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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Danyang Jia (School of Cybersecurity, Northwestern Polytechnical University and School of Artificial Intelligence, OPtics and ElectroNics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, CHINA); Ivan Romic (School of Artificial Intelligence, OPtics and ElectroNics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, CHINA, Center for Computational Social Science, Kobe University, and Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, JAPAN); Lei Shi (School of Statistics and Mathematics, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, CHINA); Qi Su (Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Key Laboratory of System Control and Information Processing, Ministry of Education of China, and Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Intelligent Control and Management, CHINA); Chen Liu (School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, CHINA); Jinzhuo Liu (School of Software, Yunnan University, CHINA); Petter Holme (Center for Computational Social Science, Kobe University, JANPAN and Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, FINLAND); Xuelong Li (School of Cybersecurity, Northwestern Polytechnical University and School of Artificial Intelligence, OPtics and ElectroNics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, CHINA); Zhen Wang (School of Cybersecurity, Northwestern Polytechnical University and School of Artificial Intelligence, OPtics and ElectroNics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, CHINA) |
| Abstract: | The awareness of individuals regarding their social network surroundings and their capacity to use social connections to their advantage are well-established human characteristics. Economic games, incorporated with network science, are frequently used to examine social behaviour. Traditionally, such game models and experiments artificially limit players' abilities to take varied actions toward distinct social neighbours (i.e., to operate their social networks). We designed an experimental paradigm that alters the degree of social network agency to interact with individual neighbours, and applied it to the prisoner's dilemma (N = 735), trust game (N = 735), and ultimatum game (N = 735) to investigate cooperation, trust, and fairness. The freedom to interact led to more prosocial behaviour across all three economic games and resulted in higher wealth and lower inequality compared to controls without such freedom. These findings suggest that human behaviour is more prosocial than current science indicates. |
| Keywords: | Behavioural science; Networks; Cooperation; Prosociality |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2023-11&r= |
| By: | Ayato Kitadai; Sinndy Dayana Rico Lugo; Yudai Tsurusaki; Yusuke Fukasawa; Nariaki Nishino |
| Abstract: | Economic experiments offer a controlled setting for researchers to observe human decision-making and test diverse theories and hypotheses; however, substantial costs and efforts are incurred to gather many individuals as experimental participants. To address this, with the development of large language models (LLMs), some researchers have recently attempted to develop simulated economic experiments using LLMs-driven agents, called generative agents. If generative agents can replicate human-like decision-making in economic experiments, the cost problem of economic experiments can be alleviated. However, such a simulation framework has not been yet established. Considering the previous research and the current evolutionary stage of LLMs, this study focuses on the reasoning ability of generative agents as a key factor toward establishing a framework for such a new methodology. A multi-agent simulation, designed to improve the reasoning ability of generative agents through prompting methods, was developed to reproduce the result of an actual economic experiment on the ultimatum game. The results demonstrated that the higher the reasoning ability of the agents, the closer the results were to the theoretical solution than to the real experimental result. The results also suggest that setting the personas of the generative agents may be important for reproducing the results of real economic experiments. These findings are valuable for the future definition of a framework for replacing human participants with generative agents in economic experiments when LLMs are further developed. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.11426&r= |
| By: | Paul Heidhues (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf & DICE); Botond Kőszegi (University of Bonn); Philipp Strack (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | We model an agent who stubbornly underestimates how much his behavior is driven by undesirable motives, and, attributing his behavior to other considerations, updates his views about those considerations. We study general properties of the model, and then apply the framework to identify novel implications of partially naive present bias. In many stable situations, the agent appears realistic in that he eventually predicts his behavior well. His unrealistic self-view does, however, manifest itself in several other ways. First, in basic settings he always comes to act in a more present-biased manner than a sophisticated agent. Second, he systematically mispredicts how he will react when circumstances change, such as when incentives for forwardlooking behavior increase or he is placed in a new, ex-ante identical environment. Third, even for physically non-addictive products, he follows empirically realistic addiction-like consumption dynamics that he does not anticipate. Fourth, he holds beliefs that — when compared to those of other agents — display puzzling correlations between logically unrelated issues. Our model implies that existing empirical tests of sophistication in intertemporal choice can reach incorrect conclusions. Indeed, we argue that some previous findings are more consistent with our model than with a model of correctly specified learningsophistication in intertemporal choice can reach incorrect conclusions. Indeed, we argue that some previous findings are more consistent with our model than with a model of correctly specified learning. |
| Keywords: | Present bias, naivete, sophistication, misspecified learning, apparent sophistication, implicit bias, prejudice |
| JEL: | D91 D83 D11 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:317&r= |
| By: | Hiroki Saruya; Masayuki Yagasaki |
| Abstract: | Social norms are an important determinant of behavior, but the behavioral and welfare effects of norms are not well understood. We propose and axiomatize a decision-theoretic model in which a reference point is formed by the decision maker's perceptions of which actions are admired (prescriptive norms) and which are prevalent (descriptive norms), and utility depends on the pride of exceeding the reference point or the shame of falling below it. The model is simple, yet provides a unified explanation for previous empirical findings, and is useful for welfare analysis of norm-evoking policies with a revealed preference approach. |
| Date: | 2024–06–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:50&r= |
| By: | Adam, Ammaarah; Ades, Raphael; Banks, William; Benning, Canbeck; Grant, Gwyneth; Forster-Brass, Harry; McGiveron, Owen; Miller, Joseph; Phelan, Daniel; Randazzo, Sebastian; Reilly, Matthew; Scott, Michael W.; Serban, Sebastian; Stockton, Carys; Wallis, Patrick |
| Abstract: | How was trust created and reinforced between the inhabitants of medieval and early modern cities? And how did the social foundations of trusting relationships change over time? Current research highlights the role of kinship, neighbourhood and associations, particularly guilds, in creating ‘relationships of trust’ and social capital in the face of high levels of migration, mortality and economic volatility, but tells us little about their relative importance or how they developed. We uncover a profound shift in the contribution of family and guilds to trust networks among the middling and elite of one of Europe’s major cities, London, over three centuries, from the 1330s to the 1680s. We examine almost 15, 000 networks of sureties created to secure orphans’ inheritances to measure the presence of trusting relationships connected by guild membership, family and place. We uncover a profound increase in the role of kinship – a re-embedding of trust within the family - and a decline of the importance of shared guild membership in connecting Londoner’s who secured orphans’ inheritances together. These developments indicate a profound transformation in the social fabric of urban society. |
| Keywords: | CUP deal |
| JEL: | N00 |
| Date: | 2024–05–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:122876&r= |
| By: | Iyer, Lakshmi (University of Notre Dame); Weir, Coleson (University of Notre Dame) |
| Abstract: | Using updated data, we analyze the long-run effects of two British colonial institutions established in India. Iyer (2010) showed that areas under direct colonial rule had fewer schools, health centers, and roads than areas under indirect colonial rule. Two decades later, we find that these differences have been eliminated. Banerjee and Iyer (2005) found lower agricultural investments and productivity in areas with landlord-based colonial land tenure systems. Our updated data finds that only some of these differences have been eliminated. We conclude that the impact of colonial institutions can eventually fade away under the influence of targeted policies. |
| Keywords: | historical institutions, colonial rule, land tenure, agriculture, public goods, India |
| JEL: | P14 N45 O12 O13 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17051&r= |