The Multiplicity of Regulatory Responses to Remedy the Gender Imbalance on Company Boards

Abstract

In this article the variation in regulatory and enforcement regimes, strategies and styles that have developed in European countries with a view to tackling the problem of the underrepresentation of women on company boards and to bring about actual change will be charted. By providing a comparative analysis it seeks to offer insights into the following issues: how do public and private regulators and regulation interact with each other to solve this problem; what self- and co-regulation/enforcement regimes can one identify and what hard law approaches; what are relevant factors or principles determining the chosen strategy and types of instruments; are hard quota law approaches more effective than soft(er) public or private approaches; more generally, what are important conditions or elements for ensuring that the chosen instruments will be effective in the light of the goal to be achieved? The article concludes with some lessons that can be drawn from the analysis when it comes to ensuring the effectiveness of regulatory and enforcement approaches in this area, also for policymakers, and as to what might be a possible optimal mix.