The Effects of Availability and Trust on Stock Market Participation: A cross-sectional study based on China

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of behavioral finances on stock market participation by employing data from China Family Panel Study (CFPS). Availability and trust are chosen as the target variables to explain the participation problems in the stock market. The study finds evidence that financial service availability and individual trust have positive influences on the stock market participation decisions. Further, when compared with financial service availability, regional economic advance does not show a significant impact on the participation rate. Additionally, a counter-intuitive finding is that females are more likely to participate in the stock market as family head in China.