Abstract:
We show that including distribution costs into a general equilibrium model of international portfolio choice contributes to explaining the "home bias" in international equity investment. Our model is able to replicate observed investment positions for a wide range of parameter values, even if agents have an incentive to hedge labor income risk by purchasing foreign equity. This is because the existence of a retail sector affects both the correlation of domestic returns with the domestic price level and the correlation between financial and nonfinancial income.