Participation following sudden access

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fuchs-Schuendeln, Nicola; Haliassos, Michael
• 署名单位: Goethe University Frankfurt; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR); Tilburg University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2020.04.003
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: Household finance; Financial market participation; inertia; German reunification

摘要

The German reunification experiment provided sudden access to previously unavailable financial products, supported by knowledgeable practitioners. This setting offers new perspectives on participation, inertia, and product diffusion. Controlling for characteristics, East Germans experienced a jump in securities participation to a level comparable to West Germans' participation immediately following reunification, and to an even higher level for consumer debt, while exhibiting inertia in previously accessible products. They showed no signs of subsequent retreat. Lower financial resources are the most important characteristic explaining lower East German participation in all asset classes, while expectations and peer effects drive the higher East German debt participation. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.