Behavioral Influences on Financial Decisions

A special issue of Journal of Risk and Financial Management (ISSN 1911-8074). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Economics and Finance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 676

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Accounting, College of Business, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
Interests: financial reporting; capital markets; behavioral finance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Behavioral economics is an emerging field of economic studies that examines the psychological factors involved in the decisions of individuals or institutions, and how these decisions deviate from those implied by traditional economic theories that presume absolute rationality. Behavioral economics is primarily concerned with exploring the boundaries of rationality of economic agents. This Special Issue of JRFM is an attempt to gather recent work in the areas of behavioral economics, finance, accounting, and other related areas to further deepen our understanding of behavioral biases and influences in financial judgment and decision-making.

This Special Issue is aimed at bringing together cutting-edge research on behavioral economics across disciplines and across research methods (analytical modeling, experimental, field study, and archival research). We encourage and welcome research papers that are interdisciplinary and/or use multiple methods. We look forward to your valuable contribution to this important Special Issue of JRFM.

Dr. Michael Tang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • judgment and decision-making
  • behavioral economics/finance
  • corporate finance
  • financial reporting
  • capital markets

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 703 KiB  
Article
Social Preference Parameters Impacting Financial Decisions Among Welfare Recipients
by Jorge N. Zumaeta
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(8), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18080408 - 23 Jul 2025
Viewed by 218
Abstract
This research study focuses on the social preference parameters and financial decisions among welfare populations receiving social benefits in Miami, Florida. Understanding the attitudes and primary motivations that shape financial decision-making is of great interest to economists, marketers, and other social scientists. The [...] Read more.
This research study focuses on the social preference parameters and financial decisions among welfare populations receiving social benefits in Miami, Florida. Understanding the attitudes and primary motivations that shape financial decision-making is of great interest to economists, marketers, and other social scientists. The implications of developing a solid understanding of these attitudes and motivations are vast in terms of erecting tangible and sensitive workforce development policies to assist the specific population studied. This study is designed to determine whether significant differences exist in the strength of preference parameters between welfare participants and other populations. The preference parameters assessed in this paper were self-interest, altruism, trust, and reciprocity, both positive and negative. The control group in this study is college students. The results from the experiments show that welfare recipients exhibit similar behavioral patterns and make financial decisions in a manner similar to the general population. In other words, the control group and the experimental group did not differ significantly in their financial decision processes. This finding has several implications for how economists and policymakers assess and approach policymaking; nevertheless, the question remains whether or not there are other preference parameters that differ between the two groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Behavioral Influences on Financial Decisions)
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20 pages, 1153 KiB  
Article
Economic Attitudes and Financial Decisions Among Welfare Recipients: Considerations for Workforce Policy
by Jorge N. Zumaeta
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(8), 407; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18080407 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 262
Abstract
This study investigates economic decision-making behaviors among welfare recipients in Miami, Florida, by leveraging well-established experimental protocols: the Guessing Game, the Prudence Measurement Task, the Risk Aversion Task, and the Stag Hunt Game. For this purpose, our study defines financial decisions as the [...] Read more.
This study investigates economic decision-making behaviors among welfare recipients in Miami, Florida, by leveraging well-established experimental protocols: the Guessing Game, the Prudence Measurement Task, the Risk Aversion Task, and the Stag Hunt Game. For this purpose, our study defines financial decisions as the underlying individual preferences that serve as validated proxies for savings behavior, debt management, job-search intensity, and participation in cooperative finance. A central objective is to compare the behavior of welfare recipients to that of undergraduate students, a cohort typically used in experimental economics research. The analysis reveals significant differences between the two groups in strategic thinking and coordination, particularly across ethnic and gender lines. Non-Hispanic/Latino participants in Miami displayed significantly higher average guesses in the Guessing Game compared to their counterparts in Tucson, indicating potential discrepancies in the depth of strategic reasoning. Additionally, female participants in Tucson exhibited higher levels of coordination in the Stag Hunt Game compared to females in Miami, suggesting variance in cooperative behavior between these groups. Despite these findings, regression models demonstrate that location, gender, and ethnicity collectively account for only a small fraction of the observed variance, as evidenced by low R2 values and substantial mean squared errors across all games. These results suggest that individual heterogeneity, rather than broad demographic variables, may be more influential in shaping economic decisions. This study underscores the complexity of generalizing findings from traditional student samples to more diverse populations, highlighting the need for further investigation into the socioeconomic factors that drive financial decision-making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Behavioral Influences on Financial Decisions)
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