Gender and firms’ risk-taking behavior in Vietnam

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of gender on corporate risk-taking behavior in an emerging market setting. Utilizing a panel dataset of 3,208 firm-year observations from 401 Vietnamese publicly listed firms over the 2015-2022 period, we assess the relationship between gender characteristics in leadership, specifically CEO gender and the proportion of female board
members, and financial risk-taking, proxied by leverage ratios. The results indicate that firms led by male CEOs tend to adopt riskier capital structures, while boards with greater female representation demonstrate more conservative financial behavior. These findings underscore the significance of gender diversity in influencing risk preferences within corporate decisionmaking processes.