UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance,
University of Stavanger

Abstract: We test for systematic gender-differences in trading propensity and performance using the population of primary insiders on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE), 1986--2016. We use Norway's 2005 board gender quota law, which nearly tripled the population of female directors, as an exogenous shock to female directors' access to information through the expanded director network. Moreover, we use differences in trading activity following the exogenous increase in trading risk caused by the 2008 financial crisis to identify gender-based differences in risk aversion. We find no significant gender-based difference in insider trading performance, whether before or after the mandatory board gender-balancing. However, we find that female insiders are significantly more likely to buy shares during the financial crisis, which is consistent with female directors and executives exhibiting less (not more) risk aversion than their male counterparts.

Keywords: Insider trading; gender; risk aversion; portfolio performance; director network; board gender- balancing

JEL-codes: G14; M14

35 pages, First version: October 24, 2019. Revised: September 1, 2021.

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