{"title":"Adam Smith, human betterment, and his erroneous indentification with self-interested human action","authors":"Vernon L. Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102292","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102292","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this essay I discuss the proposition that Adam Smith has been widely misinterpreted as asserting in his second book, <em>The Wealth of Nations,</em> that emergent modern economies are driven by the strictly selfish motives of their human inhabitants. The propositions articulated in his first book, <em>The Theory of Moral Sentiments,</em> which offered a theory of society, extended seamlessly into his second book, and continued to be part of his theory of economy. In both works, he distinguished the universal state of being self-interested from actions taken in one's self-interest, and modeled people as creating and following rules of propriety that enabled them to better get along with their neighbors. This distinction explains why, in his second book, he refers to people following their “o<em>wn</em> interest” in their “own way” explicitly avoiding any suggestion that people pursued only their strictly selfish interests in the process of wealth creation. That cautionary effort failed, although Smith continues to be a spectacularly successful theorist of society and economy, especially of interest to scholars in behavioral and experimental economics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102292"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142324016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Future time reference and risk aversion","authors":"Donald Lien","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102291","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102291","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Chen (2013) suggests a weak future time reference (FTR) language would encourage the speaker to undertake the investment through the distance effect (i.e., future appears closer with weak FTR) and the precision effect (i.e., weak FTR leads to less precise future reward timing which increases the expected future value due to the convex discounting function). This paper provides an analytic counterexample invalidating this conclusion. To be specific, Chen's argument assumes the speaker is risk neutral. We incorporate risk aversion into the consideration and show that both effects would magnify the return and the risk of the investment simultaneously. Consequently, an appropriate degree of risk aversion can overturn the Chen's conclusion. We show the waiting time to receive the return from the investment plays an important role. When the expected waiting time is short or the uncertainty of the waiting time is large, a weak FTR language is more likely to decrease the investment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102291"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142238236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coordination in stag hunt games","authors":"Rui Silva","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102290","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102290","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stag hunt games display a tension between a payoff superior option (stag) and a less risky but payoff inferior alternative (hare). We explore that tension by proposing a selection criterion (which we denote as <em>relative salience</em>) where subjects choose to coordinate in one option by comparing the salience of stag’s main aspect (its payoff) to the salience of hare’s main aspect (its risk) by accounting for both payoff-relevant factors and unobservable individual-specific (idiosyncratic) preferences. Using data from 10 experiments, we find that this criterion is a significant determinant of individual choices in stag-hunt games, outperforming other selection methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102290"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804324001277/pdfft?md5=2ee980272f33630ee89ce05d86b4a558&pid=1-s2.0-S2214804324001277-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142313033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert Mackay , Astghik Mavisakalyan , Yashar Tarverdi
{"title":"Trust a few: Natural disasters and the disruption of trust in Africa","authors":"Robert Mackay , Astghik Mavisakalyan , Yashar Tarverdi","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102288","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102288","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Individuals are at their most mental plasticity in their impressionable years (ages 18–25 years) forming long-term attitudes and behaviours essential to functioning in a society, such as trust. In this paper we ask how exposure to natural disasters within the impressionable years may affect the formation of trust by matching data from over 1,000 disaster occurrences with data from 88,670 individuals across 36 African nations. Exploiting the frequency of disaster exposure across the impressionable years, we show that disaster exposure has a negative and significant association with generalized trust. Additionally, we show that disasters experienced during the impressionable years have an impact on other dimensions of interpersonal and institutional trust. Our findings are robust to a battery of tests and add to the evidence base on the lasting impacts of natural disasters on individuals and societies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102288"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804324001253/pdfft?md5=4f4e0a6a95c23e1d0790264fa4df3d03&pid=1-s2.0-S2214804324001253-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142270787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Individual differences in Bitcoin investment: The role of personality, attitudes, and knowledge","authors":"Sinja Müser , Moritz Hemmerich , Florian Schmitz","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102289","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102289","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cryptocurrencies have found their way into the financial market as a serious alternative in recent years. In particular, Bitcoin is increasingly coming into focus. Currently, however, little is known why people invest in cryptocurrency or not. The present study seeks to shed light on individual difference variables potentially associated with these investment decisions. This includes personality traits, knowledge, and attitudes toward the social and political environment. The effective sample comprised 603 respondents who completed an online survey. Based on the proportion of their financial portfolio invested into Bitcoin, participants were divided into three groups: Non-Bitcoiners, Bitcoin Enthusiasts, and Bitcoin Maximalists. Group comparisons and prediction models indicated that Bitcoiners differed substantially from Non-Bitcoiners in justice-related attitudes as well as in specific knowledge about this cryptocurrency. By contrast, general political attitudes or reinforcement sensitivity did not differ much, and there was hardly a difference in basic dimensions of personality and general knowledge.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102289"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804324001265/pdfft?md5=0ea5439489cfa4ef8667a6ae040e21e2&pid=1-s2.0-S2214804324001265-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142270788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rheza Pratama , Resmiyati Ansar , Febiyola Wijaya , Dwi Yana Amalia Sari Fala , Muhammad Irsyad , Malik Salim
{"title":"","authors":"Rheza Pratama , Resmiyati Ansar , Febiyola Wijaya , Dwi Yana Amalia Sari Fala , Muhammad Irsyad , Malik Salim","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102281","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102281","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"113 ","pages":"Article 102281"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142152044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Would I lie to you? How interaction with chatbots induces dishonesty","authors":"Christian Biener , Aline Waeber","doi":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102279","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.socec.2024.102279","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Is dishonesty more prevalent in interactions with chatbots compared to humans? Amidst the rise of artificial intelligence, this question holds significant economic implications. We conduct a novel experiment where participants report the outcome of a private, payout-relevant random draw to either a chatbot or a human counterpart, with varying degrees of signaled agency. We find that signaling agency increases honesty when interacting with humans but not with chatbots. Moreover, participants are consistently more honest with humans in the presence of agency cues. Our results suggest that social image concerns and perceived honesty norms play a more prominent role in human interactions. Surprisingly, standard online forms generate the same levels of honesty as human-to-human chat interactions. These findings offer valuable insights for designing effective communication and trust-building mechanisms in digital economies where human-chatbot interactions are increasingly prevalent.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51637,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 102279"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804324001162/pdfft?md5=c5bafdebbd570a25694f1852f099819f&pid=1-s2.0-S2214804324001162-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141985750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}