Behavioral Finance

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Definition Behavioral Finance?

Behavioral Finance (BF) is the study of the influence of psychology on the behavior of financial practitioners and the subsequent effect on financial markets. The approach focuses on observable psychological factors that influence decision-making of financial decision makers.

Behavioral effects help explain why and how markets might be inefficient. Behavioral finance is contradicting the Efficient Market Hypothesis.

In 1912, G.C. Selden wrote "Psychology of the Stock Market: Human Impulses Lead To Speculative Disasters". He based the book "upon the belief that the movements of prices on the exchanges are dependent to a very considerable degree on the mental attitude of the investing and trading public".

In 1956, Leon Festinger introduced the theory of Cognitive Dissonance: in case two simultaneously held cognitions are inconsistent, people will have an uncomfortable feeling that leads towards attitude change in order to reestablish consonance.

In 1974, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman described three heuristics that are employed when making judgments under uncertainty:

• Representativeness: When people are asked to judge the probability that an object or event A belongs to class or process B, probabilities are evaluated
  by the degree to which A is representative of B, that is, by the degree to which A resembles B.
• Availability: When people are asked to assess the frequency of a class or the probability of an event, they do so by the ease with which instances or occurrences can be brought to mind.
• Anchoring and adjustment: In numerical prediction, when a relevant value (an anchor) is available, people make estimates by starting from an initial
  value (the anchor) that is adjusted to yield the final answer. The anchor may be suggested by the formulation of the problem, or it may be the result of a partial computation. In either case, adjustments are typically insufficient.

Behavioral finance applies scientific research on human and social Cognitive and Emotional Biases to better understand economic decisions and how they affect market prices, returns and the allocation of resources. The behavioral finance field is primarily concerned with the lack of rationality of economic agents. Behavioral models typically integrate insights from psychology with neo-classical economic theory.

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Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Behavioral Finance. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Overview of Behavioral Economics and Bounded Rationality Decision Making, Behavioral Economics, Trainings, Workshops This presentation is abut behavioral economics (an area that focuses on the bounds of rationality of economic agents). I... Full List of Cognitive Biases Classified into Four Different Areas Decision Making, Human Behaviour, Management, Leadership, Strategy, etc. Presentation that classifies Cognitive Biases into four different areas, by S. Gupta (2011). It includes the following s... Efficient Markets and Behavioral Financial Decision Making Behavioral Finance, Rational Decision-making, CAPM This presentation elaborates on financial decision making in our market place and includes the following sections: 1. I... Giving Financial Advice on Dealing with Uncertainty Financial Services, Asset Management, Financial Investing Harry Markowitz gives short answers two questions: 1. (How) can financial advisors help participants deal with uncertai... Introduction and Summary of Behavioural Finance Initial Understanding of Behavioural Finance Prof. Jan Marth-Smith explains Behavioural Finance: the study of psychology in the financial markets. Knowing that peopl...

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Compare with: Cognitive Bias  |  Investor Sentiment  |  Short Selling  |  Analogical Strategic Reasoning  |  Bounded Rationality  |  Framing  |  Groupthink  |  Systemic Risk  |  Index Fund  |  Mutual Fund  |  Qualitative Investment Analysis  |  Whisper Number  |  Feedback Loops

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