The Impact of a New Chief Executive Officer's Gender on the Share Price of Europe's Largest Companies

The purpose of this research is to determine how shareholders perceive the announcement of a new female CEO, compared to a new male CEO. Using the 2000 largest European companies, the event study method is used to analyze shareholder reaction. While evidence of the glass ceiling has been found, this paper aims to determine whether women that do break through and reach top positions are perceived less favorably than their male counterparts. The results show a small, significant increase in share price on the event day for the announcement of a new male CEO. However, no significant results can be found for the announcement of a new female CEO. Similar to previous research done in this area, the results are limited as the number of female CEOs remains low.