Role of COHORT

COHORT (composite human robots) in the financial markets

The research project “The Effect of Machines on Man: An experimental study – COHORT“, led by Debrah Meloso, a research professor at the Finance, Economics and Econometrics laboratory, received a prestigious grant from the Banque de France Foundation for research in monetary, financial and banking economics. The research focuses on the role of COHORT (composite human robots) in the financial markets.

Context and purpose of the research

Algorithms are ubiquitous in today’s financial markets. Initially, their growth was related to their speed (high frequency traders). But lately intelligent algorithms named “quants” take over. The quants can be very independent: the human who deploys them yields to the quants the learning, the decisions and sometimes the very functioning of the quants. How far are humans willing to delegate? Up to what level will the quants be deployed? Are markets managed by quants easier to attack by predatory robots? This research project addresses these and other issues in COHORT by developing theories based on the results of financial laboratory experiments. The international research team is composed of:

• Elena Asparouhova, University of Utah
• Debrah Meloso, TBS
• Christine Parlor, University of California Berkeley
• Wenhao Yang, University of South Carolina

The grant will finance experiments and tests in financial laboratory. Some of these tests will be organized in Toulouse, allowing the participation of students and the TBS community. This project is scheduled from June 2019 to October 2020.

Contact : d.meloso@tbs-education.fr