Our speaker will be Elias Rantapuska (Aalto University School of Business).

He will give a talk on “The Banker in Your Social Network” with Samuli Knüpfer and Theresa Spickers.

Abstract We study how bankers affect the financial decisions of their social connections. Comprehensive register data allow us to track transitions into the finance industry and to relate these transitions to the individual’s family members’ participation in financial markets. An identification strategy utilizing within-individual variation reveal a strong positive effect of a banker on the participation of her family members. This effect is larger for individuals who do not participate in financial markets, for low-income and low-education individuals, and for riskier asset classes, and it declines in the social distance to the family member. Our results suggest financial expertise travels in social networks. This insight is relevant for understanding the design of policies attempting to improve financial literacy, the impact and value of financial advice, and the value of expertise in financial markets.

Keywords Social interaction, peer effects, knowledge spillovers, financial advice

The talk will take place on April 25, 2022 hybrid in room TC.4.01 at 12.00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

MS Teams: Click here to join the meeting