Investor Preference for Director Characteristics: Portfolio Choice with Gender Bias

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Friedman, Henry L.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: ACCOUNTING REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4826
• DOI: 10.2308/accr-52621
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 117-147
• 关键词: sex-differences; stock returns; women; stereotypes; diversity; attitudes; IMPACT; DISCRIMINATION; executives; implicit

摘要

This study examines whether investor-level preferences for director characteristics influence portfolio choices, using data on the U.S. holdings of non-U.S. funds. Consistent with bias-based preferences influencing portfolio allocations, funds from countries with greater gender inequality invest less and hold smaller stakes in firms with more female directors. Since variation in funds' home country gender biases are plausibly unrelated to the selection and performance of female directors in U.S. firms, the empirical strategy mitigates endogeneity concerns arising from estimates based on associations between market performance and gender demographics. The study contributes by linking investments to measured gender biases and by providing evidence, through additional analysis, of potential channels through which gender bias may affect portfolio choice.