IAREP/SABE World Meeting 2008 at LUISS in Roma

ABSTRACTS OF ALL THE PAPERS

The abstracts are ranked in alphabetical order by the name of the presenter.

You can use the search facility of your browser to find papers with a specific title/author/word in the abstract.

	The Influence Of Framing In The National Debates On Sustainable Agriculture: A Comparison Between Switzerland And New Zealand
Author	Philipp Aerni (Presenting Author) from Agricultural Economics Institute for Environmental Decisions ETH-Zentrum, SOL F9 8092 Zürich
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Research findings in affect heuristics, public opinion research and political economy indicate that dominant political stakeholders have a significant influence on the formation of public opinion, especially if the issue at stake is characterized by weak public involvement. Stakeholders tend to cater to prior public beliefs and, at the same time, try to frame the debate in a way that is conducive to their interests. Based on these insights, we investigated how stakeholder attitudes and interests influence national conceptions of sustainable agriculture. For that purpose, we conducted two stakeholder perception surveys in Switzerland and New Zealand between May 2006 and February 2007. The data analysis revealed that Swiss respondents tended to believe that Swiss agriculture is already quite sustainable and that international trade and new technologies are likely to render it less sustainable. New Zealand respondents, in turn, felt that economic and technological change is necessary to make agriculture more sustainable. The conservative Swiss attitude is in accordance with the defensive agricultural policy while the more progressive New Zealand attitude is clearly linked to its need to reconcile agricultural sustainability with national competitiveness.
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Consumer Behaviour Of The Czech Republic’s Citizens In Relation To Chinese Goods
Author	Sarka Alföldy (Presenting Author) from Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Charles University, Prague
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 10.00 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Objectives: The paper aims to present the psychological aspects of consumer behaviour the Czech Republic’s citizens display towards Chinese goods on the market at the present time. Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methodology was applied during the research. The actual field enquiry took place in November and December 2007 (n = 1,606 respondents). The research set is a representative sample of the Czech Republic’s population aged above 15 years in terms of sex, age and region. Results: The result of the research is psychological analysis and interpretation of • Consumer behaviour and attitudes of the Czech Republic’s citizens in relation to original Chinese goods. • Consumer behaviour and attitudes of the Czech Republic’s citizens in relation to brand goods made in China. Conclusion: The study brings representative results for the Czech Republic’s population. However, it also concerns the extremely topical issue of customers’ perception, behaviour and attitudes towards Chinese goods on the global market.
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Efficiency Wage Idealism: Does Reciprocity And Altruistic Punishment Yield Fair And High Wages
Author	Morris Altman (Presenting Author) from University of Saskatchewan
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Within the context of the efficiency wage discourse significant efforts have been invested integrating the notion of effort variability, incomplete contracts, reciprocity, altruistic punishment and a hypothesized predisposition of economies to coverage towards fair high wage configurations. This literature tries to explain why rational firms pay employees relatively high wages (wages above the reservation wage), even absent moral sentiments on he part of employers. The analytical prediction of this particular efficiency wage model, based on experimental evidence, but predicated upon unique payoff functions is highly misleading. This model predicts that economic agents behave or evolve towards efficient economic behavior as a function of altruistic punishment. In other words, market forces, given altruistic punishment, yields efficient and relatively just or fair economic outcomes. This argument is based on a narrow view of ecological efficiency and ecological rationality and cannot explain the persistence of economically inefficient organizational forms as well as low wages. An alternative modeling of the of the firm is presented which can explain both. The introduction of differential bargaining power and differential and conflicting preferences is critical to such a behavioral model. In this alternative narrative, rational behavior and reciprocal agents (with altruistic punishment) need not result in either economic efficiency or relatively high wages. Moreover, the assumption that punishment (antagonistic inter-agent relations) yields efficient results (an efficiency wage) ignores the importance of process to the achievement of economic efficiency. However, recognizing the importance of reciprocity and altruistic punishment in affecting individual and organization behaviors opens the door to models which demonstrate that high wage regimes can be both stable and efficient and that causality runs from bargaining power to wages (and human relations environments) to productivity and not beneficently from productivity to wages as in the conventional modeling.
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	Blurring Tactics In Inter-firm Relationships
Authors	Otto Andersen (Presenting Author) from University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Authors	Ellen K. Nyhus from University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Much of the literature on inter-firm relationships has focused on strategies for controlling partners' attempts to obtain an unfair share of the values created through the cooperation. One example is to apply an equivalent retaliation strategy, "tit for tat", which means to cooperate if the partner is cooperating, and to retaliate non-cooperative behaviour. An important assumption underlying such recommended strategies is that the perception of the partners' actions is correct. This assumption may, however, be unrealistic, both due to limits in human judgmental capacity and due to partners actively seeking to influence the partners' perception of the goodness of the relationship. In this paper, we introduce the concept “blurring tactics” to denote the methods used in interfirm relationships to influence (or blur) the exchange partner’s perception of 1) the total gain resulting from cooperation and 2) the relative share of the gain each partner receives. This may include commonly used sales tactics such as using framing, "segregating gains and integrating losses", and giving impressions of scarcity, as well as more indirect tactics of influence such as boosting of firm's offers, talking negatively about competitors, and cultivating personal relations. We hypothesise that blurring tactics will be used in order to maximise one’s own gain from an inter-firm relationship while not compromising the partners’ trust of willingness to continue the relationship. Firstly, we describe the form and content of such blurring tactics and secondly, we discuss links between characteristics of the inter-firm relationship and type and frequency in tactic use. Finally, we discuss some research and managerial implications.
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The Effects Of Financial Incentives On Herding In Simulated Financial Markets
Author	Maria Andersson (Presenting Author) from Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Herding in financial markets refers to that investors influence each other when making investment decisions. In these experimental studies, herding leads to worse performance relative to relying on private information. Previous studies of herding have shown that majorities in general are more influential than minorities. The aim of this research was to investigate whether financial incentives impact herding with majorities and minorities under these conditions. In two experimental simulations of a financial market, participants predicted an “upmarket” or “downmarket” conditional on diagnostic information presented on each trial. In Experiment 1, participants in an individual condition only received private information, while participants in a group condition, in addition, received information about randomly generated predictions ostensibly made by three others. Economic incentives for accurate predictions were based on individual performance, and were hypothesized to counteract reliance on invalid information about the herd’s choices. As expected, performance was worse in the group condition than in the individual condition, implying that participants were influenced by the herd. In Experiment 2, the effects of financial incentives for making predictions similar to either the majority or the minority of the others were examined. We hypothesized that financially rewarding group performance may reinforce non-systematic processing, and hence enhance majority influence. Since minority influence is associated with systematic processing, we hypothesized that systematic processing in minority conditions may increase the influence of the private information, and thus improve performance. The results showed that participants followed the majority but not the minority. One explanation for the asymmetry in the effects of rewarding herding with a majority and a minority may be the notion that the tendency to conform overrides systematic processing in majority influence, whereas the reverse would be true in minority influence.
