Do females impact the probability of corporate default? Primary evidence for future research

The aim of this paper is to investigate if the presence of females in the boardrooms influences the probability of corporate default. Even if the gender issue gained a growing relevance in both practical and theoretical literature, women impact on companies’ results and organizations seems not yet clear. This paper provides a quantitative analysis, combining the use of the traditional Logit model with the application of the most recent approaches such as the Random Forest and the AdaBoost models, joint with the use of the SHAP technique. Our paper refers to a sample of non-listed Italian companies. Considering ambiguous and mixed results of prior literature, our research investigates the relation between females in the boardrooms and an unusual variable that is the probability of default. In the current scenario, where the gender issue is assuming a growing interest, the results of this analysis could add a piece to the still vague puzzle. Gender issue is a relevant topic in academic and practical communities as well as in decision and policy makers perspectives. Discovering the role of women in the likelihood of meeting a financial distress could allow to step forward for the sectorial research, expanding the edge of the debate and underling the relevance of the topic.