Corporate governance models segregate the role of risk manager and risk taker to allow for independent challenge of risk-related decisions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that broad personality traits predict risk-related behaviour. While prospect theory revealed a natural preference towards risk-taking in a negative risk frame, studies have also shown the influence of personality traits on risk preference. We investigated the less reported subject of the potential influence of risk stakeholder personality on risk decision making in the corporate environment. We expected to observe that the personality traits of risk takers and risk managers will differ as a consequence of occupational self-selection. Further, we expected that such personality differences will produce disparate risk preferences between risk takers and risk managers, supporting the governance expectation of independent challenge of risk-related decisions. A sample of investment banking risk stakeholders (n = 100) completed the HEXACO–PI–R as well as a vignette-based risky choice questionnaire involving positively and negatively framed financial risk scenarios. We found homogeneity in personality traits between risk takers and risk managers but observed a noticeable bias toward risk-taking in the negative frame by risk managers. High Honesty–Humility and Conscientiousness scores in both groups may negate the risk of irresponsible risk-taking or undesirable risk behaviour. The results of this study confirm the importance of personality screening for job applicants and should also alert risk practitioners to potential weaknesses in the independent challenge of risk-related decisions as a result of personality homogeneity among risk stakeholders.

Corporate governance models segregate the role of risk manager and risk taker to allow for independent challenge of risk-related decisions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that broad personality traits predict risk-related behaviour. While prospect theory revealed a natural preference towards risk-taking in a negative risk frame, studies have also shown the influence of personality traits on risk preference. We investigated the less reported subject of the potential influence of risk stakeholder personality on risk decision making in the corporate environment. We expected to observe that the personality traits of risk takers and risk managers will differ as a consequence of occupational self-selection. Further, we expected that such personality differences will produce disparate risk preferences between risk takers and risk managers, supporting the governance expectation of independent challenge of risk-related decisions. A sample of investment banking risk stakeholders (n = 100) completed the HEXACO–PI–R as well as a vignette-based risky choice questionnaire involving positively and negatively framed financial risk scenarios. We found homogeneity in personality traits between risk takers and risk managers but observed a noticeable bias toward risk-taking in the negative frame by risk managers. High Honesty–Humility and Conscientiousness scores in both groups may negate the risk of irresponsible risk-taking or undesirable risk behaviour. The results of this study confirm the importance of personality screening for job applicants and should also alert risk practitioners to potential weaknesses in the independent challenge of risk-related decisions as a result of personality homogeneity among risk stakeholders.

The present work seeks to incorporate a popular descriptive, empirically grounded model of human preference under risk, prospect theory, into the equilibrium theory of noncooperative games. Three primary, candidate definitions are systematically identified on the basis of classical characterizations of Nash Equilibrium; in addition, three equilibrium subtypes are defined for each primary definition, in order to enable modeling of players' reference points as exogenous and fixed, slowly and myopically adaptive, highly flexible and non-myopically adaptive. Each primary equilibrium concept was analyzed both theoretically and empirically; for the theoretical analyses, prospect theory, game theory, and computational complexity theory were all summoned to analysis. In chapter 1, the reader is provided with background on each of these theoretical underpinnings of the current work, the scope of the project is described, and its conclusions briefly summarized. In chapters 2 and 3, each of the three equilibrium concepts is analyzed theoretically, with emphasis placed on issues of classical interest (e.g. existence, dominance, rationalizability) and computational complexity (i.e, assessing how difficult each concept is to apply in algorithmic practice, with particular focus on comparison to classical Nash Equilibrium). This theoretical analysis leads us to discard the first of our three equilibrium concepts as unacceptable. In chapter 4, our remaining two equilibrium concepts are compared empirically, using average-level data originally aggregated from a number of studies by Camerer and Selten and Chmura; the results suggest that PT preferences may improve on the descriptive validity of NE, and pose some interesting questions about the nature of the PT weighting function (2003, Ch. 3). Chapter 5 concludes, systematically summarizes theoretical and empirical differences and similarities between the three equilibrium concepts, and offers some thoughts on future work.

