Download This PaperThe Gender Effects of COVID-19 on Equity Analysts
48 Pages Posted: 10 Jun 2021 Last revised: 26 Oct 2021
Date Written: October 26, 2021
Abstract
We use COVID-19 as an experiment to study the effects of childcare and household duties on sell-side analysts. We find that female analysts' forecast accuracy declined more than male analysts, especially when schools were closed and among analysts who were more likely to have young children, inexperienced, busier, and lived in southern states. Relative to male analysts, females also reduced forecast timeliness and resorted to more heuristic forecasts but did not reduce coverage or updating frequency. Overall, our results show that the pandemic impacted female analysts more than males through the quality of their forecasts but not the quantity.
Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; financial analysts; gender gap; decision heuristics
JEL Classification: G14, G20, J16, J24, J32, J44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Frank Weikai Li
Singapore Management University - Lee Kong Chian School of Business ( email )
469 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 912409
Singapore