IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/ijodag/v22y2025i1d10.1057_s41310-024-00247-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does CEO gender impact dividends in emerging economies?

Author

Listed:
  • Aastha Mittal

    (Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi)

  • Shveta Singh

    (Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to understand the perspective of female CEOs regarding corporate dividend decisions in the context of two large emerging economies, India and China. The study is based on listed firms from NIFTY 500 index and CSI 300 index over the period 2010 to 2021 from India and China, respectively. The study considers a total of 5,269 firm-year observations with 3,293 panel observations based on India and 1,976 observations based on China. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression has been employed along with industry and year fixed effects. As robustness tests, we employ system GMM and lagged variables to confirm our findings. The findings depict the tendency of female CEOs to avoid dividend payments in Indian sample firms, highlighting a substitution effect between gender diversity and dividends. Female CEOs ameliorate corporate governance and discipline managers, and hence, the need to pay dividends to mitigate agency conflicts reduces. However, we find no significant impact in case of Chinese listed firms. Moreover, in a pioneer approach, the results depict that this decision does not harm the operating and market performance of the firm, and therefore, is in line with the goal of shareholders’ wealth maximization. The results remain consistent to more robust estimation techniques like GMM and lagged variables estimation. To our knowledge, ours is the first study that investigates the contribution of women CEOs in dividend decisions along with its impact on firm performance in India and China with such a sizeable sample. The study carries significant spill-over effects. It will have a considerable impact on the human resource management (HRM) practices with respect to diversity and inclusion. Moreover, it will help investors to make better decisions when investing in firms led by women, especially in developing and emerging economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Aastha Mittal & Shveta Singh, 2025. "Does CEO gender impact dividends in emerging economies?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 165-176, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:ijodag:v:22:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41310-024-00247-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41310-024-00247-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41310-024-00247-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41310-024-00247-2?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. Hamelin, Anaïs & Lefebvre, Vivien & Weill, Laurent, 2022. "No debt no performance? CEO gender matters," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    2. Irfan Ullah & Muhammad Ansar Majeed & Hong-Xing Fang & Muhammad Arif Khan, 2020. "Female CEOs and investment efficiency: evidence from an emerging economy," Pacific Accounting Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 443-474, November.
    3. Liang Shao & Chuck CY Kwok & Omrane Guedhami, 2010. "National culture and dividend policy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1391-1414, October.
    4. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    5. Saeed, Abubakr & Sameer, Muhammad, 2017. "Impact of board gender diversity on dividend payments: Evidence from some emerging economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1100-1113.
    6. Yasuharu Aoki, 2014. "How Does the Largest Shareholder Affect Dividends?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 613-645, December.
    7. Kaminsky, Graciela & Lyons, Richard K. & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2004. "Managers, investors, and crises: mutual fund strategies in emerging markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 113-134, October.
    8. Sanyun Zeng & Lihong Wang, 2015. "CEO gender and corporate cash holdings. Are female CEOs more conservative?," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 449-474, December.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc & Correia da Silva, Luis, 2005. "When do German firms change their dividends?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 375-399, March.
    11. María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez & Inmaculada Bel-Oms, 2016. "The board of directors and dividend policy: the effect of gender diversity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(3), pages 523-547.
    12. Ye, Dezhu & Deng, Jie & Liu, Yi & Szewczyk, Samuel H. & Chen, Xiao, 2019. "Does board gender diversity increase dividend payouts? Analysis of global evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-26.
    13. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    14. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    15. Stephane Pallage & Michel A. Robe, 2003. "On the Welfare Cost of Economic Fluctuations in Developing Countries," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 677-698, May.
