey’s first “soft law” quota concerning board gender diversity within the banking sector. Additionally, it investigates the relationship between gender diversity on corporate boards and firms’ financial performance (ROA). Using a large panel data of 12 banks from 2006 to 2018, we found a significant relationship between female representation on boards and ROA.JEL Classification : J16 , G34 , M14

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