EconStor >
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin >
DIW-Diskussionspapiere >

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10419/55305
  
Title:Does gender affect investors' appetite for risk? Evidence from peer-to-peer lending PDF Logo
Authors:Barasinska, Nataliya
Issue Date:2011
Series/Report no.:Discussion papers // German Institute for Economic Research 1125
Abstract:This study investigates the role of gender in financial risk-taking. Specifically, I ask whether female investors tend to fund less risky investment projects than males. To answer this question, I use real-life investment data collected at the largest German market for peer-to-peer lending. Investors' utility is assumed to be a function of the projects expected return and its standard deviation, whereas standard deviation serves as a measure of risk. Gender differences regarding the responses to projects' risk are tested by estimating a random parameter regression model that allows for variation of risk preferences across investors. Estimation results provide no evidence of gender differences in investors' risk propensity: On average, male and female investors respond similarly to the changes in the standard deviation of expected return. Moreover, no differences between male and female investors are found with respect to other characteristics of projects that may serve as a proxy for projects' risk. Significant gender differences in investors' tastes are found only with respect to preferred investment duration, purpose of investment project and borrowers' age.
Subjects:gender
investment choice
risk preferences
JEL:G11
G21
J16
Document Type:Working Paper
Appears in Collections:Publikationen von Forscherinnen und Forschern des DIW
DIW-Diskussionspapiere

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat
684716151.pdf596.11 kBAdobe PDF
No. of Downloads:
last Month last 3 Month total
Download bibliographical data as: BibTeX
Share on:http://hdl.handle.net/10419/55305

Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.