Ricerc@Sapienza

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a first impact assessment of the Italian quota law in order
to explore whether “gender equality by law” contributes to redefining, albeit in part, consolidating and
establishing positions of power and decision making. The paper analyses these dynamics by focusing on a
specific economic sector, the banking sector. The analysis strives to determine: whether binding quotas are
giving rise to an apparent enforcement by building up new distortionary equilibria (such as new forms of

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a strong connection among the gender diversity literature in the stream of gender quotas in the international context and the main legislation on gender diversity – the Law 120/2011 ‘‘Golfo-Mosca’’ – in Italy requiring listed companies and companies under the public control to implement policies for increasing board diversity.