Arna Olafsson receives prestigious ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council

Differences in financial behaviour between genders are well-established, with women less likely to invest in stock markets and having, on average, lower pension savings than men. But why do these gaps persist? Arna Olafsson, Associate Professor at CBS, aims to answer this question after receiving an ERC Starting Grant to explore the underlying causes of these discrepancies.

Olafsson and her research team will create a unique dataset to investigate key factors contributing to the financial gender gap, including how both gender and parental identities shape financial choices. By combining detailed banking data, experimental methods, and natural experiments, the project seeks to reveal unobservable factors driving these differences. This research could provide crucial insights for policymakers working towards gender equality, offering evidence-based methods to close the financial gender gap.

Arna Olafsson stresses the urgency of this work, particularly as financial decisions affect long-term welfare and retirement security. Women, in particular, tend to take fewer financial risks, leaving them vulnerable to lower returns and widening the economic gap between genders. By uncovering the hidden causes of these disparities, Olafsson’s findings may revolutionize our understanding of financial decision-making and pave the way for policies that promote financial equality.