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Portfolio Allocation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from Swedish Household Data

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  • Andersson, Björn

    (Department of Economics)

Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence on life-cycle patterns in the asset allocation of Swedish households. Data on household portfolio allocation are collected from the HINK surveys for the period 1982-1992, and portfolio shares of different asset categories are regressed on age, period, and cohort dummies as well as socio-economic and demographic variables. There are evident differences in the age profiles for the demand of different assets. The fraction of "risky" financial assets follows a hump-shaped age profile, as does the share of total real assets. While the probability of ownership of "safe" financial assets increases over life, the weight in the portfolio has a U-shaped age pattern. This is also true for the fraction of total financial assets. Furthermore, there are differences in the asset allocation of different birth cohorts; the portfolio weight of real assets is relatively higher for the "baby-boom" generation, while younger generations are more prone to invest in "risky" financial assets.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersson, Björn, 2001. "Portfolio Allocation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from Swedish Household Data," Working Paper Series 2001:4, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2001_004
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Lindh, 2004. "Medium-term forecasts of potential GDP and inflation using age structure information," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 19-49.
    2. Martin W johansson & Mattias Persson, 2007. "Swedish households' indebtedness and ability to pay: a household level study," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Proceedings of the IFC Conference on "Measuring the financial position of the household sector", Basel, 30-31 August 2006 - Volume 2, volume 26, pages 234-248, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Thomas Lindh & Bo Malmberg, 2008. "Demography and housing demand—what can we learn from residential construction data?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(3), pages 521-539, July.
    4. Beckmann, Daniela & Menkhoff, Lukas & Suto, Megumi, 2008. "Does culture influence asset managers' views and behavior?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(3-4), pages 624-643, September.
    5. Giovanni Ferri & Cecilia Frale & Ottavio Ricchi, 2005. "More Households in the Stock Market Through Privatizations? Evidence from Italy," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 64(1), pages 93-132, September.
    6. Amadeu DaSilva & Mira Farka, 2018. "Asset pricing puzzles in an OLG economy with generalized preference," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 24(3), pages 331-361, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life cycle; asset demand; portfolio choice; cohort; differential mortality; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C20 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - General
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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