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How negative interest rates affect the risk-taking of individual investors: Experimental evidence

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  • Baars, Maren
  • Cordes, Henning
  • Mohrschladt, Hannes

Abstract

Since the financial crisis of 2008, risk-free interest rates are at historical lows and even turned negative in some developed countries. We study experimentally how such changes in the interest rate regime affect the risk-taking of individual investors. Keeping the risk premium constant, we find that a reduction in the interest rate does not affect risk-taking in general. Risk-taking only increases significantly if the interest rate falls below zero. These findings are in line with value functions that are highly return sensitive around zero.

Suggested Citation

  • Baars, Maren & Cordes, Henning & Mohrschladt, Hannes, 2020. "How negative interest rates affect the risk-taking of individual investors: Experimental evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:32:y:2020:i:c:s1544612318303921
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.035
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    3. D’Hondt, Catherine & De Winne, Rudy & Todorovic, Aleksandar, 2021. "Target Returns and Negative Interest Rates," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2021011, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    4. Corneille, O. & D’Hondt, C. & De Winne, R. & Efendic, E. & Todorovic, A., 2021. "What leads people to tolerate negative interest rates on their savings?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Xin, Baogui & Jiang, Kai, 2023. "Central bank digital currency and the effectiveness of negative interest rate policy: A DSGE analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Negative interest rates; Loss aversion; Portfolio theory; Financial decision making;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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