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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Yusufcan Masatlioglu; Tri Phu Vu |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces the Dual-System Thinking (DST) model, a decision-theoretic framework that integrates psychological dual-process theories into economic modeling. A single cognitive weight parameter governs the relative influence of the automatic and deliberate cognitive systems. Even the simplest form of DST exhibits distinct behavioral patterns, suggesting that the psychological insights of dual-system theory offer a distinct and valuable approach to modeling choice behavior. Empirically, we show that the model can accommodate several empirical findings and outperform well-known models in discrete choice analysis across various contexts. We also apply the model to study optimal list design and rationality in stochastic environments. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2605.27698 |
| By: | Kwan Soo Shin; In Seok Kang |
| Abstract: | Why does massive AI investment fail to generate commensurate productivity gains? We argue the paradox is theoretically generated: prevailing production function frameworks encounter a structural boundary by treating AI as a separable factor of production without modeling the cognitive mediation through which AI generates productive value. This directs investment toward deployment when productivity requires prior development of what we term convergence capacity (C). We propose the Intellectually Converged Human (ICH) framework, a fifth-stage framework for production function theory: H-hat = H[1 + phi(A, C)], where effective productive capacity equals human capital (H) scaled by an augmentation factor [1 + phi], with phi jointly determined by AI utilization intensity (A) and convergence capacity (C), a four-dimensional cognitive construct encompassing embodied understanding, metacognition, temporal integration, and integrative thinking. The production function Y = F(K, H-hat) provides a human-centered mechanism for Solow's TFP residual: A_Solow = [1 + phi(A, C)]^(1-alpha). The framework predicts three augmentation regimes with distinct policy implications. Descriptive cross-national analysis of 20 OECD economies shows the AIxC interaction is associated with 86% of TFP variance versus 31% for AI alone, a pattern-consistent finding in the small-n theoretical tradition. South Korea exemplifies national-scale under-augmentation: high H, substantial A, low C produce phi = 0. We distinguish convergence capacity from adjacent constructs, absorptive capacity, dynamic capability, and human capital, and demonstrate that C constitutes the specific cognitive mediator that prior frameworks have left implicit. We derive C-first policy prescriptions and offer three empirically testable propositions with a falsifiable 10-year forecast. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.19794 |
| By: | Wohlschlegel, Julian; Jaki, Paula; Benlian, Alexander; Jussupow, Ekaterina |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:160215 |
| By: | Lee, Hera Hyeonseo |
| Abstract: | While brain rot has entered the popular lexicon as a marker of cultural-intellectual decline, this article theorizes it as a systemic condition of late-capitalist survival. Integrating world-systems analysis with the critique of the attention economy, I argue that cognition has emerged as the new frontier of intensive accumulation. As material expansion shifts toward cognitive extraction within the post-2008 conjuncture, platforms assetize attention to stabilize speculative valuation. This induces a biopolitical rewiring that functionally degrades the capacity for sustained thought. This systemic brain rot is analyzed through its class-stratified distribution and institutional collision within the university, where deep learning confronts the high-frequency logic of extraction. Ultimately, this mutagenic mode of accumulation consumes capitalism’s social and cognitive foundations, necessitating a shift from therapeutic self-management toward the political contestation of attentional regimes through structural alternatives like engagement metric caps and public digital infrastructures. |
| Date: | 2026–05–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ps5f2_v1 |
| By: | Kibrom A. Abay (IFPRI); Maria Laura Alzua (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET & Partnership for Economic Policy); Laura Nelima Barasa (University of Nairobi); Phyllis Mumia Machio (University of Nairobi); Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the impact of a gender-sensitive soft-skills training that aimed to address youths’ labor market constraints in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions in Kenya using a clustered randomized controlled trial. We also explore whether the presence (or absence) of complementary noncognitive skills, such as locus-of-control, moderates the impact of soft-skills training. Our evaluation combines baseline, midline, and endline data to understand the dynamics of labor market transitions for the youth. Although we find suggestive evidence that the soft-skills training marginally contributed to preparing the youth for the labor market by improving their willingness, expectations, and preparedness for jobs, the impact of the soft-skills training on ultimate labor market outcomes appears negligible. However, the effect of soft-skills training varies across individuals with varying personality traits. Soft-skills training improved labor market outcomes for those with internal locus of control, implying important heterogeneity across individuals with varying non-cognitive skills. |
| JEL: | C93 E24 N37 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0375 |