Do females on boards affect acquisition outcomes and target selection: a replication and extension of Levi, Li and Zhang (2014)

We replicate and extend the 2014 study by Levi, Li and Zhang in the Australian setting and examine whether female representation on corporate boards affects acquisition outcomes. Consistent with the original study, we find that bidders with female representation on their boards make fewer acquisitions and pay lower premiums, on average. We also document that bidders with female representation on their boards prefer to select target firms that also have female representation on their boards. These results are robust to propensity score matching and instrumental variable estimation.