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Involvement And The Differences Among Brands: A Study About Cars, Clothes And Soap
Authors	Mateus Lemos Andrade (Presenting Author) from Instituto Olhar, Faculdade Arnaldo
	Fernando Gilbert from Faculdade Novos Horizontes, Instituto Olhar
	Mateus Lemos Andrade from Instituto Olhar
	Ester Eliane Jeunon from Faculdade Novos Horizontes, PUCMG
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This article has as objective to establish four basics behaviors related to consumer involvement, before established only as high or low. The interest was to identify standards that form each one of these behaviors. The involvement is a variable that influences consumer decision process, determining the effort used in the purchase and in the information search behavior. The study was made through the consumer perceptions of differences among brands of the three categories of products – car, clothes and soap. The research was quantitative-descriptive, applied to 211 consumers in Belo Horizonte (Brasil). The perception of differences between marks affects the behavior of allegiance to the brand and “refines” the involvement concept. The conclusions of this study supply indicative of marketing actions to be taken for the companies, in accordance with the behavior purchase identified.
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	Learning Fairness Equilibria
Author	Luciano Andreozzi (Presenting Author) from Università di Trento
Session	Parallel Sessions 9- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 15.20 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	We study the process of equilibrium selection in games when players have "sophisticated" preferences of the type discussed, among others, by Segal and Sobel [16]. To this end, we employ the standard noisy version of the best response dynamics. We obtain several results concerning some popular games such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Battle of the Sexes and the Dictator Game.
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A Comparison Of Job Satisfaction In Eastern And Western Europe
Author	Laura Angelescu (Presenting Author) from University of Southern California
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Labor relations in communist economies diverged historically from those in free market economies, leading to systematic differences between the workers in Eastern and Western Europe in terms of job satisfaction and its determinants. The expectation was, however, that, as the transition to a market economy in Central and Eastern Europe progressed, these differences would get smaller. An analysis of the World Values Surveys data for eleven countries in the East and thirteen countries in the West shows that this was typically not the case. Looking at self reported levels of job satisfaction in the early and late 1990s, we see that not only there was no sign of convergence, but the difference between the two regions actually increased, even though not significantly, with former communist countries showing considerably lower levels of job satisfaction at both dates for which data was available. The young and more educated people of Central and Eastern Europe are the ones who benefited from the transition, their levels of job satisfaction being higher at the end of the decade. Compared with Western Europe, this translated into convergence when it comes to education, but divergence in terms of age, since in the West older people tend to be more satisfied at both dates. Finally, as far as job aspects that people consider to have the highest importance are concerned, pay comes first in both regions. However, while in the West the ranking of various aspects remains virtually unchanged, in the East it is much more dynamic, with the main change being the increased emphasis placed on job security during the transition process. This is not surprising for societies that started off with virtually zero unemployment and ended up with unemployment rates in the double digits.
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Email	angelesc{at}usc.edu (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

The Effects Of Transition On Life Satisfaction In Poland
Author	Laura Angelescu (Presenting Author) from University of Southern California
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 11.20 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Since 1989 Poland has been considered a leader in economic reform, but did the process of transition from a planned economy to a free market model make its people happier? A look at the life satisfaction levels reported in the World Values Survey shows that the answer is no. The disruptive effects of transition on marriage rates, as well as the increased unemployment and withdrawal from the labor force seem to have mattered more for the happiness of Poles than the recovery in terms of GDP per capita. People over thirty and those less educated are the ones who suffered the most and this led to an increase in life satisfaction inequality. Overall, there is not a significant difference in the levels of subjective well-being of women and men. However, while both genders report lower levels in 1999 compared with 1990, the difference between the two dates is only significant in the case of men. For them, only after considering the changes in marital and employment status the decrease in life satisfaction over this interval can be accounted for.
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	An Experimental Study Of Bargaining Behaviour Within Households In Rural Senegal
Authors	Gerrit Antonides (Presenting Author) from Wageningen University, The Netherlands
	Rianne Van Beek from Wageningen University, The Netherlands
	Fatimata Dia Sow from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and ISRA (Dakar), Senegal
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The division of resources between partners of a household is assumed to be the result of a bargaining process. In turn, the bargaining process may be influenced by the partners’ relative power in decision making. We conducted four experimental games with both spouses of 80 households in two areas in rural Senegal, with the expectation of different bargaining behaviour across areas. The sylvopastoral area is characterized as a dry area with much cattle breeding, the agropastoral area as being more wet with more diversified agricultural activities. We expected a stronger position of women in household decision making in the agropastoral than in the sylvopastoral area, due to more diversified female activities, including trade and business. In the dictator game and ultimatum game we found significant differences of offers between the sexes and between the two areas. In the prisoner’s dilemma game most participants made an individualistic choice. Analyzing the behaviour during the games, it appeared that in the sylvopastoral area the division of resources between the partners was more equal than in the agropastoral area, contradicting our expectations. Most of the answers to a short questionnaire, taken from 50 of the households, concerning the power relationships between partners of the households appeared to be inconsistent with and/or unrelated to the outcomes of the experiment. We found that both the perceived importance of the wife’s work and the wife’s access to credit were negatively related to the husband’s offer made to his wife. The perceived importance of the wife’s work and her access to credit were both higher in the agropastoral than in the sylvopastoral area. One possible explanation is that men tended to compensate for power differences in their relationships by offering less to their wives, rather than behaving according to these differences.
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Email	Gerrit.Antonides{at}wur.nl (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

Financial Capability, Motivation And Behaviour
Authors	W. Fred Van Raaij from Tilburg University, The Netherlands
	Gerrit Antonides (Presenting Author) from Wageningen University, The Netherlands
	I. Manon De Groot from Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Financial capability of consumers is very important for the quality of household financial behaviour. Poor financial capability may negatively affect financial behaviour, such as making ends meet, keeping track of bank accounts and expenses, and saving. Nevertheless, we observe that consumers are not very motivated to acquire financial knowledge and/or to use expert advice to improve their financial management. In a large-scale survey in The Netherlands (n=4280), initiated by the governmental Department of Finance, information was collected about the financial behaviour, knowledge, motivations and attitudes of Dutch consumers of over 18 years old. We studied the sociodemographic, economic and psychological determinants of consumer financial behaviour. The major determinants of financial behaviour in this study are: age, gender, ethnic group, income level, wealth, recent income changes, incidents such as unemployment, illness and marriage breakdown, being the financial decision maker of the household, general financial knowledge, financial/money management, mental accounting, involvement, active/passive search, short/long-term orientation, regret, early youth experience with money, and specific knowledge about financial products. In multiple regression analyses we assessed the relative importance of these determinants on three aspects of financial behaviour.
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	"the Trick Is To Stop Thinking Of It As 'your' Money": Mental Accounting And Taxpaying
Author	Julie S Ashby (Presenting Author) from School of Business and Economics, University of Exeter
Session	Parallel Sessions 5- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 12.50 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Twenty years ago, Shefrin and Thaler (1988) introduced the concept of mental accounting — the idea that people have a number of different mental accounts and they try not to tap into resources that exist in separate mental accounts. To date, this concept has been most commonly applied to the personal finance literature, and it is only relatively recently that it has been used in the context of taxpaying (Adams & Webley, 2001; Ashby & Webley, in press). Exploring the existence of different mental accounts in a taxation context is important because how people think about money could influence their behaviour towards it (Adams & Webley, 2001). To this end, this paper draws on data from a qualitative interview study in Australia and a focus group study in the UK. The findings confirm that the concept of mental accounting is relevant to taxpaying in both countries, with some taxpayers placing sources of extra income (such as tips) into a mental account earmarked as theirs to spend as they wish (not to be declared to the tax office). Moreover, through comparing two different occupational groups, the findings indicate that the mental account extra income is placed in is tied to occupational group membership. Implications for authorities and directions for future research are discussed.
