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Financial Risk Aversion and Household Asset Diversification

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  • Nataliya Barasinska
  • Dorothea Schäfer
  • Andreas Stephan

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between self-declared risk aversion of private investors and their willingness to hold diversified portfolios of financial assets. The analysis is based on household survey data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP) that provides a reliable measure of individual attitude towards financial risk. Our empirical findings suggest that more risk averse investors tend to hold incomplete portfolios that consist mainly of a few safe assets. We also find that for private households the propensity to diversify is highly dependent on whether liquidity and safety needs are satisfied.

Suggested Citation

  • Nataliya Barasinska & Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan, 2009. "Financial Risk Aversion and Household Asset Diversification," Working Paper / FINESS 6.1A, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwfin:diwfin6.1a
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    Cited by:

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    2. Andrew C. Worthington, 2009. "Household Asset Portfolio Diversification: Evidence from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey," Discussion Papers in Finance finance:200908, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    3. Raman Uppal & Harjoat Bhamra, 2016. "Do Individual Behavioral Biases Affect Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy?," 2016 Meeting Papers 1358, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Harjoat S. Bhamra & Raman Uppal, 2019. "Does Household Finance Matter? Small Financial Errors with Large Social Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1116-1154, March.
    5. Zhifeng Liu & Kaixin Li & Tingting Zhang, 2023. "Information diversity and household portfolio diversification," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 3833-3845, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    household finances; asset portfolio; diversification; risk aversion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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