TY - JOUR
T1 - Revisiting the determinants of individual sustainable investment—The case of Japan
AU - Gutsche, Gunnar
AU - Nakai, Miwa
AU - Arimura, Toshi H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was financially supported by the Japan-Germany Research Cooperative Program between JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotionof Science)[http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001691] and DAAD (Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst) , the Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management of Waseda University , the Grant Program for Promotion of International Joint Research of Waseda University , and the Competitive Research Funding Scheme of Fukui Prefectural University . An earlier version of this article was presented at the 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, the 2nd Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance (WESFi) organized by the University of Kassel, and the 1st Hokuriku Environmental Economics Workshop held in Fukui Prefectural University. The authors are grateful to all participants for their valuable comments.
Funding Information:
This study was financially supported by the Japan-Germany Research Cooperative Program between JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotionof Science)[http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001691] and DAAD (Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst), the Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management of Waseda University, the Grant Program for Promotion of International Joint Research of Waseda University, and the Competitive Research Funding Scheme of Fukui Prefectural University. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, the 2nd Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance (WESFi) organized by the University of Kassel, and the 1st Hokuriku Environmental Economics Workshop held in Fukui Prefectural University. The authors are grateful to all participants for their valuable comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - This study empirically examines individual sustainable investment behavior of households’ decision-makers in Japan from three perspectives. Based on data from a representative online survey among financial decision makers in Japanese households, we analyze (i) the individual awareness of sustainable investments, (ii) the current share of sustainable investments in individual investors’ portfolios, and (iii) the individual investors’ intention to invest sustainably in the future. We find evidence for huge information deficits among Japanese individual investors indicating that individual sustainable investment in Japan is still in its infancy. Financial literacy, social signaling or word-of-mouth learning, perceived financial performance, and risk preferences are the most important determinants of current individual sustainable investments. Remarkably, non-financial factors such as personal attitudes and values seem to be less important than in Western countries. Nevertheless, the intention to invest sustainably in the future is also driven by individual environmental values and ecological political identification.
AB - This study empirically examines individual sustainable investment behavior of households’ decision-makers in Japan from three perspectives. Based on data from a representative online survey among financial decision makers in Japanese households, we analyze (i) the individual awareness of sustainable investments, (ii) the current share of sustainable investments in individual investors’ portfolios, and (iii) the individual investors’ intention to invest sustainably in the future. We find evidence for huge information deficits among Japanese individual investors indicating that individual sustainable investment in Japan is still in its infancy. Financial literacy, social signaling or word-of-mouth learning, perceived financial performance, and risk preferences are the most important determinants of current individual sustainable investments. Remarkably, non-financial factors such as personal attitudes and values seem to be less important than in Western countries. Nevertheless, the intention to invest sustainably in the future is also driven by individual environmental values and ecological political identification.
KW - Behavioral finance
KW - Individual investors
KW - Japan
KW - Sustainable investments
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103399123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jbef.2021.100497
DO - 10.1016/j.jbef.2021.100497
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103399123
SN - 2214-6350
VL - 30
JO - Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance
JF - Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance
M1 - 100497
ER -