Women's Leadership and Pragmatism Incidences on Performance of Listed Family-Owned Firms in the Cultural Context of Arab Countries

Abstract

This research paper aims to study the level and determinants of the financial performance of family businesses, according to the gender of the board of directors’ chairman in the Arab world. Our research approach is based on a sample of 152 listed family-owned businesses and a control sample of 166 listed non-family businesses over the 2011-2018 periods. The research results indicate that the female gender issue has a positive influence on the financial performance of businesses with family ownership. This is explained by the fact that women leaders have a prudent and pragmatic leadership style that limits stereotypical images of women presidents’ leadership style in the Arab world. This result is original since it can be considered as the first one to ever clarify the relationship between female leadership in the board of directors, risk-taking, and financial performance in the context of family ownership in the Arab countries.