Market Response to Court Rejection of California's Board Diversity Laws
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-6-2025
Abstract
California mandated that firms headquartered in the state include women (SB 826) and underrepresented minorities (AB 979) on their corporate boards. These laws, passed in 2018 and 2020 respectively, were held to violate the state's constitution by judges on the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2022. This paper examines the market reaction to these surprising court decisions, finding that California firms appreciated significantly on the days of the rulings, and there is evidence that firms that were not in compliance with the laws exhibited larger abnormal returns than firms that were in compliance.
Publication Title
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
Repository Citation
Klick, Jonathan, "Market Response to Court Rejection of California's Board Diversity Laws" (2025). Articles. 521.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_articles/521
https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12405
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12405
Publication Citation
22 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 4 (2025)