nep-neu New Economics Papers
on Neuroeconomics
Issue of 2019‒01‒28
five papers chosen by



  1. A dual process in memory: how to make an evaluation from complex and complete information? — An experimental study By Isamaël Rafaï; Sébastien Duchêne; Eric Guerci; Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky; Fabien Mathy
  2. Preschoolers' self-regulation, skill differentials, and early educational outcomes By Quis, Johanna Sophie; Bela, Anika; Heineck, Guido
  3. Under Pressure? Assessing the Roles of Skills and Other Personal Resources for Work-Life Strains By Blunch, Niels-Hugo; Ribar, David; Western, Mark
  4. Do Health Shocks Modify Personality Traits? Evidence from Locus Of Control By Antoine Marsaudon
  5. Health, Cognition and Work Capacity Beyond the Age of 50 By Vandenberghe, Vincent

  1. By: Isamaël Rafaï (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Sébastien Duchêne (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Eric Guerci (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky (PSE - Paris School of Economics); Fabien Mathy (BCL, équipe Langage et Cognition - BCL - Bases, Corpus, Langage (UMR 7320 - UNS / CNRS) - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: In this paper, we will put forward an original experiment to reveal empirical "anomalies" in the process of acquisition, elaboration and retrieval of information in the context of reading economic related content. Our results support the existence of the memory dual process suggested in the Fuzzy Trace Theory: acquisition of information leads to the formation of a gist representation which may be incompatible with the exact verbatim information stored in memory. We give to subjects complex and complete information and evaluate their cognitive ability. To answer some specific questions, individuals used this gist representation rather than processing verbatim information appropriately.
    Keywords: Fuzzy Trace Theory,memory,Bounded rationality,Dual Process,Cognitive reflection test
    Date: 2018
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01954930&r=all
  2. By: Quis, Johanna Sophie; Bela, Anika; Heineck, Guido
    Abstract: Are there skill differentials in young children's competence levels by their self-regulation abilities and do such early life differences mark the onset of increasing disparities in competence development? We add to previous research by investigating the relationship between preschoolers' self-regulation and their mathematical competence and its development early in primary school. We use data from the kindergarten cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) which provides observations of self-regulatory behavior as well as mathematical skills and allows controlling for a rich set of relevant background variables. Our results imply a positive association between children's self-regulation and their mathematical competence levels, even when holding general cognitive ability in kindergarten constant. Yet, self-regulation is not related to competence development over the first two years of primary school, meaning that the initial skill gap neither widens nor narrows substantially. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that self-regulation benefits children with low initial levels of mathematical competence at the transition from kindergarten to primary school. No growth gradient, however, is observable between grade 1 and grade 2.
    Keywords: Self-regulation,Skill formation,Competence development
    Date: 2018
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bamber:140&r=all
  3. By: Blunch, Niels-Hugo; Ribar, David; Western, Mark
    Abstract: Many working parents struggle to balance the demands of their jobs and family roles. Although we might expect that additional resources would ease work-family constraints, theory and evidence regarding resources have been equivocal. This study uses data on working mothers and fathers—as well as their cohabiting partners/spouses—from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to investigate how personal resources in the form of skills, cognitive abilities, and personality traits affect work-life strains. It considers these along with standard measures of economic, social, and personal resources, and estimates seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models of work-life strains for employed mothers and fathers that account for correlations of the couple’s unobserved characteristics. The SUR estimates indicate that computer skills reduce work-life strains for mothers, that math skills reduce strains for fathers, and that the personality traits of extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability reduce strains for both parents. However, the estimates also indicate that better performance on a symbol look-up task, which tests attention, visual scanning acuity, and motor speed, increases fathers’ work-life strains.
    Keywords: Work-family strains and gains,cognitive abilities,skills,household resources,Australia,HILDA survey
    JEL: I1 I31 J24 J81
    Date: 2018
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:292&r=all
  4. By: Antoine Marsaudon (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes whether a personality trait, that is, locus of control, is stable after the occurrence of a health shock, namely a hospital stay. To do so, we use the German Socio-Economics Panel dataset. To identify the causal effect of such a shock on locus of control, we rely on a fixed-effects model. Results suggest that individuals facing health shocks are more likely to decrease their locus of control. That is, they tend to believe that their future outcomes are more determined by external factors than their own will. This decrease is attributable to individuals that had, prior to the shock, lower values of locus of control. Further, individuals facing severe hospital stays (i.e., measured by the number overnights) and those with chronic diseases (i.e., measured by the number of hospital stays within a year), have a higher LOC decline than others. This provides evidence that perception of control is not constant over time and could change after experiencing a traumatic health event.
    Keywords: Health shocks,Locus of control,Hospital stays,Panel data,Fixed-effect model
    Date: 2019–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01976868&r=all
  5. By: Vandenberghe, Vincent
    Abstract: The rising cost of old-age dependency in Europe and elsewhere invariably leads to reforms aimed at raising the effective age or retirement. But do older individuals have the health/cognitive capacity to work longer? Following Cutler et al. (2012), this paper asks how much older individuals could work if they worked as much as their younger (50-54) counterparts in similar health/with equal cognitive performance. Contrary to existing papers, this one uses international, European, comparable panel evidence available in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). It considers both physical health and cognition; and health consists of subjective and objective measures. Also, it examines the extensive and intensive margins of work (employment and hours): existing papers only consider the former. Results are essentially fivefold. First, declines in health significantly affect employment. Second, the impact on hours is statistical significant but of much smaller magnitude. People suffering from ill health rarely adjust hours; they rather stop working altogether. Third, cognition is not fundamentally affected by ageing, and it adds little to our capacity to predict how work capacity evolves with age. Fourth, identification issues exist and must be addressed. They comprise unobserved heterogeneity across respondents, justification bias or proxying/measurement errors regarding health. Finally, declining health/cognition explain at most 31% of the actual labour supply reduction between 50 and 70. This confirms the existence of a, currently largely underused, work capacity among older individuals.
    Keywords: Ageing,Health,Cognition,Labour Supply,Work Capacity
    JEL: J22 I10 J26
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:295&r=all

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