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What are asset price bubbles? A survey on definitions of financial bubbles

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  • Baumann, Michael Heinrich
  • Janischewski, Anja

Abstract

Financial bubbles and crashes have repeatedly caused economic turmoil notably but not only during the 2008 financial crisis. However, both in the popular press as well as scientific publications, the meaning of bubble is sometimes unspecified. Due to the multitude of bubble definitions, we conduct a systematic review with the following questions: What definitions of asset price bubbles exist in the literature? Which definitions are used in which disciplines and how frequently? We develop a system of definition categories and categorize a total of 122 papers from eleven research areas. Our results show that although one definition is indeed prevalent in the literature, the overall definition landscape is not uniform. Next to the mostly used definition as deviation from a present value of expected future cash flows, we identify several other definitions, which rely on price properties or other specifications of a fundamental value. This research contributes by shedding light on the possible variations in which bubbles are defined and operationalized.

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  • Baumann, Michael Heinrich & Janischewski, Anja, 2025. "What are asset price bubbles? A survey on definitions of financial bubbles," MPRA Paper 123676, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:123676
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    asset price bubble; fad; financial crisis; local martingale; fundamental analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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