The individual and contextual influences on the market behaviour of finance professionals

This project commenced in October 1996 funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under its Risk and Human Behaviour Programme1. The first year of the project was spent carrying out an extensive review of the relevant literature and conducting pilot studies. This formed the basis for a research strategy enabling data to be gathered that would add to empirical knowledge about risk behaviour, contribute to theory in organisational science and be useful for the firms involved. The second and third years were spent gathering data sequentially at four firms, writing reports for each organisation and writing papers for conference and journal submission. Two broad areas of theory were drawn upon to develop this research – psychological theory and management theory. Each relevant aspect of theory and previous research is outlined below.