GENDER-DIVERSE BOARDS AND EXECUTIVE TUNNELLING: INSIGHTS FROM NIGERIA'S LISTED INSURANCE COMPANIES

This study investigated the impact of board gender diversity on executive tunnelling, focusing on Nigeria’s listed insurance companies. Executive tunnelling was measured using executive compensation intensity and executive compensation burden. Using panel data from 112 observations between 2012 and 2022, the study employed Random-Effects Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression for Model 1 (executive compensation intensity) and Fixed-Effects (Within) regression for Model 2 (executive compensation burden). The findings from Model 1 revealed a significant negative relationship between board gender diversity and executive compensation intensity, suggesting that gender-diverse boards help curb excessive executive pay. However, in Model 2, board gender diversity showed a positive but marginally insignificant relationship with executive compensation burden. Firm size was significant in Model 1 but became insignificant in Model 2, while leverage had no significant impact in either model. The study concludes that promoting gender diversity on boards can enhance corporate governance by reducing executive tunnelling, and it recommends policies to increase female board representation. Further research is needed to explore the nuanced effects of gender diversity on compensation practices in emerging markets.