Cognitive Biases in the Capital Investment Context: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Experiments on Violations of Normative Rationality

Dr. Sebastian Serfas completed his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof Dr. Uwe Götze at Chemnitz University of Technology. He conducts research at the intersection of psychology and business administration and works for a leading management consultancy.

In today’s competitive business environment, an optimal investment strategy is vital for every company. However, it is often endangered by unconscious mental biases inherent in every human being. Building on findings from cognitive psychology research, Sebastian Serfas shows in detail that and how these so-called cognitive biases systematically affect and distort capital investment-related decision making and business judgements. He provides a large number of examples that every business practitioner might encounter every day, demonstrates the detrimental effects through various empirical experiments, and outlines potential counterstrategies to mitigate these negative effects.