L'objectif central de cette thèse est d'étudier le comportement de fraude fiscale des contribuables quand ils ne déclarent qu'une partie de leur revenu. Le premier chapitre complète la littérature existante en étudiant le niveau de déclaration du revenu et les effets de changements des taux de taxe, de pénalité et de probabilité de contrôle, en considérant des fonctions d'imposition et de pénalité non linéaire, dans le cadre de la théorie de l'espérance de l'utilité.Le cadre fourni par la théorie des perspectives cumulatives est ensuite utilisé dans le second chapitre. L'accent est mis sur la dépendance des décisions du contribuable vis-à-vis du revenu de référence introduit par cette théorie. Le troisième chapitre caractérise le barème optimal d'imposition du revenu et la stratégie de contrôle et de pénalité que doit mettre en place l'État quand le comportement de fraude des contribuables vérifie les propriétés de la théorie des perspectives. / This dissertation analyzes the tax evasion behavior of taxpayers when they do not declare their entire income. The first chapter studies the declaration of the taxpayer and the effects of changes in the tax rate, the penalty rate and the probability of audit. The tax and the penalty functions are assumed to be non linear. The setting is provided by expected utility theory. The setting provided by cumulative prospect theory is used in the second chapter. Reference dependence, which is a central point in this theory, is particularly studied. The third chapter characterizes the optimal income tax and audit schemes under taxe evasion behavior, when of tax payers behave as predicted by prospect theory.

Degree thesis deals with behavioral finance with a focus on behavior and psychology of an individual investor. The first part is devoted to the prospect theory that is a descriptive model of behavior of economic agents under the conditions of uncertainty and stands in a stark contrast with the traditional normative expected utility theory. The second part is devoted to the group of behavioral biases that are distortions of human thinking and judgment documented by cognitive psychology. These biases are difficult to eliminate and lead to a biased perception, inaccurate judgments and illogical interpretations. The third and final part is devoted to a questionnaire survey whose goal was to find out whether financial market participants behave according to the axioms of the expected utility theory or whether they systemically deviate from the axioms of this normative theory. The second goal of the survey was to confirm or disprove inferences of academic studies about existence of behavioral biases.

Este estudo investiga a ocorrência o Efeito Certeza, Efeito Reflexo e Excesso de confiança, das Finanças Comportamentais, na análise da tomada de decisão dos investidores institucionais de títulos de securitização, compostos por CRI (Certificado de Recebíveis Imobiliários), CRA (Certificado de Recebíveis do Agronegócio) e cotas de FIDC (Fundo de Investimento em Direito Creditório). A Teoria Moderna de Finanças não mais se apresenta como suficiente diante das anomalias existentes no mercado e, devido a isto, as Finanças Comportamentais apresentam-se como um complemento, explicando a atitude do investidor diante de uma situação de risco. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso com quatro investidores institucionais em títulos de securitização no ano de 2017. Foi aplicado um questionário que identifica a presença ou não do efeito certeza, efeito reflexo, e excesso de confiança. Foi constatado que as quatro empresas não apresentaram o Efeito Reflexo e não apresentam o Excesso de Confiança, sendo apresentado apenas o Efeito Certeza nestas empresas. Os resultados contribuem para uma melhor compreensão do investidor institucional nos títulos de securitização, que são considerados ainda recentes no mercado brasileiro. / This study investigates the occurrence of the Certainty Effect, Reflection Effect and Overconfidence of Behavioral Finances in the analysis of the decision-making of institutional investors in securities, composed of CRI (Certificate of Real Estate Receivables), CRA Agribusiness) and quotas of FIDC (Investment Fund in Credit Right). The Modern Finance Theory no longer presents itself as sufficient in the face of the existing market anomalies and, because of this, the Behavioral Finances are a complement, explaining the attitude of the investor in the face of a risk situation. For that, a case study was carried out with four institutional investors in securitization in the year 2017. A questionnaire was applied that identifies the presence or not of the certainty effect, reflex effect, and overconfidence. It was verified that the four companies did not present the Reflex Effect and did not present the Overconfidence, only being presented the Certainty Effect in these companies. The results contribute to a better understanding of the institutional investor in securitization securities, which are still considered recent in the Brazilian market.

