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How does busy female directors affect firms? Evidence from linear and quantile regression / Hao Wu

Swansea University Author: Hao Wu

  • E-Thesis – open access under embargo until: 21st December 2027

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.62360

Abstract

This thesis consists of three empirical chapters that examine the impact of busy female on firm performance and cash holding in the United States. The first chapter examines the effect of busy female directors on firm performance in the United States during the period of 1999-2018. We find that boar...

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Published: Swansea 2022
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Cai, Yuzhi ; Liu, Xicheng
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62360
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Abstract: This thesis consists of three empirical chapters that examine the impact of busy female on firm performance and cash holding in the United States. The first chapter examines the effect of busy female directors on firm performance in the United States during the period of 1999-2018. We find that boards with busy female have a negative impact on firm performance, consistent with busyness hypothesis. Number of analysts following firms and institutional ownership mitigates the effect of busy female on firm performance. Comparing to busy female directors, the detrimental impact of busy male directors on business performance is stronger. Our results provide several implications for managers and regulators, suggesting that busy female can be considered as a constraint for firm performance and the effect is weaken in firms with more information transparency and better monitoring. The second chapter examines the effect of busy female on corporate cash holding in the United States during the period of 1999-2018. Consistent with reputation hypothesis, we find that companies with busy female directors maintain a higher level of cash, suggesting that busy female can utilize her skills and network to provide competitive advantage for firms to acquire cash. Firm size, number of analysts following firms and institutional ownership mitigate the impact of busy female on firm’s cash holding. We find no correlation between busy male directors and firm’s cash holdings. In the third chapter, we apply quantile regression to examine the impact of busy female on different levels of firm performance in the United States during the 1999-2018 period. We find that the effect of busy female on firm performance varies across different quantiles. Specifically, busy female has a negative impact on firm performance at a low level of firm performance, supporting a busyness hypothesis. In contrast, busy female has a positive impact on firm performance at firms with high performance, consistent with a reputation hypothesis. We address the issue relating to the theory conflict, suggesting that both reputation and busyness hypotheses could explain the impact of busy female on firm performance depending on certain level of firm performance.
Keywords: Business, Finance and Management
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences