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on Neuroeconomics |
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Issue of 2013‒03‒09
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Giovanna Devetag; Sibilla Di Guida; Luca Polonio |
| Abstract: | We analyze subjects' eye movements while they make decisions in a series of one-shot games. The majority of them perform a partial and selective analysis of the payoff matrix, often ignoring the payoffs of the opponent and/or paying attention only to specific cells. Our results suggest that subjects apply boundedly rational decision heuristics that involve best responding to a simplification of the decision problem, obtained either by ignoring the other players' motivations or by considering them only for a subset of outcomes. Finally, we find a correlation between types of eye movements observed and choices in the games. |
| Keywords: | one-shot games, eye-tracking, similarity, categorization, focal points, individual behavior, experimental economics, behavioral economics |
| Date: | 2013–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2013/05&r=neu |
| By: | Pablo Branas-Garza (Business School, Middlesex University London, London, UK and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Jaromir Kovarik (Dpto. Fundamentos Analisis Economico I & BRiDGE, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain); Levent Neyse (GLOBE: Department of Economics, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Gene-culture co-evolution emphasizes the joint role of culture and genes for the emergence of altruistic and cooperative behaviors and behavioral genetics provides estimates of their relative importance. However, these approaches cannot assess which biological traits determine altruism or how. We analyze the association between altruism in adults and the exposure to prenatal sex hormones, using the second-to-fourth digit ratio. We find an inverted U-shaped relation for left and right hands, which is very consistent for men and less systematic for women. Subjects with both high and low digit ratios give less than individuals with intermediate digit ratios. We repeat the exercise with the same subjects seven months later and find a similar association, even though subjects' behavior differs the second time they play the game. We then construct proxies of the median digit ratio in the population (using more than 1000 different subjects), show that subjects' altruism decreases with the distance of their ratio to these proxies. These results provide direct evidence that prenatal events contribute to the variation of altruistic behavior and that the exposure to fetal hormones is one of the relevant biological factors. In addition, the findings suggest that there might be an optimal level of exposure to these hormones from social perspective. |
| Keywords: | Altruism, Prosociality, Prenatal Sex Hormones, Digit Ratio, Genoeconomics |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:13-09&r=neu |
| By: | Maria De Paola; Francesca Gioia; Vincenzo Scoppa (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Statistiche e Finanziarie, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | We analyze how overconfidence is affected by superstitious beliefs and emotions induced by positive and negative stimuli in a field experiment involving about 700 Italian students who were randomly assigned to numbered seats in their written examination sessions. According to widespread superstitions, some numbers are considered lucky, while others are considered unlucky. At the end of the examination, we asked students the grade they expected to get. We find that students tend to be systematically overconfident and that their overconfidence is positively affected by being assigned to a lucky number. Interestingly, males and females react differently: on the one hand, females tend to expect lower grades when assigned to unlucky numbers, while they are not affected by being assigned to lucky numbers. On the other hand, males are not affected by being assigned to unlucky numbers but expect higher grades when assigned to lucky numbers. |
| Keywords: | Expectations, Grade, Overconfidence, Emotions, Superstition |
| JEL: | D01 D83 D03 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201303&r=neu |
| By: | Maria De Paola; Francesca Gioia (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Statistiche e Finanziarie, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | In a simple theoretical model we show that impatience affects academic performance through two different channels: impatient students spend less effort in studying activities and set less ambitious objectives in terms of grades at exams. As a consequence, the relationship between impatience and academic success may vary according to how performance is measured. Using data from a sample of Italian undergraduate students, we find a strong negative relationship between impatience and both the average grade at exams and the probability of graduating with honours. Conversely, a negative but not statistically significant correlation emerges between time preferences and both the number of credits earned in the three years following enrolment and the probability of timely graduation. Our findings are robust to alternative measures of impatience and controlling for family background characteristics, for cognitive abilities and for risk preferences. |
| Keywords: | Time preferences, impatience, human capital, academic success |
| JEL: | I20 D03 D91 J01 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201302&r=neu |