This book sheds light on financial decision making and lays down the major biases in human behavioral decision making, such as over-confidence, naive extrapolation, attention, and risk aversion, and how they lead investors and corporations to make considerable mistakes in investment.

It draws on a large body of literature, from psychology and social psychology to, most importantly, behavioral economics and behavioral finance. It also looks at the progress in behavioral finance research over recent decades and includes research outputs based on retail and institutional investors from the United States, China, and many other international financial markets.

The book focuses on China’s financial reforms and economic transition and includes many cases from that country to highlight the importance of behavioral finance and investor education. It therefore provides much needed in-depth understanding of the Chinese capital market.