We examine the role of alignment between organizational social consciousness and the informal and formal institutions of a country in increasing female representation on boards. Using fixed-effects and Hausman Taylor regression methodology for endogenous covariate with panel data for the years 2006–2020, we find that the greater the alignment between organizational social consciousness and certain formal (i.e., a gender quota) and informal (i.e., high gender equality) institutions, the more progress there is toward gender representation on corporate boards in Europe. We also find that more socially conscious firms make the most progress, often going beyond the minimum regulatory targets. By showing the complementarity of these factors, we address the enduring question of how the interplay of formal and informal institutions directly affects corporate behavior, thus contributing to the institutional, public policy/regulatory, and corporate governance literatures. We note the need for policymakers to go beyond mere codification of rules via quotas and simultaneously work toward raising national and organizational social consciousness levels on issues of gender equality.

我们研究了组织社会意识与一个国家的非正式和正式机构之间在增加女性在董事会中的代表性方面的作用。对 2006-2020 年面板数据的内生协变量使用固定效应和 Hausman Taylor 回归方法，我们发现组织社会意识与某些正式（即性别配额）和非正式（即高性别平等）制度，欧洲公司董事会在性别代表性方面取得的进展就越大。我们还发现，更具社会意识的公司取得的进步最大，往往超出了最低监管目标。通过显示这些因素的互补性，我们解决了正式和非正式制度的相互作用如何直接影响公司行为的持久问题，从而为制度、公共政策/监管和公司治理文献做出贡献。我们注意到决策者需要超越仅仅通过配额来编纂规则，同时努力提高国家和组织对性别平等问题的社会意识水平。