Hedging labor income risk

Sebastien Betermier, Thomas Jansson, Christine Parlour and Johan Walden

Journal of Financial Economics, 2012, vol. 105, issue 3, 622-639

Abstract: We use a detailed panel data set of Swedish households to investigate the relation between their labor income risk and financial investment decisions. In particular, we relate changes in wage volatility to changes in the portfolio holdings for households that switched industries between 1999 and 2002. We find that households do adjust their portfolio holdings when switching jobs, which is consistent with the idea that households hedge their human capital risk in the stock market. The results are statistically and economically significant. A household going from an industry with low wage volatility to one with high volatility ceteris paribus decreases its portfolio share of risky assets by up to 35%, or $15,575.

Keywords: Investment decisions; Hedging; Human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G00 G11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:105:y:2012:i:3:p:622-639

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2012.05.001

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