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Risk Taking and Skewness Seeking Behavior in a Demographically Diverse Population

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  • Douadia Bougherara

    (CEE-M, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France)

  • Lana Friesen

    (School of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)

  • Céline Nauges

    (Toulouse School of Economics, INRAE, University of Toulouse Capitole, Toulouse, France)

Abstract

We study the interaction between risk taking and skewness seeking behavior among the French population using an experiment that elicits certainty equivalent over lotteries that vary the second and third moments orthogonally. We find that the most common behavior is risk avoidance and skewness seeking. On average, we find no interaction between the two, and a weakly significant interaction only in some segments of the population. That is, in most cases, skewness seeking is not affected by the variance of the lotteries involved, nor is risk taking affected by the skewness of the lotteries. We also find a significant positive correlation between risk avoiding and skewness seeking behavior. Older and female participants make more risk avoiding and more skewness seeking choices, while less educated people and those not in executive occupations are more skewness seeking.

Suggested Citation

  • Douadia Bougherara & Lana Friesen & Céline Nauges, 2021. "Risk Taking and Skewness Seeking Behavior in a Demographically Diverse Population," Discussion Papers Series 650, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:qld:uq2004:650
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    2. Tânia Saraiva & Tiago Cruz Gonçalves, 2022. "Should I Play or Should I Go? Individuals’ Characteristics and Preference for Uncertainty," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk; Skewness; Certainty Equivalent; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies

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