Board gender diversity and the technical efficiency of microfinance institutions: Does size matter?

Does board gender diversity promote technical efficiency? Does the size of a microfinance institution (MFI) moderate the relation between board gender diversity and technical efficiency? This paper empirically addresses these two important questions with data (2010-2014) from 418 MFIs located in 64 countries. Contrary to the evidence from previous research, the paper demonstrates that board gender diversity hurts technical efficiency. The robustness of this finding is established by a number of techniques including endogeneity test. However, an interaction analysis establishes that board gender diversity interacts with the size of an MFI to positively drive technical efficiency.