Social networks are a key factor of success in life, but they are also strongly segmented on gender, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics (Jackson, 2010). We present novel evidence on an understudied source of homophily: behavioral traits. Behavioral traits are important determinants...

Social networks are a key factor of success in life, but they are also strongly segmented on gender, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics (Jackson, 2010). We present novel evidence on an understudied source of homophily: behavioral traits. Behavioral traits are important determinants...

This paper examines the effects of alternative assumptions regarding the curvature of utility upon estimated discount rates in experimental data. To do so, it introduces a novel design to elicit time preference building upon a translation of the Holt and Laury method for risk. The results...

This paper reports a positive and statistically significant relation between short-term discount rates elicited with a monetary and a primary reward (chocolate). This finding suggests that high short-term discount rates are related to an underling individual trait

We study how cost-benefit considerations shape the public acceptance of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In an online experiment conducted on a representative sample from the US during the early COVID-19 pandemic, we provide half of our respondents with research evidence pointing to low...

Economic preferences may be shaped by exposure to sex hormones around birth. Prior studies of economic preferences and numerous other phenotypic characteristics use digit ratios (2D:4D), a purported proxy for prenatal testosterone exposure, whose validity has recently been questioned. We use...

Revealed preference is the dominant approach for inferring preferences, but it relies on discrete, stochastic choices. The choice process also produces response times (RTs) which are continuous and can often be observed in the absence of informative choice outcomes. Moreover, there is a...

Diversification is a fundamental concept in economics, finance, and decision theory. This paper argues that decision makers assign an intrinsic value to the notion of diversification and that this “willingness to pay” is driven by risk aversion and loss aversion. In an experimental study...

Higher order risk preferences are important determinants of choices under uncertainty. After clarifying some terminological and methodological issues, we are able to confi rm, by using data collected by a questionnaire, the well established result of the preference of the majority of the...

The sunk cost effect is considered as an important bias and perceived to be a widespread phenomenon in individual decisions. However, the evidence from field data and field and laboratory experiments is inconclusive. We present a laboratory experiment, designed to investigate the sunk cost bias...