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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Taisuke Imai (Osaka University, CESifo); Klaus Schmidt (LMU Munich, CESifo) |
| Abstract: | Loss aversion postulates that people prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains of equal size. It is a central part of prospect theory and, according to Daniel Kahneman, “the most significant contribution of psychology to behavioral economics” (Kahneman, 2011, p. 300). It has powerful implications for decision theory and has been fruitfully applied in many subfields of economics. However, because the reference point is often not well defined and loss aversion interacts with other behavioral biases, there is some controversy about the concept. |
| Keywords: | loss aversion; reference point; prospect theory; endowment effect; decision theory; risk; |
| Date: | 2023–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:461&r=evo |
| By: | Zhang, Peng; Estrin, Saul; Mickiewicz, Tomasz marek |
| Abstract: | Informal businesses, ubiquitous in developing countries, operate on the fringes of the (often ineffective) state, and are instead influenced by informal institutions. This paper applies a cultural anthropology perspective to provide explanations on the origins and dynamics of informal institutions and their effects on informal business performance. We posit that informal institutions originate from the traditions embedded in family systems, and we consider endogamy - the practice of marrying within a specific social group or local community - as a key dimension of family traditions relevant for performance of informal entrepreneurs. First, endogamy can make bridging trust more difficult to establish, limiting wider market opportunities for informal businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa and lowering their performance. Second, the evolution of informal institutions can be driven by external cultural interventions that are antipathetic to the pre-existing family systems. For example, the effect of endogamy might be attenuated by specific experiences of Africa’s colonial past, especially if the colonial powers were characterised by individualistic cultures. Our hypotheses are supported by the empirical analysis based on surveys of informal entrepreneurs in multiple regions of eight African countries. |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2022–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120862&r=evo |
| By: | Hay, James; Routledge, Isobel; Takahashi, Saki |
| Abstract: | The availability and diversity of serological data measuring antibody responses to infectious pathogens, accelerated in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, has enabled key insights into infectious disease dynamics and population health. Here, we present a review of analytical approaches and considerations for inference using serological data, highlighting the range of epidemiological and biological insights that are possible using appropriate mathematical and statistical models. This in-depth review focuses on methods to understand transmission dynamics and infer past exposures from serological data, referred to as serodynamics, though we note that such analyses often address complementary immunological questions. We first discuss key considerations for data processing and interpretation of raw serological data which are prerequisite for fitting serodynamical models. We then review a range of approaches for estimating epidemiological trends, ranging from classical serocatalytic models applied to binary serostatus data, to contemporary methods using full quantitative antibody measurements and immunological understanding to estimate if and when individuals have been previously infected. Here, we collate and synthesize these approaches within the context of a unifying framework for the overall data-generation process, consisting of key concepts including antibody kinetics, quantitative models to represent within-host and epidemic processes, and considerations for linking observed serological data to models. We close with a discussion of the types of methodological developments needed to meet the increasingly complex serological data becoming available that provide new avenues for scientific discovery and public health insights. |
| Date: | 2023–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:kqdsn&r=evo |
| By: | Bernold, Elizabeth; Gsottbauer, Elisabeth; Ackermann, Kurt A.; Murphy, Ryan |
| Abstract: | Past experiments show systematic differences in contributions to public goods under various framing conditions. Several explanations of these differences have been presented. Some suggest that social frames affect subjects' preferences, while others suggest that framing changes subjects' beliefs about others, and thus in turn affects behavior. In this paper, we test the effect of framing on the level of contributions in a series of public goods games designed to separate the impact of preferences from beliefs in shaping cooperative decisions. This is achieved by implementing a social value orientation measure to elicit social preferences from decision makers, which are then analyzed in concert with reported beliefs about others’ cooperation and own contribution decisions from the linear public goods games. While we find mixed results on framing effects, our study demonstrates that preferences and beliefs are significant predictors of cooperation. Furthermore, the degree to which they influence cooperation is either strengthened or weakened by framing. |
| Keywords: | cooperation; framing; public good game; social value orientation (svo); beliefs; 100014 143199/1 |
| JEL: | M40 J1 |
| Date: | 2023–06–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:119353&r=evo |
| By: | Fabian Kosse; Ranjita Rajan; Michela Tincani; Michela Maria Tincani |
| Abstract: | We present the first causal evidence on the persistent impact of enduring competition on prosociality. Inspired by the literature on tournaments within firms, which shows that competitive compensation schemes reduce cooperation in the short-run, we explore if enduring exposure to a competitive environment persistently attenuates prosociality. Based on a large-scale randomized intervention in the education context, we find lower levels of prosociality for students who just experienced a 2-year competition period. 4-year follow-up data indicate that the effect persists and generalizes, suggesting a change in traits and not only in behavior. |
| Keywords: | prosociality, competition, cooperation, social skills, socio-emotional skills, tournaments, comparative pay, incentive schemes |
| JEL: | D64 C90 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10779&r=evo |