nep-cbe New Economics Papers
on Cognitive and Behavioural Economics
Issue of 2014‒10‒17
six papers chosen by
Marco Novarese
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”
  1. Within- and between- sample tests of preference stability and willingness to pay for forest management By Mikołaj Czajkowski; Anna Bartczak; Wiktor Budziński; Marek Giergiczny
  2. A Model of Modeling By Itzhak Gilboa; Andrew Postlewaite; Larry Samuelson; David Schmeidler
  3. On the Consistency of Personality Types Across Adulthood: Latent Profile Analysis in Two Large-Scale Panel Studies By Jule Specht; Maike Luhmann; Christian Geiser
  4. The Challenges of Democratizing News and Information: Examining Data on Social Media, Viral Patterns and Digital Influence By Wihbey, John P
  5. Gender differences in exposure to more instruction time. Evidence from Italy. By Elena Claudia Meroni; Giovanni Abbiati
  6. Transparency in Public Life. A Quantum Cognition Perspective By Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky; François Dubois
  1. By: Mikołaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Anna Bartczak (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; Warsaw Ecological Economics Center); Wiktor Budziński (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Marek Giergiczny (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; Warsaw Ecological Economics Center)
    Abstract: The assumption of the stability of preferences is a fundamental one in the theory of the consumer. Many papers within the stated preferences literature have tested this assumption, and have found mixed results. Individuals may become more sure of their preferences as they repeat a valuation task or purchase decision; they may also learn more about prices and quantities of substitutes or complements over time, or about other relevant characteristics of both the good being valued and alternatives in their choice sets. In this paper, we test for the stability of preferences and willingness to pay for attributes of forest management both within and between samples. The within-sample test compares a set of responses from individuals over the sequence of a survey; the between-sample test compares responses from the same people over a period of 6 months. We find that respondents’ preferences differ more within a sample (comparing their first 12 with their second 12 choices) than across samples. This may imply that preference learning and/or fatigue effects within choice experiments are more important than changes in preferences over time in this data.
    Keywords: preference stability, test-retest, discrete choice experiments, contingent valuation, stated preferences, forestry
    JEL: D01 H4 Q23 Q51
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2014-24&r=cbe
  2. By: Itzhak Gilboa (Tel-Aviv University; HEC, Paris; Cowles Foundation, Yale University); Andrew Postlewaite (Dept. of Economics, University of Pennsylvania); Larry Samuelson (Cowles Foundation, Yale University); David Schmeidler
    Abstract: We propose a formal model of scientific modeling, geared to applications of decision theory and game theory. The model highlights the freedom that modelers have in conceptualizing social phenomena using general paradigms in these fields. It may shed some light on the distinctions between (i) refutation of a theory and a paradigm, (ii) notions of rationality, (iii) modes of application of decision models, and (iv) roles of economics as an academic discipline. Moreover, the model suggests that all four distinctions have some common features that are captured by the model.
    Keywords: Methodology, Models, Economic modeling
    JEL: B40 B41
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1958&r=cbe
  3. By: Jule Specht; Maike Luhmann; Christian Geiser
    Abstract: Consistency and change in personality were analyzed by examining personality types across adulthood and old age using data from two nationally representative panel studies from Germany (N = 14,718; 16 - 82 years) and Australia (N = 8,315; 15 - 79 years). In both samples, the Big Five personality traits were measured twice across a period of 4 years. Latent profile analyses and latent profile transition analyses revealed four main findings: First, solutions with 3 (in the German sample) or 4 (in the Australian sample) personality types were found to be most interpretable. Second, measurement invariance tests revealed that these personality types were consistent across all age groups but differed slightly between men and women. Third, age was related to the number of individuals classified within each personality type. Namely, there were more resilients and fewer undercontrollers in older compared with younger age groups. Fourth, there was strong consistency of personality type membership across a period of 4 years in both genders and most age cohorts. Comparatively less consistency across time was found for undercontrollers and individuals in old age. Taken together, these findings show that in the two nations studied here, personality types were highly consistent across gender, age, and time.
    Keywords: Personality types, adulthood, latent profile analysis, longitudinal study, personality development
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp687&r=cbe
  4. By: Wihbey, John P
    Abstract: The advent of social media and peer-to-peer technologies offers the possibility of driving the full democratization of news and information, undercutting the agenda-setting of large media outlets and their relative control of news and information flows. We are now about a decade into the era of the social Web. What do the data indicate about changing news flows and access/consumption patterns in the United States? Are we witnessing a paradigm shift yet, or are legacy patterns reasserting themselves? This paper brings together media industry data and perspective—from NPR, the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal—with a growing body of social science and computational research produced by universities and firms such as Microsoft Research and the Facebook data science team, as well as survey findings from the Pew Research Center. The bulk of the evidence so far complicates any easy narrative, and it very much remains an open question if we can expect a more radically democratized media ecosystem, despite promising early trends and anecdotes. As I review the evidence, I aim to highlight lessons and insights that can help those thinking about and operating in the social media space. This paper also aims to serve as an accessible survey of news media-related topics within social science and social network analysis scholarship.
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:hksfac:12872220&r=cbe
  5. By: Elena Claudia Meroni; Giovanni Abbiati
    Abstract: This paper investigates the short-term effects on achievement, study behaviours and attitude of an intervention providing extra instruction time to students in lower secondary schools in southern Italy. We use a difference-in-differences strategy and compare two contiguous cohorts of students enrolled in the same class for two consecutive years. We control for sorting of students and teachers across classes using the fact that, due to a recent reform, the group of teachers assigned to each class is stable over time. We find that the programme increased performances in mathematics but found no effect for Italian language test scores; the programme increased positive attitudes towards both subjects. We investigate the heterogeneity of the effects focusing on the gender dimension and find that boys and girls react differently to the intervention: girls use the extra instruction time as a complement to regular home study, while boys use it as a substitute.
    Date: 2014–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:064&r=cbe
  6. By: Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); François Dubois (LM-Orsay - Laboratoire de Mathématiques d'Orsay - CNRS : UMR8628 - Université Paris XI - Paris Sud, CNAM Ile de France - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM])
    Abstract: In this paper we investigate the implications of assuming that citizens are cognitively constrained for transparency in public life. We model cognitive limitations as reflecting a quantum property of people's mental representations of the world. There exists a multiplicity of incompatible (Bohr) complementary mental representations of a situation. As a consequence the framing of information plays a crucial role. We show that additional information can be detrimental to a quantum cognitively constrained agent: he may become more confused.
    Keywords: Learning ; Quantum cognition ; Transparency
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01064980&r=cbe
This nep-cbe issue is ©2014 by Marco Novarese. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
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