TRSM Research Seminar by Dr. Aoran Zhang

Title: Catalysts for change: Empowering women on boards to enhance workplace safety

Description: This study investigates whether gender diversity on corporate boards enhances workplace safety. Using a comprehensive sample of U.S. publicly listed firms, we document robust evidence that greater female representation on boards is associated with significantly lower workplace injury rates. This relationship remains consistent after addressing endogeneity concerns through instrumental variable analysis and alternative diversity measures. We further explore the mechanisms through which board gender diversity improves safety conditions and find that gender-diverse boards are linked to stronger corporate safety culture, reduced financial constraints, more effective external monitoring, and broader union representation. These mechanisms collectively contribute to safer working environments. Additionally, our findings suggest that improved safety outcomes foster firms' strategic advantages: gender-diverse boards enhance the ability to attract inventors and mitigate injury risks particularly in states with weaker prevailing wage protections. These insights underscore the value of promoting board gender diversity as a governance tool to improve employee welfare and reinforce corporate responsibility in environments with limited external oversight.

Bio: Aoran Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Ted Rogers School of Management. He received his Ph.D. in Finance from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. Prior to joining the Ted Rogers School, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on empirical corporate finance, with particular interests in mergers and acquisitions, equity offerings, corporate governance, and climate finance. His work has been published in leading finance journals, including the Journal of Corporate Finance and the Journal of Banking & Finance. He currently teaches Managerial Finance II at the Ted Rogers School of Management.