The impact of cognitive biases on capital investments Empirical evidence regarding the anchoring heuristic |
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Authors: | Sebastian Serfas |
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Institution: | (1) Clemson University, 208 Lowry Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA |
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Abstract: | A large body of research shows that cognitive biases—unconscious mental errors caused by simplified information processing
strategies—distort decision making in a variety of situations. This article demonstrates that these biases are also highly
relevant with regard to decisions in a capital investment context, an area that has not received scientific attention yet.
Building on a short introduction of the underlying principles and on brief analogy-based theoretical considerations, the main
part describes and analyzes three series of empirical experiments, which clearly show that anchoring-induced cognitive biases
systematically distort judgments and decision making in the respective contexts. This is the case for artificially incorporated
anchors (first series of experiments) as well as for situation-embedded anchors (second series). The third series of experiments
finally shows that the observed bias also persists for professionally experienced people. |
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Keywords: | |
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