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Rural Investors
Abstract
The nature of financial market has changed drastically. Investing money has become a very
complex task because of huge number of savings and investment companies and products
offered by them, terms and conditions of investment and prevalent complex rules and
regulations. Most of the investors, particularly rural investors are found unaware about
investment avenues and rules and regulations. In spite of remarkable growth of economy and
increasing income levels of people, the pace of saving mobilization is lower in India. Rural
savings are not mobilized and invested properly. Investment is an economic activity which
creates capital required for various sectors of economy. So every earning person should be
The study attempted to find out the awareness of rural investors about various investment
avenues, their preferences and considerations for investing money. A sample of 300 respondents
was selected from four villages from Sillod block of Aurangabad district, Maharashtra. The
major focus of the study was on investigating whether there was difference between investment
awareness level and educational qualifications of male and female rural investors. The study
disclosed that there was no significant difference in awareness level of rural male and female
investors and their educational qualifications. The investment preference order of the
respondents indicated towards secured investment attitude. Bank deposits, gold and jewelry, real
Key words: Socio-economic factors, Savings and Investment, Investment decisions, Investors’
awareness level
Introduction:
Capital formation process involves earning, saving and investment. During 2005-11 the
percentage of total household savings in India was 33.7% of GDP (RBI, Working Group Report-
Trends in Gross Domestic Savings, 2011). Bank deposits continued to account a dominant share
(49.9%) followed by Life Insurance Policies (19.9%), Provident and Pension funds (10.3%) and
share and debentures just 3.5%. This indicates the trend of individual savings in India.
Investments generate income and assets. People invest their money in hope of getting good
returns, enough liquidity and safety. Indians have habits of savings but majority of them are
averse to invest their funds and hold hard cash with them. In view of some earners, holding cash
is a status symbol. Consumer behavior is a dynamic process which includes acquiring products
and services as per requirements with proper selection and their consumption in hope of getting
maximum satisfaction and value for money. It involves decision making by a consumer or a
group of consumers regarding purchasing, using and disposing off the products and spending
and psychological factors. The same factors influence the behaviour of rural investors. Socio-
economic status of rural investor is one of the significant factors in selecting and investing in
particular financial product. Besides spread of education and increased literacy level, the speed
of financial literacy is much slower in villages. Financial exclusion is widespread. However, the
efforts by the government with banks and NGOs through Financial Inclusion Programme and
Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana are certainly going to enhance the financial literacy and
investment awareness level of rural people. Rural economy is growing impressively and it has
led to the introduction of a various investment opportunities. Besides savings in banks and post
offices, investors have the choice of a variety of instruments. The rural investor needs to be
acquainted with investment principles, risks involved and the instruments yielding high returns.
The present research paper is an attempt to highlight on savings and investment pattern of rural
Literature review:
Investor’s perceptions and attitudes towards savings and investment avenues are deeply
influenced by socio-economic environment. Education, income level, values, customs and beliefs
and accessibility to financial services determine the investor’s behavior. Agrawal (2009) noted
that there is no significant difference between male and female investors in the expected rate of
return. Selvakumar and others (2012) explained that awareness about investment avenues is very
low among rural people compared to urban people. The research scholars suggested that
educational status should be improved in the rural sector. Reddy S. G. (2005) observed that the
investors invest their funds on the basis of rate of return. Most of the investors studied by him
had preferred to invest in pension policies in hope of getting tax benefits. Syed Tabssum Sultana
and Pardhasaradhi S, (2011) concluded in their empirical study that Indian individual investors
are conservative investors. Marital status, earnings, occupation and number of dependents are
significant factors associated with risk tolerance. Vyas Ravi and Moonar Surendra (2012) found
that gold was the first preference of the investors followed by bank deposits, life insurance and
postal deposits. Kumar Rajesh and Arora R. S. (2013) suggested that investors need investment
education and well informed about investment avenues through TV, internet, Newspapers and
professional journals in order to enhance the awareness level. Priyalaxmi and Dhanlaxmi (2014)
examined investors’ preferences towards various forms of investment viz., shares, bank deposits,
gold, real estate, life insurance, postal savings and mutual funds and found that bank deposits
were popular among the investors. The researchers concluded that there was no significant
association between income level and investment awareness level. Kathuria and Singhania
(2010) found that print media and websites are two most important sources of information that
helped investors to make investment decisions. The investors had given preference to postal
deposits, insurance and public provident funds. Kasilingam and Jayapal (2010) pointed out that
the choice of individual investors is affected by family income, timing of investment and savings
motives. In contrast to this, Keshvan, Chidambaram and Ramchandran (2012) noticed that age,
gender, educational qualification, occupation and annual income do not influence the type of
investment avenues. It is to be noted that not much research studies have been conducted on the
awareness level of rural investors and their pattern of investment in India. Finding the gap, the
present study was designed to understand the association between education and investment
Rural population accounts 69.2 percent of the total 1210.6 million population of India as per
census 2011. Major income source of rural people is income from agriculture and allied
activities. In recent years, income level of rural people has increased at satisfactory level but at
the same time uncertainty of agriculture income due to droughts and climatic changes has
become hurdle in the way of capital formation in rural economy. Rural literacy rate has increased
but financial literacy level is very poor. Rural people are very much familiar with savings but
still a large section of rural population has no access to banking and postal network. In this
context, the study intended to investigate the awareness level and preferences of rural investors,
their considerations about investment principles and to understand whether there is association
between education and investment awareness level of rural male and female investors?
