{"title":"The economic value of “Kosher” impact banking","authors":"Yehuda Ben Eli , Tehila Kalagy , Mosi Rosenboim","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Financial institutions around the world are aware of customers' ambitions to conduct their financial activities in accordance with their values. In response, they are entering the impact-economy field. Israeli banking today does not operate according to Jewish law, since there is a bypass called \"Heter Iska\", which allows one to have unlimited banking activity. We used a quantitative model to estimate the expected economic value of a new banking track tailored for religious Jews who want to avoid religiously prohibited usury in a manner more compatible with Jewish law. Our survey revealed that, on average, employees would be willing to forgo 16 % of their salary for the benefit of working for a bank that offered such products and that customers would be willing to pay 80 % higher management fees for such products. These findings suggest that such products could be commercially viable. This work falls into two topical areas covered by this journal: Religion and Attitudes (specifically, corporate behavior) and Religious Practices (specifically, economic behavior of individuals and groups of individuals).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101101"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144926673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Piera Bello , Annalisa Cristini , Elena Manzoni , Federica Origo , Marcello Puca , Caterina Sturaro
{"title":"Women’s empowerment through financial literacy in a developed country","authors":"Piera Bello , Annalisa Cristini , Elena Manzoni , Federica Origo , Marcello Puca , Caterina Sturaro","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents the results of a financial literacy intervention conducted in collaboration with two Italian NGOs supporting women in distress, such as those facing unemployment, economic dependency, or domestic abuse. The program consisted of an interactive lecture focused on essential financial concepts, particularly budgeting and savings. Using a phase-in Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) design, we assess the impact of this intervention on participants’ financial knowledge and confidence. The findings reveal substantial improvements in both domains, highlighting strong responsiveness to the program. Mediation analysis shows that increases in confidence account for a large share of the observed gains in financial literacy. Furthermore, we identify significant heterogeneity in these outcomes based on women’s socio-demographic characteristics and levels of financial fragility. The intervention has a stronger influence on participants with weaker initial financial literacy, highlighting its potential to reduce knowledge gaps.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101115"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145267333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ben R. Newell , Hazel Bateman , Loretti Dobrescu , Jake Embrey , Rochelle Nian , Susan Thorp
{"title":"Undefined benefit: Projections and anchors as guides to retirement decumulation","authors":"Ben R. Newell , Hazel Bateman , Loretti Dobrescu , Jake Embrey , Rochelle Nian , Susan Thorp","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101113","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101113","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most defined contribution retirement income systems assume that retiring participants have the know-how and confidence to turn their lump sum savings into life-long income. Surprisingly slow withdrawals by retired defined contribution participants cast doubt on this assumption. In this study, we conduct three rounds of lab-in-the-field experiments that give near-to-retirement defined contribution plan participants updating information about withdrawal plans. We show that income projections induce slightly higher rates of withdrawal but this influence is dominated by income anchors. Supporting participants with basic information and the opportunity to engage in the decision process through interactive education tools has the potential to improve their wellbeing in retirement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101113"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effect of social comparison on debt taking: Experimental evidence","authors":"Antonia Grohmann , Melanie Koch","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101111","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101111","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A number of studies show a link between social comparison and high levels of household debt. However, the exact underlying mechanisms are not yet well understood. In this paper, we disentangle two mechanisms in a lab experiment to study the effects of social image concerns and peer information on debt-financed consumption choices. We find that having to announce their consumption decisions publicly does not make participants more likely to take on debt. However, in an exploratory analysis, we uncover that it makes them more likely to buy a lower quality product than they can afford. We find no significant effects for information about other participants consumption on choices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101111"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145267256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Personality-driven value investing: The mediating role of financial self-efficacy and versatile cognitive styles","authors":"Fawad Ahmad","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101114","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101114","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The influence of individual psychological and cognitive characteristics on preferences for value versus growth stocks (VSvGS) is not well understood. This study examines the influence of personality traits, financial self-efficacy (FSE), and versatile cognitive styles (VCS) on the choice between VSvGS. Specifically, it examines both the direct effects of personality traits on individual preferences and the indirect effects mediated by FSE and VCS. Data were collected from 351 students across two universities, one in Italy and the other in Pakistan. The results provide a significant positive (negative) direct effect of conscientiousness and openness (extraversion and neuroticism) on the preference for VSvGS. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that conscientiousness and openness (extraversion and neuroticism) have a positive (negative) impact on preferences for VSvGS, mediated by FSE and VCS. Moreover, the results show no significant differences in the impact of personality traits on the preferences for VSvGS between respondents from Italy and Pakistan.