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Asset Accumulation, Information, and the Life Cycle

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Author Info
Mervyn A. King
Jonathan I. Leape
Abstract

Empirical tests of the life cycle model have focused on its implications for the level of a household's total net worth and paid little attention to changes in portfolio composition over the life cycle. In this paper, we examine a new survey of the asset holdings of 6,010 U.S households and show that there is a pronounced life-cycle pattern to both the number and value of assets held by U.S. households. Direct survey evidence suggests that incomplete information is a significant determinant of household portfolio composition. We test the hypothesis that information about investment opportunities arrives stochastically over time, estimating a Poisson model for the arrival of new information.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 2392.

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Date of creation: Sep 1987
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2392

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Lawrence H. Summers, 1981. "The Role of Intergenerational Transfers in Aggregate Capital Accumulation," NBER Working Papers 0445, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Davies, James B, 1981. "Uncertain Lifetime, Consumption, and Dissaving in Retirement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(3), pages 561-77, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Jerry A. Hausman & Bronwyn H. Hall & Zvi Griliches, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," NBER Technical Working Papers 0017, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Atkinson, A B, 1971. "The Distribution of Wealth and the Individual Life-cycle," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 239-54, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. J. Bradford De Long & Andrei Shleifer & Lawrence H. Summers & Robert J. Waldmann, 1987. "The Economic Consequences of Noise Traders," NBER Working Papers 2395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Uhler, R S & Cragg, John G, 1971. "The Structure of the Asset Portfolios of Households," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(115), pages 341-57, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Glosten, Lawrence R. & Milgrom, Paul R., 1985. "Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 71-100, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Feldstein, Martin S, 1976. "Personal Taxation and Portfolio Composition: An Econometric Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 631-50, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Mirer, Thad W, 1979. "The Wealth-Age Relation among the Aged," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(3), pages 435-43, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. White, Betsy Buttrill, 1978. "Empirical Tests of the Life Cycle Hypothesis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(4), pages 547-60, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Alan S. Blinder & Roger H. Gordon & Donald E. Wise, 1981. "Social Security, Bequests, and the Life Cycle Theory of Saving: Cross-Sectional Tests," NBER Working Papers 0619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Shorrocks, A F, 1975. "The Age-Wealth Relationship: A Cross-Section and Cohort Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(2), pages 155-63, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Hurd, Michael D, 1987. "Savings of the Elderly and Desired Bequests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 298-312, June.
  14. Robert J. Shiller, 1984. "Stock Prices and Social Dynamics," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 719R, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  15. Blume, Marshall E & Friend, Irwin, 1975. "The Asset Structure of Individual Portfolios and Some Implications for Utility Functions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 30(2), pages 585-603, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Diamond, P. A. & Hausman, J. A., 1984. "Individual retirement and savings behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1-2), pages 81-114. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1987. "Dissaving After Retirement: Testing the Pure Life Cycle Hypothesis," NBER Working Papers 1409, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Alessie, R. & Hochguertel, S. & Soest, A. van, 2000. "Household portfolios in the Netherlands," Discussion Paper 55, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Luigi Guiso & Tullio Jappelli, 2003. "Awareness and Stock Market Participation," CSEF Working Papers 110, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Andersson, Björn, 2001. "Portfolio Allocation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from Swedish Household Data," Working Paper Series 2001:4, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Luigi Guiso & Tullio Jappelli, 2000. "Household Portfolios in Italy," CSEF Working Papers 43, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Luc Arrondel & Stefan Lollivier, 2004. "Transaction costs, Income Risk and Household Portfolio Allocation: Evidence from French Panel Data," DELTA Working Papers 2004-19, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  6. Luc Arrondel & Hector Calvo-Pardo, 2002. "Portfolio Choice with a Correlated Background Risk : Theory and Evidence," DELTA Working Papers 2002-16, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  7. Marjorie Flavin & Takashi Yamashita, 1998. "Owner-Occupied Housing and the Composition of the Household Portfolio Over the Life-Cycle," NBER Working Papers 6389, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Carol C. Bertaut, 1996. "Stockholding behavior of U.S. households: evidence from the 1983-89 Survey of Consumer Finances," International Finance Discussion Papers 558, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  9. Hochguertel, S., 1997. "Precautionary motives and portfolio decisions," Discussion Paper 55, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Hochguertel, S. & Alessie, R. & Soest, A. van, 1995. "Household Portfolio Allocation in the Netherlands : Saving Accounts versus Stocks and Bonds," Discussion Paper 24, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  11. Marjorie Flavin & Takashi Yamashita, 1998. "Owner-Occupied Housing and the Composition of the Household Portfolio over the Life Cycle," University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series 98-02, Department of Economics, UC San Diego. [Downloadable!]
  12. Luc Arrondel & André Masson, 2002. "Stockholding in France," DELTA Working Papers 2002-09, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  13. Alessie, R. & Hochguertel, S. & Soest, A. van, 2001. "Ownership of stocks and mutual funds: : a panel data analysis," Discussion Paper 94, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Scott Weisbenner, 1999. "Do pension plans with participant investment choice teach households to hold more equity?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1999-61, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  15. Takeshi Yamaguchi, 2006. "Understanding Trading Behavior in 401(k) Plans," Working Papers wp125, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
  16. Ottavio Ricchi & Adolfo Di Carluccio & Cecilia Frale, 2004. "Do Privatizations Boost Household Shareholding? Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 2004.3, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
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