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This dissertation consists of three chapters that address two major resource challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: (i) weather shocks and (ii) limited land access for agricultural production. The first chapter looks at how weather shocks affect millet production and millet market price seasonality in Niger. In this paper, we use district-level longitudinal production and price data, along with high-resolution rainfall data to investigate the distinct impacts of positive and negative rainfall shocks on millet production and millet price seasonality in Niger. We find that a one standard deviation decrease in seasonal rainfall from historical averages is associated with declines in millet market price initially after harvest, but strong upward pressure on market prices 6 months after harvest. As a result, drought exacerbates existing price seasonality, which in turn can amplify negative impacts on households. Social protection programs need to account for potential increases in seasonal price variability in the design of programs to enhance household resilience to weather shocks. To better understand the household behavior that gives rise to the price responses observed in the first chapter, we explore weather shock impacts on household millet market participation in Niger in the second chapter. We merge a nationally representative household panel data with high-resolution spatially disaggregated rainfall data. We find that households are more likely to participate in the market as net sellers with negative rainfall shocks, but marketed quantity for net sellers decreases with negative rainfall shocks. Diversification into non-agricultural activities can mediate the impacts of negative rainfall shocks on market participation and lead to increases in volume of sales. Policies that support household involvement in the rural nonfarm economy through training and access to credit to help expand businesses may also stimulate millet market participation. In the third chapter, we use a rich dataset of 1,123 households to examine the determinants of individual household member access to groundnut fields, the predominant cash-crop in the Groundnut Basin of Senegal. The analysis also explores the implications of limited land access on groundnut productivity of young adult and female field managers. We find that young adults and females have fewer opportunities to access land compared to older and male household members. Further, we show that higher productivity may not be driving differential access to fields among older adults. Results suggest that with equal access, young adults may be as or more productive groundnut cultivators than older adults. Programs to increase young adult and female economic opportunities should focus on closing gaps in access to resources for production rather than decreasing observed production disparities. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation addresses two major challenges that small farmers face in Sub-Saharan Africa: (i) erratic changes in weather patterns and (ii) land access for agricultural production. We divide the dissertation in three chapters. The first two chapters focus on weather shocks, while the third chapter focuses on land access. In the first chapter, we discuss how low and high rainfall affect the seasonal variation of market prices for the most important staple grain (millet) in Niger (West Africa). We find that lower rainfall than usual makes households sell their millet in the post-harvest period when market prices are generally low, and makes them buy back millet in the lean season when market prices are often high. As a result, policies that aim support household resilience to climate shocks should design programs that account for potential increases in seasonal price variability. In the second chapter, we study how low rainfall levels affect Niger millet farmers' decision to sell or not sell their harvest, as well as the association between low rainfall and the quantity of millet sold and bought. We distinguish three groups of farmers: (i) net buyers who have higher millet purchases than sales, (ii) autarkic who have zero millet purchases and millet sales, and (iii) net sellers who have higher sales than purchases. Our findings show that lower rainfall increases net sellers' probability to sell their millet, whereas it decreases the quantity they sell. Our results also reveal that households who diversify their sources of income into non-agricultural activities increase millet net sales even with low rainfall levels. Policies that support household involvement in these non-agricultural activities may also stimulate millet market participation. In the third chapter, we study the factors that affect household members' access to a groundnut field in Senegal with a particular focus on young adults and females. We show that females and young adults are less likely to access a field compared to older and male household members. Our results also suggest that with equal access, young adults may be as or more productive groundnut cultivators than older adults. Programs to increase young adult and female economic opportunities should focus on closing gaps in access to resources for production.

