Gender Difference, Overconfidence and Corporate Social Responsibility A Rising Strength of Female

We present and examine a new theoretical framework that seeks to explain differences in CEOs’ gender and firm-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. In contrast to previous CEO-centered explanations, our theory emphasizes how executives as vital linkers construe their firms’ CSR. Drawing from gender role theory and upper echelons theory, we contend that when females hold the post of CEOs, they experience treats rooted in negative stereotypes about gender determinism, which in turn enhances their firm’s CSR performance. Our formal analysis suggests that executive overconfidence mediates the positive relation between CEO gender difference and CSR. Notably, female CEOs are associated with higher executive overconfidence, which further leads to an increase in CSR. An extension of our model also shows that, when the level of the board independence gets higher, the effects of CEO gender difference will lessen. We test our predictions empirically with a sample of Chinese firms from the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchange in the years 2010 to 2018. Our results are consistent with proposed hypotheses and are robust to different empirical operationalization. Implications and future research directions are discussed.