Gender board diversity and the cost of bank loans

We examine the relationship between female board representation and cost of lending, using a dataset 13,714 loans from 386 banks matched with 2432 non-financial firms 1999 to 2013. find that directors command lower loan spreads. In addition, independent have stronger impact on lowering spreads compared directors' other attributes. However, as build relationships their lenders this effect becomes less potent. Finally, when we introduce firm-level heterogeneity document changes in gender diversity exert lending case bank-dependent firms, especially for borrowers.