We examine whether investing experience can dampen the disposition effect, that is, the fact that investors seem to hold on to their losing stocks to a greater extent than they hold on to their winning stocks. To do so, we devise a computer program that simulates the stock market. We use the program in an experiment with two groups of subjects, namely experienced investors and undergraduate students (the inexperienced investors). As a control procedure, we consider random trade decisions made by robot subjects. We find that though both human subjects show the disposition effect, the more experienced investors are less affected.

Investors seem to hold on to their losing stocks to a greater extent than they hold on to their winning stocks. This well-document behavioral regularity is termed disposition effect (Shefrin and Statman 1985). We set an experiment to replicate results from a previous study of the disposition effect (Weber and Camerer 1998), and further show that a subject's gender may interfere with the effect's detection. JEL Classification: G11

This study investigates which of four paradigms best portrays the risk profile manifest by investors in their financial asset investment decisions. The paradigms used to explain this profile were: prospect theory, investor profile analysis (IPA), the Big Five Personality Test, and the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). The choice of proxy for the risk preferences (profile) of a typical investor was defined by simulating investments in a laboratory setting. The results are analyzed using ordered logistic regression and show that people who have greater risk tolerance according to IPA, who violate prospect theory, and who have a high degree of openness to experience have the greatest probability of taking higher levels of risk in their investment decisions. With regard to the CRT, higher numbers of correct responses in this test has an inverse relationship with risk taking.

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Thirty years after the conference that gave rise to The Structure of Scientific Theories, there is renewed interest in the nature of theories and models. However, certain crucial issues from thirty years ago are reprised in current discussions; specifically: whether the diversity of models in the science can be captured by some unitary account; and whether the temporal dimension of scientific practice can be represented by such an account. After reviewing recent developments we suggest that these issues can be accommodated within the partial structures formulation of the semantic or model-theoretic approach.

Este trabalho desenvolve um modelo, baseado em técnicas exploratórias de dados e de estatística multivariada, que permite identificar as variáveis mais relevantes associadas ao sucesso da implementação de programas de reciclagem de resíduos de construção e demolição (RCD) nos municípios brasileiros. Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram que existem diferenças marcantes entre as cidades que implantaram programas de reciclagem de RCD e aquelas que não implantaram. As variáveis mais significativas encontradas foram: percentual de funcionários de nível médio que trabalham na prefeitura, renda média anual do município, percentual de domicílios com água, existência de programas de coleta seletiva de lixo, programas de incentivo para geração de trabalho e renda e existência de áreas de recepção de entulhos, a maioria relacionadas à gestão municipal.

We assess the psychophysiological characteristics underlying the disposition effect and find that subjects showing greater disposition effect are those who sweat more and present lower body temperature and heart rate.

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