Discussion Papers no. 946

Broadband internet and the stock market investments of individual investors

We study the effects of broadband internet use on the portfolio selection of individual investors.

A public program in Norway provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables estimates show that internet use causes a substantial increase in stock market participation, driven primarily by increased fund ownership. Existing investors increase the fraction of their portfolios held in funds and do not increase their trading activity in stocks. Access to fast internet seems to induce individual investors to make better financial decisions and hence leads to a “democratization of finance”

About the publication

Title

Broadband internet and the stock market investments of individual investors

Author

Hans K. Hvide, Tom G. Meling, Magne Mogstad, and Ola L. Vestad

Series and number

Discussion Papers no. 946

Publisher

Statistisk sentralbyrå

Topic

Discussion Papers

ISSN

1892-753X

Number of pages

14

About Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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