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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Carole Roan Gresenz; Jean M Mitchell; R. Scott Turner; Wilbert Van der Klaauw; Crystal Wang |
| Abstract: | We study the spillover effects of cognitive decline in one member of a coupled household on the financial outcomes of their partner and assess how “own” and spillover effects are moderated by the structure of household financial decision-making. We use a large, nationally representative longitudinal data set spanning 2000-2017 that includes credit report data merged at the individual level with Medicare claims and enrollment data. We find the own adverse financial consequences of cognitive decline depend on household financial integration and other characteristics associated with household financial management, and find significant, albeit smaller (vs own), adverse financial spillover effects on partners. |
| Keywords: | Debt repayment; cognitive decline; household financial management; spillover effects |
| JEL: | G51 G41 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–10–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:101955 |
| By: | Marc Bara |
| Abstract: | This note extends Restrepo (2025)'s model of economic growth under AGI by incorporating Moravec's Paradox -the observation that tasks requiring sensorimotor skills remain computationally expensive relative to cognitive tasks. We partition the task space into cognitive and physical components with differential automation costs, allowing infinite costs for some physical bottlenecks. Our key result shows that when physical tasks constitute economic bottlenecks with sufficiently high (or infinite) computational requirements, the labor share of income converges to a positive constant in the finite-compute regime (rather than zero). This fundamentally alters the distributional implications of AGI while preserving the growth dynamics for cognitive-intensive economies. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.24466 |
| By: | Joan Costa-Font (London School of Economics and Political Science); Cinzia Di Novi (University of Pavia); Cristina Elisa Orso (University of Insubria) |
| Abstract: | We study the later-life spillover effects of adult unmet care needs on mental health and health care utilization of older-age Europeans. We draw on longitudinal data from a longitudinal sample of Europeans before, during, and after COVID-19. We exploit an instrumental variable design alongside a causal mediation analysis to examine the effect of unmet care needs on mental health. We show that unmet care needs after the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to an increased cognitive decline and depressive symptoms and that this effect is mediated by exposure to loneliness during the pandemic among those with unmet care needs. |
| Keywords: | loneliness, mental health, caregiving arrangements, informal care, adult care |
| JEL: | J14 J22 I13 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:demwpp:demwp0231 |
| By: | Tiziana Assenza (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Alberto Cardaci (Goethe University Frankfurt = Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main); D. Delli Gatti (Unicatt - Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Milano]) |
| Abstract: | Existing evidence suggests that individuals often misperceive the value of their wealth. We examine the existence, direction, and magnitude of these misperceptions through a laboratory experiment. Our findings indicate that variations in the leverage ratio (the ratio of liabilities to assets) influence how individuals rank financial profiles, even when net wealth remains constant. Most subjects perceive a given net worth as greater than its true value, and this misperception becomes more pronounced in financial profiles with lower leverage ratios. We further explore how cognitive sophistication and behavioral/economic attitudes shape wealth misperception. Experimental evidence shows that misperception is associated with lower cognitive sophistication and inattentive thinking. Moreover, it correlates with greater impatience, lower debt aversion, and higher marginal propensities to consume following positive (transitory) income shocks. |
| Keywords: | Perception, Metacognition, Market Psychology, Economic Psychology, Cognition, Behavioral Finance |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05300791 |
| By: | Bodo Vogt; Paul Bengart; Caroylyn Declerck; Ernst Fehr |
| Abstract: | In recent years, increasing skepticism regarding oxytocin’s (OT) influence on social behavior arose. Low power, HARKing (hypothesizing after the results are known), and replication failures have clouded the field. Here, we directly address these concerns with a high-powered, preregistered study that offers robust evidence for a causal effect of OT on trust among individuals with a low disposition to trust. We recruited 359 low-trusting individuals who participated in a trust game under strict anonymity conditions. Results show that OT administration significantly increased trusting behavior by roughly 15%, with consistent effects across regression models with and without controls for personality traits. A pooled data analysis incorporating a previous sample (n=219) of low-trusting individuals further strengthens this conclusion, yielding a statistically significant 16.9% increase in trust. Crucially, no interaction effect was found between OT and the degree of dispositional trust, suggesting OT’s effect is uniform across the low-trusting spectrum. These findings present a strong case for OT’s selective trust-enhancing role. By isolating OT’s impact within a well-defined subpopulation and experimental context, this study provides a critical pivot in the debate over neurobiological mechanisms of trust. |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:481 |