Three Different Ways Synchronization Can Cause Contagion in Financial Markets

Naji Massad and Jørgen Vitting Andersen
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Naji Massad: Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, Maison des Sciences Economiques, 106-112 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75647 Paris, CEDEX 13, France
Jørgen Vitting Andersen: Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, Maison des Sciences Economiques, 106-112 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75647 Paris, CEDEX 13, France

Risks, 2018, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: We introduce tools to capture the dynamics of three different pathways, in which the synchronization of human decision-making could lead to turbulent periods and contagion phenomena in financial markets. The first pathway is caused when stock market indices, seen as a set of coupled integrate-and-fire oscillators, synchronize in frequency. The integrate-and-fire dynamics happens due to “change blindness”, a trait in human decision-making where people have the tendency to ignore small changes, but take action when a large change happens. The second pathway happens due to feedback mechanisms between market performance and the use of certain (decoupled) trading strategies. The third pathway occurs through the effects of communication and its impact on human decision-making. A model is introduced in which financial market performance has an impact on decision-making through communication between people. Conversely, the sentiment created via communication has an impact on financial market performance. The methodologies used are: agent based modeling, models of integrate-and-fire oscillators, and communication models of human decision-making.

Keywords: synchronization; human decision making; decoupling; opinion formation; agent-based modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C G0 G1 G2 G3 K2 M2 M4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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