Date: Apr.30, 2021

Time: 14:00-15:30

Speaker: Dr. Christina Li

Venue: Room 426, School of Economics, the West District, Zijingang Campus 

[Speaker Intro]

Dr. Christina Li is a University Lecturer in real estate finance at the University of Cambridge. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the University of Hong Kong in 2017. Her research areas include behavioral economics, real estate and urban economics, household finance, and rural finance. Since 2017, she has been working on a collaborative research project between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) on behavioral sciences and rural finance in China. With the cooperation of local banks, she has been conducting field experiments to help consumers develop good financial habits in rural China. 

[Abstract]

Using micro household survey data from China, this study finds that women are less likely to participate in the stock market than men. This gender pattern in market participation rates holds when we control for household features, characteristics of both spouses, and their interactions and relative decision-making power. We also show that the gender difference in stock market participation operates through investors’ behavioral factors, particularly their risk preference. Moreover, we confirm the influence of cultural gender norms among older households. The gender difference in stock market participation is reduced where women’s influence over the decision of stock investments is likely constrained by a male-biased social norm. The study‘s findings suggest the crucial role of gender and gender-related cultural norms in shaping household financial decisions in the presence of gender inequality, such as in China. It extends our understanding of the interrelations between financial decisions and social and behavioral dimensions in a developing context.