Masterarbeit, 2018
69 Seiten, Note: 1,7
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1 Review on the Disposition Effect
2.1.1 The Four Key Elements of the Disposition Effect
2.1.2 Cognitive Dissonance
2.1.3 What Factors influence the Disposition Effect?
2.2 Review on the Home Bias
3. Social Trading
4. Methodology and Empirical Results
4.1 Disposition Effect
4.1.1 Hypotheses
4.1.2 Data and Empirical Approach
4.1.3 Empirical Results
4.1.4 Odean Method
4.2 Home Bias
4.2.1 Hypothesis
4.2.2 Data and Empirical Approach
4.2.3 Empirical Results
5. Limitations and Further Research
6. Conclusion
This thesis examines the impact of varying degrees of transparency on the trading behavior of signal providers on the social trading platform Wikifolio, specifically focusing on the disposition effect and the home bias.
2.1.1 The Four Key Elements of the Disposition Effect
The disposition effect is a behavioral bias that has been widely analyzed by researchers during the last three decades. It describes the effect, that investors often tend to sell assets that have gained in value, while holding losing assets for longer periods. The term “disposition effect” which is named by Shefrin and Statman (1985) consists of four key elements: prospect theory, mental accounting, regret aversion, and self-control. These will be briefly discussed in the following.
In 1979 Kahneman and Tversky published an article, in which they explained their “prospect theory” for decision under uncertainty. The theory describes the decision processes in two stages, an editing phase and a subsequent phase of evaluation. During the editing phase the subjects start by defining a reference point as mental starting point for the following evaluation. They asses possible actions or prospects against this reference point. Subjects then decide which outcomes they consider equivalent, define outcomes greater than the reference point as gains and outcomes smaller than the reference point as losses. In the evaluation phase subjects dedicate a specific utility, based on the outcome and the occurrence probability, and then choose the alternative with the highest utility.
When people have to choose between risky prospects, they often act risk averse when the possible outcome is framed as gains and risk seeking if the outcome is framed as losses. This phenomenon in prospect theory is defined as the “Reflection Effect”. Additionally, the well-known “Endowment Effect” can be also explained by the choice of reference point. The endowment effect is the hypothesis that people ascribe more value to things just because they own them. Owners incorporate the item into their status quo and therefore choose a reference point including the item. Buyers will set their willingness to pay lower and choose a reference point without the item. Buying will be interpreted as positive prospect and selling as a negative prospect.
1. Introduction: Outlines the research focus on transparency and its effects on the disposition effect and home bias within the context of social trading.
2. Literature Review: Provides a theoretical foundation covering prospect theory, cognitive dissonance, and established findings on the disposition effect and home bias.
3. Social Trading: Introduces the social trading industry, the Wikifolio platform mechanics, and the role of transparency stages in delegated portfolio management.
4. Methodology and Empirical Results: Details the empirical panel data regression approach and the Odean method, presenting findings on how transparency influences trading outcomes.
5. Limitations and Further Research: Discusses constraints in data accessibility and sample size, suggesting directions for future research regarding trader attributes and broader platform analysis.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes the thesis findings, confirming that transparency influences holding times but also revealing complex interactions with trader reputation concerns.
Social Trading, Transparency, Disposition Effect, Home Bias, Wikifolio, Prospect Theory, Behavioral Finance, Portfolio Management, Regression Analysis, Odean Method, Investment Behavior, Investor Psychology, Financial Technology, Asset Under Management, Sharpe Ratio
The thesis investigates whether increased transparency on social trading platforms helps mitigate common behavioral biases, specifically the disposition effect and home bias, among signal providers.
The work covers behavioral finance theory, the mechanics of social trading platforms (specifically Wikifolio), the impact of visibility on trading decisions, and empirical methods to detect biases.
The research asks if permanent, visible performance statistics can mitigate the extent to which traders hold losing stocks too long and sell profitable ones too soon, as well as their preference for domestic stocks.
The study employs a panel data analysis using fixed and random effects models to test hypotheses, complemented by the Odean method for robustness checks on a sub-sample of traders.
It provides a literature review on behavioral biases, explains the evolution of Wikifolio portfolios, details the data acquisition and variable construction, and reports findings from statistical regressions.
Key terms include Social Trading, Disposition Effect, Home Bias, Transparency, Behavioral Finance, and Panel Data Regression.
The author suggests that while transparency encourages traders to hold gains longer, it may inadvertently increase the holding time for losses, as traders fear realizing a loss that would be visible in their public track record.
The investable phase represents the highest level of transparency on the platform, allowing for a direct comparison with the "test phase" to evaluate how full public exposure changes trading behavior.
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