Short Research Stories: Wealth Inequality, Parental Influence on Financial Risk Taking

Did you know that participation in the stock market plays an important role in wealth inequality? Generally speaking, stock market investors, for example, end up richer than those who let their money sit idle. It is in this context that Prof. Ziwei Zhao and her co-author looked at the factors of wealth inequality, and more specifically at the influence of the interaction between parents and children. The parents' experience with the stock market before the child is born will have an effect on the children and their financial risk-taking, which may then extend over several generations.

So how can these inequality drivers be influenced? Policymakers could, for example, contribute to a more positive image of the stock market, or facilitate access to financial information.

Read the article

(in French)