This thesis consists of four self-contained papers related to the change of market structure and the quality of equity market. In Paper [I] we found, by using of a Flexible Dynamic Component Correlations (FDCC) model, that the creation of a common cross-border stock trading platform has increased the long-run trends in conditional correlations between foreign and domestic stock market returns. In Paper [II] we study whether the creation of a uniform Nordic and Baltic stock trading platform has affected weak-form information efficiency. The results indicate that the stock market consolidations have had a positive effect on the information efficiency and turnover for an average firm. The merger effects are, however, asymmetrically distributed in the sense that relatively large (small) firms located on relatively large (small) markets experience an improved (reduced) information efficiency and turnover. Although the results indicate that changes in the level of investor attention (measured by turnover) may explain part of the changes in information efficiency, they also lend support to the hypothesis that merger effects may partially be driven by changes in the composition of informed versus uninformed investors following a stock. Paper [III] analyzes whether the measured level of trust in different countries can explain bilateral stock market correlations. One finding is that generalized trust among nations is a robust predictor for stock market correlations. Another is that the trust effect is larger for countries which are close to each other. This indicates that distance mitigates the trust effect. Finally, we confirm the effect of trust upon stock market correlations, by using particular trust data (bilateral trust between country A and country B) as an alternative measurement of trust. In Paper [IV] we present the impact of the stock market mergers that took place in the Nordic countries during 2000 – 2007 on the probabilities for stock price jumps, i.e. for relatively extreme price movements. The main finding is that stock market mergers, on average, reduce the likelihood of observing stock price jumps. The effects are asymmetric in the sense that the probability of sudden price jumps is reduced for large and medium size firms whereas the effect is ambiguous for small size firms. The results also indicate that the market risk has been reduced after the stock market consolidations took place.

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Abstract This dissertation contributes to the understanding of investor behavior by using personality traits to help explain investor decision-making. The work is novel, as personality traits have not been used much in finance research. The data used in this dissertation is also new to the field, consisting of observations on personality traits and socioeconomic variables combined with official records of investors’ stockholdings. The first essay provides evidence that personality traits significantly affect the stock market participation decision. The essay shows that subscales of traits (i.e., lower-level traits or facets) can provide a better model of behavior, with some subscales of a single higher-level trait having opposite effects on behavior. The novelty seeking subscales exploratory excitability and extravagance have positive and negative effects, respectively, and the reward dependence subscales dependence and sentimentality have positive and negative effects, respectively. The magnitudes of the effects are large, with marginal effects on the probability of being a stock market participant of up to four percentage points. The second essay explores the relationship between personality traits and risk aversion. We estimate risk aversion from equity holdings and from survey measures. The traits display a distinctive pattern of correlations with the estimates of risk aversion. Some traits are significantly related to observed portfolio characteristics such as portfolio volatility, number of stocks held, and trading frequency. The pattern of the traits’ relationships with the various measures of risk aversion indicates that personality traits should not be considered as merely drivers of risk aversion but as preference parameters distinct from risk aversion. The third essay shows that personality traits are related to an investor’s preferences for value versus growth stocks and for small capitalization stocks versus large capitalization stocks. We find more extravagant individuals favor large capitalization growth stocks; more impulsive people favor small capitalization growth stocks; more sentimental investors prefer small capitalization value stocks; and more social investors prefer small capitalization stocks with a tilt towards value. / Tiivistelmä Tämä tutkimus auttaa ymmärtämään sijoituskäyttäytymistä selittämällä sijoittajien päätöksentekoa heidän luonteenpiirteillään. Tutkimustuloksilla on uutuusarvoa, sillä luonteenpiirteiden merkitystä ei ole juurikaan tutkittu rahoitustutkimuksessa. Tutkimusaineisto on sekin luonteeltaan tavanomaisesta poikkeava, koostuen yksityishenkilöiden luonteenpiirteitä ja sosioekonomista asemaa kuvaavista muuttujista sekä heidän osakeomistustaan koskevista virallisista rekisteritiedoista. Tutkimuksen ensimmäinen essee osoittaa, että luonteenpiirteillä on