Bernasek, A. & Bajtelsmit, V. L. (2002). Predictors of women’s involvement in household financial decision-making. Financial Counseling and
Planning , 13(2), 39-47.
Predictors of Women’s Involvement in Household Financial Decision-Making
Alexandra Bernasek
1 and Vickie L. Bajtelsmit
2
This study reports empirical results based on an original survey of household finances in which, unlike other surveys, the participants were specifically asked about their degree of involvement in financial decision-making for the household. Women’s involvement in household finances is found to be significantly positively related to their share of total household income. Since the most commonly-used datasets for household financial research, do not identify the household decision-maker, previous research on gender differences in financial decision-making has been limited. This research suggests that female share of total household income could be a viable proxy for female decision-makers in married couples.
Key words: Decision-making, Gender, Risk aversion, Risk tolerance
1. Alexandra Bernasek, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Phone: 970-491-6856. Fax: 970-491-2925. E-mail: Alexandra.Bernasek@colostate.edu
2. Vickie L. Bajtelsmit, Associate Professor, Department of Finance and Real Estate, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Phone: 970-491-0610. Fax: 970-491-7665. E-mail: Vickie.Bajtelsmit@colostate.edu
The authors would like to thank TIAA-CREF for providing the funding to conduct this survey. Their support was greatly appreciated.