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	Conceptualising Household Financial Management: The Importance Of Psychological Ownership Perceptions
Author	Katherine Joan Ashby (Presenting Author) from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Drawing on qualitative interview data in the UK, Ashby and Burgoyne (2008) report that couples using separate systems of money management (including Independent Management and Partial Pooling) seem to perceive money in a wide variety of ways, with different implications for how they handle money and individual well-being, depending on whether they had distinct, blurred or shared ownership perceptions. Through an online survey study with 190 unmarried cohabitants in the UK, this paper builds on and extends this work by (i) developing a quantitative measure of ownership perceptions and (ii) replicating the qualitative findings in a larger sample of cohabitants. Ownership perceptions cut across the money management categories of Independent Management and Partial Pooling, and were also a significant predictor of the type of contribution cohabitants made towards joint household expenses. Theoretical implications for the measurement of money management are discussed.
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Email	KA10{at}soas.ac.uk (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

Games With Confirmed Proposals
Author	Giuseppe Attanasi (Presenting Author) from Toulouse School of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Games with confirmed proposals are interactive strategic situations in which at least one player, in order to give official acceptance of a contract, must confirm his proposal once known the action chosen by her opponent. We show that, under standard assumptions, in 2x2 games with confirmed proposals, there is a unique subgame perfect equilibrium, always leading to the same contract, that we call confirmed agreement. Hence, the equilibrium outcome of the bargaining process is unique even though the strategy space of each of the two players and the game itself are infinite. Moreover, we run experiments in the laboratory on a 2x2 static game with confirmed proposals, whose payoffs are derived from the standard prisoners’ dilemma (PD) game. Our experimental data show that almost all the pairs in the lab reach the confirmed agreement, in this case represented by the Pareto-efficient outcome. Although it is not a Nash equilibrium in the standard one-shot PD game, this is, by definition, the outcome of each Nash subgame perfect equilibrium of the game with confirmed proposals. Our specific bargaining structure seems to lead to cooperation more than the (almost) infinite repetition of the constituent game does.
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	Anticipatory Feelings May Generate Ambiguity Averse Preferences
Author	Cecile Aubert (Presenting Author) from Toulouse School of Economics - LERNA University of Bordeaux - GREThA
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	We consider the impact of anticipatory feelings on behavior. We focus on a very simple type of anticipatory feelings: we assume that anticipatory feelings are based on future expected utility (possibly with subjective probabilities). Such preferences generate temporal inconsistency. It seems natural to assume that there are decreasing returns to anticipatory feelings. This has an interesting consequence: We show that when there are diminishing returns in anticipatory feelings and additive separability, individual preferences are formally similar to ambiguity-averse preferences a la Klibanoff, Marinacci and Mukerji (2005). This particularly applies to situations in which utility is by nature anticipatory, as for parents who care for the future welfare of their children after their own death. The analysis can explain patters of behavior for long-term environmental or professional risks. Our formulation remains in line with expected utility theory, except that we add "savouring" or "anxiety" in the first period with respect to future outcomes -- a "minimal departure" from EUT. Assuming that anticipatory feelings are simply some function of expected utility is certainly restrictive in view of individual psychological complexity. It however provides an interesting angle of analysis in a context with ambiguity. Parents who feel sympathy (Sen, 1977) for the future felicity of their children derive utility from anticipating this felicity. Among the many important decisions that parents take to improve their children's prospects, two particularly entail uncertainty: education and environmental preservation. Investments in education and efforts to preserve the environment reduce the amount of consumption of both parent and child today. And they provide an uncertain return to the child in the long future. We analyze how anticipatory feelings (arising from parental altruism), affect the trade-off between spending more today (including on the child) and improving prospects for tomorrow in an uncertain world.
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	Adverse Selection With Pride, Anger Or Fairness Concerns
Author	Cecile Aubert (Presenting Author) from Toulouse (LERNA) and Bordeaux (GREThA)
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	We consider the impact of several different emotions that an agent may feel when dealing with some principal. We focus on the canonical adverse selection model, in which an agent executes some action under private information on his costs. First, due to pride, concerns for self-esteem or reputation, or simply because of angry emotions, the agent may refuse contracts that do not provide him with a minimum share of the surplus created. This creates specific, endogenous, type-dependent reservation utilities. A more demanding agent induces higher equilibrium output levels. One can re-interpret the model as relaxing the traditional assumption that the principal has all the bargaining power. This assumption has been justified as allowing to assess the minimum costs of asymmetric information for the principal. We show however that it may lead to underestimating output, and to overestimating the distortions imposed in response to asymmetric information. An alternative modeling is considered, to better represent other emotions, jealousy or envy. Such feelings increase the value of monetary transfers and reduce information rents, but may or not reduce equilibrium transfers. Predictions are quite sensitive to the exact type of concern or emotion considered -- which calls for the use of a more precise vocabulary in theory and experiments.
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	Are Transportation And Search Costs Independent Of The Good's Price? Experimental Evidence And Implications For Business Strategy
Author	Ofer H Azar (Presenting Author) from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The article presents an experiment that illustrates a behavior that I denote “relative thinking.” Subjects in the experiment were asked to decide for which price difference they would be willing to spend 20 minutes and go to a cheaper store. A between-subjects design was used, with nine different goods, whose prices ranged from a $3 pen to a $30,000 car. While the value of 20 minutes of one’s time should not depend on which good he is going to purchase, the results are very different: the average price difference people required in order to drive 20 minutes ranged from $1.88 (in the $3 pen treatment) to $454.81 (in the $30,000 car treatment). I discuss several potential explanations for this behavior but show that the only explanation that is consistent with the data is that people think not only about absolute price differences but also about relative price differences. That is, they consider not only the dollar savings, but also the ratio of the savings to the good’s price. Quantifying the effect suggests that consumers’ valuation of their time is approximately proportional to the square root of the price of the good they want to purchase. Finally, several implications of relative thinking for economics and management are discussed.
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	Firm Strategy And Biased Decision Making: The Price Dispersion Puzzle
Author	Ofer H Azar (Presenting Author) from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The article confronts the empirical evidence and theoretical predictions about the correlation between price dispersion and price. Theoretically, search and location differentiation models suggest that price dispersion is a function of search and transportation costs, but is independent of the good’s price. Empirical evidence, however, suggests otherwise: price dispersion and price are strongly correlated. The article points out this discrepancy between theory and evidence, which it denotes “the price dispersion puzzle.” It then explains how a behavioral bias, previously denoted "relative thinking," can solve the puzzle. According to relative thinking, when people consider buying one of several substitute goods (or choosing one among several sellers of the good), they think not only about the absolute price differences, but also about the relative price differences (even when it is irrational to do so). Consequently, they behave as if their search costs or transportation costs are an increasing function of the good's price. Sellers who are more expensive than others because they have a better location or other attractive attributes, or because they focus on selling to uninformed consumers who are not aware of cheaper prices elsewhere, can therefore charge a higher premium over other sellers the more expensive is the good. This leads to the price dispersion being higher for more expensive goods. Thus, the article shows how the irrational behavior of relative thinking can solve the price dispersion puzzle. This demonstrates the importance of irrational behaviors, and firms' response to these behaviors, in determining equilibrium outcomes in real markets.
