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Risk Attitudes and Investment Decisions across European Countries: Are Women More Conservative Investors than Men?

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Author Info
Oleg Badunenko
Nataliya Barasinska
Dorothea Schäfer

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Abstract

This study questions the popular stereotype that women are more risk averse than men in their financial investment decisions. The analysis is based on micro-level data from large-scale surveys of private households in five European countries. In our analysis of investment decisions, we directly account for individuals’ self-perceivedwillingness to take financial risks. The empirical evidence we provide only weakly supports the gender differences argument. We find that women are less likely to invest in risky financial assets. However, when the probability of investing is controlled for, males and females are found to allocate equal shares of their wealth to risky assets.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in its series SOEPpapers with number 224.

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Length: 43 p.
Date of creation: 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp224

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Related research
Keywords: Gender; risk aversion; financial behavior;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
  3. Dwyer, Peggy D. & Gilkeson, James H. & List, John A., 2002. "Gender differences in revealed risk taking: evidence from mutual fund investors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 151-158, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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