Date of Award
7-11-2024
Degree Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Department
Jack Welch College of Business & Technology
Dissertation Supervisor
Dr. Jing (Jack) Jiang
Committee Member
Dr. Shaokang (Ken) Wang
Committee Member
Dr. Bo Meng
Abstract
In today's globalized world, gender diversity is increasingly recognized as vital for companies, yet women remain underrepresented in leadership positions. The lack of representation of women in leadership roles and their possible impact on business performance have led to a greater awareness of gender diversity on corporate boards in recent years. However, men dominate in some fields and the representation of women in decision-making levels is very low and it is unclear whether gender diversity brings any benefits to the company in terms of financial performance and risktaking. Therefore, the study examines the impact of gender diversity on financial performance and risk-taking among 1,874 North American listed firms, panel data regression is utilized using the Pooled OLS model. The paper also introduces two macro-economic variables, namely; GDP Per Capita Growth and Inflation Rate as control variables in addition to Firm Size and Asset Turnover. Our findings reveal that gender diversity on corporate boards has a positive and significant effect on Return on Assets (ROA). However, the impact on Tobin’s Q, representing corporate value (market value of a company divided by its assets' replacement cost.), is positive but statistically insignificant. Moreover, gender diversity has a negative and insignificant influence on the risktaking behavior of the listed North American firms. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on gender diversity’s impact on corporate performance and risk-taking. As companies navigate an evolving landscape, understanding the dynamics of gender representation remains critical for sustainable growth and resilience. Meanwhile, based on the findings of the study, practical implications are also provided in the present study.
Recommended Citation
Houphouet, A.G. (2024). Board gender diversity and its impact on financial performance and risktaking: A study of listed North American companies. Jack Welch College of Business & Technology dissertation, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield CT. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/wcob_theses/42/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Corporate Finance Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons
Comments
Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration in Finance Sacred Heart University, Jack Welch College of Business and Technology, Sacred Heart University
Dissertation Number DBA04/2024