OSUN Theme: Inequalities
Contemporary Developments in Finance
Term: September 5, 2023 – December 19, 2023Level: 300-Level
Day/Time: T 3:10 PM EDT - 5:30 PM EDT
The seminar will contrast the academic analysis of financial economics with the observed reality (which often differ dramatically). Traditional finance theories concentrate on efficient markets, predictable prices that are determined by the concepts of present value, rates of return and analysis and pricing of computable risks. Human behavior has neither a place in the theory nor a perceived need to be studied. This prevailing view has recently been challenged by behavioral finance, a field that considers the many anomalies of "rational" behavior and "efficiency" of markets. This paradigm concerns itself with economic decision-making and investor psychology, and specifically with questions relating to how and why people exhibit a mixture of rational and irrational behavior. The seminar will examine the influence of economic psychology in the decision-making process of various agents as well as in the market's dynamics. Several guest lecturers will also offer their informed views in the development of contemporary finance.
Credits: 4 U.S. / 8 ECTS