TY  - JOUR
AU  - Puri,Manju
AU  - Robinson,David
TI  - Optimism and Economic Choice
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11361
PY  - 2005
Y2  - May 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11361
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11361.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Manju Puri
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
1 Towerview Drive, Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
Tel: 919/660-7657
Fax: 919/681-6246
E-Mail: mpuri@duke.edu

David T. Robinson
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
100 Fuqua Drive
Durham, NC 27708
Tel: 919/660-8023
Fax: 919/684-2818
E-Mail: davidr@duke.edu
AB  - This paper presents some of the first large-scale survey evidence linking optimism to major economic choices. We create a novel measure of optimism using the Survey of Consumer Finance by comparing a person's self-reported life expectancy to that implied by statistical tables. Optimists are more likely to believe that future economic conditions will improve. Self-employed respondents are more optimistic than regular wage earners. In general, more optimistic people work harder and anticipate longer age-adjusted work careers. They are more likely to remarry, conditional on divorce. In addition, they tilt their investment portfolios more toward individual stocks.
ER  -