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The Standard Portfolio Choice Problem in Germany

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  • Steffen Huck
  • Tobias Schmidt
  • Georg Weizsäcker

Abstract

We study behavior in an investment experiment conducted with a representative sample of German households (SOEP-IS). Respondents allocate a fixed budget between a safe asset and a risky asset whose returns are tied to the German stock market and earn monetary returns based on their decisions. Experimental investment choices correlate with beliefs about stock market returns and exhibit desirable external validity: They are a strong predictor for real-life stock market participation. The experimental set-up allows exogenous modification of the risky asset's return but investments are inelastic except for financially savvy subsamples. A laboratory experiment accompanies the data collection and yields similar results.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Huck & Tobias Schmidt & Georg Weizsäcker, 2014. "The Standard Portfolio Choice Problem in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 650, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp650
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    2. Merkle, Christoph, 2018. "The curious case of negative volatility," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 92-108.
    3. Breunig, Christoph & Grabova, Iuliia & Haan, Peter & Weinhardt, Felix & Weizsäcker, Georg, 2021. "Long-run expectations of households," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    4. Armando N. Meier, 2021. "Emotions and Risk Attitudes," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1118, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Müller, Lara Marie & Harrs, Sören & Rockenbach, Bettina, 2022. "How Narratives Impact Financial Behavior - Experimental Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264089, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Breunig, Christoph & Mammen, Enno & Simoni, Anna, 2018. "Nonparametric estimation in case of endogenous selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 202(2), pages 268-285.
    7. Armando N. Meier, 2019. "Emotions, Risk Attitudes, and Patience," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1041, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    8. Schröder, Carsten & König, Johannes & Fedorets, Alexandra & Goebel, Jan & Grabka, Markus M. & Lüthen, Holger & Metzing, Maria & Schikora, Felicitas & Liebig, Stefan, 2020. "The economic research potentials of the German Socio-Economic Panel study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 21(3), pages 335-371.
    9. Hillenbrand, Adrian & Schmelzer, André, 2017. "Beyond information: Disclosure, distracted attention, and investor behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 14-21.
    10. Christoph Breunig & Stephan Martin, 2020. "Nonclassical Measurement Error in the Outcome Variable," Papers 2009.12665, arXiv.org, revised May 2021.
    11. Johannes König & Maximilian Longmuir, 2021. "Wage Risk and Portfolio Choice: The Role of Correlated Returns," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1974, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Breunig, Christoph, 2017. "Testing Missing At Random Using Instrumental Variables," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 59, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    13. Björn Bos & Moritz A. Drupp & Jasper N. Meya & Martin F. Quaas, 2023. "Financial Risk-Taking under Health Risk," CESifo Working Paper Series 10387, CESifo.
    14. Stephan Martin, 2022. "Estimation of Conditional Random Coefficient Models using Machine Learning Techniques," Papers 2201.08366, arXiv.org.
    15. Fischbacher, Urs & Neyse, Levent & Richter, David & Schröder, Carsten, 2022. "Adding household surveys to the behavioral economics toolbox: Insights from the SOEP Innovation Sample," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2022-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    16. Adrian Hillenbrand & André Schmelzer, 2015. "Beyond Information: Disclosure, Distracted Attention, and Investor Behavior," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2015_20, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    17. Christoph Breunig, 2017. "Testing Missing at Random using Instrumental Variables," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2017-007, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stock market expectations; stock market participation; portfolio choice; artefactual field experiment; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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