Colleague Collectors: A Statistical Analysis of Artists’ Collecting Networks in Nineteenth-Century New York

Using the market prices of two Belgian lottery bonds, this paper analyzes how the investors’ risk preferences changed during the Second World War. The estimates suggest that risk aversion dramatically changed during the Occupation period. Before 1943, investors showed strong signs of risk aversion; yet, in 1943 and 1944, they exhibited a risk-seeking attitude. This puzzling result is attributed to the euphoria brought by the prospect of the war’s end. # Université Libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM, CEB, 50 av. Roosevelt, CP 114/03, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. # Université Libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM, CEB, 50 av. Roosevelt, CP 114/03, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, koosterl@ulb.ac.be. β Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration, 465C Statler Hall, Ithaca, NY,14853. Email: andrey.ukhov@gmail.com