Decoding Social Influence and the Wisdom of the Crowd in Financial Trading Network

In this paper, we study roles of social mechanisms in a financial system. Our data come from a novel on-line foreign exchange trading brokerage for individual investors, which also allows investors to form social network ties between each other and copy others' trades. From the dataset, we analyze the dynamics of this connected social influence systems in decision making processes. We discover that generally social trades outperform individual trades, but the social reputation of the top traders is not completely determined by their performance due to social feedback even when users are betting their own money. We also find that social influence plays a significant role in users' trades, especially decisions during periods of uncertainty. We report evidences suggesting that the dynamics of social influence contribute to market overreaction

Relational Embeddedness, Herding, and Tie Persistence

Recent studies on social network structures have focused on tie persistence as a distinct outcome in a tie life cycle. Tie persistence refers to continuity of a network tie across at least two consecutive time periods. We contribute to this body of knowledge by empirically comparing the influence of relational embeddedness and herding on tie persistence. We find that while both the mechanisms increase the likelihood of tie persistence, their co-presence creates a substitution effect. We find that individuals prefer to rely on relational embeddedness of a tie than following the crowd. Lastly, we also demonstrate the distinctiveness of tie persistence from other tie-related outcome by estimating the same effects for tie restoration. We discuss the implications of our findings for literature on social ties

Social Physics : uma nova perspectiva para o uso da tecnologia na ciência psicológica

O avanço tecnológico traz novas possibilidades para se fazer Ciência. Através dos dispositivos tecnológicos atuais é possível coletar uma imensidade de dados a custos bastante reduzidos, se comparado com o método tradicional de coleta. O grande volume de dados gerados pelas novas formas de coleta permite análises mais complexas e estruturais. O presente estudo apresenta novas perspectivas para a pesquisa e aplicação da Psicologia a partir de Social Physics. Com esse novo campo da Ciência surge a necessidade de explicar sua perspectiva e introduzir seu léxico, para então relacionar essa área com a Psicologia e exemplificar alguns usos já existentes neste sentido. Dessa forma, restará demonstrada a atualidade do tema e a importância de não considerar essas utilizações da tecnologia como opções para um futuro distante

Effects of Personality on Trading Performance in Social Trading Platforms

Social trading platforms offer opportunities for amateur investors to copy professional traders’ behavior. However, past studies on behavioral finance have largely neglected the role of personality in shaping traders’ behavior. To this end, we aim to scrutinize the effects of leader traders’ personality on their trading behaviors and subsequent performance on social trading platforms. Particularly, we employ the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality classification scheme to delineate leader traders’ personality into the four dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion (E-I), Sensing-Intuition (S-N), Thinking-Feeling (T-F), and Judging-Perceiving (J-P). Next, we draw on machine learning techniques to advance a novel text-based approach for extracting the personality dimensions of leader traders automatically. Analytical results attest to the impact of personality dimensions on trading behavior and that of trading behavior on performance. Findings from this study yield insights for both social trading platforms and followers by identifying profitable leader traders based on their personality

Effects of Personality on Social Performance in Social Trading

On social trading platforms, the income of leader traders is largely dictated by the number of copy trades conducted by their followers. Consequently, it is imperative for leader traders to exhibit appealing personalities to entice their followers to conduct copy trades. Drawing on social capital theory, we endeavor to scrutinize the effects of traders’ personalities on the accumulation of social capital, which in turn bolsters social performance as measured by the number of copy trades. Data was extracted from a leading social trading platform. The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator personality classification system was then employed to depict leader traders’ personalities based on a novel text-based, machine learning approach. Preliminary analytical results reveal significant relationships among personality traits, social capital dimensions, and social performance. Findings from this study generate insights for social trading platforms and leader traders on exhibiting desirable personalities conducive for accumulating social capital that entice followers to conduct copy trades

Power of Networks and Peer Pressure: An analysis of Slum Sanitation Program in Mumbai

With the advent of the “Clean India” campaign in India, a renewed focus on cleanliness has started, with a special focus on sanitation. There have been efforts in the past to provide sanitation related services. However, there were several challenges in provisioning. Provision of sanitation is a public health imperative given increased instances of antimicrobial resistance in India. This paper focuses on sanitation provisioning in the city of Mumbai, especially in the slums of Mumbai. The paper compares and contrasts different models of sanitation provision including supply-led provisioning of sanitation by the Indian government to demand-led provisioning of sanitation through a World Bank funded “Slum Sanitation Program” (SSP). The paper also outlines a comparative perspective on the implementation and usage of toilet blocks. The author presents the theory of social networks and positive peer pressure and argues that these will amplify the effect of other incentives. With the help of an illustration, this paper concludes that the sustainable sanitation policy should look at facilitating and creating the infrastructure as a network and not strictly at building toilet block