Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP11504 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: Once Bitten, Twice Shy: The Role of Inertia and Personal Experiences in Risk Taking

Author(s): Steffen Andersen, Tobin Hanspal and Kasper Meisner Nielsen

Publication Date: September 2016

Keyword(s): Experiences, financial crisis, household finance, Inertia and Risk Taking

Programme Area(s): Financial Economics

Abstract: We study how inertia and personal experiences affect individual risk taking. Our research design relies on active portfolio decisions relating to inheritances to separate the effect of personal experiences from inertia, which otherwise would be observationally equivalent. Experience derives from investments in banks that defaulted following the financial crisis. We classify experiences into first-hand experiences, resulting from personal losses; second-hand experiences, from the losses of close family members; and third-hand experiences, from living in municipalities where banks defaulted. Our results demonstrate that experiences gained personally, aside from inertia or common shocks, explain substantial heterogeneity in individuals' risk taking.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=11504

Bibliographic Reference

Andersen, S, Hanspal, T and Nielsen, K. 2016. 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy: The Role of Inertia and Personal Experiences in Risk Taking'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=11504