1,720,993 research outputs found
Consumo e Risparmio
No full textNella vita quotidiana ci troviamo ad affrontare decisioni riguardanti il consumo e il risparmio. Ma quali fattori stanno alla base di queste scelte? Esistono regole semplici da seguire per prendere decisioni informate? La risposta a questi interrogativi rappresenta un primo passo per diventare risparmiatori dotati delle conoscenze finanziarie di base, essenziali per assicurarci stabilità e benessere
Affirmative action and retaliation in experimental contests
No full textWe conduct a real-effort experiment to test the effects of an affirmative action policy that reserves a share of the prize to subjects of a disadvantaged category in rent-seeking contests. We test three potential pitfalls of the affirmative action policy: (i) whether the introduction of the policy distorts effort and selection in the contest, (ii) whether it leads to reverse discrimination, that is, discourages entry from the advantaged category and (iii) whether the possibility of ex-post retaliatory actions undermines the effectiveness of the policy. We find that the affirmative action contest increases entry of players from the disadvantaged category without affecting entry of advantaged players. This increases overall effort in the contest. However, we find that the possibility of retaliation can undermine the benefits of the affirmative action policy reducing contest participation. This suggests that retaliation is an important aspect to consider when implementing affirmative action policies. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Identifying types in contest experiments
Full text linkWe apply the classifier-Lasso (Su et al. 2016) to detect the presence of latent types in two data sets of previous contest experiments, one that keeps the grouping of contestants fixed over the experiment and one that randomly regroups contestants after each round. Our results suggest that there exist three distinct types of players in both contest regimes. The majority of contestants in fixed groups behaves reciprocal to opponents' previous choices. A higher share of reciprocators per group is associated to lower average overspending which hints at cooperative attempts. For experiments in which contestants are regrouped, we find a significantly lower share of 'reciprocators' and no significant association between the share of reciprocators and average efforts
The coordinating power of social norms
No full textA popular empirical technique to measure norms uses coordination games to elicit what subjects in an experiment consider appropriate behavior in a given situation (Krupka and Weber in J Eur Econ Assoc 11(3):495-524, 2013). The Krupka-Weber method works under the assumption that subjects use their normative expectations to solve the coordination game. However, subjects might use alternative focal points to coordinate, in which case the method may deliver distorted measurements of the social norm. We test the vulnerability of the Krupka-Weber method to the presence of alternative salient focal points in two series of experiments with more than 3000 subjects. We find that the method is robust, especially when there are clear normative expectations about what constitutes appropriate behavior
Incentivizing social norm elicitation
Full text linkAcross three studies involving more than 5,000 participants, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects of incentivizing responses in the Krupka-Weber norm elicitation task. We consider both the potential benefits of incentivization (higher response quality and mitigation of response biases) and its possible drawbacks (distortion of responses in the direction of norm-unrelated focal points and materialistic values). We find no evidence of undesirable effects of incentives. While we report only modest improvements in response quality, we also show that incentives effectively mitigate response biases that arise when participants’ self-serving motivations conflict with accurate responding
Can a supranational medicines agency restore trust after vaccine suspensions? The case of Vaxzevria
Full text linkOver the first half of March 2021, the majority of European governments suspended Astrazeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine as a precaution following media reports of rare blood clots. We analyse the impact of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) March 18th statement assuring the public of the safety of Vaxzevria and the immediate reinstatement of the vaccine by most countries on respondents' intention to get vaccinated. By relying on survey data collected in Luxembourg and neighbouring areas between early March and mid-April, we observe that the willingness to be vaccinated was severely declining in the days preceding the EMA statement. We implement a regression discontinuity design exploiting the time at which respondents completed the survey and find that the vaccine reinstatement substantially restored vaccination intentions
Tullock contest with reference‐dependent preferences
Full text linkWe study the Tullock contest model with loss aversion and endogenouslyformed reference points. In a contest with n possibly heterogeneous players andconvex effort costs, we establish sufficient conditions for a unique Nash equi-librium in pure strategies. Subsequently, we analyze the impact of loss aversionon players' spending behavior, probability of winning, and rent dissipation
Peer effects in weight-related behaviours of young people: A systematic literature review
Full text linkIndividual preferences and beliefs are perpetually shaped by environmental influences, with peers playing a key role in this dynamic process. Compelling evidence from qualitative and quantitative studies has highlighted the significant impact of peer influence on health-related decisions. This systematic literature review critically synthesises findings from 45 studies published between 2011 and 2022, providing a comprehensive understanding of the nature of peer effects on dietary, physical activity and sleep behaviours during youth. The majority of studies indicated that social norms drive directional changes in eating and physical activity. Yet, our analysis revealed a notable gap in exploring alternative mechanisms, including social comparison and social identity, despite their potential relevance. Studies, generally classified as moderate to high quality, predominantly relied on self-reported data, potentially affecting the validity and reliability of measures. Meta-regression analyses suggest a small, but significant association of sample size with the magnitude, sign and significance of the reported peer effect. Moreover, studies focusing on physical activity are more likely to report significant outcomes, whereas findings on peer influence on sleep-related studies tend to reveal less pronounced effects, compared to studies on dietary behaviours. Experimental designs do not appear to increase the likelihood of finding significant effects when compared to other study designs. In conclusion, this synthesis emphasises the need for further research into the underlying mechanisms on peer effects to better inform policy-makers in designing effective policies for curbing unhealthy weight-related behaviours in young people
Fair allocation of scarce medical resources in the time of COVID-19: what do people think?
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic has placed an enormous burden on health systems, and guidelines have been developed to help healthcare practitioners when resource shortage imposes the choice on who to treat. However, little is known on the public perception of these guidelines and the underlying moral principles. Here, we assess on a sample of 1033 American citizens' moral views and agreement with proposed guidelines. We find substantial heterogeneity in citizens' moral principles, often not in line with the guidelines recommendations. As the guidelines are likely to directly affect a considerable number of citizens, our results call for policy interventions to inform people on the ethical rationale behind physicians or triage committees decisions to avoid resentment and feelings of unfairness
The role of morals in three-player ultimatum games
Full text linkWe experimentally investigate the role of moral concerns in three-player ultimatum bargaining. In our experimental paradigm, proposers can increase the overall size of the pie at the expenses of an NGO that conducts humanitarian aid in emergency areas. In a first study, we find that responders are not willing to engage in ‘immoral’ transactions only when fully informed about proposers’ behavior toward the NGO. Under complete information, their willingness to reject offers increases with the strength of the harm to the NGO. Moreover, the possibility to compensate the NGO through rejection further increases their willingness to reject. In a second study aimed at gauging the importance of different motives behind rejections, we show that the two most prevalent motives are to compensate the NGO or to diminish inequality between responders and proposers. Punishing proposers’ unkind intentions towards the NGO or rejecting on the basis of pure deontological reasons constitute less important motives
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