Gender(ed) equity: The growth of female shareholding in Australia, 1857–1937

Abstract

Little is known about the history of female investing in Australia. We develop a new dataset of company shareholders between 1857 and 1937, covering all major sectors of the economy. We calculate the female fraction of shareowners, their occupational and geographic backgrounds, and we analyse their investment patterns and behaviours including their risk profiles and portfolio construction decisions. Our findings suggest that ‘gender equity’—and more—had been reached, for some companies, by the interwar period. Women investors came from many walks of life, had various motives, and appear to have largely acted independently of other women and of men.