The Long-Lasting Effects of Experiencing Communism on Attitudes toward Financial Markets

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Laudenbach, Christine; Malmendier, Ulrike; Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra
• 署名单位: Goethe University Frankfurt; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Mannheim
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082; 1540-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/jofi.70006
• 发表日期: 2026-04
• 关键词: social-interaction; memory; east; television; SEPARATION; investors; Germany; IMPACT; stocks; radio

摘要

We show that exposure to anti-capitalist ideology can exert a lasting influence on attitudes toward capital markets and stock market participation. Using 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 who remember life in the German Democratic Republic positively, for example, those living in a showcase city. Results reverse for those with negative experiences like environmental pollution or lack of Western TV entertainment.