Broadband internet and the stock market investments of individual investors

Hans Hvide, Tom G. Meling (), Magne Mogstad and Ola Vestad

Discussion Papers from Statistics Norway, Research Department

Abstract: We study the effects of broadband internet use on the portfolio selection of individual investors. A public program in Norway provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables estimates show that internet use causes a substantial increase in stock market participation, driven primarily by increased fund ownership. Existing investors increase the fraction of their portfolios held in funds and do not increase their trading activity in stocks. Access to fast internet seems to induce individual investors to make better financial decisions and hence leads to a “democratization of finance”.

Keywords: equity market participation; investor welfare; portfolio selection; stock market participation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 G11 J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ict and nep-pay
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Broadband Internet and the Stock Market Investments of Individual Investors (2024)
Working Paper: Broadband Internet and the Stock Market Investments of Individual Investors (2023)
Working Paper: Broadband Internet and the Stock Market Investments of Individual Investors (2022)
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