Inflation and Individual Investors’ Behavior: Evidence from the German Hyperinflation
2021-06-02 14:26:00

In this study, we analyze how individual investors respond to inflation. We introduce a unique dataset containing information on local inflation and security portfolios of more than 2,000 private clients of a German bank between 1920 and 1924, covering the famous German hyperinflation. We find that investors buy less (sell more) stocks when facing higher local inflation. This effect is more pronounced for less sophisticated investors. We also document a positive relation between local inflation and forgone returns following stock sales. Our findings are consistent with individual investors suffering from money illusion.