Tepper School of Business
Behavioral Economics
The field of Behavioral Economics was pioneered by our own Carnegie Mellon faculty Herbert Simon (a Nobel Prize winner in Economics) and George Loewenstein . While Behavioral Economics started as a small movement in the 1970s, it has made an enormous impact on academic research and research in Behavioral Economics papers regularly appears in the top economics journals. Behavioral Economics research has been used to help governments enact better public policy and operate more efficiently, to help businesses improve their profitability, and to help individuals make better decisions.
Joint Program Details
This program builds on the world-renowned Behavioral Economics faculty from the Department of Social and Decision Sciences and the outstanding Economics faculty from the Tepper School of Business . Students in this joint program will have access to world-renowned experts in decision science, organizational behavior, statistics, marketing and many other areas. Research facilities like the Center for Behavioral and Decision Research and the BEDR Policy Lab will also be key resources for students.
As a joint program, oversight will be handled by the Joint Program Oversight Committee (JPOC). This committee is comprised of the Director of Graduate Studies at SDS, the head of the Tepper School Ph.D. Committee, and one faculty liaison between these areas. Most decisions regarding Ph.D. students in this program will be handled by the JPOC. However, it is important to note that students are considered members of both the Tepper School and SDS. This means that decisions regarding Ph.D. education made by those schools separately also apply to students in this joint program. That is, the Graduate Education Committee (GEC) at SDS and the Ph.D. committee at the Tepper School may make changes to the general requirements for ALL graduate students in their respective areas. These changes also apply to joint program students.
P lease visit our Ph.D. Student Profiles page t o view the profiles of our current doctoral candidates.
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From the Finance Ph.D. Liaison
“Welcome to UCLA Anderson’s Finance area, long recognized as one of the world’s top programs. Our Ph.D. students work with renowned faculty whose expertise covers corporate finance, macroeconomics, asset pricing, derivatives, investments and behavioral finance. The UCLA Anderson Doctoral Program is highly selective. We expect you to develop a passion and tenacity for excellent research in finance and, through mentorship and collaboration, we prepare you for a distinguished academic career. We look forward to receiving your application.”
Barney Hartman-Glaser Professor of Finance
Explore the Program
Recent publications.
Risk and Return in Segmented Markets with Expertise Andrea Eisfeldt
Complex assets appear to earn persistent high average returns, and to display high Sharpe ratios – but investor participation is very limited. Eisfeldt, along with co-authors Hanno Lustig and Lei Zhang, provides an explanation for these facts using a model of the pricing of complex securities by risk-averse investors who are subject to asset-specific risk in a dynamic model of industry equilibrium.
Read Publication
Learning Millennial Style Bruce Carlin
The growing use of online educational content and related video services has changed the way people access education, share knowledge, and possibly make life decisions. Here, Carlin – with co-authors Li Jiang and Stephen A. Spiller – characterizes how video content affects individual decision-making and willingness to share in the context of a personal financial decision.
Volatility Managed Portfolios Tyler Muir
Managed portfolios that take less risk when volatility is high produce large, positive alphas and increase factor Sharpe ratios by substantial amounts. Muir, together with co-author Alan Moreira, documents a profitable trading strategy that increases stock market exposure in low volatility episodes and reduces exposure in high volatility times.
Alumni Success
Robert Richmond (’16)
First academic placement: NYU Stern
In 2016, Robert Richmond earned the Conference on International Finance Best Paper Award (2016), the Cubist Systematic Strategies Ph.D. Candidate Award for Outstanding Research and the Xavier Drèze award for most outstanding Ph.D. research paper. His current research uncovers an economic source of exposure to global risk that drives international asset prices.
Mindy Xiaolan Zhang (’14)
First academic placement: UT Austin
Mindy Zhang is recipient of the 2014 Trefftzs Award for Best Student Paper, WFA; and the 2014 Yihong Xia Best Paper Award, CICF. She conducts research on macro finance, equilibrium asset pricing, dynamic contracting, dynamic corporate theory, labor and finance.
Tobias J. Moskowitz (’98)
First academic placement: University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Recipient of numerous honors and awards, Tobias "Toby" Moskowitz is one of UCLA Anderson's Inspirational 100 alumni. Moskowitz was named the inaugural Dean Takahashi '80 B.A., '83 M.P.P.M. Professor of Finance at Yale School of Management in 2016. He was previously the Fama Family Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he had taught since 1998. In 2011, he co-authored the best-selling book Scorecasting , which uses economic principles to explain the hidden side of sports.
