Abstract
The current research aims at checking the composition of "pink shares" within the Boards of the companies listed on regulated markets and at highlighting the consequences of the introduction of the Law n. 120 of July 12th, 2011 (Law Golfo-Mosca), that provided for the principle of balance between genders in the boards of listed companies and of not listed companies with public control. In the first place, Italian regulatory situation and positioning of national practice compared to other European and international systems have been assessed. Then empirical research was conducted on 188 companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange. Data on the composition of the board have been extracted from the annual financial statements for 2011 and 2012 and from the reports of the first half-year 2013. The work focused on the composition of the Boards of Directors, in order to analyze the evolution before and after the introduction of the Mosca-Golfo law, highlighting the number of women in the boards by sector, the trend of female presence in the boards and a comparison of the trend of women in the boards with the trend of women in executive roles. The introduction of quotas for women gave a decisive boost to the opening of the boards to the female gender, even though access for the moment is concentrated mainly on non-executive roles. The first data suggest that the observed trend will continue, but the lasting effects will depend on the ability to create a profound cultural change.