1   Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

2   Markowitz, H. (1952). Portfolio Selection. The Journal of Finance, 7(1), 77–91.

3   Fama, E. F. (1970). Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work. The Journal of Finance, 25(2), 383–417.

4   Ross, S. A. (1976). The Arbitrage Theory of Capital Asset Pricing. Journal of Economic Theory, 13(3), 341–360.

5   Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291. Extended: Tversky & Kahneman (1992), Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 5, 297–323.

For accessible explainers between classes, Investopedia and the CFA Institute’s Level I curriculum cover each of these theories in plain language.

Last modified: Sunday, 16 August 2026, 8:20 PM