This paper investigates the relationship between female CEOs and insolvency risk of U.S. property-casualty insurance companies. We show that female CEOs are associated with lower insurer insolvency propensity, higher z-score, and lower standard deviation of return on assets. These findings are...

Insurers' principal function – underwriting – is to assess and price customer risk. Economic theory suggests that insurers should prioritize underwriting over investment as a source of income. We find that many U.S. non-life insurers conform to theory: they consistently earn high returns on...