Will Women Lead the Way? Gender and Information Preferences in Investment Decisions

38 Pages Posted: 13 Feb 2009

See all articles by Leda Nath

Leda Nath

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

Lori Holder-Webb

Western New England University - Department of Accounting and Finance

David Wood

Boston College

Date Written: February 12, 2009

Abstract

Decisions on whether to invest or not in an organization may involve a wide variety of information, from financial reports, to assumptions about industry sectors, to evaluations of the quality of corporate management. Prior research demonstrates that investors may rely heavily upon non-financial information provided by a company. We examine the demand for Corporate Social Responsibility information and the demand for informational materials that are easier to read and quicker to assimilate and conclude that females differ significantly from males in their demand for both of these items. Integration of these findings with extant research addressing the supply of information suggests that female's information needs are not attended to the same degree as the information needs of males. The economic power and independence of females is increasing, while time poverty and related resource constraints remain strong; the potential for marginalization of this investing group may represent a cause for concern among regulatory bodies tasked with maintaining a level playing field in the capital markets.

Keywords: disclosure, nonfinancial information, gender

JEL Classification: G12, J16, M41

Suggested Citation

Nath, Leda and Holder-Webb, Lori and Wood, David, Will Women Lead the Way? Gender and Information Preferences in Investment Decisions (February 12, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1341897 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1341897

Leda Nath

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater ( email )

800 West Main St.
Whitewater, WI 53190-1790
United States

Lori Holder-Webb (Contact Author)

Western New England University - Department of Accounting and Finance ( email )

United States

David Wood

Boston College ( email )

55 Lee Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3942
United States

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