Increased number of women in top management of companies can significantly increase the level of risk-taking with financial resources. That is the finding of the study by a group of academics and bankers from Germany, USA and UK called Executive board composition and bank risk taking, The Daily Telegraph informed. The study is based on analysis of the volatility of bank profits over a 16-year period depending on changes in the composition of their boards.
Leader of the study, Thomas Kick of the German central bank Bundesbank, informed that this "unconventional" behavior of women had two reasons. The first is the lack of experience of women in top management compared with men, the second is a higher degree of aggressiveness of these women. According to him, mixed boards cause more internal strife, which in turn makes it more difficult to make decisions.
This contrasts with the current pressure on involving more women on boards, which grows not only in Europe and is based on the assumption that diversity of borads contributes to better decisions.
The study is available for free download on the website of the Bundesbank here. Apart from the influence of women on boards it also analyzes the impact involving young people and PhD graduates.
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