The central research questions are: 1. To what extent do subjective expectations and individual risk preferences drive portfolio choices? What is the main driver behind many households’ reluctancy to invest in risky assets? 2. How well can we understand and predict investment behavior when we structurally model the full decision making procedure of an individual? 3. What are the implications of the findings for standard policy evaluation tools such as life-cycle models of savings and investment?

The project consists of four questionnaires, administered in August 2013, September 2013, March 2014, and October 2014.