[pt] Este trabalho tem o objetivo de aplicar os conceitos das Finanças Comportamentais (FC) através da Teoria do Prospecto na tomada de decisões de investidores no Brasil. Os primeiros estudos publicados sobre o tema são datados de 1979, feitos por Daniel Kahneman e Amos Tversky. As Finanças comportamentais surgem para contestar a Hipótese dos Mercados Eficientes (HME), na qual os investidores são completamente racionais e que, no processo de tomada de decisão, são capazes de analisar a totalidade dos dados disponí­veis e que todos os agentes do mercado possuem o mesmo número de informações. Este novo modelo incorpora aspectos da psicologia e da sociologia na busca de uma maior compreensão do processo decisório no mercado financeiro. O presente estudo replicou o questionário do artigo seminal de Kahneman e Tversky (1979) em 40 pessoas que trabalham ou já trabalharam no mercado financeiro. Para análise destes dados foram realizadas comparações com os resultados encontrados por Kahneman e Tversky (1979), Cruz, Kimura e Krauter (2003) e Rogers, Securato, Ribeiro e Araújo (2007). A amostra estudada indica que os decisores tendem a serem avessos ao risco no campo dos ganhos e propensos aos riscos no campo das perdas. / [en] The present study aims to apply the concepts of Behavioral Finance (BF) using the Prospect Theory in decision-making by investors in Brazil. The first published studies on the topic are from 1979, by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. The Behavioral Finance emerged to contest the Efficient Capital Market (EFM) Theory, where investors are thought to act rationally in the process of decision-making, taking into account all available data, and financial agents share the same information. This new model intertwines psychological and sociological aspects seeking a greater understanding in financial decision-making. The present study applied the same questionnaire used by Kahneman & Tversky (1979) in their seminal paper to 40 subjects, working on or retired from the financial market. In the data analysis, results were compared to those of Kahneman & Tversky (1979); Cruz, Kimura & Krauter (2003); and Rogers, Securato, Ribeiro & Araújo (2007). From our analysis we find that investors run from taking risks while generating gains and are prone to assume those risks while losing capital.

As descobertas relacionadas à neurociência e aos métodos de coleta e análise de dados neurofisiológicos têm fomentado discussões sobre a aplicação desses aspectos em outras campos do conhecimento, dentre eles, o da comunicação. Este estudo tem como objetivo identificar e aferir processos neurais associados à avaliação emocional positiva e negativa de campanhas de segurança no trânsito, de modo a relacioná-los aos apontamentos trazidos pela Prospect Theory (ou Teoria Prospectiva), de que as pessoas tendem a responder de modo diferente ao se alterar apenas a forma de apresentação de um mesmo problema. Tal fato é especialmente importante na comunicação de riscos, em que são frequentemente utilizadas abordagens emocionais negativas como forma de discurso persuasivo. Deste modo, fez-se uma aplicação desses pressupostos ao campo da comunicação, sendo elaboradas duas campanhas experimentais de segurança no trânsito: uma contendo uma perspectiva emocional negativa e outra contendo uma perspectiva emocional positiva. Essas campanhas foram apresentadas em laboratório a 24 voluntários, os quais tiveram sua atividade cortical aferida pelo eletroencefalograma (EEG) e analisada do ponto de vista quantitativo e qualitativo, a fim de verificar uma assimetria frontal hemisférica de ondas alfa e teta nas duas condições, sugerida pela literatura como sendo atrelada a processos emocionais positivos e negativos. Como principais resultados, destacam-se a ocorrência de processos assimétricos significativos tanto na comparação entre as condições (i) neutra e negativa como nas condições (ii) neutra e positiva e (iii) positiva versus negativa, resultados que variaram conforme método de análise empregado. Em termos conclusivos, nota-se a verificação dos processos assimétricos previstos na literatura, porém, com grande variabilidade de amplitude e ocorrência no tempo entre os indivíduos, indicando que a metodologia de coleta com o EEG pode constituir uma forma complementar, e não isolada, de investigação dos processos comunicacionais em relação aos métodos tradicionais de pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa empregados no campo da comunicação. / The findings related to neuroscience and methods of collection and analysis of neurophysiological data have encouraged discussions on the implementation of those aspects in other fields of knowledge, including communication. This study aims to identify and assess neural processes associated with positive and negative emotional evaluation of traffic safety campaigns, in order to relate them to the Prospect Theory considerations, that people tend to respond differently by changing only the presentation of the same problem. This fact is especially important in the risk communication scenario, which often uses the negative approach as a form of persuasive discourse. Thus, there was an application of these assumptions to the field of communication: two traffic safety campaigns were made: one containing a negative emotional perspective and another containing a positive emotional outlook. These campaigns were presented to 24 subjects in the laboratory, which had their cortical activity measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, in order to verify a frontal asymmetry of alpha and theta bands in both conditions, suggested by the literature as being linked to positive and negative emotional processes. The main results highlight the occurrence of significant asymmetric activation both in the comparison between (i) neutral and negative conditions as (ii) neutral and positive conditions and (iii) positive versus negative, results that varied according to method of analysis employed. In conclusive terms, there was a verification of asymmetric process verified in the literature, however, with notable variability in amplitude and occurrence in time between individuals, indicating that the methodology of EEG can complement, not in an isolated form, investigations of communication processes in relation to traditional methods of qualitative and quantitative research in the communication field.

