4.4
stars
3,582 ratings

Emma Rasiel

124,174 already enrolled

Offered By

Behavioral Finance

Duke University

About this Course

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We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices. But in certain circumstances, these shortcuts lead to predictable errors – predictable, that is, if we know what to watch out for. Did you know, for example, that we are naturally biased towards selling investments that are doing well for us, but holding on to those that are doing poorly? Or that we often select sub-optimal insurance payment plans, and routinely purchase insurance that we don’t even need? And why do so many of us fail to enroll in our employer’s corporate retirement plans, even when the employer offers to match our contributions?
Behavioral finance is the study of these and dozens of other financial decision-making errors that can be avoided, if we are familiar with the biases that cause them. In this course, we examine these predictable errors, and discover where we are most susceptible to them. This course is intended to guide participants towards better financial choices. Learn how to improve your spending, saving, and investing decisions for the future.

Flexible deadlines

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

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Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

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Approx. 5 hours to complete

English

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Skills you will gain

Decision-Making
Behavioral Finance
Cognitive Bias
Behavioral Economics

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Approx. 5 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.48/5 (793 Ratings)

Emma Rasiel

Associate Chair and Professor

Economics

124,174 Learners

1 Course

Offered by

Duke University

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating96%(8,590 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

2 hours to complete

Week 1

Welcome to the course! In this first week, we'll look at the classical economic model of consumer choice, which assumes that all of the decisions that we make are sensible, or “rational.” Once we have examined the underlying theory of how people should behave (especially around financial decisions), we will move on to examine how people do behave. We will focus in particular on situations in which we are most inclined to make decisions that appear to defy rational choice axioms.

2 hours to complete

5 videos (Total 23 min), 4 readings, 1 quiz

Week2

Week 2

3 hours to complete

Week 2

Welcome to the second week. In this session, we will discover how our minds are inclined to distort probabilities, and either underestimate or overestimate the likelihood of certain outcomes. We’ll also learn about “heuristic-driven bias”: the tendency to use rules of thumb that simplify the process of making decisions, but can also lead to predictable errors. These biases negatively affect our decision-making far more than we might expect; especially when the outcome of the decision has great significance for us.

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 63 min), 6 readings, 1 quiz

8 videos

Correlation and Causation Error16mProbability Weighting4mRelative Probabilities1mThe Availability Heuristic10mMental Accounting and Expenditures7mLoss Aversion8mBelief Perseverance and Confirmation Bias9mCase Study: Belief Perseverance4m

6 readings

Problems with Probability10mProbability Weighting10mThe Availability Heuristic10mFraming10mRepresentativeness10mOverconfidence10m

1 practice exercise

Week 2 Quiz30m

Week3

Week 3

1 hour to complete

Week 3

In the final week of the course, we will see multiple examples of how mental heuristics can lead us to make predictably sub-optimal financial decisions, both individually and across the entire financial markets. We will also discuss the many ways in which you can now improve your financial decision-making because of your deeper understanding of the innate biases that have tripped you up in the past!

1 hour to complete

2 videos (Total 8 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz

Reviews

4.4

940 reviews

5 stars
61.61%
4 stars
25.78%
3 stars
8.44%
2 stars
2.42%
1 star
1.72%

TOP REVIEWS FROM BEHAVIORAL FINANCE

by SSMar 15, 2020

Very good course. I learnt about many biases which I often make in making financial decisions and now I hope I will correct those. Cheers to the team coursera for this course

by LCOct 28, 2022

This was a great course and I love digging deeper into the behaviors that drive finance. I did feel though, that there was somewhat of a disconnect from the material to the quizes.

by SSApr 1, 2021

The concepts are explained in detail but sometimes too much in detail without parallel examples to real life that sometimes, all biases seem to be the same. More videos needed.

by RJDec 24, 2019

Overall, the content was excellent. More practical examples of practicing the principles would have been helpful for completing the exam as well as absorbing the content into long term memory.

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Will I receive a transcript from Duke University for completing this course?
No. Completion of a Coursera course does not earn you academic credit from Duke; therefore, Duke is not able to provide you with a university transcript. However, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

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Behavioral Finance

Behavioral Finance

About this Course

Skills you will gain