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Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence

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  • Chen, Jie
  • Leung, Woon Sau
  • Song, Wei
  • Goergen, Marc

Abstract

We suggest a novel reason why there might be a need for female board representation. Female participation in the boardroom attenuates the CEO’s overconfident views about his firm’s prospects as we find that male CEOs at firms with female directors are less likely to hold deep-in-the-money options. Further, we argue that female board representation matters for industries where male CEO overconfidence is more prevalent. We find support for our argument as female directors are associated with less aggressive investment policies, better acquisition decisions, and improved financial performance for firms operating in industries with high overconfidence prevalence. We also identify a market failure around economic crises. Firms that do not have (sufficient) female board representation suffer a greater drop in performance as a result of the crisis than those that have female board representation.

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  • Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Song, Wei & Goergen, Marc, 2019. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 70-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:53:y:2019:i:c:p:70-90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2019.06.002
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    Cited by:

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    4. Mary Brooke Billings & April Klein & Yanting Crystal Shi, 2022. "Investors’ response to the #MeToo movement: does corporate culture matter?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 897-937, September.
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    6. Ningrui Wen & Muhammad Usman & Ahsan Akbar, 2023. "The Nexus between Managerial Overconfidence, Corporate Innovation, and Institutional Effectiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Khine Kyaw & Sirimon Treepongkaruna & Pornsit Jiraporn, 2022. "Board gender diversity and environmental emissions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2871-2881, November.
    8. Tosun, Onur Kemel & El Kalak, Izidin & Hudson, Robert, 2022. "How female directors help firms to attain optimal cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. An, Jiafu, 2020. "Is there an employee-based gender gap in informal financial markets? International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Ying Zhang & Yuting Guo & Aiman Nurdazym, 2023. "How do female CEOs affect corporate environmental policies?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 459-472, January.
    11. Agha, Mahmoud & Pramathevan, Shivani, 2023. "Executive gender, age, and corporate financial decisions and performance: The role of overconfidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    12. Gurdgiev, Constantin & Ni, Qiuxin, 2023. "Board diversity: Moderating effects of CEO overconfidence on firm financing decisions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    13. Atif, Muhammad & Hossain, Mohammed & Alam, Md Samsul & Goergen, Marc, 2021. "Does board gender diversity affect renewable energy consumption?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Guclu Atinc & Saurabh Srivastava & Sonia Taneja, 2022. "The impact of gender quotas on corporate boards: a cross-country comparative study," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(3), pages 685-706, September.
    15. Ruiying Xiao, 2024. "Female Entrepreneur on Board:Assessing the Effect of Gender on Corporate Financial Constraints," Papers 2401.02134, arXiv.org.
    16. Twardawski, Torsten & Kind, Axel, 2023. "Board overconfidence in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    17. Ingrid-Mihaela Dragotă & Andreea Curmei-Semenescu & Raluca Moscu, 2020. "CEO Diversity, Political Influences, and CEO Turnover in Unstable Environments: The Romanian Case," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, March.
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    19. Cong-Duc Tran & Minh-Tuan Phung & Fu-Ju Yang & Yi-Hsien Wang, 2020. "The Role of Gender Diversity in Downside Risk: Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Listed Firms," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-22, June.
    20. Thunyanee Pothisarn & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard & Pornsit Jiraporn & Suwongrat Papangkorn, 2023. "Sustainability, asset redeployability, and board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1738-1752, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Female board representation; CEO overconfidence; Investment; Firm performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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