Differences in Investment Concepts between Chinese and Western Investors from the Cultural Perspective

Abstract

The investment concept, reflecting the investor's investment purpose and willingness, is a value that embodies the investor's investment personality characteristics, prompts investors to carry out investment analysis, judgment, decision-making, and guides investor behaviors. Due to different maturity of the capital market in China and Western countries, there are many differences in the regulatory level, cultural and behavioral patterns of the supervision and management departments of the capital market between Chinese and Western investment philosophy. This article analyzes the differences in investment ideas between Chinese and Western investors from the culture perspective. This thesis studies on the basis of four cultural differences: "The Golden Mean" and "Interest Maximization"; the face-culture and individualism; rule of man and rule of law; and gambler psychology and adventure spirit. Based on these four aspects of cultural differences, four different investment concepts of Chinese and Western investors are analyzed: long-term investments and short-term speculation; "Herd Effect" and independent decision; grapevines and public information; and leveraged trading and allocation of funds. This thesis adopts several cases to analyze the differences between Chinese and Western investors in financial products such as stocks, gold, and futures, and in investment behavior such as the long-term investment, short-term speculation, leveraged trading, and investment portfolios. With cultural differences between China and the West probed into, the differences between Chinese and Western investors' investment concepts are justified. It is hoped that this effort will help investors deepen the understanding of the capital markets in China and the West, enable Chinese investors to learn the Western mature investment concepts, and facilitate the regulators to manage the capital market effectively.