The Impact of Female CEOS on Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Performance

Abstract

More work examining female leaders’ roles as part of the top management team is needed as we move toward greater gender equality in the workforce. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between female CEOs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. We find that female CEOs pursue CSR more aggressively than their male counterparts; however, their boards of directors often take measures to reign in female CEOs’ pursuit of CSR. Furthermore, we find that CSR mediates the relationship between female CEOs and business performance. In other words, female CEOs are associated with greater CSR commitments, which in turn are positively related to business performance. Research and managerial implications are presented. Corporate social responsibility, female CEOs, business performance

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, female CEOs, business performance