Stereotypes and Risk Attitudes: Evidence from the Lab and the Field

Andrea Leuermann and Benjamin Roth

No 533, Working Papers from University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Recent studies have found correlations between risk attitudes and several sociodemographic characteristics. In this paper, we deploy an artefactual fi eld experiment and study whether subjects - non-professionals and financial professionals - are aware of these correlations. This is largely confi rmed by our results for all subject groups. We show that the subjects attach informational value to sociodemographic information when assessing others' risk attitudes. This provides external validity to the correlations found between risk preferences and sociodemographics. A person's self-assessment of risk attitudes is the most helpful device for the subjects' assessments of others, although experienced professionals make use of it to a minor extent than all other subjects.

Keywords: Risk Preferences; Financial Advice; Artefactual Field Experiment; Behavioral Finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 G02 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-08-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-upt
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:awi:wpaper:0533

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