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Household choices on investing in financial risky assets: Do national institutional factors have their own merit?

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  • Nicholas Apergis
  • Christos Bouras

Abstract

Using data from household surveys in United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and United States, spanning the period 2009–2018, we examine the institutional basis of households' portfolio choice decisions as related to investments in financial risky assets. We document that governance matters for households' investment decisions. A decomposition of the institutional factor effects on portfolio allocation reveals that a high degree of judicial independence and property rights protection drive households to invest in riskier assets. Our findings, which receive robust support from alternative panel data methodological approaches, have important implications for the literature on the factors dictating portfolio investments, as well as for financial choice decisions reached by investors and portfolio managers.

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  • Nicholas Apergis & Christos Bouras, 2023. "Household choices on investing in financial risky assets: Do national institutional factors have their own merit?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 405-420, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:28:y:2023:i:1:p:405-420
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.2427
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