The objectives:
(2) To examine the investors awareness level and their preferences of investment
(3) To compare the investment behavior of rural male and female investors
(4) To make some suggestions in order to enhance investment awareness among rural people
Research methodology:
The study is confined to the rural investors residing four villages viz., Mandna, Chinchpur,
Golegaon and Palod from Sillod Block of Aurangabad district in Maharashtra. The study survey
was conducted during 2013-14 with the help of a well structured questionnaire consisting of
relevant questions. The focus of the study was on understanding the preferences of rural
investors with regard to investment avenues, their educational qualifications and investment
awareness level.
Data sources:
The present study is basically based on primary data and secondary data. The primary data were
collected with the help of a well constructed questionnaire and partly interviews. Secondary data
were tapped from books, research journals, newspapers and study reports related to the topic.
The data analysis tools used were simple percentage, ANOVA and Garrett Ranking method.
Sample size:
There are175 villages having population more than 3, 23,000 of Sillod block. Considering the
huge population, the researcher selected 4 villages for the purpose of the study. In all 300 sample
respondents (199 male and 101 female) were selected on the basis of convenience sampling as
shown below:
1 Mandna 43 35 78 (26.00)
2 Chinchpur 28 19 47 (15.67)
3 Golegaon 67 24 91 (30.33)
4 Palod 61 23 84 (28.00)
H01: There is no significant difference between the awareness of rural male and female investors
H02: There is no significant difference between the awareness of rural male and female investors
In order to understand the awareness level, preferences and prime motive of rural investors, the
socio-economic characteristics of sample respondents from the villages under study were- age,
education, marital status, occupation, income and investment. Age is one of the significant factor
influencing investment decisions. Generally, young people start investing money after settling
down in their respective occupations. As they get mature and aware about savings and
investment avenues, rate of return, they invest their money selecting suitable securities, deposit
schemes, insurance products or mutual funds. As shown in Table 2, 123 (41 per cent)
respondents are in the age group of 25-35 years, 23.67 per cent of the respondents in the age
group of 35-45 year and 19.67 per cent in the age group of 45-55 years, the mean age being 30
years, 40 years and 50 years respectively. The data signifies that majority of the respondents are
young earners.
Education has very important role in creating awareness regarding employment, earning and
saving money. As depicted in Table 2, of 300 respondents, 30.67 per cent had completed primary
education, 29.67 per cent were matriculates and 30 per cent were graduates. Just 6 per cent had
completed post graduation. Most of the respondents were found enough aware about self help
groups, credit cooperatives, banks and other financial institutions. It is interesting to note in
Indian context, particularly in rural areas that marital status decides the saving and investment
pattern of an individual. The data given in Table 2 disclosed that 84.33 per cent of the
respondents were married whereas 15.67 per cent of the respondents were unmarried. The
occupation wise distribution of the respondents indicated that around 60 per cent respondents
were farmers and more than 27 per cent were agriculture workers. The respondents engaged in
small business activities and services were 9 per cent and 3.66 per cent respectively.
