How Gender Affect Corporate Financial Decisions and Risk Taking

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 83%, University of Westminster, course: MSc Finance, Banking and Insurance, language: English, abstract: It is now becoming increasingly evident that gender plays a vital role in investment and financing decisions of many organisations today as men and women tend to behave and act differently. Women are generally perceived to be detail-oriented, keen and sceptical in decision making relative to their male counterparts who are more risk tolerant. This study examines a number of empirical studies and other relevant literature to help justify as to whether or not, there is a relationship between gender, corporate financial decisions and risk taking. Using General Motors (GM-US), a company that experienced a CEO and Board Chair changeover from male to female in early 2014 and 2016 respectively as a case study, the essay examines measures like leverage, solvency, M&A activities, and other metrics that can directly be attributed to CEO/Board chair's decisions and how these decisions alter the company's risk profile in the period prior to and after the transition.