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Naïve *Buying* Diversification and Narrow Framing by Individual Investors

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  • John Gathergood
  • David Hirshleifer
  • David Leake
  • Hiroaki Sakaguchi
  • Neil Stewart

Abstract

We provide the first tests to distinguish whether individual investors equally balance their overall portfolios (naïve portfolio diversification—NPD) or engage in naïve buying diversification (NBD)—equally balancing values in same-day purchases of multiple assets. We find NBD in purchases of multiple stocks, and in mixed purchases of individual stocks and funds. In contrast, there is little evidence of NPD. So investors seem to narrowly frame their buy-day decision. Simulation analysis suggests that NBD substantially reduces investor welfare. These findings suggest that behavioral finance theory should incorporate transactional as well as portfolio framing.

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  • John Gathergood & David Hirshleifer & David Leake & Hiroaki Sakaguchi & Neil Stewart, 2019. "Naïve *Buying* Diversification and Narrow Framing by Individual Investors," NBER Working Papers 25567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25567
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Curran & Patrick O'Sullivan & Ryan Zalla, 2020. "Can Volatility Solve the Naive Portfolio Puzzle?," Papers 2005.03204, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2022.
    2. Cao, Ji & Rieger, Marc Oliver & Zhao, Lei, 2023. "Safety first, loss probability, and the cross section of expected stock returns," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 345-369.
    3. Xie, Yuxin & Tang, Ruohua & Pantelous, Athanasios A. & Lu, Xiaomeng, 2024. "Narrow framing and under-diversification: Empirical evidence from Chinese households," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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