Behavior finance - The impact of financial behavior on economic decision-making of individuals in Albania

Abstract

For years the field of behavioral finance tries to explain economic actions and decisions in financial markets based on financial, psychological, and emotional factors, which affect the behavior of investing individuals. Various studies show that males are more tolerant of risk and make more risky decisions than females. The fact that men trade more than women in financial markets is attributed to the overconfidence they have. Men in addition to trading more, also own larger financial portfolios than women, but less diverse than they are. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether gender can really influence financial decisions through risk aversion, gender, and overconfidence. The data in this paper were collected through a very close population survey, explicitly students at European University of Tirana and an Albanian individual with financial knowledge. To measure statistical differences between the gender the Chi2 statistical test was used. Through empirical findings and analysis of data obtained from the statistical test was concluded conclusions from this study. It was found that there is a tendency among females to have a higher level of resistance to risk than males. This means that Albanian women will undertake a lower risk when managing an investment portfolio. Albanian men, meanwhile, have more confidence in their financial decisions.