    16. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    17. Nemiraja Jadiyappa & Pavana Jyothi & Bhanu Sireesha & Leila Emily Hickman, 2019. "CEO gender, firm performance and agency costs: evidence from India," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(2), pages 482-495, March.
    18. Rebel A. Cole, 2013. "What Do We Know about the Capital Structure of Privately Held US Firms? Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 42(4), pages 777-813, December.
    19. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Goergen, Marc, 2017. "The impact of board gender composition on dividend payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 86-105.
    20. Qurat Ul Ain & Xianghui Yuan & Hafiz Mustansar Javaid & Jinkai Zhao & Li Xiang, 2021. "Board Gender Diversity and Dividend Policy in Chinese Listed Firms," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, February.
    21. Loncan, Tiago, 2020. "Foreign institutional ownership and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from emerging economies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    22. Fairchild, Richard & Guney, Yilmaz & Thanatawee, Yordying, 2014. "Corporate dividend policy in Thailand: Theory and evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 129-151.
    23. 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.
    24. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    25. Sah, Nilesh B., 2021. "Cash is Queen: Female CEOs’ propensity to hoard cash," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    26. Liu, Haiming & Liang, Quanxi & Ling, Leng, 2022. "Underrepresentation of female CEOs in China: The role of culture, market forces, and foreign experience of directors," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    27. Baba, Naohiko, 2009. "Increased presence of foreign investors and dividend policy of Japanese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 163-174, April.
    28. 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.
    29. Renate Schubert, 1999. "Financial Decision-Making: Are Women Really More Risk-Averse?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 381-385, May.
    30. Gugler, Klaus & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2003. "Corporate governance and dividend pay-out policy in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 731-758, August.
    31. Ajay Palvia & Emilia Vähämaa & Sami Vähämaa, 2015. "Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking Industry During the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 577-594, October.
    32. Richard A. Bernardi & Donald F. Arnold, 1997. "An Examination of Moral Development within Public Accounting by Gender, Staff Level, and Firm," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 653-668, December.
    33. Frye, Melissa B. & Pham, Duong T., 2018. "CEO gender and corporate board structures," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 110-124.
    34. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Puri, Manju, 2013. "Managerial attitudes and corporate actions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 103-121.
    35. Jurkus, Anthony F. & Park, Jung Chul & Woodard, Lorraine S., 2011. "Women in top management and agency costs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 180-186, February.
    36. Easterbrook, Frank H, 1984. "Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 650-659, September.
    37. Betina Dimaranan & Elena Ianchovichina & Will Martin, 2009. "How will growth in China and India affect the world economy?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(3), pages 551-571, October.
    38. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2020. "Financial crisis, shareholder protection and cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    39. Larry H. P. Lang & Mara Faccio & Leslie Young, 2001. "Dividends and Expropriation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 54-78, March.
    40. Adeel Mustafa & Abubakr Saeed & Muhammad Awais & Shahab Aziz, 2020. "Board-Gender Diversity, Family Ownership, and Dividend Announcement: Evidence from Asian Emerging Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, March.
    41. Jin, Zhenhu, 2000. "On the differential market reaction to dividend initiations," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 263-277.
    42. Hibbert, Ann Marie & Lawrence, Edward R. & Prakash, Arun J., 2013. "Does knowledge of finance mitigate the gender difference in financial risk-aversion?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 140-152.
    43. Kato, Hideaki Kiyoshi & Loewenstein, Uri & Tsay, Wenyuh, 2002. "Dividend policy, cash flow, and investment in Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 443-473, September.
    44. Hamdi Ben-Nasr, 2015. "Government Ownership and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Newly Privatised Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 665-704, June.
    45. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    46. Suman, Samridhi & Singh, Shveta, 2022. "The Role of Multiple Large Shareholders in Dividend Payouts: Evidence from India," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 25(1), pages 120-151, May.
    47. Sah, Nilesh B. & Adhikari, Hari P. & Krolikowski, Marcin W. & Malm, James & Nguyen, Thanh T., 2022. "CEO gender and risk aversion: Further evidence using the composition of firm’s cash," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    48. Huang, Jiekun & Kisgen, Darren J., 2013. "Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 822-839.
    49. David A. Carter & Betty J. Simkins & W. Gary Simpson, 2003. "Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Value," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 33-53, February.
    50. Faccio, Mara & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 193-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Qurat Ul Ain & Xianghui Yuan & Hafiz Mustansar Javaid & Jinkai Zhao & Li Xiang, 2021. "Board Gender Diversity and Dividend Policy in Chinese Listed Firms," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, February.
    2. Paul McGuinness & Kevin Lam & João Vieito, 2015. "Gender and other major board characteristics in China: Explaining corporate dividend policy and governance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 989-1038, December.
    3. García-Meca, Emma & López-Iturriaga, Félix J. & Santana-Martín, Domingo Javier, 2022. "Board gender diversity and dividend payout: The critical mass and the family ties effect," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Doan, Trang & Iskandar-Datta, Mai, 2020. "Are female top executives more risk-averse or more ethical? Evidence from corporate cash holdings policy," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 161-176.
    6. McGuinness, Paul B., 2021. "Board member age, stock seasoning and the evolution of capital structure in Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    7. Cardillo, Giovanni & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Does gender diversity on banks' boards matter? Evidence from public bailouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Maria Fátima Ribeiro Borges & Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo & Jonas Oliveira, 2025. "Literature review on gender diversity in top management teams of companies and its relationship with firm performance and audit quality," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 177-201, March.
    9. Ye, Dezhu & Deng, Jie & Liu, Yi & Szewczyk, Samuel H. & Chen, Xiao, 2019. "Does board gender diversity increase dividend payouts? Analysis of global evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-26.
    10. Dang-Khoa Duong & Thi Thanh-Phuong Phan & Kim-Hung Pho & Michael McAleer, 2020. "Impact of Board Characteristics and State Ownership on Dividend Policy in Vietnam," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 24(4), pages 1-34, December.
    11. Dang-Khoa Duong & Thi Thanh-Phuong Phan & Kim-Hung Pho & Michael McAleer, 2020. "Impact of Board Characteristics and State Ownership on Dividend Policy in Vietnam," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 24(4), pages 1-34, December.
    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. Adeel Mustafa & Abubakr Saeed & Muhammad Awais & Shahab Aziz, 2020. "Board-Gender Diversity, Family Ownership, and Dividend Announcement: Evidence from Asian Emerging Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, March.
    14. Nirosha Hewa Wellalage & Stuart Locke, 2018. "Do female directors create value for the shareholders? Case study of New Zealand publicly listed companies," International Journal of Corporate Governance, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(4), pages 347-371.
    15. Young Zik Shin & Jeung-Yoon Chang & Kyeongmin Jeon & Hyunpyo Kim, 2020. "Female directors on the board and investment efficiency: evidence from Korea," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 438-479, September.
    16. Ernest Gyapong & Ammad Ahmed & Collins G Ntim & Muhammad Nadeem, 2021. "Board gender diversity and dividend policy in Australian listed firms: the effect of ownership concentration," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 603-643, June.
    17. Irfan Ullah & Muhammad Ansar Majeed & Hong-Xing Fang & Muhammad Arif Khan, 2020. "Female CEOs and investment efficiency: evidence from an emerging economy," Pacific Accounting Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 443-474, November.
    18. Suman, Samridhi & Singh, Shveta, 2022. "The Role of Multiple Large Shareholders in Dividend Payouts: Evidence from India," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 25(1), pages 120-151, May.
    19. Jabbouri, Imad, 2016. "Determinants of corporate dividend policy in emerging markets: Evidence from MENA stock markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 283-298.
    20. Syed Shams & Kristina Minnick & Mehdi Khedmati & Abeyratna Gunasekarage, 2024. "Gender diversity and acquisitions: How female directors add value in acquisition decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1-2), pages 113-147, January.

    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:pal:ijodag:v:22:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41310-024-00247-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    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.