Board Gender Diversity and Dividend Policy in SMEs: Moderating Role of Capital Structure in Emerging Market

Abstract

Given the mix findings in literature regarding gender diversity and dividend policy, we suspected that capital structure is an intervening variable to moderate the relationship. This paper therefore examines the joint role of board gender diversity and capital structure of a firm; does it improve or weaken dividend policy. The study analyzed 2015 year data from 1,011 unlisted firms from Ghana. Structured questionnaire and published annual reports were used to obtain the required data for the study. The results indicate that the relationship between the interaction term and dividend policy is insignificant, hence capital structure does not moderate the relationship between board gender diversity and dividend policy. Policy makers should not blindly adopt initiative of gender equality from another country; instead they should carefully examine the influence of capital structure and the causality of relation before appointing more or less of females on corporate boards.