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Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Andrea M. Leschewski, Dave D. Weatherspoon and Annemarie Kuhns

The purpose of this paper is to develop a group-based food diversity index, which represents diversity in household expenditures across food subgroups. The index is compared to a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a group-based food diversity index, which represents diversity in household expenditures across food subgroups. The index is compared to a product code-based index and applied to reassess determinants of food diversity demand.

Design/methodology/approach

A group-based food diversity index is developed by adapting the US Healthy Food Diversity Index. Using Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey data on 4,341 US households, correlation coefficients, descriptive statistics and linear regressions are estimated to compare and reassess the determinants of group and product code-based food diversity demand.

Findings

Results show that the group and product code indices capture different forms of food diversity. The indices are only moderately correlated and have varying means and skewness. Education, gender, age, household size, race, SNAP and food expenditures are found to significantly affect food diversity. However, the magnitude and direction of the effects vary between group and product code indices. Given these differences, it is essential that studies select a diversity index that corresponds to their objective. Results suggest that group-based indices are appropriate for informing food and nutrition policy, while product code-based indices are ideal for guiding food industry management’s decision making.

Originality/value

A group-based food diversity index representative of household expenditures across food subgroups is developed.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 119 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 December 2020

Wen-Ching Chou and Dian-Fu Chang

This study aims to explore the higher education expansion phenomenon and to what extent that expansion could reshape the pattern of gender.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the higher education expansion phenomenon and to what extent that expansion could reshape the pattern of gender.

Design/methodology/approach

We selected Taiwan's higher education as a research target. First, we describe the gender diversity patterns in the humanity, social science and STEM programs according to Trow's definition. Second, we identify discrepancies in gender in the major programs according to different indices. Becker’s D, Blau index, GPI, trend analysis and multiple comparisons were used to transform the comparison series data.

Findings

First, to assess system-wide gender diversity, it was shown that in the elite stage, the D is more sensitive than the Blau index in plotting trends. Second, neither the D nor the Blau index showed sensitivity in humanity and social science programs in the post-mass stage. Third, the GPI more accurately detects differences in gender patterns in the mass and universal stages.

Practical implications

This study illuminates gender diversity patterns with indices transformation in higher education. Considering higher education expansion is a global phenomenon, the fitted indices can be used to detect gender diversity issues in wider higher education settings.

Originality/value

This study provides an example for addressing the issue using different indices to identify previous and future trends in the higher education system. The study suggests alternative interpretations for gender diversity in various programs that will assist in modifying related gender policies in higher education.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

Raul Gomez-Martinez and María Luisa Medrano-Garcia

Corporate diversity encompasses the different talents, knowledge, cultures, experiences and values of its employees. This diversity is reflected in multiple characteristics, such…

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Abstract

Purpose

Corporate diversity encompasses the different talents, knowledge, cultures, experiences and values of its employees. This diversity is reflected in multiple characteristics, such as race, age, gender, social class, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture and disability. The objective of this study is to identify if diversity is a value driver.

Design/methodology/approach

We take the diversity score from the Diversity Leaders Index 2023 published by Financial Times (FT) and Statista; this will be our independent variable in linear regression models whose objective variables are relevant fundamental indicators of the Euro Stoxx 50 companies. It is, therefore, a cross-sectional sample with financial data taken as of the current date. We have 37 Euro Stoxx 50 components included in the diversity ranking.

Findings

The results indicate that diversity is not a value driver for trading volume, for its revenue, or for systematic risk measured by the beta parameter. However, it is observed, in a confidence interval of 90%, that the most diverse companies are larger (according to their market capitalization). In addition, the most diverse companies are more profitable [return on assets (ROA)] and valued by the market [price to earnings ratio (PER)] in a confidence interval of 95%.

Originality/value

These results indicate that companies should promote corporate diversity as a management strategy, as it is observed that more diverse companies are more profitable and valued by the market. This study provides a quantitative vision in the context of homogeneous companies such as the Euro Stoxx 50 Index on the aspects in which diversity is a value driver.

Details

The Journal of Risk Finance, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1526-5943

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Muneza Kagzi and Mahua Guha

In the wake of inconsistent findings between board diversity and firm performance, the purpose of this paper is to advance the research by examining the linear and non-linear…

3839

Abstract

Purpose

In the wake of inconsistent findings between board diversity and firm performance, the purpose of this paper is to advance the research by examining the linear and non-linear nature of the relationship between board demographic diversity (gender, age, tenure, and education) and firm performance in Indian knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a panel data set of top KIFs in India that is listed in National Stock Exchange’s Top-200 list for the period 2010-2014.

