Board Characteristics, Ownership Structures and Gender Diversity on Bank Risk-taking Behavior of Banks in Ghana

The study examined the effect of board characteristics, ownership structure and gender diversity on bank risk taking behaviour in Ghana. The study sampled 15 commercial banks in Ghana over a 10-year period, where data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The analysis showed that board characteristics such as board size, the proportion of non-executive directors on the board, board chairperson independence as well as female representation on the board of banks in Ghana are significant determinants of bank risk taking behaviour. The result shows that while board size, the proportion of non-executive directors on the board and female representation are associated with higher risk-taking behaviour, board chairperson independence is associated with lower bank risk-taking behaviour. On the ownership variables the study found that foreign ownership and government ownership were significant determinants of bank risk taking behavior while managerial ownership was statistically insignificant. On the significant ownership structure variables, foreign ownership reduces bank risk-taking whiles government ownership increases bank risk-taking level. Female CEO was statistically insignificant even though it is positively associated with bank risk-taking level. The results show that corporate governance variables and ownership structures are significant determinants of bank risk-taking behaviour.