Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/303039 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
SAFE Working Paper No. 429
Publisher: 
Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
We show that exposure to anti-capitalist ideology can exert a lasting influence on attitudes towards capital markets and stock-market participation. Utilizing novel survey, bank, and broker data, we document that, decades after Germany's reunification, East Germans invest significantly less in stocks and hold more negative views on capital markets. Effects vary by personal experience under communism. Results are strongest for individuals remembering life in the German Democratic Republic positively, e. g., because of local Olympic champions or living in a "showcase city". Results reverse for those with negative experiences like religious oppression, environmental pollution, or lack of Western TV entertainment.
Subjects: 
Capital markets
Anti-capitalist Ideology
Life-time Experiences
Stockmarket Participation
JEL: 
D14
D83
D91
G41
P10
P26
P34
P36
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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