Behavioral Finance in the Digital Economy

The paper reveals the essence of «behavioral finance»: it is a field of scientific knowledge that studies the influence of emotions, cognitive biases and social factors on financial decision-making. Behavior is an approach to the interaction of a person with the outside world. It is obvious that the study of behavior lies more in the plane of biology, physiology and psychology than in jurisprudence. At the same time, it should be understood that it is the behavior of legal entities that affects public relations, which, in turn, are regulated by the norms of law. The paper reveals the factors influencing the behavior of consumers of financial services in the digital economy. In particular, it is indicated that people have fundamentally different attitudes towards cash and monetary funds that are not expressed in cash (non-cash, electronic and digital). In this context specifically, it is necessary to note the general information background associated with blockchain technology. Thanks to the media and against the background of the success of bitcoin and a number of altcoins, at some point in society there was an opinion that investing in cryptocurrencies (and later in NFTs) is more profitable than investing in traditional financial instruments. All of the above leads to the fact that a citizen who is motivated to earn easy money, but does not have the necessary knowledge, loses money as a result of unsuccessful investments in the financial market, and often simply becomes a victim of fraud. The paper highlights the problem of the practical use of behavioral finance in the framework of legal regulation of public relations emerging in the financial market. At the same time, the Bank of Russia evaluates, however limited, behavioral aspects in the process of supervision of the financial market.

1. Akademik Anokhin: Sovremennyy iskusstvennyy intellekt — eto «chernyy yashchik» [Academician Anokhin: Modern artificial intelligence is a «black box»]. Available from: https://rg.ru/2020/10/20/akademik-anohinsovremennyj-iskusstvennyj-intellekt-eto-chernyj-iashchik.html [cited 2022 September 1]. (In Russ.).

2. Alekseeva DG. Pravovye problemy «partnerskogo» bankinga [Legal problems of «partner» banking]. In: Pokachalova EV, editor. Finansovoe pravootnoshenie: doktrinalnye i pravoprimenitelnye aspekty: sbornik statey po materialam mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii (g. Saratov, September 28, 2016) [Financial legal relationship: Doctrinal and law enforcement aspects. Collection of articles based on the proceedings of the international scientific and practical conference (Saratov, September 28, 2016). (In Russ.). Saratov: Publishing house of the Saratov State Law Academy; 2018. Pp. 9–10. (In Russ.).

3. Radko TN. Teoriya gosudarstva i prava: uchebnik [Theory of state and law: A textbook]. 2nd ed. Moscow: Prospekt Publ.; 2020. (In Russ.).

4. Radko TN, Lazarev VV, Morozova LA. Teoriya gosudarstva i prava: uchebnik dlya bakalavrov [Theory of state and law: A textbook for bachelor programme]. Moscow: Prospekt Publ.; 2018. (In Russ.).

5. Chistyukhin VV. Pravovoe regulirovanie finansovogo kontrolya za deyatelnostyu nekreditnykh finansovykh organizatsiy v Rossiyskoy Federatsii: dis. … kand. yurid. nauk [Legal regulation of financial control over the activities of non-credit financial organizations in the Russian Federation. Cand. Sci. (Law) Thesis]. Moscow; 2022. (In Russ.).

6. Hayes A. What Is Behavioral Finance? Available from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/behavioralfinance.asp [cited 2022 September 1].

7. Kahneman D. Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux;2011. Available from: http://dspace.vnbrims.org:13000/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2224/1/Daniel-Kahneman-Thinking-Fast-and-Slow-.pdf [cited 2022 September 1].

8. Khan AA. Behavioral Approach to Financial Supervision, Regulation, and Central Banking. IMF Working Papers; 2018.

9. Mackay C. Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds. London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, 1852. Available from: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24518/24518-h/24518‑h.htm [cited 2022 September 1].

10. Prosad JM, Kapoor S, Sengupta J. Theory of Behavioral Finance. Handbook of Research on Behavioral Finance and Investment Strategies: Decision Making in the Financial Industry. 2015. Pp. 1–26.