Positive Analysis on Japanese Individual Investors’ Ratio of Risk Asset Holding

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the determinants of risk asset holding ratio using micro data collected from a Web-based survey. The findings of the current study indicate that, (1) factors such as subjective excess return, overconfidence and time discount rate make positive effects on the ratio of any risk asset holding (factor such as informal information sources make a negative effect), but the effects of other factors in our model vary with the type of the risk assets. Especially, the information sources used in investments make different effects on each type of the risk assets. (2) Psychological factors such as overconfidence and time discount rate used in behavioral finance increase the ratio of the any risk asset holding.

Keywords

• Ratio of risk asset holding
• individual investors
• Web-based survey
• Behavioral finance
• Japan