Studying the diffusion of responsibility in relation to stock market non-participation

Abstract

In the light of the equity premium, stock market nonparticipation
remains a puzzling phenomenon. Policy
makers seeking to address non-participation, by providing
investment advice, might however crowd out informal
financial advisors due to the bystander effect; the inverse
relation between the number of actors able to provide aid
and the actual readiness of any individual to provide aid. A
between subject survey was used to test willingness to give
financial advice based on the presence of bystanders.
Employing Mann-Whitney tests and a logit regression
model, I find that the presence of bystanders does lower
individual tendency to give financial advice.