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	Pricing Beyond The Homo Oeconomicus
Author	Florian Bauer (Presenting Author) from Vocatus AG, Munich Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Up to now, price research is synonymous to measuring price sensitivity – all classic methods are primarily designed for quantifying this parameter. However, consumers do not only differ quantitatively with regard to their price sensitivity, but also qualitatively with regard to how they tackle the issue of price throughout the decision making process. Because no lever influences company profits as much as price, we set up a “multi-client” study involving 16 countries and 10 product categories to systematically analyse the qualitative differences between consumers with regard to price motivation, price knowledge, or price comparisons. Based upon this, we were able to develop a consumer typology whose five core types can be found in every country and product category. These qualitative differences between these consumer types have clear implications for the definition of pricing strategies. Moreover, it became apparent that a person’s assignment to a specific type often depends on the product in question. Hence, the consumer’s “hybridity”, which is often cited as being the exception, thus rather tends to be the rule. The results of this study have significant implications for practical price research as well as price optimisation, price communication and price management in total: We need to evolve price research beyond the measurement of price sensitivity, and we should not merely base the optimal price on the quantitative measurement of price sensitivity. Instead, we need to take more account of the qualitative differences between consumer types when defining a pricing strategy.
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Constructing An Economic Behavioural Model By Combining ‘creative Destruction’ To ‘dialectic Thought’ In Order To Explain The Psycho-dynamic Motion Of Economic Decision-making
Author	Peter W Baur (Presenting Author) from University of Johannesburg
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The aim of this paper is to present a model to show how economists make mistakes using a synthesis of dialectic reasoning as proposed by Joseph Dietzegen and creative destruction as proposed by Joseph Schumpeter, as the foundation from which to establish a theoretical grounding as a process of understanding decision-making by economic policy makers. However, the process of dialectics induces its own error of reasoning. The underlying logic induced by the process of understanding dialectic thought, provides the explanation for that error. By applying this logic to the theory of ‘Creative Destruction’ and by examining the role of institutions within this context, we are able to objectively identify and analyse the problem that policy makers may experience within the evolution of suitable economic policy. When trying to understanding human nature, one is forced to remove the black box theory and develop new propositions within the complex workings of the human psyche. Decision-making is an extremely individualistic process through which a person may analyse and assimilate certain problems based on information gathered from their environment over their lifetime. However, policy maker’s knowledge and information is based on views and rules established by institutions. While business change often is accompanied by the technological progress following the process of the destruction of the old order, to allow for innovation, policy makers are making value judgements based on a lagged philosophy, which in itself leads to mistakes.
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Consumer Intentions Towards Healthier Eating - Results Of A Survey With Adolescents And Older People
Authors	Tino Bech-larsen (Presenting Author) from The department of Marketing and Statistics. The Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus
Authors	Laura Staugaityte from The department of Marketing and Statistics. The Aarhus School of Business. The University of Aarhus.
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	With an outset in four focus groups and in broad range consumer and health psychological research two surveys have been conducted to examine the barriers and facilitators for healthier eating among adolescents (n= 934, 13-15 years of age) and older people (n= 1214, 55-70 years of age). Adolescents and as well as older people with different experiences with healthy eating, were recruited from the whole of Denmark. The respondents received self-administrative questionnaires by mail. The results of the survey points at inertia as a major obstacle for healthy eating. Those respondents (adolescents as well as older people), who tried and succeeded in changing eating habits recently, were significantly more prone to eat even healthier in the future. Those, who have tried, but failed, to eat healthier had stronger change intentions compared to the ones who did not try but weaker than those who tried and succeeded. Secondly the fact that satisfaction with life in general, food related life, body and health were negatively related to change experience, as well as to the intention towards healthier eating, indicate that satisfaction may lead towards complacency, and hence constitute a major barrier for change. Fortunatel, for policy-makers and food-producers though, intention to eat healthier was also strongly related to positive outcome expectancies of healthier eating. The most important outcomes for both age segments are improved health, increased energy levels, increased self-confidence, prevention from illnesses, and weight loss . Perceived self efficacy is another factor with is important across the age segments. For adolescents, it is also important to have the support and/or pressure from parents and other adults.
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	Promoting Equality By Treating People Unequally: An Experimental Study
Authors	Alice Becker (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Authors	Luis M. Miller from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Justice is a curious mixture of equality within inequality (Homans, 1961). However, experimental literature on distributive justice typically builds situations, where participants are equal a priori. But, which allocations are considered as just when initial endowments are unequal? To address this question, we use a 2x2 factorial design to elicit rules of justice emerging from a three person distribution problem, where initial endowments are asymmetric. In our four treatments participants know (don't know) their initial endowments (partiality vs. impartiality condition) and decide on how to distribute a divisible common good (in monetary terms) or an indivisible common good (in probabilities). This latter manipulation furthermore allows us to distinguish between fairness in allocation and procedures. Additionally, as a robustness check, we vary the ratio between initial endowments and the size of the good. Clearly, knowing initial endowments affects behavior. Behind a veil of ignorance, we find that three impartial rules explain more than 80 % of the decisions for both goods, depending on whether subjects compensate the initial inequalities with the subsequent distribution of the pie fully, partially or not at all. When this veil of ignorance is lifted, we find that a non-negligible proportion of subjects still applies the same impartial rules, and, moreover, we find that the frequency of those impartial rules is significantly higher when participants are distributing a divisible good than when distributing probabilities to get an indivisible good.
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Cooperation And Trust In Economics And Social Life: A Psychologically-driven Model Of Evolution Of Social Institutions.
Authors	Alexis V. Belianin (Presenting Author) from ICEF, Higher School of Economics, and IMEMO RAS, Moscow, Russia
Authors	Vladimir P. Zinchenko from Department of Psychology, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
Session	Parallel Sessions 5- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.30
Category	Theoretical Policy
Abstract	The role of social institutions, such as trust, gratitude or altruism have received a great deal of attention in cross-disciplinary studies of the recent years. Nevertheless it is well-known that cooperative – in particular, trustful behaviour can be either disequilibrium or correspond to the Pareto-inferior equilibria, also known as institutional traps in the comparative economic literature. We set up and develop a psychological framework which explains the spread of such norms in terms of evolving functional organs (in the sense of Ukhtomsky, Leontiev and others). Such functional organs are, on the one hand, responsible for the ability and taste for social life and, on the other, are themselves a by-product of individual efforts aimed at self-realization and self-identification, in short – of individual culture. These considerations are captured by a formal model of the class of psychological games. In our model, individual payoffs consist of both material and psychological component, wherein this latter is being contributed to the purposeful development of private means of protection and largely involuntary evolution of culture, which affects individual preferences and behaviour in the long run. We study the equilibrium properties of this dynamic model, and apply it to the evolution of several social institutions in developed and developing countries.
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Choice Through Similarities
Author	Alexis V. Belianin (Presenting Author) from ICEF, Higher School of Economics, and IMEMO RAS Moscow, Russia
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The paper develops a new approach to the theory of individual choice, based on the notion of similarity as developed by R.D.Luce, A.Tversky, A.Rubinstein and others. Our approach is essentially descriptive: based on the extensive empirical and theoretical/philosophical evidence, we extend the notion of similarity to a family of binary relations which, under essentially the same assumptions as in Rubinstein (1988), serve as base to a topological space of perceptions of given incentives (exemplified as simple lotteries in individual choice tasks). Individual reactions to different experimental tasks amount then to continuous maps relating different topological spaces, which approach provides a natural framework to explain many instances of context dependent choice, including preference reversals, intransitivity of choice etc. Despite and over these examples, we also obtain the conditions under which choice governed by the family of similarities can be represented by a well-behaved utility function. The necessary and sufficient conditions for this are that topological spaces of perception should have a countable base and be inductively zero-dimensional, which requirements are rather demanding when applied to real decision-making. Testable implications of the theory are also presented and discussed.
