Fair value estimates of debt and equity securities play an increasingly important role in the economy. For example, International Financial Reporting Standards require companies to report many of their investments at fair value on the balance sheet or to use fair values in goodwill impairment...

Stock market anomalies representing the predictability of cross-sectional stock returns are one of most controversial topics in financial economic research. This chapter reviews several well-documented and pervasive anomalies in the literature, including investment-related anomalies, value...

Although the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is the leading theory describing the behavior of financial markets, researchers have increasingly questioned its efficacy since the 1980s because of its inconsistencies with empirical evidence. This challenge to EMH has resulted in the development...

In the oversight of most funds, the portfolio manager holds the key decision-making power. Often regarded as foundational to the investment process, a few select managers can attract billions of dollars from investors, giving the managers increased prominence, credibility, and compensation....

The author proposes theoretical and methodological aspects of the applied strategic analysis (ASA) as a new instrument of the balanced scorecard (BSC) comprehensive study of the organization economic activity. The ASA concept has resulted from the further development of the BSC concept which...

This paper examines the implications of the option value of equity for firms' disclosures. Merton (1974) shows that the equity of levered firms is equivalent to a call option whose value increases in the expected variance of future cash flows. I use this equivalence to calculate firms' vega,...

This chapter focuses on the attitude of investors toward financial gains and losses and their decisions on wealth allocation, and how these changes are subject to behavioral factors. The focal point is the integration of behavioral elements into the classic portfolio optimization. Individual...

Asset allocation and portfolio diversification decisions have important welfare and policy implications. This chapter reviews studies that examine three key aspects of financial investing: participation in stock markets, portfolio diversification, and trading behavior. Standard finance theory...

The chapter describes investment and trading strategies rooted in behavioral finance that historically have generated superior profits. The failure of traditional finance models, such as those based on purely rational behavior, to explain how markets work has enabled behavioral finance to move...