Experience, Loss Aversion, Narrow Framing: Can We Explain the Empirical Evidence on Household Portfolio Choice Over the Life-Cycle?

This paper examines the life-cycle impact of preference factors as experience, loss aversion, and narrow framing on explaining the empirical low stock market participation, low stock share conditional on participation, and positive relationships between financial wealth and participation as well as conditional stock share. With respect to these investment behaviors and to consumption pattern, assuming common preference parameters and the high historical equity risk premium, the results show a better explanatory power than the standard consumption based utility function. In addition, the model predicts high levels and slow withdrawal rates of financial wealth among elderly people, which are consistent with the empirical evidence. Moreover, the model predictions are robust to flexible labor supply and endogenous retirement age.