It’s a man’s world. At least in the board rooms of Fortune 500 companies, where women continue a pattern of holding less than 17 percent of corporate board seats. Compare that to other countries, some of which are so concerned about the lack of females on boards that they have set quotas. These countries have set quotas of 40 percent and have come a long way toward meeting them.

The top five countries in terms of percentage of female representation are:

Norway: 35.5

Finland: 29.9

France: 29.7

Sweden: 28.8

Belgium: 23.4

Germany hasn’t fared much better than the U.S., with just 18.5 percent of female board members. However, it recently introduced a quota of 30 percent by 2016.

While mandating quotas for U.S. companies may not be the answer, it’s time for companies to take a good look at their numbers and what having more women on the board could mean for them.

Here are three reasons you should consider adding more women to your board.

1. Having women on your board is good for your bottom line

A study done by Catalyst, a non-profit organization for women in business, found that Fortune 500 companies in the top quarter of number of female board members outperformed those in the lowest quarter with a 16 percent higher return on sales and 26 percent increase on invested capital.

These numbers increased to 84 percent higher return on sales and 60 percent increase on invested capital for companies with sustained high representation of women on their boards.

A study on decision-making was conducted by Chris Bart, professor of strategic management at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, and Gregory McQueen, a McMaster graduate and senior executive associate dean at A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, and published in the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics.

For their study they surveyed 600 board directors on how they made decisions. The results showed that while men prefer to make decisions following rules and tradition, women are more likely to consider the rights of others and to take a collaborative approach to decision-making, which translated into better performance for their companies.

2. Having women on board can decrease your company’s chances of going bankrupt

A study done by Leeds University Business School found that having just one woman on your board could cut your risk of bankruptcy by 20 percent. Having two or three members lowered your chances even more.

The study involved 17,000 companies in the UK that went insolvent in 2008. The results were published in an article in The Times with the title “Higher Heels, Lower Risk: Why Women on the Board Help a Company Through Recession.” Unfortunately, this one didn’t seem to be available online as I was intrigued to read more.

3. Having women on your board can result in less fraud, corruption and scandal

This from a recent article on thinkprogress.org, “Appointing Women to Company Boards Helps Avoid Scandals, Fraud and Corruption.”

MSCI, Inc., a provider of investment decision support tools, looked at the presence of women on the boards of thousands of companies and their corresponding propensity for scandals and tensions with shareholders. The results showed “a clear pattern between having higher than mandated percentages of women on boards and fewer governance-related controversies.”

The research is clear. Having a diverse board can benefit your company in many ways.

Yet, U.S. companies have been slow to respond. In fact, the article points out that male board members named John, Robert, James or William outnumber all women on boards.

Want to improve the performance of your company? Get a woman on board.