Managerial Overconfidence and Education - Insights from Dual Process Theory

Master’s Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,3, University of Mannheim, course: Business economics, language: English, abstract: Based on data from German DAX-CEOs in this thesis it is argued, that in different fields of education individuals acquire different mind-sets which influence their proneness to overconfidence. Using the framework of dual process reasoning it is proposed that education in quantitative fields, such as mathematics or physics, hampers overconfidence while individuals educated in qualitative fields, such as law or the humanities, become more prone to overconfidence.