从“竞争性储蓄”到“竞争性投资”:再论性别失衡对中国家庭金融决策的影响  

From“Competitive Saving”to“Competitive Investment”:Revisiting the Impact of Gender Imbalance on Chinese Households’Financial Decision

作　　者：林志帆 廖雯珺 LIN Zhifan;LIAO Wenjun(Advanced Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai 519087,China;Audit Bureau of Pingxiang City,Pingxiang 337099,China)

机构地区：[1]北京师范大学人文和社会科学高等研究院,广东珠海519087 [2]江西省萍乡市审计局,江西萍乡337099

出　　处：《当代经济科学》2024年第4期41-54,共14页Modern Economic Science

基　　金：北京师范大学引进人才科研启动项目(310432101)。

摘　　要：“竞争性储蓄”理论认为,中国性别失衡现象可能促使家庭增加储蓄,以提升子女在婚恋市场的竞争力。在金融体系持续发展、风险金融资产供给增加的新时代背景下,家庭金融决策可能因性别失衡而从传统储蓄转向风险投资。利用2015、2017、2019年三轮中国家庭金融调查数据,基于广义双重差分模型研究发现:性别失衡加剧的省份中,有儿子的家庭更倾向于参与金融市场并持有风险资产,但未发现“竞争性买房”的证据;金融知识水平低、已成年儿子未婚的家庭风险金融决策对性别失衡更敏感。因此,因性别失衡而涉足风险金融市场的家庭可能被高收益率所吸引而忽视潜在风险,政府部门需加强对居民普及金融知识、强调理性参与投资,方能保障金融体系的稳定和健康发展。Despite low financial literacy among Chinese residents,the proportion of families participating in risky financial investments has risen over the past decade.What factors and mechanisms drive this phenomenon?This paper explores the role of gender imbalance in this context.China faces the world’s most severe gender imbalance,leading to a“male squeeze”in the marriage market.Building on the“competitive savings”theory by Wei&Zhang(2011,JPE),this article argues that as the financial system develops and the supply of various risky financial assets expands,traditional risk-free savings struggle to maintain and grow wealth.Consequently,Chinese families are increasingly turning to risky financial investments to enhance the competitiveness of their unmarried sons in the marriage market through higher income and wealth.This paper employs data from three rounds of the China Household Finance Survey(CHFS)in 2015,2017,and 2019 to identify causal relationships using a generalized difference-in-differences model.This model uses information on whether a family’s first child is male and the gender ratio differences in the family’s province.The study finds that:(1)In provinces with higher gender imbalance,families with sons are more inclined to participate in financial markets and hold more risky assets,though no evidence of“competitive real estate investment”was found;(2)Families with low financial knowledge and unmarried sons are more sensitive to gender imbalance in their risky financial decisions.This paper contributes to the literature in three ways:First,by combining three rounds of CHFS data(2015,2017,and 2019)to construct a large,up-to-date sample,it better reflects the dynamics of China’s household financial behavior.Second,it examines family involvement in the stock market,various risky financial decisions,investment intensity,and real estate investment willingness,offering a comprehensive depiction of how gender imbalance affects household financial behavior.Third,it conducts heterogeneity tests based

关 键 词：性别失衡 竞争性储蓄 竞争性投资 风险金融投资 婚恋市场 家庭金融 金融知识 

分 类 号：C913.14[经济管理] F126[社会学] F832