Economic integration and mature portfolios

Dimitris Christelis, Dimitris Georgarakos and Michael Haliassos

No 2008/05, CFS Working Paper Series from Center for Financial Studies (CFS)

Abstract: This paper documents and studies sources of international differences in participation and holdings in stocks, private businesses, and homes among households aged 50+ in the US, England, and eleven continental European countries, using new internationally comparable, household-level data. With greater integration of asset and labor markets and policies, households of given characteristics should be holding more similar portfolios for old age. We decompose observed differences across the Atlantic, within the US, and within Europe into those arising from differences: a) in the distribution of characteristics and b) in the influence of given characteristics. We find that US households are generally more likely to own these assets than their European counterparts. However, European asset owners tend to hold smaller real, PPP-adjusted amounts in stocks and larger in private businesses and primary residence than US owners at comparable points in the distribution of holdings, even controlling for differences in configuration of characteristics. Differences in characteristics often play minimal or no role. Differences in market conditions are much more pronounced among European countries than among US regions, suggesting significant potential for further integration.

Keywords: Integration; Aging; Household Portfolios; Stockholding; Private Business; Housing; Counterfactual Decompositions; Quantile Regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E23 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Economic Integration and Mature Portfolios (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:cfswop:200805

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