A Deceptive Double Bind for Women CEOs

The tendency to use deception is ubiquitous in our society. Recent research indicates that a CEO’s use of deception can positively influence analysts’ recommendations. Less is known, however, about the role gender plays in the likelihood of a CEO’s use of deception and the reaction to the use of deception. In order to investigate whether men were the only beneficiaries of deception, we developed a machine learning based measure to detect deception. We then examine whether there are gender differences in the frequency of deception and how the use of deception influences changes in analysts’ recommendation during conference calls. Results indicate male CEOs are more likely to use deception and receive no penalty for doing so while female CEOs are helped or harmed for using deception depending on firm performance.