Investments: Women are more cautious than men because they have less financial resources at their disposal

Abstract

Experts on investments and financial products assume that women are less amenable to risks and therefore put their money into secure investment products. A current study conducted by the DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research) challenges this view. The study demonstrates that men and women are equally likely to take a chance on risky investments - assuming that they have the same financial resources at their disposal. A general cliché may not longer be true: that sex is a determinant factor in investment decisions and that the difference in attitudes toward investment between men and women is a result of gender-based investment attitudes. Women are likely to have cautious investment habits because - as a rule - they have only half the investment resources available that men have at their disposal.