FIN 645: Behavioral Finance

Behavioral Finance examines the psychological obstacles to value-maximizing decisions, drawing on neuroscience to explain nonoptimal financial manager behavior.

What FIN 645 covers

Prerequisite: FIN 610. A study of the key psychological obstacles to value-maximizing behavior and steps that managers can take to mitigate their effects, using the traditional tools of corporate finance.

Focus is on understanding the underlying factors and processes that result in nonoptimal decision-making by financial managers. Topics include perceptions about risk and reward and financial decision-making in the areas of investing, trading, valuation, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, agency conflicts, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions. The key role played by emotions and recent findings from neuroscience are explored.

Typical FIN 645 assignments

Expect an assignment requiring you to identify a specific psychological bias affecting a financial decision (such as an investing or capital budgeting choice) and propose a mitigation step.

Key topics in FIN 645

• Psychological obstacles to value-maximizing decisions
• Risk and reward perception biases
• Agency conflicts and corporate governance
• Neuroscience findings in financial decision-making

Writing tips for FIN 645

Follow the assignment instructions and rubric line by line

UMGC graduate assignments for FIN 645 are graded against a specific rubric or grading criteria your instructor provides — every requirement has to be visibly addressed, and graduate-level rubrics typically expect deeper synthesis than an undergraduate equivalent. Skipping a requirement because it seems minor is one of the most common reasons a strong submission loses points.

Show the model, not just the conclusion

FIN 645 is typically graded on the financial model or analysis itself (built in Excel or shown step by step), not just the final recommendation — a conclusion without the supporting model or calculation usually loses points at the graduate level.

Ground recommendations in a real or realistic organizational decision

Graduate Financial Management courses like FIN 645 are rarely satisfied by textbook theory recitation — evaluators want to see financial concepts applied to an actual or realistic organizational decision, with specific numbers and outcomes, not generic best-practice statements.

Why students seek help with FIN 645

Students sometimes describe a poor financial decision without identifying the specific psychological bias FIN 645 requires naming — the rubric typically wants that named bias and its mitigation shown, not a general critique of the decision.

How GradeEssays helps with FIN 645

Share your FIN 645 assignment and rubric, and your writer will help you name the specific psychological bias and propose its mitigation.

Prerequisites and course context

FIN 645 requires FIN 610 (Financial Management in Organizations).

Related courses