merkittävä vaikutus yksityishenkilön päätökseen toimia osakemarkkinoilla. Tutkimustulosten mukaan osallistumispäätöstä kyetään ennustamaan paremmin käyttämällä luonteenpiirteiden pääluokkia mittaavien muuttujien sijasta luonteenpiirteiden alaluokkia mittaavia muuttujia. Tämä selittyy sillä, että alaluokkia mittaavilla muuttujilla on eräissä tapauksissa vastakkaismerkkisiä, pääluokkaa mittaavassa muuttujassa toisensa peittäviä, yhteyksiä osallistumispäätökseen. Tämä voidaan havaita muun muassa pääluokkaan ”elämyshakuisuus” kuuluvien ”kokeilunhalun” (+) ja ”tuhlaavaisuuden” (-) kohdalla, samoin kuin pääluokkaan ”palkkioriippuvuus” kuuvilla ”riippuvuudella” (+) ja ”sentimentaalisuudella” (-). Kaiken kaikkiaan luonteenpirteitä mittaavien muuttujien vaikutuksen suurusluokka on korkea, vastaten yksittäisen muuttujan kohdalla jopa neljän prosentin marginaalivaikutusta osakemarkkinoille osallistumisen todennäköisyyteen. Toinen essee tarkastelee luonteenpiirteiden ja riskinkarttamisen asteen välistä yhteyttä. Tutkimuksessa mitataan yksityishenkilön riskinkarttamisen astetta toisaalta hänen osakeomistuksensa rakenteen perusteella ja toisaalta kyselytutkimuksen avulla. Sijoittajien luonteenpiirteiden ja muodostettujen riskinkarttamisen astetta mittaavien muuttujien väliset korrelaatiot muodostavat selkeän rakenteen. Eräät luonteenpiirteet ovat merkitsevässä riippuvuussuhteessa muun muassa sijoittajan osakesalkun volatiliteettiin, salkkuun sisällytettyjen osakesarjojen määrään ja sijoittajan kaupankäyntiaktiivisuuteen. Luonteenpiirteitä kuvaavien muuttujien ja riskinkarttamisastetta kuvaavien muuttujien välisen yhteyden perusteella luonteenpiirteitä tulisi tarkastella enneminkin erillisinä sijoittajien preferenssejä kuvaavina muuttujina kuin riskinkarttamisasteen taustalla olevina perustekijöinä. Kolmas essee osoittaa, että luonteenpiirteet ovat yhteydessä siihen, suosiiko sijoittaja arvo- vs. kasvuosakkeita ja/tai alhaisen markkina-arvon vs. korkean markkina-arvon yhtiöiden osakkeita. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että ”tuhlaavammat” sijoittajat suosivat korkean markkina-arvon omaavia kasvuosakkeita, kun taas ”impulsiivisemmat” sijoittajat suosivat alhaisen markkina-arvon omaavia kasvuosakkeita. Vastaavasti ”sentimentaalisemmat” sijoittajat suosivat ylipäätään alhaisen markkina-arvon omaavia arvo-osakkeita, ”sosiaalisten” sijoittajien suosiessa heidänkin alhaista markkina-arvoa, suunnaten kiinnostustaan samalla arvo-osakkeisiin.

This thesis is concerned with different incomes of men and women in the professional category of scientists and intellectual workers and aims to describe the reasons and the degree of income inequality between men and women in this category and in the conditions of the Czech Republic. The theoretical resources of the thesis are a compilation of facts and opinions of the authors and scientists who are engaged in the area of (gender) income inequality. The chapters gradually reveal the state of gender inequality in selected regions of the world - the U.S.A, Asia and Europe, including the legislative framework. The following chapter is based on available statistical information reflects the situation in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part ends with a description of the indicators of income inequality. Practical part of this thesis works with SILC2009 data for the category of scientific and intellectual workers in terms of dependent variables affecting the amount of income for both sexes and compares the results against each other. For complete the overall view on the topic of gender income inequality was made research of respondents' awareness of the issue

År 2007 – 2008 var Finanskrisen i full kraft vilket forcerade många individer till att träda ut från aktiemarknaden. Ett hårdare finansiellt klimat och en mer komplex produktmarknad har resulterat i att alla individer inte kunnat parera marknadens hastiga förändringar och därmed invänta en framtida marknadsåterhämtning. Detta utfall kan således ha varit förknippat med stora förluster av finansiella tillgångar. Tidigare forskning indikerar att det existerar ett behov av finansiell förmåga vid dessa typer av krissituationer. Är investerares finansiella förmåga en lösning här? Och isåfall, vilka kunskaper är mest centrala för att uppnå en hög finansiell förmåga? I studiens teoretiska referensram redovisas tidigare forskning och en övergripande inblick ges i investerares portföljsammansättningar samt diversifiering av dessa. Först redogörs det för individers finansiella förmåga som innehar en central roll vid investeringar på aktiemarknaden då en hög finansiell förmåga tenderar att medföra möjligheter som kan frambringa goda ekonomiska förutsättningar. Vidare presenteras grundläggande portföljteori följt av diverse riskpreferenser som existerar i denna kontext. Därefter beskrivs de effekter som ofta uppkommer med i samband med finanskriser.  Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur ingenjörer och ekonomer bygger upp och omfördelar sina aktieportföljer. Ett grundläggande kriterium avseende urvalet är att de har erhållit en examen från Uppsala Universitet, inom antingen ekonomi eller ingenjörsskap, mellan år 2000 till 2018. Det centrala här är att identifiera vilka riskpreferenser som existerar för de båda urvalsgrupperna samt att analysera aktiemarknadsdeltagandet – detta för att identifiera möjliga skillnader utbildningarna emellan.  