Findings

Results indicate that there exists a positive linear relationship between the overall board demographic diversity index (board gender, age, tenure, and education) and firm performance. Among the effects of individual board diversity variables, the authors have found that board age diversity positively whereas education diversity negatively influences firm performance. Furthermore, gender diversity and tenure diversity do not significantly influence the firm performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study is based on the following demographic factors: gender, age, tenure, and level of education. The authors did not include other demographic variables such as nationality and language.

Practical implications

This research would help knowledge-intensive companies in designing their corporate boards. The results indicate that companies should have more diverse boards to enhance firm performance.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to examine the effect of the overall board diversity index and individual board demographic diversity indices (gender, age, education, and tenure) on firm performance in the context of KIFs in India.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2021

Ridhima Saggar, Nischay Arora and Balwinder Singh

The study aims to pervade the gap in the domain of risk disclosure and gender diversity, which is comparatively uncharted. Gender diversity being a crucial element of corporate…

1060

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to pervade the gap in the domain of risk disclosure and gender diversity, which is comparatively uncharted. Gender diversity being a crucial element of corporate governance can deepen understanding on the issue in the backdrop of a developing country such as India, so this study aims to investigate the relationship between gender diversity on board and corporate risk disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach

Four measures of gender diversity, i.e. BLAU index, SHANNON index, proportion of women directors on board and female dummies, have been deployed to measure gender diversity. The empirical analysis is premised on a sample of S&P BSE 100 index pertaining to the 2018–2019 financial year; which eventually gets reduced to 70 non-financial firms after eliminating 30 financial firms. To examine the impact of gender diversity on corporate risk disclosure, hierarchical regression has been used. Additionally, two-stage least square regression analysis has been performed for checking the endogeneity issues in data and validating the findings of the study.

Findings

The main findings unveil that gender diversity positively impacts corporate risk disclosure. Confirming the agency theory and resource dependency theory, its alternative measures like BLAU index, SHANNON index, proportion of women directors and female dummy divulged to positively impact corporate risk disclosure. When women dummy has been used, analysis unmasked that firms electing more than one female director on board has a higher positive impact on corporate risk disclosure as compared to firms engaging only one women director on board.

Research limitations/implications

The study is undertaken in the Indian settings, which has its own set of legislative laws, whereas there is need to reaffirm the relationship applying cross-country analysis. Furthermore, there is huge hollowness in the domain of gender diversity and risk disclosure that calls for empirical evidence to unearth futuristic vision.

Practical implications

The research presents managerial implications for the managers to promote gender egalitarianism by electing higher quantum of women directors on board to achieve global standards of maintaining higher risk disclosure. Adequate risk disclosure on a gender-diverse board further assures the investors that their interest will remain intact in the organization that meets legal requirements by embracing gender equality in employment. A woman in the boardrooms incarnates transparency through divulgence of risk information, which suffices the informational needs of investors. In addition, the findings insists the regulators towards staunch enforcement of effective corporate governance practice through increasing the proportion of women directors on board as they assist in dispelling risk disclosure, which will avert sceptical ambitions of managers and deconstruct their stereotype attitude towards women.

Originality/value

This study is a novel contribution in expanding the risk disclosure literature by analyzing the unexplored impact of gender diversity on the extent of corporate risk disclosures in India.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal , vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2021

Santi Gopal Maji and Rupjyoti Saha

This paper aims to examine the impact of gender diversity both at operational and leadership levels on the financial performance of firms in India.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of gender diversity both at operational and leadership levels on the financial performance of firms in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a panel data set of 100 large Indian corporate firms. This study uses the Blau index and Shannon index to compute gender diversity. First, this paper uses system generalized method of moments model to deal with the potential endogeneity issue in the association between gender diversity and firm performance. Second, to unveil heterogeneity in such a relationship, the study applies panel data quantile regression model. Finally, the study adopts a generalized estimating equation model to investigate such relationships for group affiliated and standalone firms.

Findings

This study finds a significant positive impact of workforce gender diversity and board gender diversity on the financial performance of firms. Further, the results of the quantile regression model indicate that the impact of gender diversity (workforce and board) on firm performance is more pronounced at higher quantiles of the conditional distribution of firm performance. However, the study fails to extricate any significant impact of audit committee gender diversity on firm performance. Finally, the study also finds a significant positive impact of gender diversity at both workforce and board level for a group affiliated, as well as standalone firms.

Originality/value

The present study makes a novel contribution to the extant literature on the association between gender diversity and financial performance of firms by examining such diversity at both operational and leadership levels in the context of an emerging country such as India that captures the complex realities pertaining to gender issues. Further, the study contributes to the empirical literature regarding the heterogeneous impact of gender diversity on firm performance in the Indian context.

