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The impact of health insurance on stockholding: A regression discontinuity approach

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  • Christelis, Dimitris
  • Georgarakos, Dimitris
  • Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna

Abstract

Using data from the US Health and Retirement Study, we study the causal effect of increased health insurance coverage through Medicare and the associated reduction in health-related background risk on financial risk-taking. Given the onset of Medicare at age 65, we identify our effect of interest using a regression discontinuity approach. We find that getting Medicare coverage induces stockholding for those with at least some college education, but not for their less-educated counterparts. Hence, our results indicate that a reduction in background risk induces financial risk-taking in individuals for whom informational and pecuniary stock market participation costs are relatively low.

Suggested Citation

  • Christelis, Dimitris & Georgarakos, Dimitris & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna, 2014. "The impact of health insurance on stockholding: A regression discontinuity approach," CFS Working Paper Series 488, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cfswop:488
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    Cited by:

    1. Angrisani, Marco & Atella, Vincenzo & Brunetti, Marianna, 2018. "Public health insurance and household portfolio Choices: Unravelling financial “Side Effects” of Medicare," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 198-212.
    2. Padmaja Ayyagari & Daifeng He, 2017. "The Role of Medical Expenditure Risk in Portfolio Allocation Decisions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(11), pages 1447-1458, November.
    3. Christelis, Dimitris & Georgarakos, Dimitris & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna, 2020. "The impact of health insurance on stockholding: A regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Dal Borgo Mariela, 2021. "Do Bankruptcy Protection Levels Affect Households' Demand for Stocks?," Working Papers 2021-03, Banco de México.
    5. Panchalingam, Thadchaigeni, 2020. "Effects of Public Health Insurance Expansions on Consumption Expenditures of Targeted Households," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304513, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Takao Asano & Yusuke Osaki, 2022. "Precautionary Saving against Correlation under Risk and Ambiguity," KIER Working Papers 1071, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    7. Inmaculada Aguiar-Díaz & María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorqui, 2022. "Private Health Insurance and Financial Risk Taking in Spain—The Moderating Effect of Subjective Risk Tolerance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Zhongda Li & Lu Liu & Jiayu Shi & Yubing Sui, 2021. "Health insurance, risk attitudes, and household financial behavior," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1239-1246, May.
    9. Zhang, Weike & Meng, Jia & Tian, Xiaoli, 2020. "Does de-capacity policy enhance the total factor productivity of China's coal companies? A Regression Discontinuity design," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Insurance; Medicare; Stockholding; Regression Discontinuity; Household Finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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