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Control thyself: Self-control failure and household wealth

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  • Biljanovska, Nina
  • Palligkinis, Spyros

Abstract

We examine the relationship between self-control and household wealth. Building on literature in psychology, we take a more comprehensive approach to the concept of self-control and posit that it consists of three ingredients: planning, monitoring, and commitment to pre-set goals. We build a measure which combines those three components and can be computed using a standard representative survey. We find that self-control failure is strongly associated with different household net wealth measures and with self-assessed financial distress.

Suggested Citation

  • Biljanovska, Nina & Palligkinis, Spyros, 2018. "Control thyself: Self-control failure and household wealth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 280-294.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:92:y:2018:i:c:p:280-294
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2016.10.010
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rey-Ares, Lucía & Fernández-López, Sara & Castro-González, Sandra & Rodeiro-Pazos, David, 2021. "Does self-control constitute a driver of millennials’ financial behaviors and attitudes?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Wang, Jiaxin & Liu, Jiemei & Wang, Jiawei & Huang, Xiang & Liu, Yu, 2023. "The puzzle of household wealth preservation and corporate innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Mirpourian, Mehrdad, 2020. "Building a Habit: How Initial Saving Activity Predicts Long-term Account Engagement," MPRA Paper 103061, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ivan Skliarov & Łukasz Goczek, 2024. "What Makes a Household Wealthy? Is it Reckless Risk-Taking or Careful Planning?," LWS Working papers 42, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Firth, Chris & Stewart, Neil & Antoniou, Constantinos & Leake, David, 2023. "The effects of personality and IQ on portfolio outcomes," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Grohmann, Antonia & Hamdan, Jana S., 2020. "The Effect of Self-Control on Borrowing: Experimental Evidence," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 264, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    8. Antonia Grohmann & Jana Hamdan, 2021. "The Effect of Self-Control and Financial Literacy on Impulse Borrowing: Experimental Evidence," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1950, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih & Ibrahim A. Elshaer, 2023. "Risk-Taking, Financial Knowledge, and Risky Investment Intention: Expanding Theory of Planned Behavior Using a Moderating-Mediating Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Strömbäck, Camilla & Skagerlund, Kenny & Västfjäll, Daniel & Tinghög, Gustav, 2020. "Subjective self-control but not objective measures of executive functions predicts financial behavior and well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    11. Ali Saleh Alshebami & Theyazn H. H. Aldhyani, 2022. "The Interplay of Social Influence, Financial Literacy, and Saving Behaviour among Saudi Youth and the Moderating Effect of Self-Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-control; Household wealth; Household finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

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