Addressing gender imbalance on boards of state-owned enterprises in Ireland through regulatory intervention : a hard and soft law perspective

iii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 A. A Regulation Perspective . 5 i. Hard and Soft Law Regulatory Options . 8 B. State-owned Ent. (SOEs) in Ireland – In Perspective . 9 i. Definition / Classification of SOEs in Ireland . 10 ii. SOEs in Ireland Instruments of Public Value . 12 iii. Gender Balance on Boards of SOEs in Ireland . 14 C. Central Research Question . 22 D. Research Methodology . 24 i. A State-Owned Enterprise Dimension . 25 ii. A ‘Critical Mass’ Approach . 26 iii. Choice of Case Studies . 27 (a.) Norway . 27 (b.) Finland . 28 (c.) The United Kingdom . 30 (d.) Australia . 31 E. Literature Review . 32 i. Academic Contribution . 35 F. Thesis Contextual Background and Definitions . 35 i. Why Boards of State-Owned Enterprises . 35 (a.) A Stakeholder Perspective . 36 (b.) A Governance Perspective . 38 (c.) A Performance Perspective.39 ii. Regulation as a SolutionA Broader Perspective . 41 iii. Barriers Preventing the Appointment of Female Directors . 42 iv. Policy Initiatives to Date in Ireland . 44 G. Chapter Structure of Thesis . 48 Conclusion . 50 Chapter 2: Nature, Role and Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ireland . 52 A. Introduction . 52 B. Background . 53 C. SOE Sector in Ireland . 57 i. Evolution of the SOE Sector in Ireland . 57 (a.) An Economic Objective . 59 ii. Size of SOE Sector in Ireland . 62 iii. Implications of the Role of SOEs in Ireland . 64 iv. Ownership/Control of SOEs in Ireland . 67 D. SOEs in Ireland and Corporate Governance . 70 i. Definition . 70 ii. The Role of the Board of SOEs in Ireland . 71 (a.) A Resource Dependency Perspective for SOE Boards . 74 iii. Impact of Board Composition on Decision-Making . 77 E. Stepping Up Globally . 82 Part II: International Regulatory Developments . 84 F. Regulatory Responses Targeting State-Owned Ent.86 i. Non-binding Quotas . 86 ii. Legislative/Binding Quotas . 90 G. Regulatory Responses Targeting Listed Companies . 91 i. Legislative/Binding Quotas . 91 ii. Corporate Governance Code Principles/Recommendations . 95 Conclusion . 99 Chapter 3: Theoretical Background . 100 A. Introduction . 100 B. Hard Law Versus Soft Law . 102 C. Legislative Gender Quotas as a Tool to Improve Gender Balance on Ireland’s SOE Boards . 107 i. Gender Quotas and Pace of Progress . 111 ii. Gender Quotas and Culture/Stereotypes . 112 iii. Gender Quotas and Accompanying Sanctions . 114 iv. Gender Quotas and Boardroom Quality . 116 v. Gender Quotas and Distributive Justice . 117 vi. Undue Burden under Gender Quota Regimes . 119 vii. Gender Quotas as Positive Action . 120 (a.) Existing Framework for Positive Action . 121 viii. Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and Gender Quotas . 123 D. Corporate Governance Codes as a Tool to Address Gender Imbalance on Boards of Ireland’s SOEs . 126 i. Corporate Governance Codes and ‘Comply or Explain’ Principle (Flexibility) . 128 ii. Monitoring Compliance, Deviations and Explanations under Corporate Governance Codes . 131 (a.) Monitoring Agents . 132 iii. Corporate Governance Codes and Acceptance . 135 iv. Corporate Governance Codes and Sanctions . 136 E. Quotas, Corporate Governance Codes and Institutional Context.139 i. Legal/Regulatory Framework . 140 ii. Culture and Society . 141 iii. Political Ideologies/Actors . 144 (a.) Path Dependence Theory . 147 iv. Impact of the EU on Government Action in Ireland . 149 F. Regulatory Enforcement and Regulatory Effectiveness . 154 i. Responsive Regulation . 155 (a.) Enforcement Pyramid . 156 (b.) Proportionality Principle . 159 ii. Smart Regulation . 160 (a.) Enforcement . 161 Conclusion . 163 Chapter 4 : The Use of Legislative Gender Quotas to Improve Gender Balance on Boards: The Case of Norway . 165 A. Introduction . 165 B. Norway and Gender Gaps . 167 C. The Norwegian Gender Quota Law for Corp. Boards. 171 i. The Political Process . 173 (a.) Arguments against the Norwegian Quota Law . 175 D. Why Did the Norwegian Quota Law Succeed? 176 i. Path Dependency . 177 ii. Penalty/Sanctions for Non-compliance with the Law . 180 iii. Ownership/Control Shareholding of the State . 181 iv. Transparency /Openness Culture . 182 (a.) Availability of Databases . 183 (b.) Employee Representation on Boards . 186 E. Searching For a Background for Legislative Gender Quota in Ireland . 188 i. Ireland and Gender Gaps . 189 (a.) Accessibility to Childcare in Ireland . 194 (b.) Parental Leave Policies in Ireland . 195 ii. Transparent and Open Culture in Ireland . 198 (a.) Employee Representation on SOE Boards . 198 (b.) Availability of Databases . 202 (c.) Appointment to SOE Boards . 204 iii. Regulatory/Legal Framework of Gender Quota .