Can economic rationality explain the feminization of shareholding? Evidence from female shareholders in Spain (1918-1948)

Lopez-Gomez, Laura and Martinez-Rodrigue, Susana (2023): Can economic rationality explain the feminization of shareholding? Evidence from female shareholders in Spain (1918-1948).

Abstract

Our results reinforce the thesis that the presence of women investors was not only pioneering by developed economies but was rather a reflection of a deeper phenomenon associated with institutions and modernization. We examine the feminization of shareholding employing data from Spanish commercial banks (1918-1948). We build a unique dataset of more than 30.000 women shareholders who took the opportunity to invest in stocks in well-established banks, drawn by the potential economic profitability. Family ties played a crucial role in explaining the presence of women and – specially – men shareholders. The profile of women differs from that of men in terms of their portfolio size, and volatility. Evidence indicates that the feminization of shareholding was a sing of modernization, not a cycle derived from a sternal shock. This paper aims to contribute to the current debate on gender financial gap, tracing women investors in assets and their rational behavior.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: women shareholders, feminization of shareholding, commercial banks
• Subjects: G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G21 - Banks ; Depository Institutions ; Micro Finance Institutions ; Mortgages; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination; N - Economic History > N2 - Financial Markets and Institutions > N24 - Europe: 1913-

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