Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and Ambiguity Aversion

Lex Borghans, Bart Golsteyn (), James J. Heckman and Huub Meijers

No 14713, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper demonstrates gender differences in risk aversion and ambiguity aversion. It also contributes to a growing literature relating economic preference parameters to psychological measures by asking whether variations in preference parameters among persons, and in particular across genders, can be accounted for by differences in personality traits and traits of cognition. Women are more risk averse than men. Over an initial range, women require no further compensation for the introduction of ambiguity but men do. At greater levels of ambiguity, women have the same marginal distaste for increased ambiguity as men. Psychological variables account for some of the interpersonal variation in risk aversion. They explain none of the differences in ambiguity.

JEL-codes: J24 D80 D03 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-02
Note: LS
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Related works:
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and Ambiguity Aversion (2009)
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and Ambiguity Aversion (2009)
Journal Article: Gender Differences in Risk Aversion and Ambiguity Aversion (2009)
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