Do females impact the probability of corporate default? Primary evidence for future research

The aim of this paper is to investigate if the presence of females in the boardrooms influences the probability of default of a company. Even if the gender issue gained a growing relevance in both practical and theoretical literature, women impact on companies’ results and organizations is not yet clear . To reach our target, the paper provides a quantitative analysis, combining the use of the traditional Logit model with the application of the most recent approaches such as the Random Forest and the AdaBoost models, joint with the use of the SHAP technique. If Mr. Mario Draghi mentions female criticalities in his maiden speech as Prime Minister, we can assert that gender issue is a relevant topic in Italy, too. In this scenario, discovering the role of women in the possible outcome of a crisis could allow to step forward for the sectorial research, expanding the edge of the debate and underling the relevance of the topic.