COURSE NUMBER: MBA237.15

COURSE TITLE: Behavioral Finance (one-unit version)

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

INSTRUCTOR: Greg La Blanc

E-MAIL ADDRESS: lablanc@haas.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION): http://bspace.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Sundays, 9:00AM – 5:00PM

Please note the unusual format of this course, which meets all day on two Sundays: February 14 and February 28, 2010. You must attend both sessions in their entirety in order to earn a passing grade.

PREREQUISITE(S): MBA 203

CLASS FORMAT: Lectures and discussion.

REQUIRED READINGS: Electronic reader and some handouts.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: class participation, homework, and final

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

The course covers many aspects of finance that do not fit neatly into the efficient markets paradigm. In particular, we will examine how investors behave in environments of limited information, limited attention, and limited rationality. After reviewing the "heuristics and biases" literature, we will discuss trading various trading strategies used by both individual and professional investors and how market composition and structure give rise to momentum, bubbles, and crashes. We will also examine difference of opinion models, noise trader models, and segmented markets with limited arbitrage. We will also cover applications of behavioral finance and agency theory for corporate finance.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Gregory LaBlanc has degrees in business, law, and economics from the University of California at Berkeley, George Mason University and the University of Pennsylvania. Before coming to Berkeley, he taught at the University of Virginia, Duke University and the Wharton School, and worked in strategy consulting and competitive intelligence. His research concerns the impact of behavior, information, and human capital on organizational structure and corporate governance. In particular, he is interested in applying information economics to the study of corporate form and regulation.