Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

2-2024

Abstract

Despite a growing interest in understanding how board diversity shapes firms’ innovation, findings about the impact of board diversity have remained mixed. In this paper, we conceptualize board diversity as two forms – deep-level and surface-level – and find that these two forms of board diversity have opposing effects on a firm's innovation. We also theorize how formal and informal social structures can strengthen the positive effect of deep-level diversity yet simultaneously weaken the negative impact of surface-level diversity. We test our hypotheses with a panel of 42,432 firm-year observations from 2000 to 2019. Our paper contributes to the literature on boards and innovation by highlighting and differentiating the mechanisms through which board diversity affects innovation, as well as showing how formal and informal structures can moderate the effects of board diversity.

Keywords

board diversity, firm innovation, social structure

Discipline

Organizational Behavior and Theory | Strategic Management Policy | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Strategy and Organisation

Publication

Journal of Management Studies

ISSN

0022-2380

Identifier

10.1111/joms.13040

Publisher

Wiley

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13040

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