GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INVESTMENT

KANSAL P.¹, SINGH S.^2
1Delhi Technological University, Delhi- 110 042, India.
²Delhi Technological University, Delhi- 110 042, India.

Received : 14-11-2013     Accepted : 12-12-2013     Published : 31-12-2013
Volume : 3     Issue : 1       Pages : 66 - 69
Bioinfo Financ Manag 3.1 (2013):66-69

There are number of studies which favour the existence of gender bias in investment patterns. These studies concluded that women behave more conservatively than men when comes to their investment decisions and that the women are more risk averse. Some studies also contend that women are less confident about their investment decisions and earn less return in compare to men. This paper aims to study whether these gender differences really exist in India. Using NCAER household survey report, Tthe paper examined the household investment and saving patterns of Indian households. The gender difference has been studied in terms of their risk tolerance viz their risk bearing capacity, risk perception i.e. how they assume risk within different constraints, time horizon for investment, preference for investment alternatives among the vast number of alternatives available in the Indian capital market etc. We also examined the factors which influence the investment behaviour of women such as age, level of education, their marital status, income, dependency etc. Data has been collected from NCAER household survey report and analysed through chi-square test using SPSS software.