I kölvattnet av Finanskrisen har flertalet investerare uppvisat tendenser till ett mer riskaversivt beteendemönster där resultaten visar på ett reducerat risktagande efter Finanskrisens avslut (2009 – 2018) i förhållande till perioden innan Finanskrisens uppkomst (2000 – 2006). När effekten av Finanskrisen var som starkast (2007 – 2008) uppvisade investerarna ett tydligt avståndstagande från aktiemarknaden, där de som trots allt valde att stanna kvar på marknaden eftersökte mindre riskfyllda investeringsalternativ. Resultaten pekar på att urvalets ekonomer handlar utifrån en mer riskaversiv utgångspunkt gentemot ingenjörer som istället tenderar att uppvisa en mer riskneutrala inställning till marknadens investeringsalternativ. / During 2007 – 2008 when the global financial crisis was in full effect, a majority of the investors on the stock market were forced to exit due to a harsher financial environment and increasing complexity of financial products. The results of this outcome were associated with losses of financial assets for the investors. Previous research has identified and supported the need for financial literacy during financial crises. Could financial literacy be a key factor in resolving these issues? And if so, what kind of knowledge can lead to greater financial literacy? The purpose of this study is to examine how engineers and economists build and rebalance their portfolios. The aim has been to identify the risk preferences that exists for each target group, and to analyze stock market participation – before, during, and after the global financial crisis. This in turn, is crucial for the ability to compare the investors university education and to investigate possible differences in terms of knowledge. The results show that the investors in this study display risk averse behaviours and hold assets associated with risks that are lower than the market risk. Furthermore, economists tend to be more risk averse than engineers which in comparison are more risk neutral in their market behaviours.

This thesis consists of an introductory part and four self-contained papers related to individual financial behavior and risk-taking in financial markets. In Paper [I] we estimate within-family and community social interaction effects upon an individual’s stock market entry, participation, and exit decision. Interestingly, community sentiment towards the stock market (based on portfolio outcomes in the community) does not influence individuals’ likelihood to enter, while a positive sentiment increases (decreases) the likelihood of participation (exit). Overall, the results stress the importance of accounting for family social influence and highlight potentially important differences between family and community effects in individuals’ stock market participation. In Paper [II] novel evidence is provided indicating that the influence from family (parents and partners) and peer social interaction on individuals’ stock market participation vary over different types of individuals. Results imply that individuals’ exposure to, and valuation of, stock market related social signals are of importance and thus, contribute to the understanding of the heterogeneous influence of social interaction. Overall, the results are interesting and enhance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of social interaction on individuals’ financial decision making. In Paper [III] the impact of divorce ­­­on individual financial behavior is empirically examined in a dynamic setting. Evidence that divorcing individuals increase their saving rates before the divorce is presented. This may be seen as a response to the increase in background risk that divorce produces. After the divorce, a negative divorce effect on individual saving rates and risky asset shares are established, which may lead to disparities in wealth accumulation possibilities between married and divorced. Women are, on average, shown to not adjust their precautionary savings to the same extent as men before the divorce. I also provide tentative evidence that women reduce their financial risk-taking more than men after a divorce, which could be a result of inequalities in financial positions or an adjustment towards individual preferences.   Paper [IV] provides novel empirical evidence that gender identity is of importance for individuals’ financial risk-taking. Specifically, by use of matching and by dividing male and females into those with “traditional” versus “nontraditional” gender identities, comparison of average risk-taking between groupings indicate that over a third (about 35-40%) of the identified total gender risk differential is explained by differences in gender identities. Results further indicate that risky financial market participation is 19 percentage points higher in groups of women with nontraditional, compared with traditional, gender identities. The results, obtained while conditioning upon a vast number of controls, are robust towards a large number of alternative explanations and indicate that some individuals (mainly women) partly are fostered by society, through identity formation and socially constructed norms, to a relatively lower financial risk-taking.

