Sustainable Finance, Gender, and Behavioral Drivers of Investment Decisions: Experimental Evidence

Last registered on June 22, 2026

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Sustainable Finance, Gender, and Behavioral Drivers of Investment Decisions: Experimental Evidence

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0018798

Initial registration date

June 16, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

June 22, 2026, 6:57 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name

Esther Vaquero-Lafuente

Affiliation

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

David Tercero-Lucas

PI Affiliation

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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PI Name

Ángela Sánchez

PI Affiliation

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2026-05-21

End date

2026-12-17

Keywords

Behavior, Finance & Microfinance, Gender

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

C91, G11, G41

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Sustainable finance has become an increasingly important part of the investment landscape. This project studies how sustainability-related features of financial products influence investment decisions and whether these effects differ by gender. Using a behavioral experiment, the study examines decision-making in financial contexts where sustainability information is included in the product offering. The findings will contribute to research on gender and sustainable finance, and may provide insights for the design of investment products that appeal to a broader range of investors.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Sánchez, Ángela, David Tercero-Lucas and Esther Vaquero-Lafuente. 2026. "Sustainable Finance, Gender, and Behavioral Drivers of Investment Decisions: Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. June 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18798-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Participants are assigned to different investment decision settings in which they make incentivized choices involving financial products presented with varying characteristics and information. The study varies features of the investment environment, including the presence of sustainability-related attributes, in order to examine how these factors influence investment decisions and product selection. The experimental design is intended to capture realistic investment trade-offs while maintaining comparability across participants.

Intervention Start Date

2026-06-03

Intervention End Date

2026-10-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcomes are: (i) whether the participant decides to invest any amount; (ii) the amount invested; and (iii) the financial product selected, conditional on investing. The main analysis compares these outcomes across experimental conditions and by gender, with particular attention to whether the availability of sustainability-related investment products affects investment participation, allocation behavior, and product preferences. The study additionally examines whether investment choices differ across sector-specific products, including products associated with the health and financial sectors, and how these effects interact with sustainability scores and participant characteristics.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The primary outcomes are directly observed from participants’ incentivized decisions and do not require the construction of composite indices. Investment participation will be measured as a binary variable equal to one if the participant invests a positive amount and zero otherwise. The amount invested will be measured as the monetary amount allocated to the investment product or products. Product choice will be measured as a categorical variable indicating which financial product the participant selects, conditional on deciding to invest. When relevant, we will also construct a binary indicator equal to one if the participant selects the sustainable product and zero otherwise.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The study uses an incentivized behavioral experiment to examine investment decisions across different financial decision environments. Participants are randomly assigned to experimental conditions in which financial products vary in their presented characteristics, including the presence of sustainability-related attributes. Participants make a series of investment choices involving trade-offs between alternative products. The design allows comparison of investment behavior across conditions and across participant characteristics, including gender.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Randomization will be conducted by a computer at the individual level. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions using the randomization procedure embedded in the experimental software.

Randomization Unit

The unit of randomization is the individual participant.

Was the treatment clustered?