Risk Aversion and Women Empowerment

Keya Sharma

ABSTRACT

Empowering women means equipping them with the means to participate in virtually every sphere of existence, economically as well, without encumbrances. It has been concluded by several researchers that women are usually more conservative in taking risks as compared to men, a variation which is in most instances explained in relation to the socialisation processes that discourage risk-taking behaviours in girls while encouraging them in boys. This research seeks to investigate how risk aversion affects the financial decision-making of women from different age cohorts focusing on the role of self-confidence and empowerment in investment decisions. The results show that women aged 45 years and below are more risk averse than older women above 45 years. However, the young woman is more aggressive in taking on such financial risks and, importantly, has to be exposed to a much wider range of investments. The research was carried on between mothers and their daughters, and data were collected via Google Forms that were later analysed through descriptive statistical methods.

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