Chapter 30 : The Future of Behavioral Finance

The future of behavioral finance necessitates that the research areas of behavioral corporate finance and investor psychology develop richer models of financial decision-making behavior. Behavioral corporate finance requires expanding the focus from chief executive officer characteristics to those of the entire top management team, and also involves greater understanding of organizational theory. A greater focus is needed on cross-cultural factors and how they interact with behavioral influences. Investor psychology needs a more comprehensive theory of the drivers of investor behavior and better data. This need is strong for investor sentiment research, which might offer the most potential to advance understanding of psychological influences on asset pricing. The chapter expands on these ideas and discusses an overall context of the future philosophical development of behavioral finance and the inevitable push for greater openness, replicability, and reliability in research