Why your boss needs to have a daughter

A new study by Danish researchers found male bosses with young female children are likely to be charitable and more generous with their employee's remuneration.

Researchers Michael Dahl, Cristian Dezso and David Gaddis Ross studied the wages at more than 10,000 Danish companies over the course of a decade, and their findings suggest men become more giving and empathetic after having daughters.

In fact, bosses were even likely to decrease wages of staff after having sons.

A separate survey by psychologist Paul Van Lange at the Free University in Amsterdam also found similar results. Survey participants who were likely to give away their money were 40% more likely to have sisters than those who kept the money to themselves.

The New York Times suggested one example of these survey's playing out in real life is Microsoft founder Bill Gates. At the beginning of his career, Gates said he wished to keep his fortune for at least 25 years before giving it away to charity.

However he changed his tune only a year later after having a daughter, and three years later, was ranked third on Fortune’s list of the most generous American philanthropists.

As women continue to make their way into corporate boardrooms, perhaps these studies supporting the belief women’s nurturing and empathetic behaviours can rub off on their male counterparts could help support their argument.