Course Title: Behavioural Finance

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Behavioural Finance

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
BAFI3259	City Campus	Undergraduate	625H Economics, Finance and Marketing	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2021, Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023

Course Coordinator: Dr Gaoping Zheng

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 1624

Course Coordinator Email: gaoping.zheng@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 80

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment via email only

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None.

Course Description

Behavioural finance focus on the psychological influences and biases that affect the financial behaviours of investors and financial practitioners in market. The influences and biases can be the source for explanation of all types of market anomalies. In this course, we examine these biases, and discover where we are most susceptible to them. This course will explore the idealistic assumptions in the markets by bringing in the concepts of psychology, sociology, and behavioural finance to understand how the investor mind works in a broader societal setting. This will allow for better understanding of the investor's decision-making process. The aim is to introduce new theories of financial behaviour within (but complementing) the traditional analytical and quantitative methods of finance and hence a unique course which is interdisciplinary, encompassing areas such as financial economics and cognitive sciences with both experimental and theoretical components.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

.

On successful completion of this course you will be able to:

CLO 1: Understand the relevant aspects of cognitive and psychological processes as they relate to financial decision making and market operations.

CLO 2: Apply the conventional theories from mainstream finance and demonstrate if these theories vary when examined in a behavioural context.

CLO 3: Explore the appropriate behavioural finance theories and insights to develop more effective financial decision making for financial market participants.

CLO 4: Analyse the problems of corporate performance using a psychological lens and assess institutional innovations to improve business models.

CLO 5: Evaluate incentive mechanisms, strategies and public policies related to behavioural finance in terms of their appropriateness to achieve desired objectives.

Overview of Learning Activities

In this course you will be encouraged to be an active learner. Your learning will be supported through various in-class and online activities comprising of individual and/or group work. These may include quizzes; assignments; prescribed readings; sourcing, researching and analysing specific information; solving problems; conducting presentations; producing written work and collaborating with peers on set tasks or projects. These in-semester activities will incorporate formative assessments to monitor ongoing progress.

Overview of Learning Resources

Various learning resources are available online through MyRMIT Studies/Canvas. The lecture notes and workshop notes are posted on Canvas.

RMIT Library provides extensive resources, services and study spaces. All RMIT students have access to scholarly resources including course related material, books, e-books, journals and databases.

Computers and printers are available at every Library. You can access the Internet and Library e-resources. You can also access the RMIT University wireless network in the Library.
Contact: Ask the Library for assistance and information on Library resources and services: http://www.rmit.edu.au/library. Study support is available for assistance with assignment preparation, academic writing, information literacy, referencing, maths and study skills. Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning will be identified by your course coordinator and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.

Overview of Assessment

The assessment tasks, their weighting and the course learning outcomes to which they are aligned are as follows:

Assessment Task 1: 15%
(Linked CLOs: 1, 2)

Assessment Task 2: 50%
(Linked CLOs: 3, 4)

Assessment Task 3: 35% 
(Linked CLOs: 1,2, 3, 4, 5)

Feedback will be provided throughout the semester in class and/or in online forums through individual and group feedback on practical exercises and by individual consultation.