Essay in Corporate Finance

Abstract

I investigate the impact of CEO gender on firm stock return performance. I combine merger and acquisition database with accounting and stock return database during the 2006 – 2019 period characterized by a significant increase in female CEOs. We find that acquisitions by firms led by female CEOs with longer tenure underperform relative to a benchmark and relative to male CEOs. We find no underperformance for female CEOs early in their tenure or for male CEOs. Unlike male CEOs, female CEOs are not penalized for poor acquisition performance through turnover or compensation. The findings are consistent with weak corporate governance as applied towards female CEOs resulting in inferior acquisition performance.