The impact of board gender diversity and national culture on corporate innovation: A multi-country analysis of multinational corporations operating in emerging economies

This paper contributes to burgeoning research concerning the relationship between boardroom gender diversity and corporate innovation. The paper deploys a multitheoretical framework comprising insights from the upper echelons, resource dependency, and institutional theories, and the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework. We test a panel dataset for 472 multinationals in 21 emerging economies, covering nine years (2009-2018). Our findings reveal that gender diversity is positively associated with corporate innovation. We also find that local factors such as national norms, cultural values, and country-level institutional quality influence boardroom gender diversity, level of investment in research and development (R&D), and corporate innovation. The paper concludes by providing policy and managerial recommendations on how to promote firm R&D within emerging markets contexts.