{"title":"When does a female leadership advantage exist? Evidence from SOEs in China","authors":"Hanchen Li, Xiaochuan Tong","doi":"10.1111/corg.12510","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Research Question/Issue</h3>\n \n <p>We approach the ongoing debate in the literature on when and why a female leadership advantage exists in the context of China. In particular, we examine whether female CEOs outperform male CEOs in state-owned enterprises (SOEs).</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Research Findings/Insights</h3>\n \n <p>We show that a female leadership advantage exists in SOEs. We find that the female leadership increased performance is attributed to improved profitability, capital structure, and operating efficiency. The magnitude of this gender effect is bigger in central state-owned enterprises (CSOEs) than that in local state-owned enterprises (LSOEs). The results are robust to additional tests that mitigate the sample selection and other endogeneity concerns.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Theoretical/Academic Implications</h3>\n \n <p>We use the role congruity theory to motivate and develop the hypotheses drawing insights upon the literature in psychology and leadership. Female CEOs are perceived as less congruent with their leadership roles given the gender role stereotypes. Thus, they face more challenges and difficulties than male CEOs. These obstacles take at least two forms which are significant in SOEs: shareholder activism and sex discrimination. Female CEOs have to outperform their male counterparts to alleviate the pressure from shareholder activism and showcase their managerial skills and abilities.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Practitioner/Policy Implications</h3>\n \n <p>For the state shareholders, the extra scrutiny in selecting female CEOs should be lifted given this outperformance. The evidence is also relevant for CEOs to choose their career paths among different types of firms, for boards of directors on their strategic decisions on CEO hiring, and for policy makers to promote the female leadership advantage.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":48209,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Governance-An International Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Corporate Governance-An International Review","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/corg.12510","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Research Question/Issue
We approach the ongoing debate in the literature on when and why a female leadership advantage exists in the context of China. In particular, we examine whether female CEOs outperform male CEOs in state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Research Findings/Insights
We show that a female leadership advantage exists in SOEs. We find that the female leadership increased performance is attributed to improved profitability, capital structure, and operating efficiency. The magnitude of this gender effect is bigger in central state-owned enterprises (CSOEs) than that in local state-owned enterprises (LSOEs). The results are robust to additional tests that mitigate the sample selection and other endogeneity concerns.
Theoretical/Academic Implications
We use the role congruity theory to motivate and develop the hypotheses drawing insights upon the literature in psychology and leadership. Female CEOs are perceived as less congruent with their leadership roles given the gender role stereotypes. Thus, they face more challenges and difficulties than male CEOs. These obstacles take at least two forms which are significant in SOEs: shareholder activism and sex discrimination. Female CEOs have to outperform their male counterparts to alleviate the pressure from shareholder activism and showcase their managerial skills and abilities.
Practitioner/Policy Implications
For the state shareholders, the extra scrutiny in selecting female CEOs should be lifted given this outperformance. The evidence is also relevant for CEOs to choose their career paths among different types of firms, for boards of directors on their strategic decisions on CEO hiring, and for policy makers to promote the female leadership advantage.
期刊介绍:
The mission of Corporate Governance: An International Review is to publish cutting-edge international business research on the phenomena of comparative corporate governance throughout the global economy. Our ultimate goal is a rigorous and relevant global theory of corporate governance. We define corporate governance broadly as the exercise of power over corporate entities so as to increase the value provided to the organization"s various stakeholders, as well as making those stakeholders accountable for acting responsibly with regard to the protection, generation, and distribution of wealth invested in the firm. Because of this broad conceptualization, a wide variety of academic disciplines can contribute to our understanding.