We examine the impact of glucose on a Bayesian choice task that creates a separating equilibrium between high-level Bayesian choice and lower-level reinforcement heuristic choice. Consistent with a dual systems framework, we hypothesize that glucose administration will both increase reaction...

Experimental studies have shown that sanctions effectively deter free riding within groups. However, the over-use of costly punishment may actually harm overall welfare. A main reason for over-punishment is that free-riders generate negative emotions that likely favor excessive punishments. In...

When membership in a particular group conveys valuable information about an individual’s skills, productivity, or other human capital characteristics, a non-prejudiced agent may still find it rational to statistically discriminate. We frame statistical discrimination in a labor market setting...

Do individuals trained in law enforcement punish or rewards differently from typical student subjects? We analyze norm enforcement behavior of newly appointed police commissioners in both a Voluntary Contribution Mechanism game and a Common Pool Resource game. Our experimental design includes...

Physical activity level is becoming more recognized as a primary factor in overall human health and obesity. Humans possess a number of traits that influence their physical activity level. We examined whether having a high or low desire to engage in challenging mental activity predicted...

We explore the behavioral consequences of sleep loss and time-of-day (circadian) effects on a particular type of decision making. Subject sleep is monitored for the week prior to a decision experiment, which is then conducted at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. A validated circadian preference instrument allows...

Exercise is known to improve health along many dimensions. Decision making is an understudied dimension of one’s (behavioral) health where exercise effects are not well-known. Because certain physiological changes are known to impact decision making, exercise may modulate decisions via its...

People differ in their diurnal (time-of-day) preferences—some are morning-types and others are evening-types. These differences are explored in a unique experiment design in which subjects are randomly assigned to produce paper airplanes at either 8:00 a.m. or 10:00 p.m. Our results show that...

This paper considers an extension of the classical static labor-leisure choice model to allow for an on-the-job leisure choice. The key result is that an income-compensated wage increase, while theoretically increasing hours worked, will likely increase on-the-job leisure.

The author conducts experiments examining fairness preferences (Andreoni and Miller, 2002) and compares cash versus extra credit points as the reward medium. Additionally, he explores the role that classroom experiment timing—over the course of a semester—can have on outcomes. The results...