Beauty and stock market participation

Citation

Gan, Hongwu; Lu, Shengfeng; Lu, Weijie; Niu, Geng; & Zhou, Yang (2023). Beauty and stock market participation. Journal of Banking and Finance. vol. 155

Abstract

This paper investigates whether beauty, an important natural endowment, affects investment decisions. Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Survey (WLS), which provides a photo-based measure of facial beauty, we find that better-looking individuals are more likely to own stocks and invest a larger share of wealth in stocks. We consider a wide range of potential mediators that may drive this relationship between beauty and stock market participation. We find that income and sociability explain a large portion of the beauty effect. For both males and females, beauty has a significant positive impact on stock market participation. Using another dataset that includes the interviewer's rating of the respondent's physical attractiveness, we find similar results. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the economic returns to beauty and the source of heterogeneity in household portfolio choice.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2023.106994

Keyword(s)

Beauty

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of Banking and Finance

Author(s)

Gan, Hongwu
Lu, Shengfeng
Lu, Weijie
Niu, Geng
Zhou, Yang

Year Published

2023

Volume Number

155

Edition

October 01, 2023

DOI

10.1016/j.jbankfin.2023.106994

Reference ID

10106