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Are risk attitudes fixed factors or fleeting feelings?

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  • Cho, In Soo
  • Orazem, Peter
  • Rosenblat, Tanya

Abstract

We investigate the stability of measured risk attitudes over time, using a 13-year longitudinal sample of individuals in the NLSY79. We find that an individual's risk aversion changes systematically in response to personal economic circumstances. Risk aversion increases with lengthening spells of employment and time out of labor force, and decreases with lengthening unemployment spells. However, the most important result is that the majority of the variation in risk aversion is due to changes in measured individual tastes over time and not to variation across individuals. These findings that measured risk preferences are endogenous and subject to substantial measurement errors suggest caution in interpreting coefficients in models relying on contemporaneous, one-time measures of risk preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Cho, In Soo & Orazem, Peter & Rosenblat, Tanya, 2013. "Are risk attitudes fixed factors or fleeting feelings?," ISU General Staff Papers 201301100800001038, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genstf:201301100800001038
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    Cited by:

    1. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.
    2. Hetschko, Clemens & Preuss, Malte, 2020. "Income in jeopardy: How losing employment affects the willingness to take risks," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Franco, Catalina & Mahadevan, Meera, 2021. "Behavioral dynamics in transitions from college to the workforce," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 567-590.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D00 - Microeconomics - - General - - - General
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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