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101114"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond Performance: Exploring trade-offs in the design of financial algorithms","authors":"Alexia Gaudeul , Caterina Giannetti","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101119","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101119","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the trade-offs involved in encouraging the adoption of stock-trading algorithms. In a three-week artificial stock market experiment, investors experience trading both independently and with the help of a financial algorithm. They then decide whether to adopt the algorithm. Across treatments, we vary the algorithm by its trading strategy and whether its decisions can be overridden. Our findings show that adoption rates are generally low, but investors are more likely to adopt an algorithm that trades actively and that they can override. An investor’s trading style does not consistently affect algorithm take-up. Instead, adoption primarily depends on the relative success of a trader’s performance when trading independently <em>vs</em> when the algorithm was trading on their behalf. Analysis of an exit questionnaire matches those observations with the reasons given by individuals for rejecting or adopting a financial algorithm.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 101119"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Board of Directors’ connections, gender, and firm performance in a male-dominated industry: Evidence from U.S. banking","authors":"Ann L. Owen , Judit Temesvary , Andrew Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101091","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101091","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Existing literature has studied the role of within-firm networks, but given that the vast majority of connections are between men, its conclusions are not generalizable to connections of women. We study how connected female versus male board members affect performance in the U.S. banking industry. We find that better connected female board members improve bank profitability and reduce earnings management, especially when women are connected to men. We find somewhat weaker evidence that connections between men reduce bank performance. Consistent with the experimental literature, our findings suggest that connections may improve board functioning, allowing female board members to gain influence and participate more effectively in firm governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101091"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the impact of identity fusion on managerial decision-making in eponymous firms","authors":"Yevgeny Mugerman , Ruth Rooz (Stern)","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101094","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101094","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how identity fusion influences managerial decision-making in family-owned businesses, with a particular focus on eponymous firms. Using a controlled experimental design, we exogenously manipulate identity fusion to mitigate selection biases commonly associated with archival data. Our findings demonstrate that self-identification with the firm significantly impacts managerial behavior: eponymous participants exhibit heightened optimism in gain scenarios, while in loss scenarios, we observe a tendency toward more cautious decisions, although the evidence is more limited. To validate and extend these results, we complement the experiment with a survey of executives from both eponymous and non-eponymous firms. Together, these findings highlight the critical role of psychological attachment and reputational considerations in shaping corporate decision-making within family businesses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101094"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144895568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effects of public disclosures and information acquisition on price informativeness in a multi-attribute asset market","authors":"Douglas Davis, Oleg Korenok, John Lightle","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We report a laboratory experiment that evaluates the impact of public information disclosures on a real decision maker’s capacity to learn about the components of a multi-attribute asset in an environment with endogenous information acquisition. The environment, inspired by Goldstein and Yang (2019), features an asset of uncertain value that consists of two inseparable components. A real decision maker has much more precise information than the market about one component, but no better information than the market about the other. Following the release of the public signal, speculators make private information acquisition decisions for each component. The model predicts that to best learn about the value of the component for which they are relatively uninformed, the real decision maker should disclose information about that which they know more. Despite smaller than expected differences in prices across treatments, experimental results largely support this prediction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101084"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bias in cryptocurrency investing: The effect of financial and moral considerations","authors":"Hesam Shahriari , Adam Stivers , Ming Tsang","doi":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbef.2025.101097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In an experimental investment allocation task, we find that the average participant did not appear to factor cryptocurrency’s social aspects into their allocation decisions based on the average allocation to a cryptocurrency. Moreover, the cryptocurrency’s positive returns did not help to increase investment levels. However, highlighting its high volatility and potential risks was a bigger deterrent to cryptocurrency investing compared to when no such information was provided. We observe an irrational bias toward cryptocurrencies when it is not optimal to do so. We find that younger individuals, those who view cryptocurrencies favorably, and those with past cryptocurrency investing experience are typically more prone to this bias. This was less likely to be the case where descriptive information on either the positive or negative social and environmental impact of cryptocurrencies was provided. Therefore, while highlighting cryptocurrencies’ social/environmental implications does not appear to influence average allocation, it could reduce bias toward cryptocurrencies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 101097"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144893181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}