Written by Mekong Institute

Previous literature has noted the underperformance of women-led firms relative to male-led ones in both developed and developing countries. Using Thailand as a case study of a developing country, this paper investigates the impact of female CEOs on performance and development among Thai firms. Surveys of 1,043 firms generated data used to analyze how female leadership could have impacts on firm performance and development.

The results suggest that female CEOs have negative impacts on both short-term financial performance indicators, including annual sales and profits, and long-term development of firms, for which new products and the introduction of new technology and provision of employee training were used as proxies. However, this negative association is found to have diminished in the case of female CEOs who completed a degree. With regard to firms’ long-term development, including innovation and employee training, female CEOs are found to have a negative impact on firm innovation (introducing new products and technology).