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Domain-specific risk-taking among finance professionals

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  • Razen, Michael
  • Kirchler, Michael
  • Weitzel, Utz

Abstract

Risk-assessment and risk-taking in various forms are among the most important tasks financial professionals face in their daily work. A large body of experimental studies has shown a substantial effect of the decision domain (gain vs loss domain) on risk-taking, predominantly among students. In a series of experiments set in different contextual frameworks, we investigate whether this domain effect is also present among experienced employees in the finance industry and compare their decisions with people from the general population. Our results show that employees in the finance industry are equally prone to the domain effect in risk-taking than the general population. Interestingly, for domain-specific risk-taking in a finance context, we find that professionals are even more reluctant to sell loser stocks than non-professionals.

Suggested Citation

  • Razen, Michael & Kirchler, Michael & Weitzel, Utz, 2020. "Domain-specific risk-taking among finance professionals," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:beexfi:v:27:y:2020:i:c:s2214635020301039
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbef.2020.100331
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    Cited by:

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    2. Zeeshan Ahmed & Shahid Rasool & Qasim Saleem & Mubashir Ali Khan & Shamsa Kanwal, 2022. "Mediating Role of Risk Perception Between Behavioral Biases and Investor’s Investment Decisions," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    3. Bottasso, Anna & Duchêne, Sébastien & Guerci, Eric & Hanaki, Nobuyuki & Noussair, Charles N., 2022. "Higher order risk attitudes of financial experts," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    4. Te Bao & Brice Corgnet & Nobuyuki Hanaki & Katsuhiko Okada & Yohanes E. Riyanto & Jiahua Zhu, 2022. "Financial Forecasting in the Lab and the Field: Qualified Professionals vs. Smart Students," ISER Discussion Paper 1156, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    5. Christoph Huber & Christian König-Kersting, 2022. "Experimenting with Financial Professionals," Working Papers 2022-07, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimental finance; Financial professionals; Domain-specific risk-taking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

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