Sexism, Culture, and Firm Value: Evidence from the Harvey Weinstein Scandal and the #MeToo Movement

During the revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent re-emergence of the #MeToo movement, firms with a non-sexist corporate culture, proxied by having women among the five highest paid executives, earn excess returns of 1.6%. Returns for firms with female executives are substantially higher in industries with few women in executive positions, and for firms headquartered in states with a high level of sexism or gender pay gap. Firms in industries with many female executives or headquartered in less sexist states also earn positive abnormal returns, irrespective of whether they have female leaders themselves. Firms without female top executives exhibit improvements in gender diversity after the Weinstein/#MeToo events. Our evidence attests to the value of having a non-sexist culture.