American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Playing the Boys Game: Golf Buddies and Board Diversity
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 5, May 2016
(pp. 272–76)
Abstract
We study the participation of women in golf, a predominately male social activity, and its influence on their likelihood of serving on a board of directors. Exploiting a novel dataset of all golfers in Singapore, we find that woman golfers enjoy a 54% higher likelihood of serving on a board relative to male golfers. A woman's probability of serving on the board in a large firm or in a predominately male industry increases by 117% to 125% when she plays golf. Joining the boy's informal network appears to facilitate women's entrance or success in the executive labor market.Citation
Agarwal, Sumit, Wenlan Qian, David M. Reeb, and Tien Foo Sing. 2016. "Playing the Boys Game: Golf Buddies and Board Diversity." American Economic Review, 106 (5): 272–76. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161033Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G34 Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- M12 Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
- M51 Personnel Economics: Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions