The Effects of Board Gender Diversity on Internal Control within Chinese Listed Firms

Gender diversity on boards of directors has become a topic of increasing concern in corporate governance. Accordingly, this dissertation investigates the impact of boardroom gender diversity on the level of internal control within 1202 firms in China that listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2014 to 2018. The empirical results of this dissertation indicate that: (1) there is a significant positive association between the percentage of female directors and the control environment; (2) there is a very significant positive correlation between the proportion of women on boards and information and communication; (3) there is a negative correlation between the proportion of female directors and violations of corporate laws; (4) there is a positive association between the percentage of women on boards and the types of audit opinions. The results suggest that appropriately increasing the percentage of female directors on boards can not only strengthen the control environment and the communication of information flow in companies, but also relatively reduce legal violations. In addition, it increases the likelihood that auditors will file unqualified reports. Thus this thesis concludes that women’s participation on the board has a positive relationship with the level of internal control within listed companies in China