American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Gender Differences in Financial Advice
American Economic Review
(pp. 4218–52)
Abstract
Based on data gathered from 27,000 real-world meetings between financial advisors and clients of a large German bank, we show that advisors offer more self-serving advice to women, while men are more likely to receive sales fee rebates and less likely to be recommended expensive in-house multi-asset (IHMA) funds. Additional client and advisor surveys provide evidence consistent with statistical discrimination based on gender as a proxy for client financial sophistication, with female clients exhibiting lower financial literacy, confidence, and price sensitivity. Moreover, female advisors report less confidence in their own professional skills and engage in less discrimination than male colleagues.Citation
Bucher-Koenen, Tabea, Andreas Hackethal, Johannes Koenen, and Christine Laudenbach. 2025. "Gender Differences in Financial Advice." American Economic Review 115 (12): 4218–52. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20211024Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- G53 Household Finance: Financial Literacy
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- L84 Personal, Professional, and Business Services