Determinants of the choice of tangible fi xed assets , depending on the type of activity

Behavioural economics is the research stream, which repeals the neoclassical assumption of full rationality of decisions. Incomplete rationality may appear particularly in conditions of high uncertainty, and this is precisely when the majority of investment decisions are made. < e paper analyses the possibility of two heuristics: availability and aff ect. < e aim of this paper is to check whether behavioural eff ects may be noticeable in the behaviour of entrepreneurs, depending on whether the company is engaged in manufacturing, trade, services, or construction. Applied research methods: analysis of existing empirical studies of the subject and statistical analysis of responses to a survey by the decision-makers responsible for investments. Analysis of the survey data indicates that the phenomenon of incomplete rationality (understood as making decisions based on incomplete information) occurs regardless of the sector in which the business is engaged – entrepreneurs are prone to behavioural eff ects to the same extent.


INTRODUCTION
Models of neoclassical economic theory assume that decisions are fully rational.Behavioural economics is the research stream, which repeals the neoclassical assumption of full rationality of decisions.Incomplete rationality may appear particularly in conditions of high uncertainty, and this is precisely when the majority of investment decisions are made, which may aff ect entrepreneurs' distant future.
Among the eff ects that have been observed by researchers of behavioural economics two can be recalled, which specifi cally may be related to investment activities: the availability and the aff ect heuristics.ese effects may be particularly important in investment decisions undertaken by entrepreneurs.e occurrence of these eff ects would suggest deciding and choosing certain options not on the basis of the analyses and in accordance with the economic calculations, but often on impulse, subconscious knowledge of the brand of fi xed asset.e aim of this paper is to check whether the behavioural eff ects maybe noticeable in the behaviour of entrepreneurs.e research was conducted using a questionnaire survey.Dividing enterprises in sectors of manufacturing, trade, services and construction enabled the analysis of the impact of uncertainty on occurrence of behavioural eff ects in these specifi c types of activities.e research hypothesis states that the disposition to the occurrence of behavioural eff ects of the availability and aff ect in connection with the purchase of capital goods, varies depending on the type of activity.
Applied research methods: analysis of earlier empirical studies oft he subject and statistical analysis of responses to a survey by the decision-makers responsible for investment decisions.

LITERATURE REVIEW
e neoclassical theory of the fi rm contains models of the fi rm in conditions of certainty.However, in economic reality it is necessary to cope with uncertainty and decision-making under risk.erefore there is a necessity to use the model allowing analysis of the decisions taken in under risk situations.Von Neumann and Morgenstern's theory of expected utility from 1944 became such a model.Empirical studies conducted after the publication of " eory of Games and Economic Behavior" showed that the theory of expected utility often cannot be used to explain the behaviour of people who systematically violate the assumptions of the model and their behaviour diff ers from the results indicated by the model.Among the examples of theories, which were to improve the expected utility model the following can be mentioned: the weighted utility theory (Chew and MacCrimmon, 1979;Chew, 1983) , implicit theory of expected utility (Dekel, 1986;Chew, 1989) , or the theory of regret (Bell, 1982;Loomes and Sugden, 1982).It was not until the Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory was considered a breakthrough in the model analysis of decisionmaking under risk (Kahneman, Tversky, 1979).
Among the eff ects that have been observed by researchers from the stream of behavioural economics two can be recalled, which in particular may be associated with investment activities.
e fi rst eff ect is the availability heuristic.Based on the availability heuristic, it can be assumed that the probability of an event with which a person dealt with in the past or that aff ected someone's immediate friends, would be overestimated.On the other hand, the probability of the event about which no one discuss will be underestimated (Fischhoff , Slovic and Lichtenstein (1978)).e occurrence of this eff ect may infl uence the purchase of specifi c fi xed assets.Decision-makers, rather than prepare a detailed analysis of the benefi ts and risks associated with the purchase of the asset can be guided by the opinions of friends, so this way of doing business could lead to sub-optimal economic performance.
e second eff ect, which may be associated with investment activity is the aff ect heuristics that occurs when someone has to make a decision in a short time and does not have time for a detailed analysis, so the decision-maker is guided by a single characteristic of an object (Zielonka, 2008, p 63).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To obtain information, whether decision-makers may be liable to the availability heuristic, they were asked a question to verify whether the respondents when deciding to purchase the asset are guided only by brand and reputation, or check a product's parameters.e third option was a choice based on the price of the product, regardless of brand awareness and parameters.e analyses assumed that the fi rst response indicates the presence of the availability heuristic (appendix).
To obtain information, whether decision-makers may be liable to the aff ect heuristic, they were asked a question about the circumstances of the decision-making for the asset purchase: whether they carefully consider all the features of the product, or -so as not to waste time they are guided by the overall assessment, or -make a decision on the basis of one key feature (appendix).e analyses assumed that the fi rst response indicates the lack of the aff ect heuristics.
e survey was conducted by the Millward Brown SMG/KRC in July 2013 on a sample of 400 middle and senior level managers, responsible for the investment decisions.e method used was CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview). Due to the highly skewed distribution of the number of companies it was used a random-stratifi ed allocation evenly allocated between the layers divided because of the size of enterprises (number of employees).For the research sample were qualifi ed business units, which employ at least two people, so the research sample includes: micro (employing from 2 to 9 people), small, medium and large enterprises.