Joshua D. Coval (’97)
First academic placement: University of Michigan Business School
Joshua Coval's current research investigates the structured finance market and how investor reliance on ratings and unsound pricing models led to the spectacular rise and collapse thereof. His research awards include the 2000 and 2005 Smith-Breeden Prize for the best paper in the Journal of Finance . His research has been featured in The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time, Money Magazine and Financial Times .
William F. Sharpe (’61)
Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Science, William Sharpe was mentored at UCLA by the late Professor J. Fred Weston. Sharpe was one of the originators of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and developed the Sharpe Ratio for investment performance analysis. He co-founded the independent investment advisory firm Financial Engines.
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PhD Programs
- Accounting & Management
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Students in our PhD programs are encouraged from day one to think of this experience as their first job in business academia—a training ground for a challenging and rewarding career generating rigorous, relevant research that influences practice.
Our doctoral students work with faculty and access resources throughout HBS and Harvard University. The PhD program curriculum requires coursework at HBS and other Harvard discipline departments, and with HBS and Harvard faculty on advisory committees. Faculty throughout Harvard guide the programs through their participation on advisory committees.
How do I know which program is right for me?
There are many paths, but we are one HBS. Our PhD students draw on diverse personal and professional backgrounds to pursue an ever-expanding range of research topics. Explore more here about each program’s requirements & curriculum, read student profiles for each discipline as well as student research , and placement information.
The PhD in Business Administration grounds students in the disciplinary theories and research methods that form the foundation of an academic career. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program has four areas of study: Accounting and Management , Marketing , Strategy , and Technology and Operations Management . All areas of study involve roughly two years of coursework culminating in a field exam. The remaining years of the program are spent conducting independent research, working on co-authored publications, and writing the dissertation. Students join these programs from a wide range of backgrounds, from consulting to engineering. Many applicants possess liberal arts degrees, as there is not a requirement to possess a business degree before joining the program
The PhD in Business Economics provides students the opportunity to study in both Harvard’s world-class Economics Department and Harvard Business School. Throughout the program, coursework includes exploration of microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, probability and statistics, and econometrics. While some students join the Business Economics program directly from undergraduate or masters programs, others have worked in economic consulting firms or as research assistants at universities or intergovernmental organizations.
The PhD program in Health Policy (Management) is rooted in data-driven research on the managerial, operational, and strategic issues facing a wide range of organizations. Coursework includes the study of microeconomic theory, management, research methods, and statistics. The backgrounds of students in this program are quite varied, with some coming from public health or the healthcare industry, while others arrive at the program with a background in disciplinary research
The PhD program in Organizational Behavior offers two tracks: either a micro or macro approach. In the micro track, students focus on the study of interpersonal relationships within organizations and the effects that groups have on individuals. Students in the macro track use sociological methods to examine organizations, groups, and markets as a whole, including topics such as the influence of individuals on organizational change, or the relationship between social missions and financial objectives. Jointly administered by HBS and GSAS, the program includes core disciplinary training in sociology or psychology, as well as additional coursework in organizational behavior.
Accounting & Management
Business economics , health policy (management) , marketing , organizational behavior , strategy , technology & operations management .
The Psychology of Finance
Discover the cognitive biases and emotions behind financial decisions.
At a Glance
Upcoming dates.
Students may register up to 7 days after the course start.
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Harness insights into human decision-making to drive optimal outcomes.
This eight-week University of Chicago course explores money management and financial trading from the behavioral finance perspective. It is designed to teach you the biases that influence decision-making processes and how to apply this knowledge to make rational choices with lasting impacts across a range of investment scenarios.
Designed For
Designed for current and emerging business leaders and managers, financial advisors, and marketing professionals interested in acquiring a nuanced understanding of behavioral finance to better understand consumer and market participant motivations and support stakeholder decision-making.
Learning Objectives to Become a Behavioral Finance Expert
Behavioral finance proposes that psychological influences and biases affect the financial behaviors of investors and financial practitioners. These psychological factors can explain diverse market anomalies, especially those related to the stock market. Our course will help you master the thinking behind money management and financial trading.
After completing the course, you will be able to:
- Explain the psychology behind financial decisions made by business leaders and investors.
- Neutralize relevant biases.
