Does Gender Influence The Investment Strategy of Private Equity Firms? Evidence from Impact Investing

Abstract

We face a finance gap in both, female and impact investing. This paper examines gender influences on impact investment strategy of private equity. Using a comprehensive dataset on all PE deals from 2010-2021, we uncover new evidence that female ownership of PE firms significantly increases the probability of impact investment strategy. We have examined this from three different angles: the PE investor level, the investor-deal level, and the syndicate-deal level. We find pronounced differences of this relationship between Common (positive) and Civil (negative) Law countries, and between early (insignificant) and late (significantly positive) investment stages. Our findings remain stable across multiple robustness tests.

Keywords: venture capital; private equity; impact investing; gender

JEL Classification: G24