A working paper by Mihail Miletkov, ZhaoZhao He and Viktoriya Staneva was recently featured in a blog by the Columbia Law school. Read about their research findings HERE.
Generational identity can influence many aspects of life, from family and work to political views to consumer and corporate behavior. In the United States today, there are four adult generations: Millennials (born 1982 – 2005), Generation X (born 1961 – 1981), Baby Boomers (born 1943 – 1960), and the Silent Generation (born 1925 – 1942).[1] Of these four, only one – the Baby Boomers – have a dominating presence in U.S. corporate boardrooms. While the Millennial and Silent generations may be too young and too old, respectively, to have meaningful representation on corporate boards, Gen Xers (between the ages of 39 and 59 as of 2020) should be well-positioned to make a valuable contribution as corporate directors. Indeed, some of the most successful business leaders today are Gen Xers. In 2007, Gen Xers held a negligible 5 percent of board seats in S&P 1500 companies, but by 2017, 20 percent of the board seats were held by Gen Xers. Are these “New Kids on the Block” able to imprint some of their core values and beliefs on the organizations they now help lead? Do they influence overall firm performance? These are the questions we explore in a new paper, “New Kids on the Block: The Effect of Generation X Directors on Corporate Performance.”
