Are Female CFOs Different? Evidence from Gender Pay Gaps

Studies document an unexplained wage gap between male and female workers even as female workers have increased their human capital through skill and education. At the executive level, where skill and education are similar, the results on gender-based pay gap persist and are primarily attributed to career interruptions and differences in risk preferences. Tracing the compensation contracts of Execucomp firms (1992-2018), this study observes a nonexistent gap in compensation between genders among CFOs. In fact, female CFOs earn more than male CFOs in the later sample years. This paper offers several explanations for this phenomenon e.g. new evidence on risk preferences of females with financial expertise and changes in the social and regulatory climate.

Keywords: Corporate Policies; Gender

JEL Classification: G30; G34

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Francis, Bill B. and Hasan, Iftekhar and Sharma, Zenu, Are Female CFOs Different? Evidence from Gender Pay Gaps (June 20, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3631951 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3631951