Chains of Finance

Author(s):  
Diane-Laure Arjaliès ◽  
Philip Grant ◽  
Iain Hardie ◽  
Donald MacKenzie ◽  
Ekaterina Svetlova

Investment is no longer a matter of individual savers directly choosing which shares or bonds to buy. Rather, most of their money flows through a ‘chain’: an often extended sequence of intermediaries. What goes on in that chain is of huge importance: the world’s investment managers, who are now almost as well paid as top bankers, control assets equivalent in value to around a year of total global economic output. In Chains of Finance, five social scientists (four of whom have worked in investment management) discuss the ways in which the intermediaries in the chain influence each other, channel the flows of savers’ money, enhance investment decisions, and form audiences for each other’s performances of financially competent selves. The central argument of the book is that investment management is fashioned profoundly by the opportunities and constraints this chain creates. Whether chains constrain or enable, however, they always entangle, tying intermediaries to each other—silently and profoundly shaping the investment management industry. Chains of Finance is a novel analysis that will make students, social scientists, financial professionals and regulators look at the workings of financial markets in a new light. A must-read for anyone looking for insights into the decision-making processes of investment managers and those influenced by and working for them.

Author(s):  
Diane-Laure Arjaliès ◽  
Philip Grant ◽  
Iain Hardie ◽  
Donald MacKenzie ◽  
Ekaterina Svetlova

Chapter 1 introduces the idea of the chain as related to investment management. It highlights the increasing importance and influence of the asset management industry and argues that, despite this fact, the behaviour and decision-making of asset managers has been little studied. The chapter suggests that investment decisions today cannot be understood by focusing on isolated investors. Rather, most of their money flows through a chain: a sequence of intermediaries that ‘sit between’ savers and companies/governments. The chapter introduces the central argument of the book that investment management is shaped profoundly by the opportunities and constraints that this chain creates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Raúl Gómez-Martínez ◽  
Camila Marqués-Bogliani ◽  
Jessica Paule-Vianez

Behavioural finance has shown that investment decisions are the result of not just rational but also emotional brain processes. On the assumption that emotions affect financial markets, it would seem likely that football results might have a measurable effect on financial markets. To test this, this study describes three algorithmic trading systems based exclusively on the results of three top European football teams (Juventus, Bayern München and Paris St Germain) opening long or short positions in the next market season of the futures market of the index of each country (MIB (Milano Italia Borsa), DAX (Deutscher Aktien Index) and CAC (Cotation Assistée en Continu). Depending on the outcome of the last game played a long position was taken after a victory and a short position after a draw or defeat. The results showed that the algorithmic systems were profitable in the case of Juventus and Bayern whereas in the case of PSG, the system was profitable, but in an inverse way. This study shows that investment strategies that take account of sports sentiment could have a profitable outcome.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Jeaneth Johansson ◽  
Malin Malmström ◽  
Joakim Wincent

Researchers question the impact of governmental venture capitalists (GVC) compared to private venture capitalists (PVC), but we know little about why this difference occurs and if this criticism is justified. We observed a group of GVCs and developed a new model that describes the way that GVCs process signals pre- and post-decisions. Certain macro level factors severely undermine micro level performance, causing GVCs to financially underperform with respect to PVCs. This helped us to understand that GVCs do not make investment decisions in the same way as PVCs, and what undermines the performance of GVCs’ decision-making processes. The main goals of GVCs are to promote investments in responsible SMEs, mobilizing societal impact. We discuss that the criticism of GVC needs to be more nuanced, as they have a different role than PVC in the financial system as providers of sustainable investments in responsible SMEs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah ◽  
Maqsood Ahmad ◽  
Faisal Mahmood

Purpose This paper aims to clarify the mechanism by which heuristics influences the investment decisions of individual investors, actively trading on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), and the perceived efficiency of the market. Most studies focus on well-developed financial markets and very little is known about investors’ behaviour in less developed financial markets or emerging markets. The present study contributes to filling this gap in the literature. Design/methodology/approach Investors’ heuristic biases have been measured using a questionnaire, containing numerous items, including indicators of speculators, investment decisions and perceived market efficiency variables. The sample consists of 143 investors trading on the PSX. A convenient, purposively sampling technique was used for data collection. To examine the relationship between heuristic biases, investment decisions and perceived market efficiency, hypotheses were tested by using correlation and regression analysis. Findings The paper provides empirical insights into the relationship of heuristic biases, investment decisions and perceived market efficiency. The results suggest that heuristic biases (overconfidence, representativeness, availability and anchoring) have a markedly negative impact on investment decisions made by individual investors actively trading on the PSX and on perceived market efficiency. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation of the empirical review is the tiny size of the sample. A larger sample would have given more trustworthy results and could have empowered a more extensive scope of investigation. Practical implications The paper encourages investors to avoid relying on heuristics or their feelings when making investments. It provides awareness and understanding of heuristic biases in investment management, which could be very useful for decision makers and professionals in financial institutions, such as portfolio managers and traders in commercial banks, investment banks and mutual funds. This paper helps investors to select better investment tools and avoid repeating expensive errors, which occur due to heuristic biases. They can improve their performance by recognizing their biases and errors of judgment, to which we are all prone, resulting in a more efficient market. So, it is necessary to focus on a specific investment strategy to control “mental mistakes” by investors, due to heuristic biases. Originality/value The current study is the first of its kind, focusing on the link between heuristics, individual investment decisions and perceived market efficiency within the specific context of Pakistan.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 940-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otuo Serebour Agyemang ◽  
Abraham Ansong

