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How does gender really affect investment behavior?

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  • Marinelli, Nicoletta
  • Mazzoli, Camilla
  • Palmucci, Fabrizio

Abstract

In this paper we study gender differences in investment behavior. By making use of a dedicated proprietary dataset including 2374 clients of an Italian bank we show that, after controlling for socio-demographic and economic variables, gender still explains many differences in the investment decision process, risk preferences and portfolio characteristics, thus suggesting a role of gender in the investment behavior. However, no difference is revealed in the portfolio liquidity and diversification, meaning that gender does not affect the quality of portfolios.

Suggested Citation

  • Marinelli, Nicoletta & Mazzoli, Camilla & Palmucci, Fabrizio, 2017. "How does gender really affect investment behavior?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 58-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:151:y:2017:i:c:p:58-61
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.12.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Halko, Marja-Liisa & Kaustia, Markku & Alanko, Elias, 2012. "The gender effect in risky asset holdings," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 66-81.
    7. Bannier, Christina E. & Neubert, Milena, 2016. "Gender differences in financial risk taking: The role of financial literacy and risk tolerance," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 130-135.
    8. Hibbert, Ann Marie & Lawrence, Edward R. & Prakash, Arun J., 2013. "Does knowledge of finance mitigate the gender difference in financial risk-aversion?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 140-152.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Raslan Alzuabi & Sarah Brown & Mark N. Harris & Karl Taylor, 2024. "Modelling the composition of household portfolios: A latent class approach," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 243-275, February.
    3. Caterina Cruciani & Gloria Gardenal & Giuseppe Amitrano, 2022. "Risk Tolerance Tools: From Academia to Regulation and Back," Springer Books, in: Understanding Financial Risk Tolerance, chapter 0, pages 39-78, Springer.
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    5. Sofia Bapna & Martin Ganco, 2021. "Gender Gaps in Equity Crowdfunding: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2679-2710, May.
    6. Zandri Dickason-Koekemoer & Suné Ferreira, 2019. "Risk Tolerance: The Influence of Gender and Life Satisfaction," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 11(1), pages 66-72.
    7. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    8. Swati Prasad & Ravi Kiran & Rakesh Kumar Sharma, 2021. "Influence of financial literacy on retail investors' decisions in relation to return, risk and market analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2548-2559, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Investment behavior; Risk preferences; Portfolio’s risk and diversification; Financial literacy;
    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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