The role of identity in corporate governance: evidence from gender differences in the audit committee chair-chief financial officer dyad
基于身份理论，研究发现审计委员会主席与首席财务官性别不同时，主席会加强监控，但这并未改善财务报告质量，反而因分散CFO精力导致运营绩效下降。
Abstract We examine the role of identity in corporate governance, focusing on an important dyad: audit committee chair and chief financial officer. Drawing on identity theory, which argues that people have lower trust in those they perceive to be different from themselves, we posit that the audit committee chair’s trust in the chief financial officer is lower when the two are different genders. We find that a gender difference between the two is associated with greater monitoring by the chair, consistent with lower trust. This effect is attenuated when a firm has value-based controls that promote diversity tolerance or when a chief financial officer seems more trustworthy. We find no evidence that the increased monitoring improves financial reporting. However, we find evidence that the increased monitoring generates negative externalities by distracting the chief financial officer, as proxied by lower operational performance. Our findings underscore the importance of identity in corporate governance.