Breaking the glass ceiling: The home-host diffusion of gender-equal practice in multinational corporations (MNCs)

Do multinational corporations (MNCs) transfer gender practice to their subsidiaries? Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment setting, we investigate whether MNCs from countries with mandatory gender-quota legislation exhibit higher propensity to appoint women chief executive officers (CEOs) in their subsidiaries than those whose home countries lack such legislation. We also theorise that MNCs’ influence on their subsidiaries might be reinforced by stationing their personnel in the subsidiary, by place-based cultural embeddedness, and by industry labor demographics in the local environment. Utilizing a 15-year panel dataset and difference-in-differences estimations, this study contributes evidence on the causal link between intra-firm diffusion of gender norms and the appointment of women CEOs. • MNCs from countries with mandatory gender-quota legislation exhibit higher propensity to appoint women CEOs in their subsidiaries. • The parent company’s influence on its subsidiary is found to be stronger when it has more expatriates in the subsidiary. • Women’s participation in the workforce within the local environment of the subsidiary complements the influence of the parent company.