As regards to monthly income of the respondents, it can be seen from the Table 2 that 42.67 per
cent of the respondents had been earning income between Rs.15,000-25,000 and 14 per cent of
the respondents had the income between Rs.25,000-35,000 per month, average monthly income
being Rs.20,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively. More than 30 per cent of the respondents had
monthly income less than Rs.15, 000 whereas 13 per cent of the respondents were found earning
more than Rs.30, 000 per month. It was also observed that the income from agriculture activities
was uncertain and irregular. On the other hand small businessmen and servicemen were found
ensured about their earnings. These factors have deep impact on earnings, savings and
Illiterate 11 3.66
Primary 92 30.67
Secondary 89 29.67
Graduation 90 30.00
Marital status:
Unmarried 47 15.67
Occupation:
Service 11 3.66
Monthly income:
Annual Investment
With regard to annual investment of the respondents, it was revealed from the table 2 that 44.33
percent of 300 respondents had invested in the range of Rs. 25,000-45,000 whereas 29.67 percent
of the respondents had invested less than Rs.25, 000. The respondents investing between Rs.45,
000-65,000 annually accounted 15.67 percent. It is noteworthy that the respondents investing
more than Rs.85, 000 accounted just 3.66 percent of the respondents.
No 56 (28.14) 36 (35.64) 92
In order to know about investment awareness level of male and female respondents having
different educational levels from rural areas under the study, the responses depicted in the Table
3 indicated that out of 300 respondents, 208 (69.33 per cent) respondents were aware about
investments whereas 30.67 per cent respondents were found unaware. Out of 199 male
respondents, 71.86% (143 respondents) agreed that they were enough aware about various
investment opportunities. Of 101 female respondents, 64.36% (65 respondents) were found
To test the null hypotheses viz., (H01) there is no significant difference between the awareness of
rural male and female investors and (H02) there is no significant difference between the
awareness level of rural male and female investors and their educational levels, Two Way
ANOVA was applied. The results are depicted in the table 4 and 5.
Primary 59 25 84
Secondary 44 20 64
Graduation 29 12 41
Post graduation 11 08 19
2) SSC (sum square between columns) =(∑C1) 2/n1 +(∑C2) 2/n1 – C.F
= (5112.25+1056.25)-5408 =760.50
=760.50/1 =760.50
5) SSR (Sum Squares between Rows) = (∑r1) 2/n1+(∑r2) 2/n2+(∑r3) 2/n3+(∑r4) 2/n4– C.F.
=1189
6) DF (Degree of freedom)
=(R-1)= = (4 -1)=3
= SSR/R-1 =1189/3
=396.33
=SST= (R1)2 + (R2)2 + (R3)2 + (R4)2 + (R5)2 + (R6)2 + (R7)2 + (R8)2- C.F
=(3481+625+1936+400+841+144+121+64)-5408 =7612-5408
=2204 =2204-(1189+760.50)
=254.50
=84.83
Table 5. ANOVA
of squares Freedom At 5%
variation
=8.9649
Error
(1) As shown in Table 5, the calculated value of F1 is 8.9649, which is less than its critical value
i.e.10.1280 (for 1 and 3 degrees)at 5% level of significance, hence null hypothesis, (H01) that
there is no significant difference between the awareness level of rural male and female investors,
is accepted. Hence, it is inferred that the awareness level of rural male and female investors is
similar.
(2) As depicted in the Table 5, the calculated value of F1 is 4.6704, which is less than its critical
value i.e.9.2766 (for 3 and 3 degrees)at 5% level of significance, hence null hypothesis, (H02)
that there is no significant difference between the awareness level of rural male and female
investors having different educational qualifications, is accepted. On the basis this discussion, it
is concluded that the awareness level of rural male and female investors, having different
educational qualifications, is similar. The conclusions drawn by Keshvan and others (2012) in
For the purpose of understanding the investment preferences of the respondents ranking method
has been applied. The respondents were asked to give rank wise ( I-VIII ) responses to the
investment avenues viz., shares, debentures, bank deposits, Gold & jewelry, real estate, postal
schemes, mutual funds and insurance. The Garret scores are given in Table 6.
Percentage position = 100(Rij -0.5)/ Nj Where Rij = Rank given for ith variable (factor) by the jth
100(1-0.5)/8 6.25 80
100(2-0.5)/8 18.75 68
100(3-0.5)/8 31.25 60
100(4-0.5)/8 43.75 53
100(5-0.5)/8 56.25 47
100(6-0.5)/8 68.75 40
100(7-0.5)/8 81.25 32
100(8-0.5)/8 93.75 20
Table 7 depicts the Garret scores, mean scores and Garret ranks. The investment avenues ranked
by the respondents indicated towards investment behavior of the rural investors. Bank deposits
were given the first rank by the investors. They explained that nearby banks were easily
accessible and they felt that deposits were safe and liquid.
