nep-neu New Economics Papers
on Neuroeconomics
Issue of 2015‒08‒19
six papers chosen by



  1. School Quality and the Development of Cognitive Skills between Age Four and Six By Borghans, Lex; Golsteyn, Bart H.H.; Zölitz, Ulf
  2. Angel Cognition and Active Involvement in BAN Governance and Management By Peter Wirtz; Christophe Bonnet; Laurence Cohen
  3. Rethinking ideation: a cognitive approach of innovation lock-ins By Marine Agogué; Pascal Le Masson
  4. (Mis-)Predicted Subjective Well-Being Following Life Events By Odermatt, Reto; Stutzer, Alois
  5. Cognitive bias in the management of innovation By Philippe Bertheau; Gilles Garel
  6. Emotional Intelligence and risk taking in investment decision-making By Enrico Rubaltelli; Sergio Agnoli; Michela Rancan; Tiziana Pozzoli

  1. By: Borghans, Lex (Maastricht University); Golsteyn, Bart H.H. (Maastricht University); Zölitz, Ulf (IZA)
    Abstract: This paper studies the extent to which young children develop their cognitive ability in high and low quality schools. We use a representative panel data set containing cognitive test scores of 4-6 year olds in Dutch schools. School quality is measured by the school's average achievement test score at age 12. Our results indicate that children in high-quality schools develop their skills substantially faster than those in low-quality schools. The results remain robust to the inclusion of initial ability, parental background, and neighborhood controls. Moreover, using proximity to higher-achieving schools as an instrument for school choice corroborates the results. The robustness of the results points toward a causal interpretation, although it is not possible to erase all doubt about unobserved confounding factors.
    Keywords: cognitive skills, child development, school quality
    JEL: I2 I24 J24
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9200&r=neu
  2. By: Peter Wirtz (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon); Christophe Bonnet (Grenoble École de Management (GEM)); Laurence Cohen (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon)
    Abstract: The present research sets out to reach a better understanding of the determinants of Business Angels' active involvement in making BANs accomplish diverse functions and building cognitive resources and shared competencies. We propose a framework where angels' human capital and cognitive process (in terms of predictive vs. control-oriented behavior) are key in explaining their degree and type of involvement with diverse BAN activities. To test the related assumptions, we conducted a questionnaire survey with a regional French Business Angel Network.
    Date: 2015–08–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemwpa:hal-01182804&r=neu
  3. By: Marine Agogué (HEC Montréal - HEC MONTRÉAL); Pascal Le Masson (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris)
    Abstract: Some industries are lacking the proposal of truly original new ideas to renew existing products and/or services, despite repeated efforts from all stakeholders to make innovative and original proposals. These situations, called orphan innovation, lead to revisit the contemporary approaches to the study of obstacles in ideation, as orphan innovation is a paradoxical situation. Conventional financial constraints and institutional level are released, the market demand is strong, niche strategies are possible and bold entrepreneurs abound. And yet, the proposals do not fulfil expectations regarding innovation. We advocate in this paper that cognitive sciences can contribute to making sense of this phenomenon. Based on recent studies in cognitive psychology on idea generation, we propose a model of ideation reasoning, contrasting heuristic-based reasoning and exploration-based reasoning. We then apply this model on a case study, showing how a cognitive model of ideation allows to diagnose orphan innovation and more generally innovation lock-ins.
    Date: 2015–08–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01132377&r=neu
  4. By: Odermatt, Reto (University of Basel); Stutzer, Alois (University of Basel)
    Abstract: The correct prediction of how alternative states of the world affect our lives is a cornerstone of economics. We study how accurate people are in predicting their future well-being when facing major life events. Based on individual panel data, we compare people's forecast of their life satisfaction in five years' time to their actual realisations later on. This is done after the individuals experience widowhood, marriage, unemployment or disability. We find systematic prediction errors that are at least partly driven by unforeseen adaptation.
    Keywords: adaptation, life satisfaction, life events, projection-bias, subjective well-being, utility prediction, unemployment
    JEL: D03 D12 D60 I31
    Date: 2015–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9252&r=neu
  5. By: Philippe Bertheau (CNAM Paris - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - Paris - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]); Gilles Garel (CNAM Paris - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - Paris - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM])
    Abstract: This chapter is a first effort, mainly descriptive, to explore possible cross-fertilization between two active fields of research - management of innovation and cognitive psychology. Both approaches question some important aspects of the dominant vision of the firm, especially those related to the existence of rational choice in organizations. Our reasonning is based on two pillars: First, specific situations of innovation are a privileged field for the observation of cognitive bias and representation errors. Why? Because the innovation, which always includes some transgression, often questions the practices and management systems. In doing so, it illuminates representation errors (ie the " inappropriate application of antecedent interpretative models"). Second, there is a striking convergence between the results of research on cognitive bias and some strong assumptions of the management of innovation . The two streams , in particular, emphasize the inadequacy of the classical theories of decision.
    Abstract: L"innovation n'a, jusqu"ici et à notre connaissance, jamais été le terrain d"études portant explicitement sur les erreurs de représentation. Ce chapitre constitue donc un premier effort, essentiellement descriptif, pour explorer les fertilisations croisées possibles entre deux courants de recherche – le management de l"innovation et la psychologie cognitive. Les deux approches ont en commun de remettre en cause certains aspects importants de la vision dominante de la firme, en particulier les mythes rationnels liés aux processus de choix dans les organisations. Notre réflexion est ici fondée sur deux piliers : 1. Les situations concrètes de l"innovation en train de se faire forment un terrain privilégié pour l"observation des erreurs de représentation. Pourquoi ? Parce que l"innovation, qui comporte toujours une part de transgression, interroge en profondeur les pratiques et les dispositifs de gestion. Ce faisant, elle éclaire les erreurs de représentation (autrement dit l"application inappropriée de grilles de lectures antécédentes) d"un jour souvent cru. L"analyse des cas d"innovation, qu"elle soit technologique, organisationnelle ou sociale, est donc un remarquable révélateur de la banalité des erreurs de représentation dans le fonctionnement des organisations et, peut-être, l"occasion de nouveaux développements théoriques. 2. Il y a une convergence de résultats entre les recherches menées depuis une quarantaine d’années sur les erreurs de représentation et certaines hypothèses fortes du management de l’innovation. Les deux courants, en particulier, insistent sur le caractère insuffisant des théories classiques de la décision.
    Date: 2014–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01112705&r=neu
  6. By: Enrico Rubaltelli; Sergio Agnoli; Michela Rancan; Tiziana Pozzoli
    Abstract: Previous work on investment decision-making suggested that emotions prevent investors from taking risks and from investing in a rational way, whereas other work found that there is great variability in people’s ability to manage and use emotional feedbacks. We hypothesized that people with high trait emotional intelligence should be more willing, than people with low trait emotional intelligence, to accept risks when making an investment. Data supported a model in which trait emotional intelligence predicted willingness to invest both when the expected value is positive and when it is negative. The effect of trait emotional intelligence was significant even controlling for other variables, like attitude toward economic risk and money attitude. We believe that these results help improving the understanding of how emotions influence investors’ behavior and show that their role is not always detrimental but depends on the interplay between individual differences and situational factors.
    Keywords: emotional intelligence, investment, money, risk
    JEL: G11
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:wcefin:15107&r=neu

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