An Integrated Model of Perceived Risk and Risk-Reducing Strategies in the Tunisian Stock Market

Abstract

This chapter examines the antecedents and consequences of the perceived risk of investors towards the Tunisian stock market. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 411 individual investors chosen by 24 brokerage firms. Using the structural equation model, we operationalize the risk following the psychometric paradigm according to subjective variables (i.e. familiarity and controllability). Results prove that controllability is a significant factor in the formation of perceived risk. We also show that several factors related to the investor, the listed companies and to the stock market can influence the perceived risk by the investor towards the Tunisian stock market. Similarly, we find that perceived risk leads to intensive information search, good performance and a strong reinvestment intention. These results attest the importance of the risk perception in the decision-making process.