IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v88y2023icp501-515.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board gender diversity and cost of equity: Evidence from mandatory female board representation

Author

Listed:
  • Jun, Chen
  • Qiyuan, Liu
  • Xiaofang, Ma
  • Zhang, Feida (Frank)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine whether and how board gender diversity impacts firms’ cost of equity. We predict that firms with greater board gender diversity enjoy a lower cost of equity than firms with less gender diversity due to a larger investor base, less information asymmetry among investors, and more conservative accounting disclosure. We use staggered worldwide boardroom gender diversity reforms as a quasi-natural experiment to conduct a difference-in-differences analysis. Using a large sample of firms from 43 markets, we obtain empirical evidence in line with our prediction. Our results are robust to tests involving alternative samples, specifications, and explanations. Cross-sectional analyses show that the effect of board gender diversity on the cost of equity is less (more) pronounced when firms are more (less) gender-equal, transparent, and conservative in accounting.

Suggested Citation

  • Jun, Chen & Qiyuan, Liu & Xiaofang, Ma & Zhang, Feida (Frank), 2023. "Board gender diversity and cost of equity: Evidence from mandatory female board representation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 501-515.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:88:y:2023:i:c:p:501-515
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2023.06.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056023002009
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2023.06.031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1285-1318, September.
    2. Feng, Zhi-Yuan & Wang, Ming-Long & Huang, Hua-Wei, 2015. "Equity Financing and Social Responsibility: Further International Evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 247-280.
    3. Hyun A. Hong & Mingyi Hung & Jieying Zhang, 2016. "The Use of Debt Covenants Worldwide: Institutional Determinants and Implications on Financial Reporting," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 644-681, June.
    4. Verrecchia, Robert E., 2001. "Essays on disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 97-180, December.
    5. Merton, Robert C, 1987. "A Simple Model of Capital Market Equilibrium with Incomplete Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(3), pages 483-510, July.
    6. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Srinidhi, Bin & Ng, Anthony C., 2011. "Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 314-338, April.
    7. Mahajan, Arvind & Tartaroglu, Semih, 2008. "Equity market timing and capital structure: International evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 754-766, May.
    8. Khan, Mozaffar & Watts, Ross L., 2009. "Estimation and empirical properties of a firm-year measure of accounting conservatism," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 132-150, December.
    9. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    10. Dhaliwal, Dan & Judd, J. Scott & Serfling, Matthew & Shaikh, Sarah, 2016. "Customer concentration risk and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 23-48.
    11. Kim, Kyonghee & Mauldin, Elaine & Patro, Sukesh, 2014. "Outside directors and board advising and monitoring performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 110-131.
    12. Ben Hmiden, Oussama & Rjiba, Hatem & Saadi, Samir, 2022. "Competition through environmental CSR engagement and cost of equity capital," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rasha Mahboub, 2024. "Corporate Governance and Obfuscation in Chairmen’s Letters: The Case of MENA Banks," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Ding, Shusheng & Du, Min & Cui, Tianxiang & Zhang, Yongmin & Duygun, Meryem, 2024. "Impact of board diversity on Chinese firms’ cross-border M&A performance: An artificial intelligence approach," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1321-1335.
    3. Xiaohui Xin & Ruoyu Zhu & Guoli Ou, 2024. "Does digital transformation lower equity financing costs? An explanation based on the “return-risk-expectation” framework," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-26, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    2. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    3. Zhang, Qiyu & Ding, Rong & Chen, Ding & Zhang, Xiaoxiang, 2023. "The effects of mandatory ESG disclosure on price discovery efficiency around the world," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Chan, Ann L.-C. & Hsu, Audrey W.-H. & Lee, Edward, 2015. "Mandatory adoption of IFRS and timely loss recognition across Europe: The effect of corporate finance incentives," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 70-82.
    5. Lu Qiao & Emmanuel Adegbite & Tam Huy Nguyen, 2024. "CFO overconfidence and conditional accounting conservatism," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 1-37, January.
    6. Eunsoo Kim, 2022. "The Effect of Female Personnel on the Voluntary Disclosure of Carbon Emissions Information," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Biehl, Henrike & Bleibtreu, Christopher & Stefani, Ulrike, 2024. "The real effects of financial reporting: Evidence and suggestions for future research," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    8. Simon Ho & Annie Li & Kinsun Tam & Feida Zhang, 2015. "CEO Gender, Ethical Leadership, and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 351-370, March.
    9. Majeed, Muhammad Ansar & Xie, Shilei & Ullah, Irfan & Fu, Jianru & Wang, Chunlin, 2023. "Do powerful CEOs affect qualitative financial disclosure? Evidence from accounting comparability," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Li, Xiping & Goodell, John W. & Liao, Jing & Yao, Shouyu & Liu, Xutang, 2022. "Does executive gender diversity supply accounting conservatism in traditional societies? Evidence from CEO-CFO combinations in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    11. Bo-Hung Chiou & Shen-Ho Chang, 2020. "Influence of Investment Efficiency by Managers and Accounting Conservatism on Idiosyncratic Risks to Investors," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8.
    12. Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2006. "International Differences in the Cost of Equity Capital: Do Legal Institutions and Securities Regulation Matter?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 485-531, June.
    13. Jan Diebecker & Friedrich Sommer, 2017. "The impact of corporate sustainability performance on information asymmetry: the role of institutional differences," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 471-517, March.
    14. Ferdous, Lutfa Tilat & Atawnah, Nader & Yeboah, Richard & Zhou, Yifan, 2024. "Firm-level climate risk and accounting conservatism: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PC).
    15. Callen, Jeffrey L. & Fang, Xiaohua & Zhang, Wenjun, 2020. "Protection of proprietary information and financial reporting opacity: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Sun, Zeyu & Yang, Ge & Bai, Haichen, 2023. "The spillover effect of customers' financial risk on suppliers' conservative reporting: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    17. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    18. Yuan Chang & Kun-Tsung Wu & Shu-Hui Lin & Chia-Jung Lin, 2024. "Board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-29, December.
    19. Jing Wang & Huilan Zhang, 2022. "Political transparency, corporate governance and economic significance," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 49-66, March.
    20. Gao, Kaijuan & Wang, Manya & Liu, Jin, 2024. "Board chair gender, glass ceiling, and IPO underpricing: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1152-1171.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mandatory female board representation; Cost of equity; International evidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:88:y:2023:i:c:p:501-515. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.