Why does junior put all his eggs in one basket? A potential rational explanation for holding concentrated portfolios

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Financial Economics
Year: 2013
Volume: 109
Issue: 3
Pages: 775-796

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Empirical studies of household portfolios show that young households, with little financial wealth, hold underdiversified portfolios that are concentrated in a small number of assets, a fact often attributed to behavioral biases. We present a potential rational alternative: we show that investors with little financial wealth, who receive labor income, rationally limit the number of assets they invest in when faced with financial constraints such as margin requirements and restrictions on borrowing. We provide theoretical and numerical support for our results and identify the ratio of financial wealth to labor income as a useful control variable for household portfolio studies.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jfinec:v:109:y:2013:i:3:p:775-796
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29