Market reactions to the inclusion of people with disabilities
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
ISSN: 2040-7149
Article publication date: 6 April 2021
Issue publication date: 20 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide evidence of market reactions to organizations' inclusion of people with disabilities. Cases from financial journals in 1989–2014 were used to analyze the impact of actions taken by organizations to include or discriminate people with disabilities in terms of the companies' stock prices.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is conducted as an event study where the disclosure of information on an organization's actions toward people with disabilities is expected to impact the organization's stock price. The window of the event was set as (−1, +1) days. Stock prices were analyzed to detect abnormal returns during this period.
Findings
Results support the hypotheses that investors value inclusion and reject discrimination. Furthermore, the impact of negative actions is immediate, whereas the impact of positive actions requires at least an additional day to influence the firm's stock price. Some differences among the categories were found; for instance, employment and customer events were significantly more important to a firm's stock price than philanthropic actions. It was observed that philanthropic events produce negative abnormal returns on average.
Originality/value
The event study methodology provides a different perspective to practices in organizations regarding people with disabilities. Moreover, the findings in this research advance the literature by highlighting that organizations should consider policies and practices that include people with disabilities.
Keywords
Citation
Hernández González, C.A. (2022), "Market reactions to the inclusion of people with disabilities", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 404-417. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2021-0025
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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