We analyze whether gender interactions at the top of the corporate hierarchy affect corporate performance. Using a comprehensive data set of family-controlled firms in Italy, we find that female directors significantly improve the operating profitability of female-led companies. To mitigate...

We investigate whether the gender of top executives influences a firm's reaction to competitive pressures. Our empirical approach is based on policy changes that varied the exposure of US banks to competition during the late 1990s. Results suggest that while banks with female executives...

Extant research shows that entrepreneurs are typically overly optimistic about their ventures' prospects, and that such optimism hampers performance. We analyze how dispositional optimism affects the adjustments to entrepreneurs' expectations after they receive negative feedback on their task...