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This research analyzes the individual determinants of the decision to participate in the stock market in eight European countries - France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, on a sample of 6,036 individuals, aged between 18-65 years. The data used in the empirical analysis comes from the study “The EU Market for Consumer Long Term Retail Saving Vehicles. Comparative Analysis of Products, Market Structure, Costs, Distribution Systems and Consumer Saving Patterns”, carried out by the European Commission in 2007. The main focus of this paper consists of analyzing the potential gender gap in stock market participation while it includes socioeconomic variables that have already been studied in the prior financial literature focused on other countries, as well as behavioral determinants that have not been analyzed in depth so far. The results highlight that stock market participation in the countries above mentioned. Issues positively related to this research involves: peoples age, being male, having university studies, income, influence of financial advice and willingness to risk; and a negatively related issue is seeking of financial advice and general trust. Besides, it is important the existence of institutional country factors that influence the investors’ attitudes toward stockholding.

El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar los potenciales determinantes del ahorro para la jubilación de los hogares en España, para una muestra de datos extraída de la Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, e integrada por 1.407 personas. El estudio de los determinantes del ahorro incluye tanto variables socioeconómicas analizadas por la literatura fi nanciera previa, como variables de carácter actitudinal -orientación política o satisfacción vital-, no consideradas por las teorías de ahorro más tradicionales. Los resultados ponen de manifi esto que, en general, el ahorro para la jubilación en España se sitúa en niveles bajos –menos de un 20% de la muestra dispone de un plan de pensiones–, y que está condicionado por variables como la edad, el nivel educativo, la situación laboral, el área de residencia, la tenencia de una vivienda en propiedad, el uso de Internet o la religiosidad.