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Combining School And Job: The Perspective Of A Group Of Mexican Teen-agers
Authors	Paula Benevene (Presenting Author) from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italy)
	Tamara Arias Padrò from Università Lumsa, Roma (Italy)
	Calogero Iacolino from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italy)
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The purpose of this research is to find out the opinions and the evaluations of minors living in a developing country who combine study to the carrying out of an economic activity. In general, the investigation had the purpose to verify the possibility for a teen-ager to carry out an economic activity, without compromising study and his socialization, so that it could be at the same time a positive experience for the youngster’s growth. The research explored in a more specific way these aspects: a) the youngster's motivations towards his choice to work; b) family and friends’ attitudes towards the minor worker; c) attitudes towards and evaluation of both the working experience and the scholastic experience; d) the relationship between school and job; e) socialization through job; e) use of earned money. The research was carried out in Mexico, interviewing 34 minors who work, combining school with the job of “empacadores”. The interviewed group is composed of 25 (73.5%) males and 9 (26.5%) females, aged 11-15 (mean: 13.0). Main results: 1. Teen-agers interviewed represent themselves as subjects that have substantially chosen in a free and autonomous way to work and their choice is not entirely motivated by economic aspects; 2. Satisfaction towards job doesn't necessarily implicate a significant correlation with school dissatisfaction; 3. Teen-agers interviewed measure and value their working experience only partially in relation to the received salary and they assign an important place for the evaluation of their activity to the quality of interpersonal relationships which are developed within the job; 4. Job cannot only be a formative opportunity for what concerns socialization to work and economic socialization, but also in terms of socialization and promotion of a greater autonomy.
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	Rationality Versus Irrationality Of Auction Participants
Author	Joanna Bialynicka-birula (Presenting Author) from Cracow University of Economics Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The factors determining the behavior and decisions of auction participants have been discussed in the paper. A special attention has been given to the auction circumstances creating the specificity of auction market (auction technique, access to the new information, influence of auctioneer on participants’ decision making process, number of auction participants, techniques of manipulation, buyer’s valuation of objects). The strategies of auction participants with respect to auction technique applied have also been sketched. The author propose interdisciplinary approach to the matter in question. From economic point of view the buyer has been treated as homo economicus intending to buy an object at the lowest price. In this traditional sense it is possible to present optimal strategy (mathematical) for bidders. Taking into consideration the psychological and sociological conceptions, the author has taken up the other aspects of auction situation: personality of bidder, risk aversion, suffering of defeat in the past, level of emotions’ control, selective attention, motivatin etc. Moreover the issue of rationality and irrationality in the auction decision making process has been taken up in the paper.
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	Information And Learning In Oligopoly: An Experiment
Author	Maria Bigoni (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics and Management, University of Padua
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	I report results of an experiment designed to study the relation between the process of information search and learning in a Cournot oligopoly, with limited a priori information. Different theories of learning have been applied to this setting, each yielding a specific market outcome in the long run, and postulating specific informational requirements. By allowing players to choose the information they wish to acquire, and controlling for these choices, I study the features of the learning model actually followed by the subjects, and the relation between the information they gather and the market behavior they adopt. According to my results, learning appears to be a composite process, in which different components coexist. Belief learning seems to be the leading element, as subjects try to form expectations about their opponents' future actions and to best reply to them. When subjects also look at the strategies individually adopted by their competitors, though, they tend to imitate the most successful behavior, which makes markets more competitive. Finally, reinforcement learning also plays a nonnegligible role, as subjects tend to favor strategies that have yielded higher profits in the past. I show that these different elements may be usefully incorporated into a more sophisticated learning model, shaped after self tuning EWA learning model.
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	Risk Aversion, Prospect Theory, And Strategic Risk In Law Enforcement: Evidence From An Antitrust Experiment
Authors	Maria Bigoni (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics and Management, University of Padua
	Chloe Le Coq from Stockholm School of Economics, SITE
	Sven-olof Fridolfsson from IfN
	Giancarlo Spagnolo from Tor Vergata university, SITE, Stockholm School of Economics, and CEPR
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper we investigate the effects of risk preferences and attitudes towards risk on optimal antitrust enforcement policies. First, we observe that risk aversion is negatively correlated with players' proclivity to form a cartel, and that increasing the level of fines while reducing the probability of detection enhance deterrence. This confirms that the design of an optimal law enforcement scheme must keep risk attitudes into account, as suggested by Polinsky and Shavell We also notice that players' propensity towards communication drops right after detection even if the collusive agreement was successful, and it declines as the sum of the fines paid by a subject increases. This effect could be explained by availability heuristic -- a cognitive bias, where people's perception of a risk is based on its vividness and emotional impact rather than on its actual probability. Our results also confirm the crucial role of strategic risk considerations (analogous to risk dominance for one shot games) in determining the effects of leniency programs. Indeed, we show that the effectiveness of leniency programs in deterring cartels is mostly due to the increased risk of a cartel member being cheated upon when entering a collusive agreement, while the risk of a cartel being detected by an autonomous investigation of the Authority seems to play a less important role.
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	On The Determinants Of Social Trust In The United States
Author	Christian Bjørnskov (Presenting Author) from University of Aarhus
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper explores the determinants of social trust, as measured by perceived honesty, in 48 US states across three periods. The results show support for the detrimental effects of income inequality but no or little support for a set of popular alternative theories. The trust decline in recent decades is found to have been a consequence of increasing social polarization and the natural decline of the most trusting age cohorts. Residual trust has increased since the early 1970s, giving rise to markedly different policy implications than those forwarded in most studies in the trust literature.
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Optimism, Pessimism, And The Gains From Trade
Author	Michel Blanchard (Presenting Author) from INALCO and EURIsCO
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	This paper examines the debate over the gains from trade when international differences in the risk perception of heterogeneous managers provide the basis for trade: the relatively optimistic country exports the risky commodity whereas the relatively pessimistic country exports the certain commodity. We show that optimal trade policy depends on the choice of the welfare criterion, as ex-ante and ex-post criteria often lead to opposing conclusions. The more optimistic country is always better off ex-ante whereas it can end up worse off ex-post. The more pessimistic country may be worse off/better off ex-ante but better off/worse off according to the ex-post welfare criterion.
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A Quantitative Measurement Of Regret Theory
Authors	Han Bleichrodt (Presenting Author) from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
	Alessandra Cillo from IESE, Barcelona
	Enrico Diecidue from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper introduces a choice-based method that for the first time makes it possible to quantitatively measure regret theory, one of the most popular models of decision under uncertainty. Our measurement requires no assumptions about the shape of the functions reflecting utility and regret and can be performed at the individual level, taking account of preference heterogeneity. Our data show that risk aversion is primarily determined by regret, utility was close to linear. There was clear evidence of regret aversion even though we corrected for event-splitting effects. The degree of regret aversion and, hence, the vulnerability to arbitrage, varied strongly across subjects. For a sizeable fraction of subjects regret only occurred after some threshold. Consequently, previous studies may have underestimated the degree of intransitivity in preferences. Finally, the tradeoff method, which we used to measure utility, gave robust results: its measurements can be replicated using different stimuli and it was not susceptible to strategic responding.
