Economic Growth and Lower Class Investments in Nineteenth Century Austria

The paper examines investment behavior in the lower-class population in the Alpine lands of the Habsburg Monarchy between 1820 and 1913. In order to determine how the lower-class population responded to institutional changes in the financial market, the paper distinguishes between investments in various kinds of assets and examines the specific preferences of the lower-class population for savings deposits, securities, private debt claims, cash, real estate and movable belongings. In addition to professional factors, the analysis uses overall wealth, family status, age, cultural and regional factors, and the time factor as independent variables. Finally, the article determines whether the structures of portfolios show any additional systematic variation that cannot be explained by the effect of those factors.