CEO COMPENSATION AND BOARD DIVERSITY: EVIDENCE FROM FRENCH LISTED COMPANIES

Abstract

This article aims to study the influence of board
diversity components on CEO compensation. This
study was conducted on a sample of companies listed on the sBF 120 index during the period from
2003 to 2013. It provides significant intermediate
results regarding the Copé-Zimmermann law implementation. This is the first study to explore the relationship between the various components of board
diversity (board gender diversity, employee-owner
representation, board-level employee representation, and proportion of independent directors) and
the different components of CEO compensation.
The research analyzes board diversity by examining
the impact of female representation and employee
representation. For the latter, we deeply explore
employee ownership and trade union representation.
The results highlight that women’s representation
has a negative effect on CEO compensation. Boardlevel employee representation (employee owners
and trade unions) also negatively influences CEO
compensation.