- Encourage and execute better financial decisions.
- Explain the consumer choice theory.
- Differentiate mental models related to behavioral finance.
- Earn a credential certifying completion from the University of Chicago and become part of the UChicago network.
What Drives Supply and Demand?
Understand the psychology behind financial decisions made by business leaders and investors.
Behavioral Finance Curriculum
You will learn to:.
- Describe concepts such as utility, probability weighting, the certainty effect, and survivorship bias, as well as risk, gains, and losses.
- Explain the causation/correlation error, the mental error in probability weighting, the consequences of the anchoring bias, overtrading due to overconfidence, the equity premium puzzle, and active vs. passive mutual funds.
- Evaluate subjective vs. absolute probabilities, overconfidence as the “mother of all biases,” and the framing and reversal of preferences.
Online Format Features
- Self-paced interactive learning modules with a variety of engaging learning activities, assignments, and resources.
- Live sessions that bring you, your peers, and your instructor together to learn collaboratively about the current state of the field, engage with real-world problems, and explore authentic solutions.
- Continuous support from your instructional assistant, who will accompany you on your journey through the content, answer your questions, and provide feedback on your work.
Online Course Schedule
Learn to define and describe irrationality in human decision-making and financial markets and explain the basis and consequences of the consumer choice theory.
Gain insight into the Dual Process Theory and its influence on decision-making. Learn to use the Prospect Theory to explore how we calculate risks and utility when making decisions, the ways we avoid loss, and how anticipated regret can lead to problematic inaction.
Learn how to avoid mistakes when calculating probabilities and utilize decision trees when calculating probabilities that depend on multiple factors. Identify the factors that skew our probability calculations.
Learn to critically distinguish between correlation and causality in relation to the financial market and how to identify biases that could cloud an investor's judgment. Leverage analytical thinking to make rational, unbiased decisions.
Identify the heuristics in our thinking, show how they can become biases, and explore these biases' effects on financial decisions.
Explore the effects of language on our framing, analyze our attachment to our belongings, and examine our attitude toward change.
Discover which financial trends traditional economics fails to predict while examining the trends that behavioral finance can predict. Delve into how and why financial bubbles form.
Survey the many factors behind our financial decisions and learn about the rules that all investors should follow and the reasoning behind why most investors do not follow these rules.
Earn a Credential in the Psychology of Finance
After successful completion of this course, participants will receive credentials certified by the University of Chicago including a digital badge to recognize their achievement.
Enroll Today Learn More
Meet Your Instructor
Our highly trained instructors are courageous thinkers and passionate leaders who leverage years of industry expertise and up-to-date knowledge of terminology, tools, and trends to deliver an unparalleled learning experience. Through their rigorous discourse, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and field-shaping contributions, they create practical solutions and pioneering innovations that enrich our world.
This instructor teaches this course regularly. Please speak to your enrollment advisor if you wish to know who the current teacher is.
George Dan, MBA
Founder and CEO, User Nudge Inc.
George Dan founded User Nudge Inc. as part of a lifelong journey to understand human decisions. Using behavioral science, the company decodes human behavior and focuses on how those using online interfaces make decisions. Previously, Dan was the head of operations analytics at a software-as-a...
Career Outlook
Diverse market anomalies, especially those related to the stock market, can be explained through psychological biases and influences. At a time of increased uncertainty and market volatility, behavioral finance is growing in practice. Advisors seek to incorporate this analysis into their wealth management processes to improve the client experience, deepen relationships, and deliver better results.
The average annual base pay for an investment advisor in the United States.
The position of social/behavioral scientist in the ranking of emerging finance roles .
The percentage of financial advisors using behavioral finance techniques.
Potential Job Titles for Professionals Leveraging Insights from Behavioral Finance
- Behavioral Economics Researcher
- Behavioral Scientist
- Consultant
- Financial Analyst
- Financial Associate
- Investment Manager
- Personal Financial Advisor
How Do I Get Started?
- Complete the form on the registration page.
- Pay the tuition fee through our secure gateway.
- Receive a welcome email with your login information for the virtual campus.
- Gain access to the course content prior to the start date.
Offered by The University of Chicago's Professional Education
Of Interest
- Professional Certificate in Strategic Financial Management
Unlock impactful financial decision-making for success in modern business.