O efeito disposição, originalmente proposto por Shefrin e Statman (1985), preconiza que os investidores tendem a vender ações com lucro em um curto período de tempo e manter ações com prejuízo por um longo período de tempo. A despeito da ampla gama de evidências sobre o assunto, as razões que levariam os investidores a manifestar esse viés comportamental ainda é motivo de uma controvérsia importante entre motivações racionais e comportamentais. Neste trabalho, o objetivo foi testar duas motivações comportamentais concorrentes para explicar o efeito disposição: a teoria perspectiva e o viés da reversão à média. Para cumprir esse objetivo, foi feita uma análise das transações mensais de compra e venda de uma amostra de 51 fundos de investimento em ações brasileiros, no período de 2002 a 2008. A análise envolveu a estimação de dois modelos de regressão de variável dependente qualitativa. O primeiro consistiu em um modelo logit binário cujo propósito foi determinar a probabilidade de um gestor realizar um ganho ou uma perda de capital em razão de variáveis de retorno das ações. O segundo foi um modelo logit ordenado cujo objetivo foi verificar a existência de uma relação entre as variáveis de retorno e o volume monetário vendido das ações. Em ambos os modelos, os parâmetros estimados para as variáveis de retorno das ações foram interpretados como um coeficiente de disposição, sendo que a proposição desse coeficiente consistiu na principal contribuição da pesquisa. Os resultados dos modelos estimados trouxeram evidências de que a teoria perspectiva parece permear o processo decisório dos gestores dos fundos analisados. Já no caso da hipótese de que o efeito disposição é decorrente do viés da reversão à média, não foi possível corroborá-la com base nos resultados aqui relatados. / The disposition effect, originally proposed by Shefrin and Statman (1985), predicts that investors tend to sell winning stocks too soon and ride losing stocks too long. Despite the wide range of research evidence about this issue, the reasons that lead investors to act this way is still subject to much controversy between rational and behavioral explanations. In this thesis, the main goal was to test two competing behavioral motivations to justify the disposition effect: prospect theory and mean reversion bias. To achieve this goal, an analysis of monthly transactions for a sample of 51 Brazilian stock funds from 2002 to 2008 was conducted. The analysis involved the estimation of two regression models with qualitative dependent variable. The first one consisted of a binary logit model whose purpose was to set the probability of a manager to realize a capital gain or loss as a function of the stock return. The second one was an ordered logit model whose objective was to verify the existence of a relationship between stock returns and the monetary volume sold. In both models, the estimated parameters for the stock return variables were interpreted as a disposition coefficient and the proposition of this coefficient was the main contribution of the research. The results of the estimated models brought evidence that prospect theory seems to guide the decision making process of the managers of the analyzed funds. The hypothesis that the disposition effect is due to mean reversion bias could not be confirmed based on the results reported here.

Extensive studies show that risk has a large impact on investment decisions. In addition, studies also show that risk behavior varies between men and women, where women tend to behave more risk averse. The purpose of this study is to examine how private investors make their investment decisions under risk but also to see if there are differences between men and women. The methods used in this research consists of a web survey that has been distributed via social media and interviews, to hear how private investors reason about investment decisions. The result from the web survey show that age and income does not affect investment decisions or their risk behavior. Neither does their own assessed willingness to take risk or knowledge in investments. The women in this research consider themselves to be more risk averse than men. However, when testing for their actual risk behavior, results show that women take more risk than men. Therefore, there are differences in investment decisions between women and men. / Tidigare forskning visar på att risk har en stor betydelse vid investeringsbeslut. Vissa studier menar även på att det föreligger en skillnad i kvinnor och mäns riskbenägenhet, där kvinnor anses vara mer riskaverta än män. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur småsparare fattar sina investeringsbeslut under risk. Med hänsyn till tidigare studier har författarna även ett delsyfte att undersöka om och hur riskbenägenheten skiljer sig mellan kön. Studien har använt enkätundersökning samt intervjuer för att både ha tillgång till stora mängder data, men även för att fördjupa sig i det som enkäten inte kan besvara. Resultatet från enkätundersökningen visar att ålder och inkomst inte påverkar investeringsbeslut, samtidigt som intervjuerna säger det motsatta. Respondenternas självuppskattade riskbenägenhet och ansedda kunskap har heller ingen påverkan på deras investeringsbeslut. Kvinnorna i studien anger en lägre uppskattad riskbenägenhet än män samtidigt som de, i motsats till tidigare studier, agerar mer risksökande. Därmed föreligger det s