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

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