Gender and ESG investing: Same behavior but different motivations

IF 7.5 1区 经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE
Cynthia Assaf , Jérôme Monne , Loic Harriet
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Abstract

How does gender influence ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing behavior? Using survey data from a sample of French investors, we primarily find no significant gender differences in the proportion of ESG funds or stocks held, nor in the willingness to pay to invest in a firm with a high ESG score. However, this lack of significance results from two simultaneous significant indirect gender effects acting in opposite directions. On the one hand, women, compared to men, are found to more strongly endorse specific sustainability criteria related to the fight against discrimination, which, in turn, increases the adoption of socially responsible investing behavior. On the other hand, women's weaker interest in great global environmental challenges results in a decrease in their ESG exposure. These attitudinal differences by men and women align with findings in social psychology literature, which suggests that women's adoption of pro-social/environmental behaviors is typically motivated by communal attitudes (i.e. community-oriented), whereas for men, such behaviors are more often driven by agentic motivations (self-rewarding). A clearer segmentation of ESG investment products, focusing on gender-specific preferences, could improve their adoption by both women and men, and help firms meet MiFID II's requirements by better aligning with investors' preferences.
性别与ESG投资:相同的行为,不同的动机
性别如何影响ESG(环境、社会、治理)投资行为?利用法国投资者样本的调查数据,我们主要发现,在ESG基金或持有股票的比例上,以及在支付ESG得分高的公司的投资意愿上,性别没有显著差异。然而,这种缺乏显著性的原因是两种同时发生的显著的间接性别影响在相反的方向上起作用。一方面,与男性相比,女性被发现更强烈地支持与反对歧视有关的具体可持续性标准,这反过来又增加了对社会责任投资行为的采用。另一方面,女性对重大全球环境挑战的兴趣减弱,导致其ESG敞口减少。男性和女性的这些态度差异与社会心理学文献的发现相一致,这些文献表明,女性采取亲社会/环境行为通常是由社区态度(即社区导向)驱动的,而对于男性来说,这种行为更多是由代理动机(自我奖励)驱动的。对ESG投资产品进行更清晰的细分,重点关注性别偏好,可以提高女性和男性对ESG投资产品的接受程度,并通过更好地与投资者偏好保持一致,帮助公司满足MiFID II的要求。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
10.30
自引率
9.80%
发文量
366
期刊介绍: The International Review of Financial Analysis (IRFA) is an impartial refereed journal designed to serve as a platform for high-quality financial research. It welcomes a diverse range of financial research topics and maintains an unbiased selection process. While not limited to U.S.-centric subjects, IRFA, as its title suggests, is open to valuable research contributions from around the world.
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