Equbusiness book VERSION 28SEPT2023 - Flipbook - Page 75
Gallego-Alvarez et al., 2010; Gregory-Smith et al., 2014). As seen, the literature has yielded quite diverse results.
The most fundamental reason for this is the still very low number of women members in corporate boards, even
though there has been some increase in recent years.
6.5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Social sustainability is an element that needs to be considered as much as environmental and economic
sustainability for us to continue our existence without reducing the welfare of future generations. One of the
requirements for achieving social sustainability is to ensure and protect gender equality in all institutions of
society. The main objective of this study is to examine the boards of directors of firms operating in the BIST
Manufacturing sector in terms of gender diversity and to determine the current situation's impact on the firm's
immediate financial performance. In this direction, the objectives of the study are listed below:
●
Analyzing boards of directors in terms of gender
●
Examining the relationship between the presence of woman on boards, the presence of independent
woman on boards, innovation intensity and immediate financial performance
●
Examining the relationship between gender distribution of boards of directors and innovation intensity
●
Analyzing the impact of gender distribution and innovation intensity of boards on their immediate
financial performance
As of the end of 2022, there are 483 firms whose shares are traded in BIST (BIST Integrated Annual Reports). One
hundred ninety-two of these firms are in the BIST Manufacturing sector. In 2021, the manufacturing sector's
contribution to Turkey's Gross Domestic Product was 22.2% (TUIK). In addition, the manufacturing sector is
among the essential elements of economies in terms of employment. It is the sector with the highest number of
firms among the sectors in BIST. Financial data of the firms were obtained through the Datastream database
(https://www.refinitiv.com), while information on the structure of the boards of directors was obtained from the
annual reports prepared as of the end of 2022.
The hypotheses formulated in line with the literature research and the objectives of the study are as follows:
H1 = The percentage of women on board does not influence financial performance.
H2 = The percentage of independent women on board does not influence financial performance.
H3 = Innovation intensity does not affect financial performance.
The models used to test the hypotheses H1, H2 and H3 are as follows:
ROAi= β0 + β1 WOB1 + β2 RD2 + β3 TA3+ β4 LEV4+ + ε
(1)
ROAi= β0 + β1 IWOB1 + β2 RD2 + β3 TA3+ β4 LEV4+ + ε
(2)
The meanings of the data in the model are as follows:
Dependent variable:
ROA= Return on assets
