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Hedging Labor Income Risk

Author

Listed:
  • Betermier, Sebastien

    (The Desautels Faculty of Management)

  • Jansson, Thomas

    (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Parlour, Christine A.

    (The Haas School of Business)

  • Walden, Johan

    (The Haas School of Business)

Abstract

We use a detailed panel data set of Swedish households to investigate the relation between their labor income risk and financial investment decisions. In particular, we relate changes in wage volatility to changes in the portfolio holdings for households that switched industries between 1999 and 2002. We find that households do adjust their portfolio holdings when switching jobs, which is consistent with the idea that households hedge their human capital risk in the stock market. The results are statis- tically and economically significant. A household going from an industry with low wage volatility to one with high volatility will ceteris paribus decrease its portfolio share of risky assets by up to 35%, or USD 15,575.

Suggested Citation

  • Betermier, Sebastien & Jansson, Thomas & Parlour, Christine A. & Walden, Johan, 2011. "Hedging Labor Income Risk," Working Paper Series 255, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0255
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Basten & Andreas Fagereng & Kjetil Telle, 2016. "Saving and Portfolio Allocation Before and After Job Loss," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 293-324, March.
    2. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    investment decisions; hedging; human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G00 - Financial Economics - - General - - - General
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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