Score
5 9 1
1 3
5 7 8
jewelry 5 9 1
1 9 6
schemes 4 6 4
7 0 0
4 9 7
Source: Compiled based on Field survey, 2013-14 data and Garret ranking table
In addition, bank deposits supported their creditworthiness. The second rank to Gold and Jewelry
indicated that still yellow metal is popular among rural investors. They perceived that holding
golden jewelry was status symbol and enough liquid. Rural investors ranked Real estate at third
place and postal schemes at fourth place. Insurance was given fifth rank by the respondents. As
per an estimation, insurance cover in rural area is hardly for 10 per cent rural population because
of lower reach out of insurance companies. Mostly life insurance policies are preferred by
salaried and business persons. Mutual funds, Shares and Debentures were ranked sixth, seventh
and eighth ranks respectively by the respondents which indicated that rural investors did not like
to invest in securities.
With regard to the awareness of the respondents about basic principles of investment, the data
given in Table 8, 96.33 per cent (289) respondents explained that they were very much aware
about basic principles of investment i.e. safety, liquidity, profitability and transparency.
However, 3.67 per cent of the respondents were found unaware about basic principles of
investment.
In order to understand the awareness of the respondents about basic principles of investment,
they were asked to give their responses by giving ranks to safety, liquidity, high returns and
transparency. The responses collected and analyzed with the help of Garrett Ranking Technique
100(1-0.5)/4 12.50 73
100(2-0.5)/4 37.50 57
100(3-0.5)/4 62.50 44
100(4-0.5)/4 87.50 28
They complained that a number of investment (KBC in Maharashtra, Sardha Chit Fund, and
West Bengal etc.) companies have cheated the investors in recent years, so they always preferred
to invest their money in bank deposits as there is insurance cover to deposited amount up to Rs.
one lakh. Table 10 shows that safety of investment was very important for majority of the rural
investors. Obviously, they gave the first rank to safety. It is noteworthy that the earnings of the
farmers, agriculture labor are uncertain and irregular. In view of this situation, availability of
invested money i.e. liquidity, is very important for rural investors. Gold and jewelry can be sold
easily so rural investors are used to invest their money in gold. So, majority of the respondents
Reliability and transparency of transactions ensured by the banks and postal small deposit
schemes are popular and trustworthy in view of the rural investors. So, majority of the
respondents ranked Transparency on the third position. It was interesting to note that the
The study disclosed that rural investor has more trust in products and services provided by the
government banks. The first rank given by majority of the investors under the study supports
this. It was also revealed that gold and jewelry was the second preference of the investors. The
third preference given to real estate (a piece of land) indicates towards traditional attitude of rural
investors. Rural people prefer to invest in agriculture land and plots at nearby taluka (block)
place. Naturally rural investors prefer to invest their money in bank deposits, saving certificates,
government bonds. They prefer to invest in life insurance policies issued by LIC. There is a
strong bond between rural culture and buying and consumption pattern of rural consumers.
While investing money, rural investors emphasize more on safety and liquidity rather than
returns. The study concluded that majority of the rural investors were somewhat conservative.
The earlier study by Syed Sultana and others (2011) had the same observation. About awareness
level of the rural investors, it was inferred that there was no significant difference between the
investment awareness level of male and female investors under the study. Also no significant
difference of investment awareness was observed between male and female investors having
different educational qualifications. In order to speed up the process of deposit mobilization and
capital formation in rural economy, financial literacy programme should be implemented with
The government of India and Reserve Bank have emphasized on providing financial services to
unbanked areas in order to expand the outreach of banking services and products. The
widespread publicity of Financial Inclusion Programme, Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana
through electronic and print media have encouraged and motivated people from all strata of the
society to get linked with financial market. NABARD sponsored Micro finance programme has
good outreach in rural areas. Self-help groups can be instrumental in small savings mobilization
and capital formation. The study suggests that insurance companies should create effective
communication mechanism to provide insurance cover to rural people. In addition, there is need
The study was confined to a small sample of investors from four villages in Maharashtra state.
The study discussed about the investment preferences of rural investors and considerations for
investing their money. A few respondents were reluctant to share their views on investment
decisions. The study focused on awareness level of rural investors and their preferences only.
Further research can be undertaken for investigating determinants of investment decisions, risk
tolerance level of rural investors. The study can be conducted specially on rural poor households’
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