Does gender matter: The effects of CEO gender, board composition, and top management composition on risk-taking, capital allocation, and profitability of PSE-listed firms

This paper empirically examines the relationship between gender and corporate choices. Specifically this paper finds and examines the effects of chief executive officer (CEO) gender, and female presence in the board of directors (BODs) and top management officers on leverage, capital allocation, and profitability. 159 PSE-listed firms represent the sample. Through conducting comparison of means test and fixed effects estimation, this paper successfully establishes a link between managerial traits, such as gender, and differences in firms leverage, capital allocation, and profitability. The findings show that, first, women presence in top management motivates higher leverage and lower capital allocation, while only firm characteristics lead to changes in firms return on assets. Second, on average, only the risk taking of male and female CEOs and directors vary. And lastly, on average, woman presence in top management officers causes variations in risk taking, capital allocations, and return on assets