Aspirational utility and investment behavior*,**

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Aristidou, Andreas; Giga, Aleksandar; Lee, Suk; Zapatero, Fernando
• 署名单位: Netflix, Inc.; Delft University of Technology; University of New South Wales Sydney; Boston University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103970
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Aspirational utility; social status; Investment behavior; laboratory experiment

摘要

We explore the extent to which aspirations - such as those forged in the course of social interactions - explain 'puzzling' behavioral patterns in investment decisions. We motivate an aspirational utility, reminiscent of Friedman and Savage (1948), where social considerations ( e.g. , status concerns) provide an economic foundation for aspirations. We show this utility can explain a range of observed investor behaviors, such as the demand for both right- and left-skewed assets; aspects of the disposition effect; and patterns in stock-market participation consistent with empirical observations. We corroborate our theoretical findings with two novel laboratory experimental studies, where we observed participants' preference for skewness in risky lotteries shift as lab-induced aspirations shifted.