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on Cognitive and Behavioural Economics |
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Issue of 2022‒07‒11
four papers chosen by Marco Novarese Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Nobuyuki Hanaki; Takahiro Hoshino; Kohei Kubota; Fabrice Murtin; Masao Ogaki; Fumio Ohtake; Naoko Okuyama |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the results of an experiment conducted both in the laboratory and online with participants recruited from the same subject pool using the Trustlab platform. This platform has been used to obtain incentivized and internationally comparable behavioral economics measures of altruism, cooperation, reciprocity, trust, and trustworthiness, employing representative samples in many countries. We find little significant difference between the results from sessions conducted in the laboratory and online. While the existing literature shows that the choice between laboratory and online experiments can cause differences in results in some cases, our findings support the hypothesis that they do not cause differences in the behavioral economics measures when using the Trustlab platform. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1168r&r= |
| By: | Yuta Kittaka; Ryo Mikami; Natsumi Shimada |
| Abstract: | While search experiments are available in several designs, growing experimental evidence suggests that individual search behavior depends on design details. We conduct an experiment providing the first categorization and comparison of several search experiment designs widely accepted in search studies. These designs can be categorized as passive, quasi-active, and active, according to the degree of flexibility in decision-making regarding the search. Despite the experiment being based on an identical model, we found significant differences at the aggregate- and individual-level in the results across designs. The average number of searches was the highest and closest to the theoretical value in the active design. Compared with the active design, subjects searched significantly less in the quasiactive and passive designs. The results indicate that the widely accepted design, wherein subjects make decisions based on a given offer rather than choosing among potential alternatives themselves, may have unexpected effects on subjects’ behavior. Furthermore, subjects’ risk aversion has a significant effect only in the passive design, suggesting that out-of-model factors specific to that design may influence behavior through risk preferences. Other methodological implications for search experiments are also provided. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1148r&r= |
| By: | Thomas Epper (IÉSEG School Of Management [Puteaux], LEM - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Management - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur, KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet); Ernst Fehr (KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet); Kristoffer Balle Hvidberg (KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet); Claus Thustrup Kreiner (KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet); Soren Leth-Petersen (KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet); Gregers Nytoft Rasmussen (KU - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet) |
| Abstract: | Understanding who commits crime and why is a key topic in social science and important for the design of crime prevention policy. In theory, people who commit crime face different social and economic incentives for criminal activity than other people, or they evaluate the costs and benefits of crime differently because they have different preferences. Empirical evidence on the role of preferences is scarce. Theoretically, risk-tolerant, impatient, and self-interested people are more prone to commit crime than risk-averse, patient, and altruistic people. We test these predictions with a unique combination of data where we use incentivized experiments to elicit the preferences of young men and link these experimental data to their criminal records. In addition, our data allow us to control extensively for other characteristics such as cognitive skills, socioeconomic background, and self-control problems. We find that preferences are strongly associated with actual criminal behavior. Impatience and, in particular, risk tolerance are still strong predictors when we include the full battery of controls. Crime propensities are 8 to 10 percentage points higher for the most risk-tolerant individuals compared to the most risk averse. This effect is half the size of the effect of cognitive skills, which is known to be a very strong predictor of criminal behavior. Looking into different types of crime, we find that preferences significantly predict property offenses, while self-control problems significantly predict violent, drug, and sexual offenses. |
| Keywords: | crime,risk preference,time preference,self-control,altruism |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03550163&r= |
| By: | Shan, Xiaoyue (University of Pennsylvania); Zölitz, Ulf (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Do the people around us influence our personality? To answer this question, we conduct an experiment with 543 university students who we randomly assign to study groups. Our results show that students become more similar to their peers along several dimensions. Students with more competitive peers become more competitive, students with more open-minded peers become more open-minded, and students with more conscientious peers become more conscientious. We see no significant effects of peers’ extraversion, agreeableness, or neuroticism. To explain these results, we propose a simple model of personality development under the influence of peers. Consistent with the model’s prediction, personality spillovers are concentrated in traits predictive of performance. Students adopt personality traits that are productive in the university context from their peers. Our findings highlight that socialization with peers can influence personality development. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, malleability, personality, experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15257&r= |