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Women CEOs and firm performance in the construction industry: evidence from Spain

Carmen María Hernández-Nicolás (Management and Finance, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain)
Juan Francisco Martín-Ugedo (Management and Finance, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain)
Antonio Minguez-Vera (Management and Finance, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain)

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

ISSN: 0969-9988

Article publication date: 29 April 2021

Issue publication date: 24 March 2022

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Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry has traditionally been a male-dominated economic sector. Barely 10% of managers are women. On the other hand, this sector is considered an engine of the economy. For these reasons, it is important to examine the influence of women CEOs on financial variables of firms in the construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study is carried out using a sample from the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System record (“Sistema de Análisis de Balances Ibérico”, SABI). The sample includes 8,492 Spanish companies from the construction sector. The methodology employed is a three-stage least squares (3SLS) analysis. This methodology controls for the endogeneity of explanatory variables. It is employed in accordance with the peculiar characteristics of the sample, which includes data for only one year.

Findings

The results show that firms with a woman CEO have a lower level of debt, whatever the terms of the maturity of the debt are. In contrast to most previous evidence, firms managed by women are found to be less profitable.

Originality/value

The paper gives evidence of the influence of the CEO's gender on the performance (return and risk) of a firm. It provides original empirical evidence for the male-dominated construction sector. An extensive search identified no literature in which the researchers had focused on the construction industry.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain (Project RTI2018-093884-B-I00) and Fundación Cajamurcia.

Citation

Hernández-Nicolás, C.M., Martín-Ugedo, J.F. and Minguez-Vera, A. (2022), "Women CEOs and firm performance in the construction industry: evidence from Spain", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 1343-1357. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-09-2020-0701

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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