How deep-level and surface-level board diversity, formal and informal social structures affect innovation

Author

Guoli CHEN
Po-Hsuan HSU
Yen Teik LEE
Daniel Z. MACK, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

1-2025

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

Volume

62

Issue

1

First Page

65

Last Page

101

ISSN

0022-2380

Identifier

10.1111/joms.13040

Publisher

Wiley

Citation

CHEN, Guoli; HSU, Po-Hsuan; LEE, Yen Teik; and MACK, Daniel Z.. How deep-level and surface-level board diversity, formal and informal social structures affect innovation. (2025). Journal of Management Studies. 62, (1), 65-101.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7466

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

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