Behavioural Finance Flashcards
What are the basic axioms of utility theory?
- Completeness - well defined preferences
- Transitivity - consistent
- Independence - additive
- Continuity - smooth indifference curves
When is someone exhibiting bounded rationality?
Bounded rationality is when people gather some, but not all information. They will look for answers to satisfice and move towards their goal even if not optimal.
What are the phases of prospect theory?
- Framing/editing is when you set the reference point to which prospects are evaluated.
- Choose highest perceived outcome
What is adaptive market hypothesis?
Markets change over time to reflect competition, natural selection, etc
what is the certainty equivalent?
This is the max sum of money someone would pay to participate, or minimum accept to not participate
what is prospect theory?
This is the theory that we assign value to gains and losses rather than to final wealth, and that our value function differs between gains and losses
what is the difference between cognitive and emotional biases?
- Cognitive errors are based on faulty reasoning (information processing, memory errors, statistical), whereas emotion biases stem from impulses and intuition
- Cognitive errors can be moderated through education - they are simply blind spots. Emotional errors are spontaneous and can only be corrected by recognizing and adapting.
What are the two categories of cognitive errors?
- Belief perseverance (cognitive dissonance) - ignoring new information
- Processing errors
What is conservatism bias?
This is a cognitive bias that is related to belief perserverance. This is when you maintain current beliefs in the face of new evidence. In bayesian terms, you overrate the base case and do not make necessary adjustments to probabilities.
What are the biggest consequences of conservatism bias?
- Slow to update forecasts
2. Opt to maintain current beliefs when new data is complex. You do not decipher the impact of new information
How do you overcome conservatism bias?
- Be aware it exists
- Always ask how new information effected current beliefs
- Don’t be scared to change course
- Seek professionals who can interpret the data
What is confirmation bias?
Excessively weighting confirmatory information
What are the biggest consequences of confirmation bias?
- Ignoring relevant information
2. under diversifying leading to excessive risk
How can we overcome confirmation bias?
- Actively seeking out things that could change your mind
2. Getting corroborating support
What is representative bias?
This is when people classify new information based on past experiences. You attempt to derive meaning from new information by relating it to past experiences.
What are the biggest consequences of representative biases?
- Base rate neglect - relying on stereotypes and ignoring base rates
- Sample size neglect
What is illusion of control bias?
We believe the probability of our success if higher than what it would be objectively
What is hindsight bias?
Seeing past events as reasonably predictable
What are the biggest consequences of hindsight bias?
- Overestimate degree in which something was predicted
2. Unfairly assessing performance