Gender Board Diversity & Corporate Risk-Taking: The Moderating Role of Social Capital
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2025-07-04
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en
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Initiatives such as gender quotas aim to promote inclusivity in corporate leadership, but raise questions about the impact of gender diversity on decision-making. Although women are often found to be more risk-averse than men, some studies suggest that women in top leadership positions may actually be more risk-seeking. Social capital has also been linked to higher corporate risk-taking. However, men and women typically develop different types of networks, which may influence their impact on boards. Despite growing research on these factors separately, few studies have combined gender diversity and social capital to examine their joint impact on corporate risk-taking. Therefore, this thesis investigates whether social capital of female board directors moderates the relationship between board gender diversity and corporate risk-taking. Using panel data on publicly listed European firms from 1999 to 2024, fixed effects regression models analyse two risk measures: leverage and R&D expenditures relative to sales. The findings provide limited evidence for a positive relationship between gender diversity and corporate risk-taking, but no consistent support for the role of social capital or its interaction with gender diversity. Several robustness checks, including alternative diversity and social capital measures, CEO social capital controls, and subsample analyses, support these results.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen