IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v77y2025ics1544612325002922.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commercial pension insurance and risky financial asset allocation: Evidence from elderly Chinese families

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Zhixiao
  • Zhang, Xue

Abstract

The aging population is expanding globally, and addressing the challenges of elderly care is urgent. Using the 2019 China Household Finance Survey data, this study finds that commercial pension insurance significantly promotes households’ allocation of risky financial assets. We test the mechanisms using household risk perception and investment risk preference as mediating variables. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive effect of commercial pension insurance on risky financial asset allocation is more significant in rural households with household registration, those with two sets of housing, and households in the northeast. The research findings of this article aim to promote the continuous improvement of China's elderly care system and provide important empirical evidence for the formulation of relevant policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Zhixiao & Zhang, Xue, 2025. "Commercial pension insurance and risky financial asset allocation: Evidence from elderly Chinese families," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:77:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325002922
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325002922
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hembre, Erik & Collins, J. Michael & Wylde, Samuel, 2024. "A rising tide lifts all homes? Housing consumption trends for low-income households since the 1980s," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    2. Chakraborty, Pallabi & Mahanta, Amarjyoti, 2024. "The role of financial and physical assets as substitute or complementary to land as collateral in credit market: Evidence from Indian households," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    3. Henny Sulistianingsih & Fitri Santi, 2023. "Does SME’s financing decisions follow pecking order pattern? The role of financial literacy, risk preference, and home bias in SME financing decisions," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 2174477-217, December.
    4. Vu, Thi-Hong-Phuong & Li, Chu-Shiu & Liu, Chwen-Chi, 2021. "Effects of the financial crisis on household financial risky assets holdings: Empirical evidence from Europe," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 342-358.
    5. Chen, Fuzhong & Hsu, Chien-Lung & Lin, Arthur J. & Li, Haifeng, 2020. "Holding risky financial assets and subjective wellbeing: Empirical evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    6. Brown, Sarah & Gray, Daniel & Harris, Mark N. & Spencer, Christopher, 2021. "Household portfolio allocation, uncertainty, and risk," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 96-117.
    7. Pengpeng Yue & Aslihan Gizem Korkmaz & Zhichao Yin & Haigang Zhou, 2021. "Household-owned Businesses’ Vulnerability to the COVID-19 Pandemic," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(6), pages 1662-1674, May.
    8. Deng, Xin & Yu, Mingzhe, 2021. "Does the marginal child increase household debt? – Evidence from the new fertility policy in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Korfhage, Thorben & Fischer-Weckemann, Björn, 2024. "Long-run consequences of informal elderly care and implications of public long-term care insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Ye, Xiang & Yue, Pengpeng, 2023. "Financial literacy and household energy efficiency: An analysis of credit market and supply chain," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Cupák, Andrej & Fessler, Pirmin & Hsu, Joanne W. & Paradowski, Piotr R., 2022. "Investor confidence and high financial literacy jointly shape investments in risky assets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    12. Xu, Dandan & Guo, Dongli & Yue, Pengpeng & Li, Mengshi, 2024. "Household green consumption: Does digital inclusion matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    13. Eling, Martin & Ghavibazoo, Omid & Hanewald, Katja, 2021. "Willingness to take financial risks and insurance holdings: A European survey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Pengcheng & Yang, Xuelin, 2024. "Social trust and household financial decision-making: An empirical study based on the usage of household financial technology," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Jiao, Lei & Lu, Sijin & Chen, Changchun & Feng, Yu, 2024. "Social security, relative deprivation, digital capacity, and household financial investment behavior," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    3. Yang, Liuhui & Li, Ruoyi, 2025. "Government governance, family financial support, and financial well-being of the elderly: Evidence from CHARLS Data," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Ni, Junwei & Gao, Yidan, 2025. "Opportunities for higher education for children, financial literacy and household capital," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Guo, Wei, 2024. "Income volatility and household commercial insurance allocation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Xie, Da & Zhang, Min & Bing, Pijing, 2025. "Manual task intensity and male-female wage gap: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Gu, Yao & Zhu, Xingui, 2024. "Homeownership and household risky asset holdings: Moderating role of social security and the mediating role of subjective well-being," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Qu, Bowen, 2025. "Pension levels, social activities, and household consumption," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Wang, Zhen & Huang, Yaoxuan & Chen, Min & Li, Changle, 2025. "Elderly care burden and household investment behavior: The roles of family income, social security, and long-term care insurance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Liu, Pingfen & Cai, Peifeng & Wang, Jing, 2025. "The dual driving mechanism of financial literacy and risky financial assets on household entrepreneurial decision-making," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Wang, Xinjian & Ding, Yihao & Dong, Qiang & Sun, Shuai & Chen, Zhixiao, 2025. "Impact of digital divide on household consumption: Role of mental health and happiness," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Li, Qianqian & Zhao, Zhengtang & Chen, Tingting, 2024. "The effect of public pension insurance integration on income disparities between urban-rural households: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. He, Wei & Ling, Wenhao & Chen, Ziyi, 2025. "Financial literacy, old-age dependency ratio and household fraud risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Dong, Jingxuan, 2024. "Digital finance’s impact on household portfolio diversity: Evidence from Chinese households," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Guo, Xixi & Luo, Kewen & Fang, Jun, 2025. "Household asset structure, pension security, and consumer spending," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    16. Yu, Jiaohui & Luo, Jinliang & Chen, Jian, 2025. "Does demolition compensation stimulate household allocation of financial assets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Xu, Xiuli & Xu, Panpan & Bai, Haiqing, 2024. "Working hours and household financial asset allocation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Zhao, Dongfang & Gao, Genghe & Liu, Tao & Zhao, Zhenkun, 2024. "Population aging, digital divide, and household financial asset choices—An empirical study based on prefecture-level population census data," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Wang, Yueying & Liu, Qinming, 2024. "Examining factors driving household carbon emissions from elderly families—Evidence from Japan," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Yuan, Quan & Peng, Ting & Liang, Jing, 2025. "Collaborative equity networks in the supply chain and peer effects on corporate green transition," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:77:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325002922. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.