How Does Top Executive Gender Diversity affect Corporate Social Performance? (WITHDRAWN)

Abstract

Under upper echelon theory, an increase in top management team (TMT) gender diversity may lead to improved corporate social performance (CSP) because women leaders bring informational and social diversity to TMT decision-making and engagement with stakeholders. On the other hand, financial conservatism associated with female leadership may restrain investment in socially responsible initiatives and counteract the predicted positive effect. We investigate how increases in TMT gender diversity affect CSP in periods before and after the 2008 financial crisis. We find that an increase in TMT diversity positively affects CSP before the financial crisis, but negatively affects CSP after the financial crisis. Our results reflect the complexity of the effects of gender diversity in top management on CSP and demonstrate the need for contextual analysis of such effects.