Gender, stock market participation and financial literacy

Women participate less than men in the stock market and score lower on financial literacy. We explore the link between this gender gap in stock market participation and financial literacy. Using survey data on a random sample of 1300 individuals that is representative of the Swedish population, we show that the estimated gender gap in stock market participation diminishes when we control for basic financial literacy, essentially a measure of numeracy. A gender gap in risk taking remains significant also when controlling for financial literacy.

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