Sexism, culture, and firm value: evidence from the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement

Karl V. Lins, Lukas Roth, Henri Servaes and Ane Tamayo

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: During the revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the reemergence of the #MeToo movement, firms with a nonsexist corporate culture, proxied by having women among the five highest-paid executives, earn excess returns of 1.3% relative to firms without female top executives. These returns are driven by changes in investor preferences toward firms with a nonsexist culture. Institutional ownership increases in firms with a nonsexist culture after the Weinstein/#MeToo events, particularly for investors with larger holdings and investors with a lower ESG focus ex ante. Firms without female top executives improve gender diversity after these events, particularly in more sexist states and in industries with few women executives. Our evidence attests to the value of having a nonsexist corporate culture and indicates that changes in societal norms toward women are permeating into capital markets and corporations.

Keywords: culture; sexism; gender equality; #MeToo; valuation; returns; investor preferences; institutional ownership; ESG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G12 G30 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2024-12-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ipr
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Published in Journal of Accounting Research, 31, December, 2024, 62(5), pp. 1989 - 2035. ISSN: 0021-8456

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