Changes in Wealth Distribution in the U.s. 1992-1998: Implications for Risk Aversion

This paper utilizes nonparametric tests to investigate the following hypotheses: One, that there is no difference in household wealth distributions derived from the Survey of Consumer Finances for three survey years during the 1990s, namely, 1992, 1995, and 1998. Two, that there is consistency between households attitudes to taking financial risk and their financial risk taking behavior. Three that there are no differences in financial risk taking behavior between households that have low and high levels of wealth. Four, that the attitudes towards taking financial risk have no influence on the distribution of wealth. Our findings reject the first, third and fourth hypotheses.