Understanding the impact of severe hyperinflation experience on current household investment behavior

Abstract

We propose that a hyperinflation event has a long-lasting effect on household investment behavior. We want to investigate whether future stock market participation can be influenced by a single extreme macroeconomic instability episode. We use data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and find that households who experienced hyperinflation as young adults (i) show lower willingness to invest in stocks than others, and (ii) are less likely to save for the future. Results hold after controlling for various household characteristics and other macroeconomic events. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.