MatRiX

MatRiX is the faculty’s laboratory for running experiments related to financial markets and risk. In MatRiX, we simulate trading activities in financial markets using realistic financial data in order to analyse behaviour in stress and decision situations.

Typically, test persons are given select financial data and must react to it as they see fit. Following the experiment, researchers then critically examine test persons’ decision-making behaviour and the consequences it produced. These simulations aren’t aimed at merely analysing the quantitative decisions of test persons, but also to look at what motivates a particular decision – to explore the “origins” of a decision – as well as to examine the reactions themselves in relation to specific scenarios. By quantifying test persons’ behaviour in stressful or decision-making situations, we can attempt to develop new algorithms to predict future behaviour.

Experimental research in MatRiX is a multifaceted interweaving of economic sciences and behavioural research, which reflects the interdisciplinary philosophy of the Faculty of Society and Economics as a whole.