Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/57775 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Discussion Papers No. 2012-20
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel
Abstract: 
This article explores the influence of competitive conditions on the evolutionary fitness of risk preferences, using the professional competition between fund managers as a practical example. To explore how different settings of competition parameters, the exclusion rate and the exclusion interval, affect individual investment behavior, an evolutionary model is developed. Using a simple genetic algorithm, two attributes of virtual fund managers evolve: the amount of capital they invest in risky assets and the amount of excessive risk they accept, where a positive value of the latter parameter indicates an inefficient investment portfolio. The simulation experiments illustrate that the influence of competitive conditions on investment behavior and attitudes towards risk is significant. What is alarming is that intense competitive pressure generates risk-seeking behavior and diminishes the predominance of the most skilled. Under these conditions, evolution does not necessarily select managers with efficient portfolios. These results underline the institutional need to create a competitive framework that will not allow risk-taking to constitute an evolutionary advantage per se.
Subjects: 
Risk preferences
competition
genetic programming
fund managers
portfolio theory
JEL: 
C73
D81
G11
G24
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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