A Contingency Model of CEO Gender and Corporate Innovation: The Moderating Effects of Firm Age and Firm Size

Gender differences affect corporate decision making. In view of the importance of corporate innovation in a country’s development, scholars have increasingly focused on the gender of chief executive officers (CEOs) and corporate innovation; although, their findings have been mixed. In lieu of the lack of consensus in the extant literature, this study explores the impact of CEO gender on corporate innovation. In addition, it analyzes the moderating effects of firm size and age on the relationship between CEO gender and corporate innovation. An empirical analysis of 13,000 firm-year observations of manufacturing companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2013 to 2022 shows that companies with male CEOs are more innovative than those with female CEOs. The moderation analysis suggests that the positive impact of male CEOs on corporate innovation diminishes for larger firms. Additionally, the results reveal that firm age does not affect the positive relationship between male CEOs and corporate innovation.