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2020

Ádám Németh, Dávid Sümeghy, András Trócsányi and Gábor Pirisi

The purpose of this analysis is to collect and classify the most important diversity indices, outline the logical connections between them and answer the following question: How…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this analysis is to collect and classify the most important diversity indices, outline the logical connections between them and answer the following question: How much will the results differ if the authors use different indices for explaining the same dependent variable (attitude toward cultural pluralism), and what kind of relationships are observable in the European societies?

Design/methodology/approach

The diversity indices are good for compressing information on the number and shares of ethnic groups in a given setting into single numbers in order to use them as independent variables. However, it matters which index the authors choose because it can make a meaningful difference in the assessment of the potential impacts of diversification. Our empirical study (based on 43 European countries and 160 regions) concluded that the correlation coefficients between the most important indices are above 0.8. Thus, in practice, none of them gives a fundamentally different answer to the question: how does diversity/diversification influences people's attitudes toward multiculturalism.

Findings

By linking these results with the European Social Survey database the authors concluded that the more diverse a population in 2014 was, a more positive attitude toward multiculturalism was expressed. However, if the authors focus on the dynamics of diversification, the spread of points is much greater and polynomial (U-shaped curvilinear) trendlines are better suitable to grasp the relationships. It means that people tend to react very differently to similar societal changes in those regions where a moderate degree of diversification took place.

Originality/value

International migration and ethno-cultural diversification are hotly debated issues in contemporary Europe, and there is a growing interest in understanding their possible social, economic and political outcomes. A question of key importance for the social sciences to adequately answer the challenges is the capability to measure these processes in a quantitative way as well. This paper helps decide which diversity index might be the optimum solution for a given research project.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Naomi Friedman-Sokuler and Claudia Senik

Using the American and the French time-use surveys, we examine whether people have a preference for a more diversified mix of activities, in the sense that they experience greater…

Abstract

Using the American and the French time-use surveys, we examine whether people have a preference for a more diversified mix of activities, in the sense that they experience greater well-being when their time schedule contains many different activities rather than is concentrated on a very small number. This could be due to decreasing marginal utility, as is assumed for goods consumption, if each episode of time is conceived as yielding a certain level of utility per se. With returns to specialization, people would then face a trade-off between efficiency and diversity in choosing how to allocate time. We examine these issues and investigate potential gender differences, considering both instantaneous feelings and life satisfaction.

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2020

Laetitia Hauret and Donald R. Williams

This article estimates the empirical relationship between workplace diversity in terms of nationality and individual worker job satisfaction in the context of a multicultural…

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Abstract

Purpose

This article estimates the empirical relationship between workplace diversity in terms of nationality and individual worker job satisfaction in the context of a multicultural country. It also examines the role of the level of communication between coworkers in moderating this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using merged survey and administrative data, the paper estimates OLS and ordered Probit regression estimates of the correlations between two measures of workplace diversity and self-reported job satisfaction.

Findings

The relationship between nationality diversity and job satisfaction is negative. While there is some evidence of a nonlinear relationship, it depends on the specification and measure of diversity used. Contrary to expectations, the level of interaction between colleagues does not moderate this relationship.

Practical implications

The research highlights the need for employers to actively manage the diversity within their firms.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the diversity and job satisfaction literature by focusing on the nationalities of coworkers. It also is the first to measure the impact of the levels of interactions with coworkers on the diversity-satisfaction relationship.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Mitchell J. Chang and Erica Yamamura

The simplest approach to measuring racial composition is to calculate only the proportion of White students in the total undergraduate enrollment (%White). This was the most…

Abstract

The simplest approach to measuring racial composition is to calculate only the proportion of White students in the total undergraduate enrollment (%White). This was the most common approach in earlier studies of student body racial diversity (see, e.g., Astin, 1993).2 A slightly different alternative, at least conceptually, is to calculate the percentage of students of color or racial minorities (students who reported their racial/ethnicity to be non-White). Recent studies are more likely to use this alternative (see, e.g., Antonio, 2001; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Terenzini, Cabrera, Colbeck, Bjorklund, & Parente, 2001). This measure centers the focus of analysis on students of color and thus may be more advantageous than “%White” for interpreting findings. Still, the basic assumption underlying both approaches is that as the proportion of White students decline and by definition the proportion of students of color increase, the student body necessarily becomes more diverse. Accordingly, these approaches presume a zero-sum game for diversity on college campuses, where gains for one group come at the expense of other groups.

Details

Higher Education in a Global Society: Achieving Diversity, Equity and Excellence
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-182-8

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