Postgraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2022-2023 (archived)

Module ECON40F15: Behavioural & Experimental Finance

Department: Economics

ECON40F15: Behavioural & Experimental Finance

Type	Tied	Level	4	Credits	15	Availability	Available in 2022/23

Tied to	N3K109
Tied to	N3K209
Tied to	N3K409
Tied to	N3K709
Tied to	N3KC09

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Excluded Combination of Modules

None

Aims

to provide students with the opportunity to develop the ability to critically understand current theoretical and empirical research in the field of Behavioural Finance;
to provide students with the ability to critically review a wide range of behavioural phenomena that influence investment decisions, and the consequences of those phenomena for the financial marketplace;
to develop students' ability to master the knowledge and understanding at an advanced level of key issues in Behavioural Finance and test these using methods in experimental finance.

Content

As Behavioural Finance is a constantly changing discipline, this module will cover a set of core topics and additional topics that depend on the current nature of the discipline. These include topics in the areas of market efficiency, anomalies in financial markets, prospect theory and cognitive heuristics and biases. The module is designed to combine theses behavioural topics with active classroom experiments.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

have an advanced knowledge and critical understanding of Behavioural Finance.
understand how research into Behavioural Finance is conducted.
have a comprehensive and detailed knowledge of experimental methods in finance.

Subject-specific Skills:

By the end of the module students should be able to:
assess the implications of Behavioural Finance for financial theory and practice.
critically evaluate experiments in finance and the resulting behavioural insights and theoretical predictions.
design experimental treatments that can identify and test these predictions.

Key Skills:

Written Communication;
Planning, Organising and Time Management;
Problem Solving and Analysis;
Using Initiative;
Numeracy;
Computer Literacy.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

A combination of lectures, seminars and guided reading will contribute to achieving the aims and learning outcomes of this module. Classroom activities and experiments will be used to illustrate how research in Behavioural Finance is conducted and how results are interpreted.
The summative assessment is an individual assignment of 2,500 words designed to test students' knowledge and critical understanding of the material covered in the module, their analytical and problem-solving skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total/Hours
Lectures	10	1 per week	2 hours	20
Seminars	4	1 per fortnight	1 hour	4	■
Preparation & Reading				126
Total				150

Summative Assessment

Component: Individual Assignment		Component Weighting: 100%%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Individual Assignment	2500 words (max)	100%%	same

Formative Assessment:

Work prepared by students for seminars; answers to questions either discussed during a seminar, or posted on BLU; feedback on discussions with teaching staff during consultation hours, or via e-mail.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University