Testing for the Disposition Effect on Optimal Stopping Decisions

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2015
Volume: 105
Issue: 5
Pages: 371-75

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper develops a new laboratory test of the hypothesis that individual investors sell winners too early and ride losers too long. In the experiment, subjects invest in a risky asset, whose price evolves in near-continuous time, and they are provided with the option to liquidate it at a fixed salvage value. Optimal behavior is characterized by an upper and a lower stopping thresholds in the asset price space, thus producing a clear rational benchmark and eliminating known confounds. This design allows me to detect and quantify the disposition effect in a sample of 108 subjects.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:105:y:2015:i:5:p:371-75
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25