Your gender identity is who you are: Female chief executive officers and corporate debt structure
基于1993-2021年美国S&P 1500公司数据，研究发现女性CEO管理的公司债务水平更低，且更偏好保持债务能力和长期债务，风险规避是主要机制。
Abstract Using a large sample of S&P 1500 firms during 1993–2021, we empirically examine the implications of CEO gender on corporate debt structure. We find that after controlling for endogeneity, firms managed by female CEOs issue less debt than those managed by male CEOs. Female CEOs being more risk averse than male CEOs is the underlying mechanism which drives the negative relation between female CEOs and firm leverage. Further, we find that the effect of CEO gender is more pronounced when the firm's CEO is younger, the litigation risk is higher, and the market is more competitive. In terms of debt structure, firms managed by female CEOs prefer to maintain positive debt capacity and have longer debt maturities. Finally, we show that CEO gender has a stronger impact on debt structure than CFO gender. Taken together, our evidence suggests that there exist gender differences in terms of corporate debt borrowing decision making.