Household investment diversification amid Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from Chinese investors

Abstract

This paper finds the degree of investor's investment diversification is found to be positively correlated with confirmed cases in the city where they live. This relationship is a result of stricter quarantine policy adopted by cities hit with more severe Covid-19 outbreak, which has led to increased time for investors to trade stocks and seek advisory. In addition, the employment of investors in these cities is often negatively affected. Therefore, they tend to hold a relatively pessimistic view on expectations of future income, and thus be more cautious and risk-averse in terms of investment decisions.