The Securities Investment Analysis Of Behavioral Finance

As a new subject in modern economy, Behavioral Finance is a cross-discipline of Investment and Psychology, which explains the abnormal phenomena on security market and corrects the defects of efficient market and rational economic man hypothesis in traditional economy by analyzing investors’psychological characteristics.Since starting my post graduate study in Fudan University, I have always paid close attention to this field, done some thinking and read professional works regarding this subject, which mainly focus on the progress, situation and problem of China security market during the past 20 years. Behavioral Finance has significant meanings not only to individual investment, security market, but also to the smooth, rapid and sustainable development of national economy and stability of financial market. It also protects the interests of individual investors and prevents the speculation from overseas venture capital.This dissertation is a comprehensive expansion of my published article Analysis on Security Investment from Behavioral Finance’s Perspective. Chapter 1 reviews the historical documents and the research status on Behavioral Finance both at home and abroad. From the angle of Behavioral Finance, theoretic and empirical analysis are conducted on security investment from Chapter 2 to 6. Chapter 2 briefly introduces the birth of Behavioral Finance, which emerges with the foundation of Prospect Theory after academia finds out the defects of Efficient Market Hypothesis and Expected Utility Theory. Chapter 3 analyzes the psychological characteristics that cause Cognitive Bias:herding effect, over-confidence, mental accounting etc.and how they influence investors’decisions. Chapter 4 elaborates on masters’behavioral finance theories and their practices. From Behavioral Finance’s perspective, Chapter 5 gives a further empirical study on security investors’behaviors and mentality. Using China Security Market Crash and U.S. Financial Crisis in 2008 as examples, Chapter 6 illustrates various mistakes on security market impacted by psychological factors.Various methods such as Induction, Comparison, Materialistic Dialectics and Questionnaire are applied in this dissertation to analyze and prove Behavioral Finance theory and practice. Different from ordinary comments, I raise some unique ideas that we should not only emphasize Behavioral Finance’s negative impact but also take advantage of its positive side such as mood control, find certainty and regularity from uncertainties in order to minimize the risks.