Female Board Leadership, Firm Performance, and Corporate Governance: Evidence from China

Using a large sample of Chinese firms, we examine the differences in firm performance and board functioning between firms with female chairs and those with male chairs. After controlling for the presence of female CEOs and the proportion of non-chair female directors on the board, we find that chairwoman firms perform better than chairman firms. Boards led by chairwomen also play not only a more effective supervisory role (as evidenced by a...