From Church Leadership to Firm Leadership: Religion of Early State Residents, State Institutions, and Present-Day Corporate Female Executives

I argue that early residents of a U.S. state have left imprints in the state constitution to reflect their religious preferences. Such imprints help explain the varying constitutions across U.S. states, which in turn affect the present-day female representation in corporate leadership. Analyzing a firm-level data set supplemented by a state-level sample and extensive robustness checks, I find that the prevalence of Protestantism at the time of a U.S. state’s admission to the Union is positively related to female representation in the leadership teams of S&P 1500 firms. One mechanism for the persistence of the Protestant imprinting is state constitutions’ emphasis on equality issues. In addition, the historical Catholic immigration to different states, serving as a counter-imprinting force, has weakened this effect. My study contributes to imprinting theory by considering dynamics and developing a regional-level institutional imprinting perspective. I also contribute to a more nuanced understanding of historical antecedents and contemporary firm consequences of subnational institutions, tracing the persistent heterogeneities among firms to some deep historical roots.