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Lay actions in the face of crisis-Swedish citizens' actions in response to the global financial crisis of 2008

Söderberg, Inga Lill and Wester, Misse LU (2012) In Journal of Socio-Economics 41(6). p.796-805
Abstract

This study goes beyond attitudes and behavioral indications as response to risk perceptions and focuses on actual behavior of laypeople. We report the results from a survey, conducted among a sample of Swedish citizens in the spring of 2009, looking at lay actions as responses to the financial crisis of 2008. In total, 3138 respondents were asked whether they had done something to protect their money during the recent financial crisis or not. The total sample, 1053 respondents, was divided into two comparable groups and a binary logistic regression tested a model with nine factors hypothesized to be predicting the choice to act or not as a response to the financial crisis. Among the eight factors predicting likelihood to act were... (More)

This study goes beyond attitudes and behavioral indications as response to risk perceptions and focuses on actual behavior of laypeople. We report the results from a survey, conducted among a sample of Swedish citizens in the spring of 2009, looking at lay actions as responses to the financial crisis of 2008. In total, 3138 respondents were asked whether they had done something to protect their money during the recent financial crisis or not. The total sample, 1053 respondents, was divided into two comparable groups and a binary logistic regression tested a model with nine factors hypothesized to be predicting the choice to act or not as a response to the financial crisis. Among the eight factors predicting likelihood to act were gender, age, education, ethnicity, possession of assets affected of the financial crisis, worrying about the everyday household finances, the perception of others' actions, and importance put on being knowledgeable and up-dated about financial matters. The ninth factor-respondents' perception of the crisis to be a greater threat to the U.S. and global economy than to their own personal finances-did not contribute significantly to the model.A second aim of the study was to determine whether any individuals acted rashly and, if so, whether this group differed in any statistically significant way from the group of individuals that acted in a more financially circumspectly manner. In the group of individuals that acted rashly there is a higher propensity of: individuals who do not think they have assets affected by the crisis: individuals who have a lower level of education; and individuals who consider it important to be knowledgeable and up-to-date about financial matters. It should be of interest to policymakers and researchers to further explore features of this group of laypeople because it is the most important target group for consumer information and protection.

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author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Action, Financial crisis, Laypeople, Logistic regression, Risk perception
in
Journal of Socio-Economics
volume
41
issue
6
pages
10 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84871720759
ISSN
1053-5357
DOI
10.1016/j.socec.2012.08.007
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
c1baad35-a3f2-4a08-bed3-2c6b9c73eda3
date added to LUP
2022-01-27 12:52:07
date last changed
2023-02-16 09:46:27
@article{c1baad35-a3f2-4a08-bed3-2c6b9c73eda3,
  abstract     = {{<p>This study goes beyond attitudes and behavioral indications as response to risk perceptions and focuses on actual behavior of laypeople. We report the results from a survey, conducted among a sample of Swedish citizens in the spring of 2009, looking at lay actions as responses to the financial crisis of 2008. In total, 3138 respondents were asked whether they had done something to protect their money during the recent financial crisis or not. The total sample, 1053 respondents, was divided into two comparable groups and a binary logistic regression tested a model with nine factors hypothesized to be predicting the choice to act or not as a response to the financial crisis. Among the eight factors predicting likelihood to act were gender, age, education, ethnicity, possession of assets affected of the financial crisis, worrying about the everyday household finances, the perception of others' actions, and importance put on being knowledgeable and up-dated about financial matters. The ninth factor-respondents' perception of the crisis to be a greater threat to the U.S. and global economy than to their own personal finances-did not contribute significantly to the model.A second aim of the study was to determine whether any individuals acted rashly and, if so, whether this group differed in any statistically significant way from the group of individuals that acted in a more financially circumspectly manner. In the group of individuals that acted rashly there is a higher propensity of: individuals who do not think they have assets affected by the crisis: individuals who have a lower level of education; and individuals who consider it important to be knowledgeable and up-to-date about financial matters. It should be of interest to policymakers and researchers to further explore features of this group of laypeople because it is the most important target group for consumer information and protection.</p>}},
  author       = {{Söderberg, Inga Lill and Wester, Misse}},
  issn         = {{1053-5357}},
  keywords     = {{Action; Financial crisis; Laypeople; Logistic regression; Risk perception}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{796--805}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Socio-Economics}},
  title        = {{Lay actions in the face of crisis-Swedish citizens' actions in response to the global financial crisis of 2008}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2012.08.007}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.socec.2012.08.007}},
  volume       = {{41}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}