How did historical trends impact women’s involvement in financial markets? Evidence from women shareholders in Spain (1918-1948)

Martínez Rodríguez, Susana; López Gómez, Laura

Publication:
How did historical trends impact women’s involvement in financial markets? Evidence from women shareholders in Spain (1918-1948)

dc.contributor.author	Martínez Rodríguez, Susana
dc.contributor.author	López Gómez, Laura
dc.contributor.department	Economía Aplicada
dc.date.accessioned	2026-02-09T11:51:00Z
dc.date.available	2026-02-09T11:51:00Z
dc.date.copyright	© The AuthorS 2025
dc.date.issued	2025-05-30
dc.description.abstract	Women’s financial independence is essential for fostering equality. Despite recent progress in narrowing the gender gap in access to finance, a notable imbalance persists, even in advanced economies. Exploring the roots and persistence of the wealth gap demands a long-term perspective. However, limited access to historical data hampers such investigations. We have assembled a unique dataset encompassing over 34,000 shareholders from Spanish commercial banks (1918-1948) to scrutinize how women capitalized on investment opportunities. Our findings reinforce the theory that women’s involvement in financial markets reflects a deeper, long-term phenomenon linked with institutional evolution and modernization. The data provide evidence that women viewed investment in stocks as a means to attain wellbeing and that they embraced financial risk, guided by profitability. Family networks significantly enhanced women’s portfolios, empowering their financial agency. The paper underscores the significance of accounting for historical and cultural elements in understanding women’s investment practices.
dc.format	application/pdf
dc.format.extent	12
dc.identifier.citation	Martínez-Rodríguez, S., Lopez-Gomez, L. How did historical trends impact women’s involvement in financial markets? Evidence from women shareholders in Spain (1918-1948). Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 595 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04828-6
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04828-6
dc.identifier.issn	2662-9992
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10201/202121
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	Springer Nature
dc.relation	This publication was supported by: the Region of Murcia (Spain) through the Regional Program for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research of Excellence (Action Plan 2022) of the Seneca Foundation—Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia under the grant [Project 21947/PI/22]; the European Union-Next Generation EU under the grant ‘Aid for requalification in the Spanish University System’ Visiting fellow at IDEGA-University of Santiago de Compostela (academic year 2023–2024); Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [PID2023-149319NB-I00]; the Project I+D+i PID2023-149319NB-I00 FINCH-Firms, Investors and Uncertainty in History, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/.
dc.relation.publisherversion	https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04828-6
dc.rights	Attribution 4.0 International	*
dc.rights.accessRights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	*
dc.subject	Commercial banks
dc.subject	Feminization
dc.subject	Spain
dc.subject	Femela shareholders
dc.subject.ods	Objetivo 5: Igualdad de género y empoderamiento de la mujer
dc.title	How did historical trends impact women’s involvement in financial markets? Evidence from women shareholders in Spain (1918-1948)
dc.type	info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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