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	Why Do Rational People Vote In Large Elections With Costs To Vote ?
Authors	Serge Blondel (Presenting Author) from GRANEM - Angers University
Authors	Louis Lévy-garboua from CES - Paris 1 University
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Many people vote in large elections with costs to vote although the expected benefits would seem to be infinitesimal to a rational mind. We show that prospect and regret theories cannot solve this paradox of not voting and may even aggravate it. However, if the possibility of a decisive vote comes to mind, expected utility maximizers will doubt their preference for abstention and greatly overestimate the decisiveness of their own ballot. This yields a canonical rational choice solution to the paradox of not voting and, more generally, a rationale for the illusion of control governing all sorts of magical acts.
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Economic Philosophy, Right-wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance And Causal Attributions Of Poverty And Wealth. Two Empirical Studies
Authors	Andrea Bobbio (Presenting Author) from Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy
	Luigina Canova from Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy
	Anna Maria Manganelli from Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 14.40 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The relationships between Economic Philosophy (Altemeyer, 1998), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Altemeyer, 1998) and political orientation are investigated in two studies in order to identify some antecedents of causal attributions of poverty and wealth. Following the literature (Feagin, 1972; Forgas, Morris & Furnham, 1982; Furnham & Bond, 1986; Smith & Stone, 1989) a three-factor structure for causal attributions is adopted: internal/individualistic, external/socio-structural and fatalistic external ones. In the first study, 422 university students filled out a structured questionnaire including the Italian adaptation of the Economic Philosophy Scale (EPS; Altemeyer, 1998), SDO, and RWA, and a measure of political orientation. The exploratory factor analysis performed on the 20 EPS items suggested the extraction of one factor (13 items; alpha = .80) which expresses both a positive attitude towards the privatization of public administration activities and departments, and a negative attitude towards social unions and welfare state policies. The EPS is positively correlated with SDO (r = .45), Conservatism (r = .21) and Authoritarian Aggression and Submission (r = .42) RWA factors, and political orientation (r = .44). A multiple regression analysis revealed that the EPS score is predicted by SDO (Beta = .27), political orientation (Beta = .24), and RWA Authoritarian Aggression and Submission (Beta = .23) (R-square = .313). In the second study, involving 181 university students, measures of causal explanations of poverty and wealth were also included. The EPS measure (alpha = .82) showed positive correlations with internal/individualistic causes of poverty (r = .20) and wealth (r = .27), and negative correlations with external/socio-structural causes of poverty (r = -. 34) of wealth (r = -. 35). In conclusion, supported by a path analysis model tested via LISREL and in line with some literature results (Furnham, 1983), we argue that the ideological system characterized by beliefs in the existence and legitimacy of hierarchies among social groups, need of powerful leaders to be followed, and right-wing political orientation, predicts EPS score. This, in turn, determines individualistic causal explanations of poverty and wealth.
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	A Price Is A Signal On Intrinsic Motivation And Crowding-out
Authors	Friedel Bolle (Presenting Author) from Stiftungsuniversität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
Authors	Philipp Otto from Stiftungsuniversität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	If a previously unpaid activity (donating blood) is paid, then we often observe that this activity is reduced. In this paper, it is hypothesized that the price offered is taken as a proxy for the “value” of the activity. Depending on how the actor valued the activity previously, crowding-out or crowding-in is implied, an effect with or without persistence after abandoning the payment. The model can be adapted to a number of similar situations, including such where a high price signals low values (high costs). This “naïve” explanation is confronted with Bènabou and Tirole’s (2003) principle-agent model. A questionnaire study supports our basic hypothesis as well as some of the derived consequences, and contradicts Bènabou and Tirole’s model.
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	Are French Individual Investors Reluctant To Realize Their Losses?
Authors	Shaneera Boolell-gunesh (Presenting Author) from LARGE, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
	Marie-helene Broihanne from LARGE, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
	Maxime Merli from LARGE, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We analyze the presence of the disposition effect for 90 244 French individual investors based on a large brokerage account database between 1999 and 2006. Main results show that a) French investors demonstrate a strong preference for realizing their winning stocks rather than their losing ones (disposition effect).b) the behavioral bias is not eliminated for sophisticated individual investors (higher trading activity or international diversification) c) more originally, based on French account specificities, we demonstrate that the change of “fiscal account type” does not imply a change in investors’ behavior (at an individual level of the disposition effect).
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	The Effect Of Highly Positive And Highly Negative Unavailable Alternatives On The Value Of Near And Distant Future Menus
Authors	Leah P Borovoi (Presenting Author) from Tal Aviv University
	Nira Liberman from Tel Aviv University
	Yacoov Trope from New York University
Session	Parallel Sessions 3- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 17.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We examine how adding an Attractive but Unavailable Alternative (AUA) to a set of available but less attractive options influences evaluations of near vs. distant future sets of alternatives. According to Construal Level Theory (CLT) (Trope & Liberman, 2003) including AUA would have beneficial effect on distant future sets of options and negative effect on near future sets of options. Participants imagined a choice situation with three alternatives. For some participants a fourth alternatives was added, which was attractive but unavailable. Half of the participants in each condition imagined making a decision in the near future whereas others imagined making the decision in a distant future. Participants then evaluated the attractiveness of the entire set of alternatives, as well as each alternative separately. We examined choices between jobs, computers, classes, roommates and apartments. The results supported our hypothesis: a contrast effect emerged in evaluations of near future sets, whereby an AUA detracted from the attractiveness of the set. Contrary to this, an assimilation effect emerged with distant future choices, whereby adding an AUA increased the attractiveness of the entire set of alternatives.
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	Learning To Bid, But Not To Quit - Experience And Internet Auctions
Author	Jens-martin Bramsen (Presenting Author) from Ph.D. student
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	A classic argument in economics is that experience in the market place will eliminate mistakes and cognitive biases. Internet auctions is a popular market were some bidders gather extensive experience. In a unique data set from a Scandinavian auction site I question if and what bidders learn. At face value experienced bidders do adapt better bidding strategies. However, the so-called pseudo-endowment effect does not disappear. Regardless of their experience, bidders will be inclined to increase their willingness to pay as a response to having had the ``ownership'' (leading bid) before being outbid. Thus, this data can confirm that feedback, and especially negative feedback, seem to be a critical component in learning.
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	Bid Early And Get It Cheap -timing Effects In Internet Auctions
Author	Jens-martin Bramsen (Presenting Author) from Ph.D student
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Most internet auction sites, like eBay, use a proxy bidding system where bidders can put in their maximum bid and let a proxy bidder (a computer) bid for them. Yet many bidders speculate about how to bid and employ bidding strategies. This paper examines how the timing of bids can affect the final price. In a unique data set of 17,000 Scandinavian furniture auctions it turns out that early price increases, i.e. much early bidding, scare off bidders and therefore result in lower prices, whereas much late bidding results in higher prices. Sniping is therefore not a successful strategy to avoid bidding wars.
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	Rebidding? A Pseudo-endowment Effect On Internet Auctions
Author	Jens-martin Bramsen (Presenting Author) from Ph.D student
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Although bidders in an internet auction do not obtain the actual ownership of the item during the auction, they still act according to an endowment effect. In a unique data set of 17,000 Danish furniture auctions I find that having the leading bid, both in terms of time and dollars, will affect the bidders probability to rebid if outbid. Thus, expectations to own, i.e. "pseudo-endowment", seem to affect bidders' willingness to pay in a relative fast and straightforward manor. Generally, these data therefore support that the reference point, from which we measure losses and gains, is closely related to expectations.
