BOARD GENDER DIVERSITY, YOUNG DIRECTORS, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM’S STOCK MARKET
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62985/j.huit_ojs.vol26.no3E.635Keywords:
Gender diversity, young directors, firm performance, panel data, tokenism, retail industry.Abstract
This study examines the impact of board gender diversity, young directors (under 45), and their interaction on the performance (measured by ROA, Tobin’s Q, LnEPS) of 50 listed retail firms in Vietnam from 2015 to 2024. Employing a Fixed Effects Model (FEM) with robust standard errors and one-year lagged variables to strictly address endogeneity, the empirical results reveal that these board demographic characteristics have no statistically significant impact on financial performance. This finding corroborates Tokenism theory, implying that current board diversity primarily serves a representational purpose rather than holding core strategic decision-making power. Conversely, asset size and financial leverage exhibit a strong negative impact, distinctly highlighting the risks associated with diseconomies of scale. Consequently, the study suggests that shareholders must grant substantive structural authority to diverse boards and critically cautions management against aggressive, debt-fueled chain expansion strategies.
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