Gender Differential and Financial Inclusion

Women Shareholders of Banco Hispano Americano in Spain (1922–35)

Bibliographic Data

ID12547553
AuthorsSusana Martínez-Rodríguez (0000-0002-0710-6030, Universidad de Murcia, corresponding author), Laura López-Gómez (0000-0003-1788-5661, Universidad de Murcia)
Year2023
Volume29
Issue3
Pages225-252
Publication date2023-07-03
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Economics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-5701 • E-ISSN: 1466-4372
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13545701.2023.2213709
OpenAlexW4383737175
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited36

This study reveals that women had a significant presence as shareholders in Spanish financial corporations in the early-twentieth century. In the 1920s and 1930s, on average, 40 percent of the shareholders of Banco Hispano Americano, a leading commercial bank, were women, and they owned more than one-third of the share capital. The legal framework did not discriminate against women’s ownership, and bank regulations did not discourage women from investing in shares. The main cause of the large share of women shareholders is kinship with other shareholders. The findings also highlight the importance of inheritance regimes that treat all siblings equally, regardless of sex, to access parents’ wealth to reduce the wealth gap. Finally, the study highlights how historical cases may contribute to current debates on how women gain and retain wealth through access to financial assets.HIGHLIGHTSHistorical narratives unearth the roots of contemporary financial gender inequality in an effort to narrow the gender gap.The case of the Banco Hispano Americano in Spain highlights effective strategies for promoting women’s financial inclusion.Egalitarian inheritance regimes facilitate women’s access to financial wealth.Urban areas increase women’s agency through access to financial information.Financial assets may secure women’s well-being when other support is lacking

Agency (philosophy · Business · Capital (architecture · Corporate governance · Economics · Financial inclusion · Financial services · Financial system · Geography · Inheritance (genetic algorithm · National wealth · Shareholder · Sociology · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Finance

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