Decision Science News

SUBMISSION DEADLINE FRIDAY AUGUST 9, 2019

The RAND Behavioral Finance Forum will be holding its annual conference this year on October 3, 2019 in partnership with AARP. The event will be held at AARPs office in Washington D.C.

We are inviting submissions for presentations in the areas of behavioral finance, behavioral economics, and financial decision making. The conference will bring together leaders from academia, government, regulatory agencies, and industry to share the latest research and exchange ideas on how to leverage behavioral principles to promote financial well-being. The agenda will allow ample exposure to current policy issues, opportunities to highlight your work, and a focus on building collaborations across individuals, sectors, and institutions.

The 2019 Behavioral Finance Forum will feature Terrance Odean as our keynote speaker. Odean is the Rudd Family Foundation Chair and Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the advisory editor to the Financial Planning Review, a member of the Journal of Investment Consulting editorial advisory board, of the Russell Sage Behavioral Economics Roundtable, and is a Wall Street Journal Expert Panelist. He received the James R. Vertin Award from the CFA Institute in 2016. As an undergraduate at Berkeley, Odean studied Judgment and Decision Making with the 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Daniel Kahneman.

The Behavioral Finance Forum will include two types of sessions. First, we will have several academic research sessions consisting of 15-minute presentations, followed by a discussion aimed at practitioners and policymakers. Second, we will have a session devoted to new innovations in behavioral finance from policy and industry. The goal of the conference is to encourage the incorporation of cutting-edge research into policy and financial products that best serve the public’s interests. Presentations are for a mixed audience, and should geared towards providing insights for practitioners and policy makers.

=== Submission Guidelines: Research Sessions ===

Interested presenters are invited to submit abstracts by Friday, August 9, 2019 to befi at rand.org. Please provide the following:

• The title and co-authors
• An extended (one page) abstract summarizing:
  • The importance of your paper;
  • Your research methodology;
  • Key findings;
  • Implications/applications that you would like to highlight
• If you have a key table, graph, or other data visualization, you may include that on a second page
• A link to or copy of your paper (if available).

Specify who would be the presenter.

Submissions need not reflect completed papers, however preference will be given to those whose research is in a more advanced stage. Researchers from policy, industry, and academic institutions may submit to these sessions. Travel and lodging expenses will be provided for invited presenters.

This year we will include two sessions highlighting key topics of interest:

• Differences across different ages and stages of life.
• Strategies to increase precautionary savings.

Two additional sessions are open to papers on a variety of topics, including:

• Incorporating behavioral and social insights into government programs, into the design of international development interventions, and into emerging products and marketplaces
• Promoting healthy financial inclusion among the economically vulnerable
• Building financial capability and financial literacy
• Building savings and reducing debt
• Asset management and decumulation post-retirement (e.g., retirement income products)
• Improving consumer credit behavior
• Use of behavioral finance on the supply side (including how services/products are framed and how it affects consumer choice)
• Challenges and opportunities facing government regulators in enhancing, evaluating, and protecting individual financial welfare in associated marketplaces
• Personal balance sheet management
• Consumer choices and understanding of insurance products

=== Innovation Session ===

This year the conference will feature a panel session discussing recent innovations in policy and industry. Speakers will provide a brief (10-minute) description of the challenges they are trying to address and solutions they are developing and implementing. This will be followed by a panel discussion. If you are interested in speaking, please send a one- to two-paragraph description to befi at rand.org. You may also recommend speakers; for recommended speakers please provide a one- to two-paragraph description and contact information if available. Travel and lodging expenses will be provided for invited presenters.

Please forward to anyone who might be interested in presenting. Feel free to email us with questions or clarifications at befi at rand.org.