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Financial Literacy and Portfolio Diversification

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Author Info
Luigi Guiso
Tullio Jappelli

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Abstract

In this paper we focus on poor financial literacy as one potential factor explaining lack of portfolio diversification. We use the 2007 Unicredit Customers' Survey, which has indicators of portfolio choice, financial literacy and many demographic characteristics of investors. We first propose test-based indicators of financial literacy and document the extent of portfolio under-diversification. We find that measures of financial literacy are strongly correlated with the degree of portfolio diversification. We also compare the test-based degree of financial literacy with investors' self-assessment of their financial knowledge, and find only a weak relation between the two measures, an issue that has gained importance after the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) has required financial institutions to rate investors' financial sophistication through questionnaires.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by European University Institute in its series Economics Working Papers with number ECO2008/31.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:eui:euiwps:eco2008/31

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Related research
Keywords: Financial literacy; Portfolio diversification;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Christelis, Dimitris & Jappelli, Tullio & Padula, Mario, 2006. "Cognitive Abilities and Portfolio Choice," CEPR Discussion Papers 5735, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Maarten van Rooij & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob Alessie, 2007. "Financial Literacy and Stock Market Participation," NBER Working Papers 13565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 745-778, September. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Joseph Golec & Maurry Tamarkin, 1998. "Bettors Love Skewness, Not Risk, at the Horse Track," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(1), pages 205-225, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Nicholas Barberis & Ming Huang & Richard H. Thaler, 2006. "Individual Preferences, Monetary Gambles, and Stock Market Participation: A Case for Narrow Framing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1069-1090, September. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Arie Kapteyn & Federica Teppa, 2009. "Subjective Measures of Risk Aversion, Fixed Costs, and Portfolio Choice," DNB Working Papers 216, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Spaenjers, C., 2009. "Where Angels Fear to Trade: The Role of Religion in Household Finance," Discussion Paper 2009-34, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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