Do CEOs Who Are Raising Daughters Reduce Company Risk-taking?*

Abstract

Family structure and characteristics are important factors that affect both economic development and CEOs' decision-making. Corporate risk-taking reflects the overall risk choices and preferences of decision-makers in relation to various decisions. Using data for Chinese non-state-owned enterprises between the years 2000 and 2019, we examine the association between CEO offspring gender and corporate risk-taking. We find that CEOs who have daughters are associated with a lower level of corporate risk-taking than CEOs who have sons only. Raising daughters significantly stimulates cautious attitudes and behaviors in CEOs and reduces firm overinvestment, thereby lowering the level of corporate risk-taking. Moreover, raising daughters has a more significant inhibitory effect on corporate risk-taking for female CEOs and CEOs who were born in regions with a strong patriarchal culture. Our findings also show that CEOs with daughters can help companies effectively avoid financial crises. Focusing on both parenting behavior and corporate financial behavior, we suggest that the parent–child relationship extends far beyond the scope of the family, providing a broader perspective for understanding corporate decision-making and financial behavior.