HEURISTICS IN INVESTMENT DECISIONS
e research was designed to test whether the investment decision-makers may be liable to behavioural eff ects, indicating incomplete rationality of decisions, particularly the availability and aff ect heuristics.
To obtain information whether decision-makers are liable to the availability heuristic respondents were asked a question to verify whether the respondents when deciding to purchase the asset consider brand and reputation of the product, the producer's parameters, or only consider the price (appendix).
e results for the manufacturing sector indicate that 36% of decision-makers are guided by how wellknown the brand is, 39% choose the product with the best performance according to the manufacturer's catalogue, and 18% are directed primarily by the price (fi gure 1).In the case of sector of services 30% of decision-makers are guided by how well-known the brand is, 46% choose the product with the best performance according to the manufacturer's catalogue, and 16% are directed primarily by the price (fi gure 2).In the case of trade 29% of decision-makers are guided by how well-known the brand is, 47% choose the product with the best performance according to the manufacturer's catalogue, and 20% are directed primarily by the price (fi gure 3).
In the case of the construction sector 28% of decision-makers are guided by how well-known the brand is, 42% choose the product with the best performance according to the manufacturer's catalogue, and 21% are directed primarily by the price (fi gure 4).In this research, it was assumed that the response indicating that a decision-maker is guided by how well-known the brand is and reputation of the asset means that the availability heuristic could occur.e study indicates that it may aff ect 36% of decision-makers in the manufacturing sector, 30% of decisionmakers in the services sector, 29% of decision makers from the trade sector and 28% of decision-makers in the construction sector (fi gures 1-4).
To obtain information whether decision-makers are liable to the aff ect heuristic respondents were asked a question about the detailed considerations prior to the purchase of an asset: if they carefully consider the importance of all the features of the product, or -so as not to waste time they are guided by the overall assessment, or -make a decision on the basis of one key features.
e results for the manufacturing sector indicates that 80% of decision makers consider in detail the importance of all the characteristics of the asset purchased, 9% decide based on one key trait, and 9% use the general impression (fi gure 5).In the case of services 74% of decision-makers consider in detail the importance of all the characteristics of the asset purchased, 8% decide based on one key trait, and 15% are guided by the overall impression (fi gure 6).In the case of the construction sector 67% of decision-makers consider in detail the importance of all the characteristics of the asset purchased, choices of 11% are based on one key trait and 18% follow the general impression (fi gure 7).
In the case of trade 65% of decision makers consider in detail the importance of all the characteristics of the asset purchased, choices of 10% are based on one key trait, and 22% based on the general impression (fi gure 8).
In this study, it was assumed that the response indicating the detailed consideration of all the characteristics of the purchased asset, means that the aff ect heuristics does not occur.e study indicates that it may cover one fi fth of the decision-makers in the manufacturing sector (20%), 26% of decision-makers in the services sector, 33% of decision-makers in the construction sector and more than one third of the decisionmakers in the trade sector (35%) (fi gures 5-8).e above presented survey results show an overall picture of responses of decision-makers, which shows the possibility of the occurrence of behavioural eff ects in diff erent sectors of economic activity.To determine whether there is a relationship between the possibility of the occurrence of the behavioural eff ects and the type of business Chi2 test of independence was used.
Table 1 presents the results of calculations Chi2 statistics for responses indicating the possibility of behavioural eff ects, where co-occurring variable is the type of business.Chi2 independence tests show that there is no relationship between the type of activity and the possibility of occurrence of behavioural eff ects: availability and aff ect. is means that despite the diff erences visible in the fi gures, there is no diff erence between the types of activities and eff ects are irrespective of the business sector -entrepreneurs are prone to behavioural eff ects to the same extent.

CONCLUSION
Analysis of the responses to the survey by decision-makers responsible in enterprises for investment decisions indicates that there is a possibility of occurrence of some behavioural eff ects when making investment decisions.e answers indicate that about one-third of businesses may be prone to the occurrence of the availability and aff ect heuristics. is may indicate that decisions are made without taking into account all available information, which can be attributed to the absence of the rationality of the decision-maker, that can be seen in

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Results of the survey in the sector of manufacturing in respect to the availability heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Results of the survey in the sector of services in respect to the availability heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Results of the survey in the sector of trade in respect to the availability heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Results of the survey in the sector of construction in respect to the availability heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Results of the survey in the sector of manufacturing in respect to the aff ect heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Results of the survey in the sector of services in respect to the aff ect heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 7 .
Figure 7. Results of the survey in the sector of construction in respect to the aff ect heuristic Source: own compilation.

Figure 8 .
Figure 8. Results of the survey in the sector of trade in respect to the aff ect heuristic Source: own compilation.

Table 1
Chi2 independence test for the possibility of the behavioural eff ects depending on a type of activity (Critical Chi2 = 7.815)