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role personal values play in investment decision-making processes among Ghanaian shareholders. Design/methodology/approach In consequence of the recent emergence of the issue of corporate governance practices in Ghana, and the kind of the research objective of this paper, a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. These methods were used in two stages. The first stage was qualitative, which purposively selected 20 individual shareholders to solicit their perspectives on how personal values influence investment decisions. Their responses were used to construct the content of this enquiry. The second stage, which was quantitative, used stratified sampling technique to select 503 individual shareholders to confirm the responses obtained from stage one of the enquiry. Findings The findings of the study reveal that individual shareholders in Ghana hold value priorities and that honesty, a comfortable life and family security play a significant role in their lives and their investment decision-making processes, and the kind of companies they choose to invest in. Also, to Ghanaian individual shareholders, there is a clear distinction between a comfortable life and a prosperous life in the sense that they are not incentivized more by the latter but by the former in their investment decisions. Practical implications The results can inform corporate directors and managers what values are considered in investment decisions, and that it is not purely financial. With these results, they can be informed that while some financial values are important, it is just to live a comfortable life and not a prosperous life. This may influence these directors and managers to have a more long-run focus and to have more of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) focus by putting implementable measures in place to tackle corporate responsibility issues and to take up a responsibility for their CSR feat. Also, the results can be used for public policy in that if regulators find out that more CSR-type information is important to investors, they might require additional CSR-type disclosures in financial statements. Originality/value This paper contributes to the knowledge on the stakeholder perspective of corporate governance that individual shareholders’ personal values have influence on their investment decisions and the choice of companies they invest in.


2019 ◽  
pp. 146-166
Author(s):  
Philip Martin

US researchers have reached more consensus on the number and characteristics of migrants than on their socio-economic impacts, especially with regard to unauthorized migrants. When there is consensus among social scientists on some aspect of migration, such as the additional economic output due to the presence of migrants, this consensus result suggests very different policies for advocates. For example, the finding that the US economy may have been up to $10 billion larger in the 1990s due to migrants was touted by advocates of more migrants as proof of their benefits, and criticized by those favouring less migration as the equivalent of two weeks economic growth. President Trump is an example of a policy-maker selectively using migration research to justify restrictionist policies.


Author(s):  
Laura M. Graves ◽  
Gary N. Powell

This article focuses on the role of personnel decision-making processes within organizations in perpetuating the disadvantaged status of women and people of color. Personnel decisions, which include judgments about who to hire, promote, and develop, and what to pay them, determine whether women and people of color have access to jobs, financial rewards, and advancement opportunities. Social scientists have offered numerous theoretical explanations for sex and race discrimination. This article reviews the key explanations and discusses how they apply to organizational personnel decisions, citing relevant research findings. It then attempts to make sense of the multiplicity of theories, identifying similarities and contradictions in their arguments and the predictions that follow from them. The article also considers the role of organizational factors in the occurrence of sex and race discrimination. Finally, it concludes by offering implications for research and practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Vijayalakshmi P ◽  
Sathishkumar R

Every human has a unique mindset in performing regular activities. Often changing environmental situations and traditional follow-ups influence the humans by their emotional and social cultural factors. The authors of the research paper made an attempt to study irrational behaviour of household investors on investment decisions. The authors adopted purposive sampling method in the study of irrational behaviour of households with respect to emotional and social status bias. The primary data is collected with the help of a well structured close-ended questionnaire which consists of necessary parameters to measure the emotional and social status biases. The collected data were analysed with the help of the statistical tools packages like Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Analysis of Movement Structure software for validating the theoretical assumptions and derived at the valid results from the data. The study hence done found that emotional and social status biases influence the decision making processes and the path analysis confirmed that the emotional and social behavioural biases had significant impact on the investment decision of individual household investors.


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