Behavioral Finance

Module: Behavioral Finance (6 Credits)
Name in diploma supplement	Behavioral Finance
Responsible	Prof. Dr. Heiko Jacobs
Admission criteria	See exam regulations.
Workload	180 hours of student workload, in detail: Attendance: 60 hours Preparation, follow up: 75 hours Exam preparation: 45 hours
Duration	The module takes 1 semester(s).
Qualification Targets	Students are able to contrast normative finance theory (“How should market participants behave?”) with the findings of descriptive empirical finance research (“How do market participants actually behave?”) know the key insights of theoretical, experimental, and empirical behavioral economics research (“Why do market participants behave this way, and how can their behavior be predicted or changed?”) have a profound understanding of the link between individual behavior in financial markets and market outcomes such as trading volume or return patterns can evaluate scientific studies accurately, understand the methodology used in leading papers of the field, can interpret estimation results correctly and analyze them critically are in a position to identify starting points for their own research
Relevance	Students will be able to better understand how actual economic decisions are made and how these decisions affect economic aggregates in real markets. The acquired skills and knowledge may also help to improve financial decision making. These insights are highly relevant for work in companies (in particular but not only the financial industry), economic research and teaching institutions, or regulatory authorities.
Module Exam	The module-related examination is performed by a written test (usually 60-90 minutes).
Usage in different degree programs	BWL EaF Master > Wahlpflichtbereich > 1.-3. Sem, Elective LA gbF/kbF BK Master > Masterprüfung in der kleinen beruflichen Fachrichtung > Finanz- und Rechnungswesen, Steuern > Wahlpflichtbereich Kleine berufliche Fachrichtung "Finanz- und Rechnungswesen, Steuern" > 1.-3. Sem, Elective MuU Master > Wahlpflichtbereich II > Wahlpflichtbereich II B.: Märkte und Unternehmen aus Marktperspektive > 1.-3. Sem, Elective VWL Master > Wahlpflichtbereich II > 1.-3. Sem, Elective
Elements	Lecture Behavioral Finance (3 Credits) Exercise Behavioral Finance (3 Credits)
Module: Behavioral Finance (WIWI‑M0801)

Lecture: Behavioral Finance (3 Credits)
Name in diploma supplement	Behavioral Finance
Organisational Unit	Lehrstuhl für Finanzierung
Lecturers	Prof. Dr. Heiko Jacobs
Hours per week	2	Language	English
Cycle	winter semester	Participants at most	###LABEL_NOLIMIT###
Preliminary knowledge Students are assumed to have undergraduate level knowledge of finance and economics. Some basic knowledge of statistics/econometrics is helpful to understand empirical research conducted in the research papers, which the course content is based on. A sufficient level of spoken and written English language skills is necessary.
Abstract There is abundant evidence suggesting that the standard economic paradigm of rational individuals does not perfectly describe behavior in financial markets. Behavioral Finance examines how individuals' attitudes and behavior affect their financial decisions. This course reviews research on psychological biases and non-standard preferences in investor behavior, highlights the link between individual behavior and market outcomes, and discusses some of the major empirical “puzzles” in financial markets for which standard finance theory provides no sufficient explanation.
Contents An Introduction to Behavioral Finance Market Participants: Judgment Biases Market Participants: Purchasing and Selling Decisions Market Participants: Experience, Social Networks, Retirement Saving Linking Individual Behavior and Market Outcomes Markets: Efficiency and Limits to Arbitrage Markets: Event Studies Markets: Time Series Properties and Calendar Anomalies Markets: Cross-Sectional Predictability
Literature As the course discusses partly recent research, there is no specific textbook that covers all aspects of the course. However, useful survey papers for this course are: Barber, B. M., & Odean, T. (2013). Chapter 22 – The Behavior of Individual Investors. In: Handbook of the Economics of Finance (Vol. 2, pp. 1533–1570). Barberis, N., & Thaler, R. (2003). A survey of behavioral finance. Handbook of the Economics of Finance, (Vol. 1, pp. 1053-1128). Hirshleifer, D. A. (2015). Behavioral finance. In: Annual Review of Financial Economics (Vol. 7, pp. 133-159).
Teaching concept The course is held in the form of lectures.
Lecture: Behavioral Finance (WIWI‑C1116)

Exercise: Behavioral Finance (3 Credits)
Name in diploma supplement	Behavioral Finance
Organisational Unit	Lehrstuhl für Finanzierung
Lecturers	Prof. Dr. Heiko Jacobs
Hours per week	2	Language	English
Cycle	winter semester	Participants at most	###LABEL_NOLIMIT###
Preliminary knowledge See lecture
Contents See lecture
Literature See lecture
Teaching concept The theory, methodology, and concepts from the lecture are applied with case studies, numerical examples, in-class experiments, and additional material. Excerpts from key scientific papers are presented to the students and are discussed together.
Exercise: Behavioral Finance (WIWI‑C1117)