Search results for " Economic theory."
showing 10 items of 18 documents
Coordination games with asymmetric payoffs: An experimental study with intra-group communication
2020
Abstract Two alternative modes of reasoning in coordination games are prominently discussed in the literature: level-k thinking and team reasoning. In order to differentiate between the two modes of reasoning, we experimentally investigate payoff-asymmetric coordination games using an intra-group communication design that incentivizes subjects to explain the reasoning behind their decisions. We find that the reasoning process is significantly different between games. In payoff-symmetric games, team reasoning plays an important role for coordination. In payoff-asymmetric games, level-k reasoning results in frequent miscoordination. Our study clearly illustrates how small differences between …
The Invariant Distribution of Wealth and Employment Status in a Small Open Economy with Precautionary Savings
2019
Abstract We study optimal savings in continuous time with exogenous transitions between employment and unemployment as the only source of uncertainty in a small open economy. We prove the existence of an optimal consumption path. We exploit that the dynamics of consumption and wealth between jumps can be expressed as a Fuchsian system. We derive conditions under which an invariant joint distribution for the state variables , i.e., wealth and labour market status, exists and is unique. We also provide conditions under which the distribution of these variables converges to the invariant distribution. Our analysis relies on the notion of T-processes and applies results on the stability of Mark…
Wealth Creation and Science Research : Science Research, the root of wealth in our Knowledge Society, is endangered
Two vastly dierent historical stages in wealth creation are the traditional one based on agriculture during past millennia, and the one based on science research in our present globalizing knowledge society. The dierences happen to be so considerable, and the emergence of the second stage relatively so recent, that the awareness of the full range of consequences regarding the proper pursuit of science research, which is the root of wealth in our knowledge society, is missing to an extent that may, even in the medium term, seriously endanger the sustainability of modern human society. Here is presented a brief account of some of such dangers, following which a parable, entitled "Is it a mere…
Recensione di A. Roncaglia (2000). Piero Sraffa. His life, thought and cultural heritage. London: Routledge
2002
Individual differences in adaptive choice strategies
2003
Abstract Individual differences in compensatory and non-compensatory choice processes remain an unresolved issue for decision process researchers. This study investigates the stability and nature of individual differences in choice processes when individuals adapt to changes in the structure of the choice environment, namely the correlation among the choice attributes. By means of process tracing techniques, between-subjects differences in choice processing (option-based or attribute based) were found to be stable across different tasks. Individuals with higher openness to experience and ability to solve reasoning tasks were found to be more adaptive, that is to switch more promptly their c…
Interventions with Sticky Social Norms: A Critique
2021
Abstract We study the consequences of policy interventions when social norms are endogenous but costly to change. In our environment, a group faces a negative externality that it partially mitigates through incentives in the form of punishments. In this setting, policy interventions can have unexpected consequences. The most striking is that when the cost of bargaining is high, introducing a Pigouvian tax can increase output—yet in doing so increase welfare. An observer who saw that an increase in a Pigouvian tax raised output might wrongly conclude that this harmed welfare and that a larger tax increase would also raise output. This counter-intuitive impact on output is demonstrated theore…
The basic rules of social macrodynamics. The theory of reflexivity by George Soros
2012
Darbā apskatīti svarīgākie sociālās organizācijas evolūcijas mehānismi, kuri balstās uz sabiedrības kā atvērtas sistēmas modeli ar pozitīvu atgriezenisku saiti. Šādai sistēmas organizācijai pamatā ir Džordža Sorosa refleksivitātes teorija un viņa buma modelis, kurš pagaidām vispilnīgāk izskaidro sabiedrībā un tirgū notiekošos procesus neizmantojot matemātisko aprakstu.
Economising failure and assembling a failure regime
2023
Sociologists have largely neglected the topic of failure, and particularly the economising of failure, notwithstanding notable exceptions. This is puzzling, given the many adjacent literatures that have addressed the practices and processes of economising. Four features define our approach. First, it is argued that failure has none of the objectivity or inevitability often attributed to it. Second, it is suggested that failure be viewed as a variable ontology object. Third, attention is directed to the calculative infrastructures that operationalise the ideas of failing and failure, and enable them to be acted upon. Fourth, emphasis is placed on the importance of distinguishing between fail…
Unawareness and bankruptcy: A general equilibrium model
1998
International audience; We present a consistent pure-exchange general equilibrium model where agents may not be able to foresee all possible future contingencies. In this context, even with nominal assets and complete asset markets, an equilibrium may not exist without appropriate assumptions. Specific examples are provided. An existence result is proved under the main assumption that there are sufficiently many states that all the agents foresee. An intrinsic feature of the model is bankruptcy, which agents may involuntarily experience in the unforeseen states.
Co-determination and Merger Incentives from Transfers of Wealth: Firm Owners vs. Workers
2010
When workers can capture rents from their influence on corporate decisions, mergers can become a device to generate transfers of wealth. This paper examines the merger incentives from these transfers of wealth. It is found that worker influence increases merger profitability, in line with the owners’ incentive to use mergers to reduce the rents captured by workers. In contrast, the workers’ merger incentives are shown to be decreasing in their own degree of influence on the merger decision, in line with the view according to which workers can be used by incumbent managers as a defensive instrument in acquisitions.