- Corporate Financial Strategy
- Machine Learning for Finance
PhD | Finance
The Ph.D. in Finance
Stern’s Ph.D. program in finance trains scholars to conduct research at the leading edge of financial economics. The faculty represents one of the largest finance research groups in the world that has been ranked consistently as the leading publisher of academic research in top finance journals. Comprised of more than 40 researchers, including a Nobel-prize-winning economist, our faculty are active in all areas of finance—asset pricing, corporate finance, derivatives, market microstructure, and behavioral finance—with both theoretical and empirical focus, and with emerging specialization in the areas of financial intermediation, crises, and macro-finance. As a result of this unusual breadth, students have access to expertise in almost any topic that they might wish to explore.
Explore Finance
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- PhD in Accounting
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PhD in Finance
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Chicago Booth has long been recognized for its PhD in finance. Our finance faculty—which includes Nobel laureates Douglas W. Diamond, Eugene F. Fama, and Lars P. Hansen—sets the course for research in all areas of the field.
As a finance PhD student at Chicago Booth, you’ll join a community that encourages you to think independently.
Taking courses at Booth and in the university’s Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, you will gain a solid foundation in all aspects of economics and finance--from the factors that determine asset prices to how firms and individuals make financial decisions. Following your coursework, you will develop your research in close collaboration with faculty and your fellow students. Reading groups and workshops with faculty, student-led brown-bag seminars, and conferences provide many opportunities to learn from others.
The Finance PhD Program also offers the Joint Program in Financial Economics , which is run by Chicago Booth and the Department of Economics in the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.
Our Distinguished Finance Faculty
Chicago Booth finance faculty are leading researchers who also build strong relationships with doctoral students, collaborate on new ideas, and connect students with powerful career opportunities.
Francesca Bastianello
Assistant Professor of Finance and Liew Family Junior Faculty Fellow, Fama Faculty Fellow
Emanuele Colonnelli
Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship
George M. Constantinides
Leo Melamed Professor of Finance
Douglas W. Diamond
Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Eugene F. Fama
Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Niels Gormsen
Neubauer Family Associate Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Lars Hansen
David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor The University of Chicago Departments of Economics, Statistics and the Booth School of Business
John C. Heaton
Joseph L. Gidwitz Professor of Finance
Steven Neil Kaplan
Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Anil Kashyap
Stevens Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Finance
Ralph S.J. Koijen
AQR Capital Management Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Stefan Nagel
Fama Family Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Scott Nelson
Assistant Professor of Finance and Cohen and Keenoy Faculty Scholar
Pascal Noel
Neubauer Family Professor of Finance and Kathryn and Grant Swick Faculty Scholar
Lubos Pastor
Charles P. McQuaid Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Robert King Steel Faculty Fellow
Raghuram G. Rajan
Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance
Bruce Lindsay Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Quentin Vandeweyer
Assistant Professor of Finance and Fama Faculty Fellow
Pietro Veronesi
Deputy Dean for Faculty and Chicago Board of Trade Professor of Finance
Robert W. Vishny
Myron S. Scholes Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Neubauer Faculty Director of the Davis Center
Michael Weber
Associate Professor of Finance
Anthony Lee Zhang
Luigi Zingales
Robert C. McCormack Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance
Professor of Economics and Finance
Alumni Success
Graduates of the Stevens Doctoral Program go on to successful careers in prominent institutions of higher learning, leading financial institutions, government, and beyond.
Sangmin (Simon) Oh, PhD '24
Assistant Professor of Business, Finance Division Columbia Business School, Columbia University Simon's research interests are asset pricing, investments, and insurance. He studies how institutional frictions impact the pricing of risk, focusing on market dynamics and investor behavior and often leveraging machine learning tools. Simon's dissertation area is in financial economics.
Shohini Kundu, MBA '20, PhD '21
Assistant Professor of Finance UCLA Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles Shohini Kundu's research lies in financial intermediation and macroeconomics, security design and externalities of financial contracts, and emerging market finance. Her dissertation area is in finance.
Jane (Jian) Li, PhD '21
Assistant Professor of Business, Finance Division Columbia Business School, Columbia University Jane's research lies at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance. She is particularly interested in how financial intermediaries affect the real economy and how different types of financial institutions can contribute to financial instability. Her dissertation area is in financial economics.
Spotlight on Research
The pages of Chicago Booth Review regularly highlight the research findings of finance faculty and PhD students.
