Rational Herding in Reward-Based Crowdfunding: An MTurk Experiment.
Crowdfunding is gaining popularity as a way of financing social sustainable initiatives. We performed a controlled economic experiment in MTurk by simulating a crowdfunding platform and developed a theoretical model that rationalizes herding behavior. The experiment was designed to test and quantify the causal effects of revealing specific information to prospective backers: (i) the number of early contributors already financing the project and (ii) positive opinions of other backers versus those of experts. The results show that early contributions to the campaign and positive opinions of peers act as a reinforcing signal to potential backers and affect backers&rsquo
"Rational herding in crowdfunding, social preferences under uncertainty, and overplacement in known and unknown tasks: a behavioral approach"
It has been proved in this dissertation how experimental economics continues to be a tool that, as it nourishes theoretical economics (and viceversa), it keeps producing results that are necessary to understand how to articulate social relations which, ultimately, have consequences oneconomic relations. Specifically, Chapter 1 has studied how the dissemination of new information affects crowdfunding markets and the generation of herding behaviour. Specifically, we provide evidence in that such behaviour is rational and could be well moulded through optimal choice under uncertainty with Bayesian review of beliefs. In this sense, the effect of the first sponsors on the agents# behaviour has b…
Standard vs random dictator games: On the effects of role uncertainty and framing on generosity
This project was conducted while Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez was visiting Universidad Loyola Andalucia. He wants to particularly thank Pablo Brañas-Garza and Diego Jorrat for continued guidance and assessment with the experimental design. Álvaro Núñez-Bermúdez and the faculty members of the Economics and Business Sciences department at the University of Seville were very helpful in providing assistance for running the experiment. The paper has benefited from comments and suggestions provided by Maria Paz Espinosa, Giuseppe Attanassi, José Enrique Vila, Iván Arribas, Marco Faillo, Cristina Borra and participants at the Loyola Behavioral Lab and the Early Career Researchers in Experimental Economics…