Gender differences in optimism and asset allocation

Ben Jacobsen, John B. Lee, Wessel Marquering and Cherry Y. Zhang

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2014, vol. 107, issue PB, 630-651

Abstract: We investigate two alternative explanations why men may hold more stocks than women do. Apart from the traditional explanation of a gender difference in risk aversion, gender differences in either optimism or in perceived risk of financial markets might cause men to hold riskier assets. Our results show that men tend to be significantly more optimistic than women regarding a broad range of issues, including the economy and financial markets. After we take differences in optimism into account, systematic gender differences in asset allocations disappear.

Keywords: Optimism; Gender difference; Asset allocation; Consumer confidence; Economic indicators; Risk aversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 D8 D9 G11 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:107:y:2014:i:pb:p:630-651

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.03.007

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