Sex Matters: Gender Bias in the Mutual Fund Industry

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra; Ruenzi, Stefan
• 署名单位: University of Mannheim
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2939
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 3001-3025
• 关键词: mutual funds; INVESTOR BEHAVIOR; gender bias; Implicit Association Test

摘要

We document significantly lower inflows in female-managed funds than in male-managed funds. This result is obtained with field data and with data from a laboratory experiment. We find no gender differences in performance. Thus, rational statistical discrimination is unlikely to explain the fund flow effect. We conduct an implicit association test and find that subjects with stronger gender bias according to this test invest significantly less in female-managed funds. Our results suggest that gender bias affects investment decisions and thus offer a new potential explanation for the low fraction of women in the mutual fund industry.