Do Anglo‐Saxon directors affect leverage?

Abstract We investigate the impact of Anglo‐Saxon directors on leverage of Swiss listed companies. Higher leverage increases a company's risk profile, and individuals with an Anglo‐Saxon cultural background are considered less risk averse than others. Using a sample of 1556 firm‐year observations from 2005 to 2015, we find empirical evidence supporting our hypothesis that Anglo‐Saxon directors increase leverage. The result is robust to the inclusion of a battery of control variables, fixed effects, and instrumental variable estimation.