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Female-led firms : Performance and risk attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Pierpaolo Parrotta

    (Maastricht University [Maastricht])

  • Nina Smith

    (Aarhus University [Aarhus])

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between gender of the CEO and composition of the board of directors (female chairman and share of women in the boardroom) and firm's risk attitudes measured as variability in four firm outcome variables (investments, profits, return to equity, and sales). Using a merged employer-employee panel sample of Danish companies with more than 50 employees, we find extensive evidence of a negative association between female CEO and firm's risk attitudes. This finding might be consistent with the theoretical assumption according to which women typically present a substantially higher risk aversion profile and put more effort in monitoring firm activities than men in the financial matter domains. A number of robustness checks corroborate and better explain our main findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierpaolo Parrotta & Nina Smith, 2014. "Female-led firms : Performance and risk attitudes," Post-Print hal-01513946, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01513946
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Merlin Stein, 2022. "When are large female-led firms more resilient against shocks? Learnings from Indian enterprises during COVID-19 with diff-in-diff and causal forests," CSAE Working Paper Series 2022-01, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Estrin, Saul & Stephan, Ute & Vujić, Sunčica, 2014. "Do women earn less even as social entrepreneurs?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60606, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Raheel Mumtaz & Muhammad Farooq Rehan & Quaisar Ijaz Khan & Rubab Zaidi, 2021. "Board Gender Diversity, Firm Performance and Risk-Taking: The Case of Non-Financial Firms of Pakistan," iRASD Journal of Economics, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 3(3), pages 354-367, December.
    5. Philippe Adair & Imène Berguiga, 2021. "Exogenous vs. endogenous obstacles to funding female entrepreneurs in MENA countries," Erudite Working Paper 2021-13, Erudite.
    6. Mohammadi, Ali & Shafi, Kourosh, 2015. "The contribution patterns of equity-crowdfunding investors: Gender, Risk aversion and Observational learning," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 419, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    7. Damiani, Mirella & Ricci, Andrea, 2015. "Gender earnings differentials and pay structure of Italian family managers," MPRA Paper 61429, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Luís Pacheco & Júlio Lobão & Sílvia Coelho, 2023. "Gender and Risk Aversion: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Francesco Devicienti & Elena Grinza & Alessandro Manello & Davide Vannoni, 2019. "What Are the Benefits of Having More Female Leaders? Evidence from the Use of Part-Time Work in Italy," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(4), pages 897-926, August.
    10. Theune, Katja & Behr, Andreas, 2016. "Female firm leadership. Extent and performance in 14 EU member states," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145798, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Léopold Djoutsa Wamba & Isidore Bimeme Bengono & Jean-Michel Sahut & Frédéric Teulon, 2018. "Governance and performance of MFIs: the Cameroon case," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 7-30, March.
    12. Vu Quang Trinh & Ngan Duong Cao & Linh Hai Dinh & Hong Ngoc Nguyen, 2021. "Boardroom gender diversity and dividend payout strategies: Effects of mergers deals," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 6014-6035, October.
    13. Haeng-Sun Kim, 2019. "Differential Impact of Uncertainty on Exporting Decision in Risk-averse and Risk-taking Firms," Working Papers hal-02128335, HAL.
    14. Mehdi Nekhili & Héla Chakroun & Tawhid Chtioui, 2018. "Women’s Leadership and Firm Performance: Family Versus Nonfamily Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 291-316, December.
    15. Hanan Morsy & Amira El-Shal & Andinet Woldemichael, 2019. "Working Paper 317 - Women Self-Selection out of the Credit Market in Africa," Working Paper Series 2443, African Development Bank.
    16. Morsy, Hanan & El-Shal, Amira & Woldemichael, Andinet, 2019. "Women Self-Selection out of the Credit Market in Africa," MPRA Paper 100395, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Francesco Devicienti & Elena Grinza & Alessandro Manello & Davide Vannoni, 2016. "Which Are the Benefits of Having more Female Leaders? Evidence from the Use of Part-Time Work in Italy," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 489, Collegio Carlo Alberto.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk; Performance; Female; Attitude;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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