Abstract

The debate over the benefits of female representation in top management is ongoing, with some arguing it enhances decision-making quality by bringing diverse perspectives, while others seeing it as symbolic or even detrimental. To make progress on the debate, this study takes an institutional perspective to develop a theoretical account examining the gender norms that constraining the effect of female representation in top management teams (TMTs) on corporate financial fraud. We offer two main insights: (a) female TMT representation is associated with lower incidence of corporate fraud, and (b) the relationship becomes weaker for firms domiciled in regions with gender inegalitarian norms or gender stereotypical norms that are more gender stratified. Results based on archival data about Chinese public firms, and simultaneous estimation of fraud commitment and detection probabilities, support our predictions. Several alternative econometric specifications, including (but not limited to), instrumental variable analysis and matched sample analysis, enhance confidence in the robustness of our findings. The findings of this study make important contributions to the literatures of managerial diversity, corporate fraud, and institutional norms.