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on Neuroeconomics |
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Issue of 2013‒12‒06
three papers chosen by |
| By: | De Paola, Maria (University of Calabria); Gioia, Francesca (University of Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Time preferences can affect divorce probability both affecting the quality of the match and affecting the spouses' reactions to negative shocks. We analyze the relationship between time preferences and divorce decisions using data from the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth, which provides a measure of time preferences based on a hypothetical financial situation in which individuals have to decide how much money to give up in order to receive a certain amount of money today instead of in one year's time. Controlling for a number of individual and family characteristics, we find that an increase in impatience of one standard deviation increases the probability of experiencing divorce by almost one percentage point. Our results are not affected by reverse causality problems and are robust when controlling for individual risk attitudes. We also find that more risk averse individuals are less likely to experience divorce. |
| Keywords: | divorce, time preferences, impatience, risk aversion |
| JEL: | I20 D03 D91 J01 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7769&r=neu |
| By: | J. A. Munoz-Reyes (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile) M. Pita (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) M. Arjona (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), S. Sanchez-Pages (University of Edinburgh), E. Turiegano (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The present paper analyzes the extent to which attractiveness-related variables affect cooperative behavior in women. Cooperativeness is evaluated through a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (PDG). We consider several morphometric variables related to attractiveness: Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA), Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR), Body Mass Index (BMI) and Facial Femininity (FF). These variables have been shown to predict human behavior. We also include as a control variable a score for Self-Perceived Attractiveness (SPA). We test differences in these variables according to behavior in the PDG. Our results reveal that low FA women cooperate less frequently in the PDG. We also find that women with lower WHR are more cooperative. This result contradicts the expected relation between WHR and behavior in the PDG. We show that this effect of WHR on cooperation operates through its influence on the expectation that participants hold on the cooperative intent of their counterpart. In addition, we show that the effect of attractive features on cooperation occurs independently of the participants’ perception of their own appeal. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of the evolution of cooperative behavior and under the hypothesis that attractiveness is a reliable indicator of phenotypic quality. |
| Keywords: | Cooperation; Attractiveness; Fluctuating asymmetry; Waist-hip ratio; Body Mass Index; Facial Femininity. |
| Date: | 2013–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:esedps:234&r=neu |
| By: | Ángeles Sánchez-Domínguez (Departament of Applied Economics, University of Granada, Spain.); Maria J. (Department of Foundations of Economic Analysis. Universitat Jaume I, Spain.) |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs an index that synthesizes the eight targets of the EU 2020 Strategy into a one-dimensional target –EU 2020 synthetic target- and the situation of each EU28 Member States (the current 27 Members plus Croatia) in 2011 with respect to them –2011 synthetic situation-. Hence we can measure the distance of each EU Member State synthetic situation in 2011 to the EU 2020 synthetic target. We find that none of the Member States meets the EU 2020 synthetic target, Denmark is the closest and Malta is the furthest to it. In fact we could identify clusters of Member States in terms of the distances to the EU 2020 synthetic target: the North EU region is closer to and the Mediterranean region is further away from it. We extent the distance analysis above by adding three inequality targets -income distribution, female employment and child poverty- and find that all of the Member States increase their distance between their 2011 synthetic inequality-extended situation and the 2020 inequality-extended targeted situation. Finally, we want to analyse each Member State’s relationship between its objective position regarding the EU 2020 synthetic target and its life satisfaction level, inhabitants’ subjective position. Through a multivariate regression methodology, we analyse how much of the total effect of the synthetic index on life satisfaction is direct, and how much is mediated. The mediation analysis shows that a substantial part of the effect of the synthetic index on life satisfaction is mediated by the GDP per capita. These results are in line with recent views in human development and well-being research. That is, the GDP per capita is only a means to achieve socioeconomic progress, not the end. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Composite Index, Mediation Analysis, Crisis, Life Satisfaction, Human Development |
| JEL: | C43 O47 I31 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:13/11&r=neu |