AAA Spark Meeting of Regions

Employee Competency and Diversity as Measured Using Regional Demographic Data to Analyze Firm Value

• In Event: Employee Competency and Diversity Impacts of Corporte Water Risk Disclosure on Cost of Capital

Abstract

The relationship between employee quality and firm outcomes is extensively explored in the literature. Prior research focuses on examining the quality of top managers in a limited number of industries or using smaller datasets. This study fills this literature gap using demographic characteristics from Metropolitan Statistical Areas, where the firms’ headquarters are located, as a proxy for employee quality. The findings show that firms with high employee quality, in terms of employee competency and diversity, exhibit better firm value. The results suggest that ensuring the availability of an educated and diverse workforce provides long lasting firm value.

Authors

• Linh Le, Penn State Behrend

• Dongfang Nie, University of Texas at Permian Basin

• Victor Prybutok, University of North Texas

• Anh Ta, University of Nebraska Omaha