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Measures of Individual Risk Attitudes and Portfolio Choice: Evidence from Pension Participants

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  • Mehmet Y. Gürdal
  • Tolga U. Kuzubaþ
  • Burak Saltoðlu

Abstract

We use a large non-student sample to test how distinct measures of risk-attitudes relate to each other, to demographic characteristics and to real-life risk taking in the financial domain. These measures, namely the Bomb Risk Elicitation Task (BRET), self-reported willingness to take risks in general, the choice in a hypothetical lottery, the score in the Domain Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale, appear to be positively correlated and exhibit a certain degree of consistency. Furthermore, a subset of these measures is driven by similar demographic characteristics as such that males are more risk seeking and risk-aversion increases with age. Using extensive data on the retirement portfolios of the participants during the years 2008–2014, we find that all of these measures are positively correlated with the riskiness of individual portfolios. The self-reported willingness to take risks in general appears to be the most relevant measure in predicting actual risk-taking behavior.
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Suggested Citation

  • Mehmet Y. Gürdal & Tolga U. Kuzubaþ & Burak Saltoðlu, 2016. "Measures of Individual Risk Attitudes and Portfolio Choice: Evidence from Pension Participants," Working Papers 2016/02, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bou:wpaper:2016/02
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    Cited by:

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    2. Krčál, Ondřej & Staněk, Rostislav & Slanicay, Martin, 2019. "Made for the job or by the job? A lab-in-the-field experiment with firefighters," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 271-276.
    3. Hiroyuki Yamada & Yuki Kanayama & Kanako Yoshikawa & Kyaw Wai Aung, 2020. "Risk attitude, risky behavior, and price determination in the sex market: A case study of Yangon, Myanmar," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2020-013, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    4. Blake, David & Duffield, Mel & Tonks, Ian & Haig, Alistair & Blower, Dean & MacPhee, Laura, 2022. "Smart defaults: Determining the number of default funds in a pension scheme," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(4).
    5. Ondřej Krčál & Rostislav Staněk & Martin Slanicay, 2019. "Made for the job or by the job? A lab-in-the-field experiment with firefighters," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2019-05, Masaryk University, revised Feb 2023.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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