An asset is a piece of property that is a store of value. Items such as money, bonds, stocks, art, land, houses, farm equipment, and manufacturing machinery are all assets. Facing the question of whether to buy and hold an asset or whether to buy one asset rather than another, an individual must consider the following factors:
1. Wealth, the total resources owned by the individual, including all assets
2. Expected return (the return expected over the next period) on one asset relative to alternative assets
3. Risk (the degree of uncertainty associated with the return) on one asset relative to alternative assets
4. Liquidity (the ease and speed with which an asset can be turned into cash) relative to alternative assets
Wealth
When we find that our wealth has increased, we have more resources available with which to purchase assets and so, not surprisingly, the quantity of assets we demand increases.1 Therefore, the effect of changes in wealth on the quantity demanded of an asset can be summarized as follows: Holding everything else constant, an increase in wealth raises the quantity demanded of an asset
Expected Returns
When we make a decision to buy an asset, we are influenced by what we expect the return on that asset to be. If an Exxon-Mobil Corporation bond, for example, has a return of 15% half of the time and 5% the other half of the time, its expected return (which you can think of as the average return) is 10%. More formally, the expected return on an asset is the weighted average of all possible returns, where the weights are the probabilities of occurrence of that return:
1. Wealth, the total resources owned by the individual, including all assets
2. Expected return (the return expected over the next period) on one asset relative to alternative assets
3. Risk (the degree of uncertainty associated with the return) on one asset relative to alternative assets
4. Liquidity (the ease and speed with which an asset can be turned into cash) relative to alternative assets
Wealth
When we find that our wealth has increased, we have more resources available with which to purchase assets and so, not surprisingly, the quantity of assets we demand increases.1 Therefore, the effect of changes in wealth on the quantity demanded of an asset can be summarized as follows: Holding everything else constant, an increase in wealth raises the quantity demanded of an asset
Expected Returns
When we make a decision to buy an asset, we are influenced by what we expect the return on that asset to be. If an Exxon-Mobil Corporation bond, for example, has a return of 15% half of the time and 5% the other half of the time, its expected return (which you can think of as the average return) is 10%. More formally, the expected return on an asset is the weighted average of all possible returns, where the weights are the probabilities of occurrence of that return:
If the expected return on the Exxon-Mobil bond rises relative to expected returns on alternative assets, holding everything else constant, then it becomes more desirable to purchase it, and the quantity demanded increases. This can occur in either of two ways: (1) when the expected return on the Exxon-Mobil bond rises while the return on an alternative asset say, stock in IBM remains unchanged or (2) when the return on the alternative asset, the IBM stock, falls while the return on the Exxon-Mobil bond remains unchanged. To summarize, an increase in an asset’s expected return relative to that of an alternative asset, holdingeverything else unchanged, raises the quantity demanded of the asset.
Risk
The degree of risk or uncertainty of an asset’s returns also affects the demand for the asset. Consider two assets, stock in Fly-by-Night Airlines and stock in Feet-on-the- Ground Bus Company. Suppose that Fly-by-Night stock has a return of 15% half of the time and 5% the other half of the time, making its expected return 10%, while stock in Feet-on-the-Ground has a fixed return of 10%. Fly-by-Night stock has uncertainty associated with its returns and so has greater risk than stock in Feet-on-the- Ground, whose return is a sure thing. To see this more formally, we can use a measure of risk called the standard deviation. The standard deviation of returns on an asset is calculated as follows. First you need to calculate the expected return, Re; then you subtract the expected return from each return to get a deviation; then you square each deviation and multiply it by the probability of occurrence of that outcome; finally, you add up all these weighted squared deviations and take the square root. The formula for the standard deviation, , is thus:
Risk
The degree of risk or uncertainty of an asset’s returns also affects the demand for the asset. Consider two assets, stock in Fly-by-Night Airlines and stock in Feet-on-the- Ground Bus Company. Suppose that Fly-by-Night stock has a return of 15% half of the time and 5% the other half of the time, making its expected return 10%, while stock in Feet-on-the-Ground has a fixed return of 10%. Fly-by-Night stock has uncertainty associated with its returns and so has greater risk than stock in Feet-on-the- Ground, whose return is a sure thing. To see this more formally, we can use a measure of risk called the standard deviation. The standard deviation of returns on an asset is calculated as follows. First you need to calculate the expected return, Re; then you subtract the expected return from each return to get a deviation; then you square each deviation and multiply it by the probability of occurrence of that outcome; finally, you add up all these weighted squared deviations and take the square root. The formula for the standard deviation, , is thus:
A risk-averse person prefers stock in the Feet-on-the-Ground (the sure thing) to Fly-by-Night stock (the riskier asset), even though the stocks have the same expected return, 10%. By contrast, a person who prefers risk is a risk preferer or risk lover. Most people are risk-averse, especially in their financial decisions: Everything else being equal, they prefer to hold the less risky asset. Hence, holding everything else constant, if an asset’s risk rises relative to that of alternative assets, its quantity demanded will fall.
Liquidity
Another factor that affects the demand for an asset is how quickly it can be converted into cash at low cost its liquidity. An asset is liquid if the market in which it is traded has depth and breadth, that is, if the market has many buyers and sellers. A house is not a very liquid asset because it may be hard to find a buyer quickly; if a house must be sold to pay off bills, it might have to be sold for a much lower price. And the transaction costs in selling a house (broker’s commissions, lawyer’s fees, and so on) are substantial. A U.S. Treasury bill, by contrast, is a highly liquid asset. It can be sold in a well-organized market where there are many buyers, so it can be sold quickly at low cost. The more liquid an asset is relative to alternative assets, holding everything else unchanged, the more desirable it is, and the greater will be the quantity demanded.
Liquidity
Another factor that affects the demand for an asset is how quickly it can be converted into cash at low cost its liquidity. An asset is liquid if the market in which it is traded has depth and breadth, that is, if the market has many buyers and sellers. A house is not a very liquid asset because it may be hard to find a buyer quickly; if a house must be sold to pay off bills, it might have to be sold for a much lower price. And the transaction costs in selling a house (broker’s commissions, lawyer’s fees, and so on) are substantial. A U.S. Treasury bill, by contrast, is a highly liquid asset. It can be sold in a well-organized market where there are many buyers, so it can be sold quickly at low cost. The more liquid an asset is relative to alternative assets, holding everything else unchanged, the more desirable it is, and the greater will be the quantity demanded.
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