A Brief History of Finance and My Life at Chicago
Chicago Booth’s Eugene F. Fama describes the serendipitous events that led him to Chicago, and into his monumental career in academic finance.
Climate-Policy Pronouncements Boost 'Brown' Stocks
It was a dramatic example of how White House communications on climate policy can affect asset prices, according to Washington University in St. Louis’s William Cassidy, a recent graduate of Booth’s PhD Program.
With Business Loans Harder to Get, Private Debt Funds Are Stepping In
It’s become harder for many prospective borrowers to access capital. But private debt funds have stepped in to fill the gap, according to Joern Block (Trier University), Booth PhD candidate Young Soo Jang, Booth’s Steve Kaplan, and Trier’s Anna Schulze.
Too Many 'Shadow Banks' Can Limit Overall Access to Credit
While go-betweens can benefit the broader economy by smoothing the flow of credit, there are now probably too many links in the credit chain, argue Zhiguo He and Jian Li (Booth PhD graduate).
A Network of Support
Chicago Booth is home to several interdisciplinary research centers that offer funding for student work, host workshops and conferences, and foster a strong research community.
Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance Tasked with pushing the boundaries of research in finance, the Fama-Miller Center provides institutional structure and support for researchers in the field.
Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Bringing together researchers from the entire Chicago economics community, the Becker Friedman Institute fosters novel insights on the world’s most difficult economic problems.
Center for Research in Security Prices CRSP maintains one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive stock market databases. Since 1963, it has been a valued resource for businesses, government, and scholars.
Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets Enhancing the understanding of business and financial market globalization, the Clark Center positions Chicago Booth as a thought leader in the understanding of ever-changing markets and improves financial and economic decision-making around the world.
George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State Dedicated to examining issues at the intersection of politics and the economy, the Stigler Center supports research by PhD students and others who are interested in the political, economic, and cultural obstacles to better working markets.
Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation Committed to making the world more equitable and sustainable, the Rustandy Center works to solve complex social and environmental problems. The center’s student support includes fellowships, research funding, and networking opportunities.
The PhD Experience at Booth
For Itzhak Ben-David, PhD ’08, the PhD Program in Finance was an exploratory journey.
Video Transcript
Itzhak Ben-David, ’08: 00:03 For me, the PhD Program was an exploratory journey. It was about discovering what was interesting for me, what will be interesting for other economists. It was about discovering something new about the world. Much of the PhD Program experience is to explore and to wonder a bit and to just think and expose yourself to new ideas and new disciplines. Back then, this was 2006, I found a billboard that said, "If you buy this house, we're going to give you a free car or $20,000 in cash." And this seemed really odd to me. What I realized that was going on, that this was part of a borrower fraud and the idea was that seller and the buyer will agree on a higher price on a house and the lender would be under the impression that the collateral worth more than it really is.
Itzhak Ben-David, ’08: 00:58 So I started to investigate other parts of the real estate food chain. What I saw is that in many parts of this chain, there were incentives in place pushing the intermediaries or the different economic agents to inflate prices. It's not always a bubble, but oftentimes it points out behavior that is not consistent with our textbook behavior. I had the dream team of advisors, Toby Moskowitz, Dick Taylor, Steve Levitt, and Erik Hurst. Each one of them contributed in different way to my dissertation and brought different ideas, brought different aspects. There is no better place of doing research than in Booth. It's really a hub of academic activity. There is no important work that doesn't pass at Chicago before being published. It's really an intellectual home. When you meet people and you know that they are from Booth, you can see the difference in their thinking.
Current Finance Students
PhD students in finance study a wide range of topics, including the behavior and determinants of security prices, the financing and investment decisions of firms, corporate governance, and the management and regulation of financial institutions. They go on to careers at prestigious institutions, from Yale University to the International Monetary Fund.
Current Students
Ching-Tse Chen Natalia Corado Mihir Gandhi Huan (Bianca) He Jessica Li Edoardo Marchesi Alexa Marciano Rayhan Momin Lauren Mostrom Meichen Qian Francisco Ruela
Booth also offers joint degrees. Learn more about the current students in our Joint Program in Financial Economics .
Program Expectations and Requirements
The Stevens Doctoral Program at Chicago Booth is a full-time program. Students generally complete the majority of coursework and examination requirements within the first two years of studies and begin work on their dissertation during the third year. For details, see General Examination Requirements by Area in the Stevens Program Guidebook below.
Download the 2024-25 Guidebook!
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