Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia
We investigate the effect of women directors on the cost of bank loans for a sample of Australian listed firms during the period 2002-2017. More women on both boards and committees are associated with lower loan spreads, reduced default risk, and improved financial reporting quality. The reduction...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Murcia
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Revista de Contabilidad: Spanish Accounting Review |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistas.um.es/rcsar/article/view/478341 |
| _version_ | 1827387256935022592 |
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| author | Carlos Fernández-Méndez Shams Pathan Robert B. Durand |
| author_facet | Carlos Fernández-Méndez Shams Pathan Robert B. Durand |
| author_sort | Carlos Fernández-Méndez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
We investigate the effect of women directors on the cost of bank loans for a sample of Australian listed firms during the period 2002-2017. More women on both boards and committees are associated with lower loan spreads, reduced default risk, and improved financial reporting quality. The reduction in loan spread is seen from when the first female director joins the board, and the effect of that is stronger than the effects of additional (second and subsequent) women joining the board. Moreover, women’s leadership status reinforces this effect. Our results are consistent with the idea that female directors exhibit greater risk aversion than male directors, that women are not treated as tokens and are influential—even as a minority group on the board—and that they enhance corporate governance and reporting quality.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:59:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-309cc7e93aa341a782c1ae01dcfc2ab2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1138-4891 1988-4672 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:59:20Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Murcia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista de Contabilidad: Spanish Accounting Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-309cc7e93aa341a782c1ae01dcfc2ab22024-01-08T10:43:35ZengUniversidad de MurciaRevista de Contabilidad: Spanish Accounting Review1138-48911988-46722024-01-0127110.6018/rcsar.478341Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from AustraliaCarlos Fernández-Méndez0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0266-7066Shams Pathan1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8171-3501Robert B. Durand2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4796-5024University of Oviedo, Oviedo-SPAINCurtin University, Bentley-AUSTRALIACurtin University, Bentley-AUSTRALIA We investigate the effect of women directors on the cost of bank loans for a sample of Australian listed firms during the period 2002-2017. More women on both boards and committees are associated with lower loan spreads, reduced default risk, and improved financial reporting quality. The reduction in loan spread is seen from when the first female director joins the board, and the effect of that is stronger than the effects of additional (second and subsequent) women joining the board. Moreover, women’s leadership status reinforces this effect. Our results are consistent with the idea that female directors exhibit greater risk aversion than male directors, that women are not treated as tokens and are influential—even as a minority group on the board—and that they enhance corporate governance and reporting quality. https://revistas.um.es/rcsar/article/view/478341Women directorsGender diversityWomen’s leadershipBank loansLoan spread |
| spellingShingle | Carlos Fernández-Méndez Shams Pathan Robert B. Durand Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia Revista de Contabilidad: Spanish Accounting Review Women directors Gender diversity Women’s leadership Bank loans Loan spread |
| title | Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia |
| title_full | Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia |
| title_fullStr | Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia |
| title_short | Do women directors impact the cost of bank financing? Evidence from Australia |
| title_sort | do women directors impact the cost of bank financing evidence from australia |
| topic | Women directors Gender diversity Women’s leadership Bank loans Loan spread |
| url | https://revistas.um.es/rcsar/article/view/478341 |
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