Women in power with power: The influence of meaningful board representation on default risk

Abinzano, Isabel, Martinez, Beatriz and Poletti-Hughes, Jannine (2023) Women in power with power: The influence of meaningful board representation on default risk International Review of Financial Analysis, 89. p. 102771. ISSN 1057-5219, 1873-8079

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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the presence of female board members and firms' corporate default risk. We find an inverted “U-shaped” relationship for a sample of 917 firms in 19 emerging markets for the period 2005–2019. We also show that, consistent with critical mass theory, boards need to have three or more female directors to significantly reduce default risk. Furthermore, having female directors with an independent role on the board in countries with less familial dominance, or having female directors with a leadership position, significantly reduces default risk. Finally, we find a positive effect of the interaction between a country's gender inequality and board gender diversity on default risk.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Black-Scholes-Merton model, Critical mass, Default risk, Female directors
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 Jul 2023 08:50
Last Modified:	01 Mar 2026 00:15
DOI:	10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102771
Open Access URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3171705
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