ScholarWorks@중앙대학교

초록

This study utilizes a panel data set, disaggregated by country, to empirically examine the relationship between economic inequality and risky investments, as well as financial stability. The study is grounded in the relative income hypothesis (Duesenberry, 1949; Frank, 2005), which posits that economic inequality exerts an influence on the demand for risk-seeking investments, including cryptoassets. The empirical analysis is conducted in three phases. First, the study examines whether household credit increases with increasing income and asset inequality. Second, it investigates the substitutability of risky investments, such as cryptoassets, with equity investments. Third, the study explores the relationship between financial stability and investment in cryptoassets. The results indicate that (i) income and particularly asset inequality are positively associated with the ratio of debt to assets and the ratio of risky (securities) investments, but (ii) the ratio of debt to income is higher when the degree of asset inequality is high, suggesting that the result of (i) is not due to the behavior of the upper income group to expand leveraged investments, (iii) while it is challenging to ascertain a substantial relationship between cryptoasset investment and inequality, the potential for substitution with securities investment, which can be regarded as a risky investment, and the possibility of undermining financial stability, cannot be discounted. This study holds academic significance in that it is one of a limited number of studies that attempt to quantitatively analyze the relationship between economic inequality, high-risk investments represented by cryptoassets, and financial stability. As such, it can serve as a foundational starting point for future research in this area.

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