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Female Executives And Corporate Cash Holdings, Binay K. Adhikari

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

I find that firms led by female top executives hold more cash, partly due to precautionary motives. To overcome endogeneity concerns, I employ several econometric techniques, including an instrumental variable analysis based on a historical event that resulted in a plausibly exogenous variation in the female workforce participation. Overall, my results are consistent with the view that greater risk-aversion leads female executives to hold more cash.