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Abstract
Existing literature shows that female-led companies exhibit lower leverage compared to their male-led counterparts, a trend frequently attributed to the traditional view of higher risk aversion among women. We explore firms with female CFOs at or close to their optimal leverage and find that their capital structure is no different than that of firms with male CFOs. We argue that female CFOs reveal their true preferences and risk appetite during significant capital structure adjustments and find that their tolerance for risk aligns closely with that of their male counterparts. Our study challenges the conventional narrative by demonstrating that the financing decisions of top executives are likely not influenced by gender-based psychological differences.
Department
Accounting and Finance
Publication Date
5-21-2024
Journal Title
Finance Research Letters
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Karolina Krystyniak, Viktoriya Staneva, Executive gender and capital structure: New evidence from rebalancing events, Finance Research Letters, Volume 65, 2024, 105520, ISSN 1544-6123, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105520.
Comments
This is an open access article published by Elsevier BV in Finance Research Letters in 2024, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105520