The Impact of CEO Attributes on Working Capital Management: Insight From Gender, Financial Literacy, and Experience

This study investigates the impact of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) attributes on working capital management (WCM) along with the moderating role of family ownership on this relationship. This study employed the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to test the hypotheses and to address potential endogeneity concerns, complemented by ordinary least squares regression on a sample of 1900 firm-year observations from non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The empirical results of the study indicate that CEO gender, education, and experience are positively associated with WCM. Additionally, the findings of the current study reveal that family ownership negatively and significantly moderates the relationship between CEO attributes and WCM. These findings provide novel evidence and extend empirical support to upper echelon theory in the context of an emerging economy. The study findings outline insights for the managers, investors, regulatory authorities, and policymakers.