Non-industrial private forest owners' financial risk taking: Does gender matter?

Male and female non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners differ in inheritance positions, valuations and forest management style. A survey of Swedish NIPF owners found that male and female owners differ in their willingness to take a financial risk. The preliminary analysis, looking only at gender, revealed no difference in the willingness to take risk. Dividing the population according to dependence on income from forestry, however, showed that female NIPF owners increased their willingness to take financial risk when the dependence of income from forestry changed from insubstantial to notable. Females’ tolerance towards risk was also significantly higher than males’ at the notable level of dependence of forestry income. Having or not having economic yield as one of the most important objectives of ownership seemed to have a little effect on the willingness to take financial risk; however, the results were further strengthened when adding this dimension. A gender perspective was applied to explain identified differences between male and female forest owners concerning their willingness to take financial risks. Whether these differences emanate from real differences in willingness to take risk, or whether they are effects from other differences in male and female forest ownership, is discussed