Behavioral Finance
FIN 645 | 3 Credits
Course Desc: Prerequisite: FIN 610. A study of the key psychological obstacles to value-maximizing behavior and steps that managers can take to mitigate their effects, using the traditional tools of corporate finance. Focus is on understanding the underlying factors and processes that result in nonoptimal decision making by financial managers. Topics include perceptions about risk and reward and financial decision making in the areas of investing, trading, valuation, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, agency conflicts, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions. The key role played by emotions and recent findings from neuroscience are explored.