Abstract

KAIZER, Débora Cristiane Pena Lima; RODRIGUES, Eduardo de Sá Fortes Leitão  and  FERREIRA, Ariele da Silva Moreira Rodrigues. Financial Decisions in the Light of Behavioral Economy: a Comparative Study of Students of Undergraduate Programs in Economy and Administration at a Federal Brazilian University. Rev.fac.cienc.econ. [online]. 2021, vol.29, n.2, pp.225-248.  Epub Oct 06, 2021. ISSN 0121-6805.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rfce.5551.

In this article, the seminal study of Kahneman and Tversky (1979) called "prospective theory" is being replicated with the objective of understanding how the students who are finishing their undergraduate studies in Economy and Administration at a federal Brazilian university make financial decisions under uncertain and risk-taking conditions. Behavioral finances are a recent area of finances based on prospective theory, whose objective is to explain "irrational" decisions from the investors caused by emotional factors that modern financial theory sometimes is not able to solve. Through a field research, a 27-question survey was evaluated to assess decision making under different conditions. The analysis of the results was carried out by comparing the results from the current survey with the seminal survey. The results confirm the existence of the effects proposed in the prospective theory, as well as the interference of cognitive biases. It was also concluded that the students at the end of the courses make biased decisions independently from having a higher level of education.

Keywords : behavioral finances; prospective theory; cognitive biases; mental shortcuts.

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