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Are Women More Likely to Seek Advice than Men? Evidence from the Boardroom

Author

Listed:
  • Maurice Levi

    (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada)

  • Kai Li

    (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Feng Zhang

    (David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, 1655 East Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract
It is commonly believed that women are more likely to seek advice than men; for example, on aspects of health or asking for directions when lost. This paper investigates whether women’s relatively greater propensity for advice seeking extends to important business decisions, specifically those involving corporate takeovers. Consistent with the evidence from other contexts, we show that the presence of female directors on target boards is positively and significantly associated with target boards seeking advice from top-ranked financial advisors. In contrast, we do not observe any significant association between the presence of female directors on bidder boards and their engagement of top-ranked financial advisors. We argue that the presence of a gender effect for target boards but not for bidder boards is consistent with less overconfident female versus male directors on bidder boards initiating fewer bids, higher litigation risk facing target boards for accepting too little, and the different type of advice sought by bidders and target firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurice Levi & Kai Li & Feng Zhang, 2015. "Are Women More Likely to Seek Advice than Men? Evidence from the Boardroom," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:8:y:2015:i:1:p:127-149:d:46013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Pier Luigi Marchini & Veronica Tibiletti & Tatiana Mazza & Gianluca Gabrielli, 2022. "Gender quotas and the environment: Environmental performance and enforcement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 256-272, January.
    6. Konadu, Renata & Ahinful, Gabriel Sam & Boakye, Danquah Jeff & Elbardan, Hany, 2022. "Board gender diversity, environmental innovation and corporate carbon emissions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
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    8. Jaehong Lee & Eunsoo Kim, 2021. "Would Overconfident CEOs Engage More in Environment, Social, and Governance Investments? With a Focus on Female Representation on Boards," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Eleanor Kirk, 2018. "The ‘Problem’ with the Employment Tribunal System: Reform, Rhetoric and Realities for the Clients of Citizens’ Advice Bureaux," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(6), pages 975-991, December.

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