Investor psychology: a study of investors’ overconfidence in Dubai financial market, UAE

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Date
2012-05
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Publisher
The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
"The economist may attempt to ignore psychology, but it is sheer impossibility for him to ignore human nature. If the economist borrows his conception of man from psychologist, his constructive work may have some chance of remaining purely economic in character. But if he does not, he will force himself to make his own, and it will be bad psychology." John Maurice Clark, 20th Century This paper studies behavioral finance in Dubai Financial Market, UAE, through a survey collection method. While referring to the previous work done by economists and psychologists on behavioral finance, it tries to assess the investor population of Dubai in UAE. Overconfidence is the main highlight of this dissertation, and its effects are studied on investment decisions of the two genders. Dubai Financial Market is generally concluded to be a relatively confident (overconfident) market in the region, and the psyche of men and women participating in it are not following a cliché of the Arab world; Women investors are not less confident than men investors, do not under-estimate their skills. Male investors are however known to prefer more of short-term investments, have more market optimism, trade more frequently with a less degree of risk aversion, and experience a higher tendency to review their past portfolios compared to women.
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Keywords
investor psychology, financial market, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Arab world
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