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http://dx.doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no12.181

Gender Diversity and Financial Stability: Evidence from Malaysian Listed Firms  

AL-ABSY, Mujeeb Saif Mohsen (Department of Accounting and Finance, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Gulf University)
ALMAAMARI, Qais (Department of Administrative and Human Resource, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Gulf University)
ALKADASH, Tamer (Department of Administrative and Human Resource, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Gulf University)
HABTOOR, Ammar (Faculty of Oil and Minerals, University of Aden)
Publication Information
The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business / v.7, no.12, 2020 , pp. 181-193 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between gender diversity (women on the board and women on the audit committee) and a firm's financial stability. The ordinary least square analysis was used to determine the relationship. To measure the financial stability of Malaysian suspect firms, i.e., firms with the lowest positive earnings, the Altman (1993) Z-Score measurement was utilized. The results indicate that women on the board are significantly and negatively associated with the firm's financial stability. That is, they are related to low financial stability, which contradicts the agency and resource dependence theories. Regarding women directors on the audit committee, there is no significant relationship with financial stability, meaning that they cannot protect the company against financial distress. These results are robust and do not change when using different measurements of gender diversity, one-year lag of independent variables, and other methods of analysis, namely random effect panel data. This study is the first to alert policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, and society in general to the need to re-evaluate and strengthen the role of women directors in improving firms' financial stability, particularly in emerging economies like Malaysia.
Keywords
Gender Diversity; Women Directors; Board of Directors; Audit Committee; Financial Stability; Malaysia;
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