Financial economics is a fascinating topic where ideas from economics, mathematics and, most recently, psychology are combined to understand financial markets. This book gives a concise introduction into this field and includes for the first time recent results from behavioral finance that help to understand many puzzles in traditional finance. The book is tailor made for master and PhD students and includes tests and exercises that enable the students to keep track of their progress. Parts of the book can also be used on a bachelor level. Researchers will find it particularly useful as a source for recent results in behavioral finance and decision theory. "By mixing rigour and humour, Hens and Rieger make learning financial economics fun. The book is nicely organized into three logical parts. Most importantly, the discussion features a smooth transition from the classical approach to the behavioural approach, helping students fill in the metaphorical jig saw puzzle representing the corpus of finance theory." Hersh Shefrin, finance professor at the Santa Clara University, USA, and author of "Beyond Greed and Fear" and "A Behavioral Approach to Asset Pricing Theory This textbook provides a modern treatment of the theory of financial economics. It stands out by fully integrating the classical and the behavioral approach in a lucent, yet rigorous way. I highly recommend it! Markus K. Brunnermeier, Princeton University Behavioral economics, decision theory and the equilibrium analysis of financial markets have largely evolved as separate parts of the landscape of modern economics: in this ambitious book the authors present a common framework for uniting these separate subfields. “Financial Economics” by Hens and Rieger is a delight to read, striking for its clarity, for the breadth of topics covered and for the wealth of well-chosen examples that illustrate the key ideas. Michael Magill Martine Quinzii University of Southern California University of California, Davis
Financial Economics
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Thorsten Hens
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Marc Oliver Rieger
Financial Economics A Concise Introduction to Classical and Behavioral Finance
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Professor Dr. Thorsten Hens ISB, University of Zurich Plattenstrasse 32 8032 Zurich Switzerland
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. Marc Oliver Rieger Fachbereich IV University of Trier Universitätsring 15 54286 Trier Germany
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ISBN 978-3-540-36146-6 e-ISBN 978-3-540-36148-0 DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-36148-0 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010930284 c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: WMX Design, GmbH Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.