One of the main tenets of finance is diversification. Investors choose their portfolios so as to diversify away their idiosyncratic risk. In four essays included into this dissertation the implications of less than perfect diversification on investors’ performance and asset pricing are investigated. In Essay I we examine one particular instance in which diversification may play a role in a non-portfolio type of investment: the IPO. In an IPO, a set of potentially non-diversified investors – the existing shareholders – reduce their holdings of a company, listing the company and selling part of its shares. Our contribution is to show how portfolio diversification of controlling investors in private companies affects the IPO process. We demonstrate that companies sold by more diversified shareholders are less likely to be taken public, but when doing so they are priced more favourably. In Essays II and III we investigate the impact of incomplete diversification and imperfect risk-sharing on asset returns. Our argument is that the smaller shareholder base a firm has, the larger the fraction of company idiosyncratic risk on average its investors have to carry, and the higher return they would demand for that. We demonstrate that there is a negative and significant relationship between companies’ shareholder base and stock returns as well as between changes in shareholder base and stock returns. This effect is more pronounced for younger companies, but remains significant for seasoned companies as well. Applying our analysis to corporate events we demonstrate that abnormal performance following the repurchase can be partially explained by the reduction in the shareholders base resulting from repurchase. In Essay IV I investigate the motives behind one of the most puzzling examples of investors’ underdiversification – the local bias. Contrary to the predictions of classical financial theories, investors on aggregate overweight stock of proximate companies in their portfolios. I demonstrate that being placed in new community, individual investors not only soon become biased towards companies with establishments in this new locality, but they also obtain superior returns from these investments. Investing into the local stocks, therefore, is to a large degree rational. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2005 S. ii-vi: sammanfattning, s. 1-134: 4 uppsatser

In South Africa and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, market participation of smallholder farmers are rapidly being advocated as a means to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda’s (SDGs): zero hunger and no poverty. Yet little is known about market participation in the sunflower industry. The study therefore, examine market participation of smallholder sunflower farmers in Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. A quantitative research approach was developed to address the research objectives, and a proportional stratified random sampling technique was used to select 177 sunflower producing households. Respondents information were captured using semi-structured questionnaires, data were then entered and coded using statistical software computer programs (MS Excel, SPSS, and Stata). Socio-economic characteristics, level of market participation, and factors influencing households market participation within the district were analyzed using descriptive statistics, household commercialization index, and probit regression model. Overall, the result indicates that respondents exhibited high level of commercialization (90.1 % market participants). While, the result of the probit regression model shows that eight (8) of the regressors were statistically significant. Variables such as age (Coef = 0.103, p<0.01), gender (Coef = 1.267, p<0.05), market outlet (Coef = 1.351, p<0.01), access to information (Coef = 1.298, p<0.05), and quantity sold in tons (Coef = 0.015, p<0.010) were found to have positive and statistically significant influence, while household size (Coef = -0.409, p<0.01), market distance (Coef = 0.618, p<0.010) and land tenure system (Coef = -1.541, p<0.05) were found to have a negative but statistically significant impact on market participation among respondents. The pseudo R2 of the probit model is 0.5199, indicating that the model matches the dataset and the regressors accurately explains 51.99 % of the variation. The overall goodness of fit measures of the probit model was determined using postestimation test for predictive margin. With a high significant chi-square value of (p<0.0001), the result correctly predicted a 90 % likelihood of respondents to participate in the market. The findings suggests that rural-based initiatives and intervention programs be developed to boost households' access to finance, grants, and diversified markets for effective market competitiveness, while there is a greater need for proper awareness, supports, and partnerships focused on promoting women and youth participation in the sunflower sector across the district. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sci. (Agriculture)