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Risk Preference and Entrepreneurial Investment at the Top of the Wealth Distribution

Author

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  • Fossen, Frank M.

    (University of Nevada, Reno)

  • König, Johannes

    (DIW Berlin)

  • Schröder, Carsten

    (DIW Berlin)

Abstract

We present first evidence how individual risk preferences shape entrepreneurial investment among the very wealthy using novel survey data from the top of the wealth distribution, which have been added to the 2019 German Socio-economic Panel Study. The data include private wealth balance sheets, in particular the value of own private business assets, and a standard measure of risk tolerance. We find that wealthy individuals are more likely to be entrepreneurs and invest a larger share of their wealth in their own businesses when they are more willing to take risks. These associations are stronger among wealthy than among less wealthy individuals. The results imply that policies affecting the riskiness of income and wealth, such as tax policy and bankruptcy law, affect risky investment decisions at the top of the wealth distribution in ways strongly determined by individual risk tolerance. Since the wealthy dominate aggregate risky investment, their risk preferences must be taken into account for theory development, empirical analysis, and policy evaluations.

Suggested Citation

  • Fossen, Frank M. & König, Johannes & Schröder, Carsten, 2020. "Risk Preference and Entrepreneurial Investment at the Top of the Wealth Distribution," IZA Discussion Papers 13951, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13951
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes König & Maximilian Longmuir, 2021. "Wage Risk and Portfolio Choice: The Role of Correlated Returns," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1974, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Urs Fischbacher & Levent Neyse & David Richter & Carsten Schröder, 2024. "Adding household surveys to the behavioral economics toolbox: insights from the SOEP innovation sample," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 10(1), pages 136-151, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wealth; entrepreneurship; risk; portfolio choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

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