Företags riskbenägenhet och könsfördelning i styrelsen - En studie på svensk data

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the relationship between the proportion of women in Swedish boardrooms and firm risk propensity, and if there are any differences between listed and unlisted companies. The dataset consists of data from 26,630 listed and unlisted Swedish companies from the years 2010-2014, on which cross-sectional regression analyses are performed. The variable that measures the proportion of women in the boardroom serves as the main independent variable, regressed on six different financial and operational proxy measures for risk, such as solvency, liquidity and volatility in turnover, along with control variables for firm and board characteristics. The results for the total population show significant coefficients on five regressions, supporting the existence of a relationship between women in the boardroom and firm risk propensity. The results for unlisted companies show significant coefficients on five regressions, while listed companies only show a significant coefficient on one regression. Furthermore, the one significant coefficient for listed companies is larger, implying there might exist differences between the populations. The results are heteroscedasticity consistent. Moreover, the thesis discusses alternative explanations with regards to social psychology and reverse causation.