Female directors and cash holdings adjustment: Evidence from South Korea

Abstract

This paper investigates whether female board participation improves a firm's efforts to manage its cash holdings in Korea. We find that firms with female directors quickly adjust their cash holdings towards the target, particularly when they have excess cash, suggesting that female directors are more likely to respond to anticipated problems related to excess cash relative to liquidity problems that may arise on account of a cash shortage. Furthermore, the relationship between female directors and cash holding adjustment is stronger for non‐chaebol affiliates, female‐friendly companies, and non‐controversial business environments.