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Players Heterogeneity And Longer Run Equilibria In The Private Provision Of Public Goods. An Experimental Analysis.
Authors	Roberto M Burlando (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, University of Torino, School of Psychology, University of Exeter
Authors	Paul Webley from SOAS, London
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	In this study we look at the problem of voluntary contributions to a public good from the perspective of a game longer than usual and focussing on the possible impact of players heterogeneity on the contribution rate and group outcomes over the full game. The experiments whose data constitute the base for our analysis were run in Turin and Exeter Each experiment was made of two separate stages, run at few days distance one from the other. In the first experimental stage, participants (students of many different faculties) were randomly allocated into groups of four in a large computer room and were asked to complete, beside the 63 rounds of the game (3 trial ones), both a pre and a post experimental questionnaire. Using both the post-experimental questionnaire and five measures of behaviour, we classified the participants in four different types: free riders, co-operators, middles and noisy (or "confused", a category whose existence and significance has already been established in previous experiments, see Andreoni 1993 and Palfrey and Prisbey, 1996 and 1997). The players classified in the first three groups were asked to come back and play again exactly the same game in the second experimental stage. This time, however, they were allocated (without being told) into almost "homogeneous" groups according to their type. The purposes of this second experimental stage were to: i) have a sample made of (different but) reasonably consistent players, in order to avoid over-contribution as a result of confusion and errors, and ii) group together people with similar “orientation” and see if in this “homogeneous” context their behaviour would be different. We were interested in comparing both the various types in the same setting and each within the two settings.
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	Does The Endowment Effect Persist In The Domain Of Time? Results From Experimental Studies
Authors	Katrin Burmeister (Presenting Author) from Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin School of Business and Economics Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies and Innovation Management
Authors	Christian Schade from Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin School of Business and Economics Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies and Innovation Management
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The endowment effect (Thaler 1980) is a robust phenomenon that was tested with a variety of goods, in different settings and with different incentive-compatible mechanisms. Despite the considerable literature on the endowment effect, only few (non-incentive compatible) attempts have been made to investigate whether the evaluation of time differs between buyers and sellers (Hoorens et al. 1999, Ortona and Scacciati 1992). In this paper, we present experiments that test whether the endowment effect persists in the domain of time. In a laboratory setting with 80 students, we use an incentive compatible mechanism to measure the willingness-to-pay (WTP) and the willingness-to-accept (WTA) of 45 minutes of the subjects’ time. Specifically, after an unrelated experiment one group stated how much they would ask for another 30 minutes of staying in the lab and answering questions (WTA). The other half of the students was asked how much they would be willing to pay (of their experimental earnings) in order to leave the laboratory 30 minutes earlier than announced (WTP). It turned out that the median WTA is 7.35 times higher than the median WTP. Furthermore, we tested whether this result changes when subjects are allowed to trade 30 minutes of their time in the lab with other subjects in the experimental session. Despite time is a good with very specific features (everybody has the same budget constraint of 24 hours a day, the value of time is context- and person-dependent, and the standard pattern of risk aversion reverses when individuals pay with time instead of money), we showed that the endowment effect is a robust phenomenon in the domain of time. We discuss our results and provide implications for theory and practice.
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Money And Adoptions: Social Representations, Expectations And Opportunities For Italian Families
Authors	Massimo Bustreo (Presenting Author) from iulm university milano
	Vincenzo Russo from iulm university milano
	Nadia Olivero from bicocca university milano
	Luciana Castelli from iulm university milano
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The aim of the present study was twofold: 1) to explore social attitudes toward children’s world and adoption through the analysis of public communications (Bachrach, London, & Maza 1991; Rompf 1993; Fritz 2005); 2) to find out the differences between families (biological, adoptive and mixed) and professional operators (such as psychologists and social assistants) in the perceived relationship between children, money and family (Bonura 2001; Jervey 2003; Wyatt 2006). The research have considered three phases: a) quail-quantitative research of media communications (newspapers, tv spots and movies through a qualitative ad-hoc grid and T-Lab software for quantitative content analysis); b) intensive-qualitative survey (9 interviews and 2 focus groups), and extensive-quantitative survey (600 questionnaires). For these two phases the sample was made up by biological, adoptive and mixed families from Northern Italy and social operators that work both for public service and for private o.n.g. association (Aibi). Between others, evidences from this study underline an important analogy between biological and adoptive families about the moral aspects of the adoption choice and experience. On the other side, this study highlights the difficulties of the socio-psychological aspects of money perception in the adoption experience. In fact, money are considered as «a psychological alibi, a formal excuse», or «something not more important in a adoptive family than in a biological one» and, overall, something that concern the relationship between bank and organisations, and not families and children at all.
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	The Role Of Subjectively Perceived Social Complexity On Attitude Towards Task Intricacy
Authors	Luigi Butera (Presenting Author) from Bocconi University
	Claudio Lucchiari from Università degli Studi di Milano
	Aldo Montesano from Bocconi University
	Gabriella Pravettoni from Università degli Studi di Milano
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This experimental paper focuses on the relation between the influence of task's intricacy on the individual non strategic decision process and the role of perceived complexity of social and relational environment in which decisions have to be taken. It is argued that a meaningful relation exists between how people perceive the complexity of relational environment and the way in which they deal with task's complication. In particular the need for accountability in an unclear relational context in this work is examined as a potential source of change in tastes towards alternatives different in terms of complication. Utilizing the theoretical framework found in Sonsino et al. (2002) , 27 students from Bocconi University were asked to select the preferred lottery in four lottery choice problems. Participants were divided in a control and treatment group and took the very same experiment in different days. Subjects took the experiment individually. Utilizing a microphone, in the treatment session subjects were asked to motivate each choice and the non competitive character of the experiment, even if evident from the nature of tasks, wasn’t stressed during the preliminary oral explanation. Differently, the non competitive character of the experiment has been stressed in the control session. No motivations were asked to control subjects. Three psycho-physiological parameters have been tracked for all subjects in order to see if there were differences between treatment and control groups: Heart Rate Variability, tonic and phasic Electro-Dermal Activity. Our results show that subjects preferred the simplest alternatives in the control session. On the opposite, subjects belonging to the treatment group leant towards the more complicated ones. Between groups, psycho-physiological parameters were significantly different. The propensity towards complicated alternatives as a subjectively perceived signal of personal competence and intelligence and as a consequence of subjectively perceived complexity are suggested as a possible interpretations of the results.
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Analysis Of Psychosocial Models Of Energy Saving Intentions Formation And The Importance Of Normative Influence
Authors	Luigina Canova (Presenting Author) from Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale University of Padova - Italy
	Andrea Bobbio from Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale University of Padova - Italy
	Anna Maria Manganelli from Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale University of Padova - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.10 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The energy saving can be achieved using technologies able to improve the energetic efficiency, but also with everyday virtuous behaviours. The daily behaviours considered in this research are: turn off the lights not indispensable in the house; turn off the electronic devices instead of leaving them on stand-by; have showers of short duration. The research aims to test if the intention to carry out such behaviours can be predicted by the TPB (Theory of Planned Behaviour, Ajzen & Madden, 1986). A further aim is to understand the role played by normative influence on the intention formation process. For this reason along with the subjective norm (i.e. the approval of important others) two further predictors will be added to the model (Conner & Sparks, 2005): the moral norm (i.e. feelings of personal obligation), and the descriptive norm (i.e. perception of what others actually make). Two hundred and fifty-five Italian university students (91 males and 164 females; mean age = 22.9) filled out a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed via LISREL 8.71. First of all the original TPB model for every behaviour was tested. Results support model validity and the percentage of intention variance explained is rather elevated (between 82% and 70%). Therefore two extended models have been tested. In the first one the descriptive norm was introduced; in the second one the moral norm was also added. For all the three behaviours the models fits are satisfactory. The introduction of the two constructs determines a modest increase of the explained variance (between 4% and 7%). The intention is influenced by perceived behavioural control and moral norm in all cases. The latter seems to absorb the effects of attitude. In conclusion, these results indicate that: a) the proposed models are effective in order to explain the intentions to carry out energetic saving behaviours; b) the moral concerns have an important role in determining the intention to carry out these behaviours; in fact, even if the increase of the explained variance is modest, once moral norms are introduced in the model they become the more important predictor.
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Perceived Justice, Antecedent Or Consequence Of Customer Satisfaction With Service Failure/recovery Encounters? An Approach From Script Theory
Authors	Sierra-díez Benjamin from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
	Falces-delgado Carlos (Presenting Author) from Universidad Miguel Hernández (Spain)
	Peralta-montecinos Jenniffer from Universidad de Tarapacá-Arica (Chile)
	Froufe-torres Manuel from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Previous research has stabilized that satisfaction following service failure and recovery attempts is mainly predicted by two mutually independent and complementary standards, dis/confirmation and perceived fairness (e.g., Bolton y Wagner 1999). Contrary to this default model, recent work about the role of consumer’s scripts with service encounters (Sierra et al 2007) suggest that the three responses are a consequence of script based expectancies, and that, for example, people could perceive more fair a experience because of they feel satisfied, than the opposite. Focused in the relation among this two variables, in this study participants (N=229) had to rate their reactions to 8 service failure and recovery scenarios that described different degrees of script disconfirmation. Two alternative models were tested, the first one with script disconfirmation predicting satisfaction and perceived justice (distributive, procedural and interactive) as mediator, and the second one with satisfaction as the mediator. Results showed that script disconfirmation strongly predicts satisfaction, and that the disconfirmation-perceived justice relation is better explained taking satisfaction as the mediator. Results does not support the default model of satisfaction responses being a consequence of different perceptions, and suggest that it could be better to think of satisfaction and other post-consumption responses (disconfirmation, fairness, etc..) as different possible consumer reactions to their consumption experiences being one more appropriate or meaningful over the others depending on the context of evaluation.
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Trust As The Foundational Economic Exchange Principle
Authors	Tarek El Sehity from ISTC - CNR & University of Vienna
	Cristiano Castelfranchi (Presenting Author) from Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies - CNR
	Rino Falcone from Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies - CNR
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Economic man generally has no information about probabilities and even less about certainties of the future state of the world. Given the uncertainty condition, the expected utility account of economic theory cannot provide a realistic description of the reasoning and decision making processes involved in the exchange process. Doubt or disbelief about the outcomes of economic exchange refer to the agents recognition of his incomplete information with respect to the resource allocation. Resources are not exchanged for what they are but for what is believed (trusted) they will be for the agent in the future state of the world. To bridge the information gap economic exchange involves necessarily a proactive attitude in the form of trust. Our trust theory (Castelfranchi, 2007, Castelfranchi and Falcone, 2008) offers an analytic description of trust, taking into account basic components of trust such as evaluation, dependence, expectation, and reliance. These components reemerge in the properties of money as a common economic medium of exchange and as a store of value. In line with Post-Keynesian economists and Austrian economists it is demonstrated that money functions as a safeguard of uncertainty. Money, we argue, is an objectified epiphenomenon of trust.
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	Education And Happiness: A Further Explanation To The Easterlin Paradox?
Author	Stefano Castriota (Presenting Author) from Universita' Tor Vergata - Roma
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Previous empirical research has found a positive impact of education on happiness, on regional and worldwide scale. In this paper I analyze the effect of absolute income on human well-being by education level. Using data from the World Bank’s World Value Survey on more than 118,000 individuals I find that the higher the education level is, the less relevant the absolute income level (GDP per capita measured in PPP constant 2000 international USD) for self-declared life-satisfaction. Higher income makes everybody happier but, everything else being equal, the marginal utility of additional income is higher for less educated people. This might partly explain the Easterlin paradox. Although the GDP level has been constantly rising from the end of World War II onwards, the average life-satisfaction in Western Europe, Japan and the United States has remained almost constant. Furthermore, average happiness levels in rich and poor countries are not as different as GDP levels. Since the average education level has risen a lot over time and is much higher in advanced countries, this might contribute to explain why higher absolute income level has not implied higher life-satisfaction across countries and over time.
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	Learning, Rationality And Identity Building - From Simon To Varela
Author	David Cayla (Presenting Author) from CEA (French Atomic Commision) and IMRI, Université Paris Dauphine
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	This paper focuses on the link between the economic conceptions of rationality and learning. Traditionally, most economists believe that learning is just a way for agents to become fully rational. But being fully rational cannot describe a process, for there is only one way to be rational in the economic sense of the term. Therefore, what economists have in mind is not learning itself but only the result of learning: “a fully rational agent”. As a consequence, “individuals are not really learning, they are only modifying their behaviour due to the information they gather”, Garrouste (2003). Heterodox rationality conceptions such as the Simonian model of bounded rationality seem more compatible with the idea of learning. Bounded rationality implies that agents may act differently to the same stimulus; it is therefore compatible with the idea of diversity, one of the foundations of the evolutionary logic. But following Simon, learning should not be considered as a creative process that allows a lot of diverse answers. On the contrary, for Simon, there is no subjectivity in behavior, but only a “complex behaviour” that reflects the “environmental complexity” (Simon 1996). This raises an important question: how can the Simonian conception of bounded rationality be made compatible with the idea of diverse forms of learning? Our paper aims to answer this question by showing how intentionality and identity, and more broadly Fransisco Varela's “enaction” theory, can help to invent a concept of “rational learning” that is compatible with the idea of subjective (and diverse) agents.
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Dual Motive Theory In China: A Case Study
Author	Yau-gene Chan (Presenting Author) from International Technological University Shenzhen, China
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Dual motive theory is a compelling, scientifically-grounded theory that will soon replace the leading perspective driving Western economic thinking and political science. Specifically, Western economics, as taught in top university economic programs for the last 150 years, has traditionally proposed that self-interest is the sole primary motive driving market exchange and world economic systems. However, centuries of Asian thinking have long emphasized social responsibility, and social balance as the way to find social harmony in all human activities to include those of social exchange. New findings from evolutionary neuroscience and brain physiology provide powerful new evidence that human exchange emerged from the interplay of archetypal neural circuitries governing early vertebrate self-preserving circuitry overlaid and integrated with later evolved mammalian other-preserving circuitry. By understanding these new findings, which are key to understanding human perception, motivation, and creation of human-made social structures, a new paradigm can emerge for creating a new system of stable political governance consistent with the dynamics of human brain function. Dual motive theory is applied to a case study analysis of the warlord rule of Chen, JiTang, a noteworthy period of economic and social development in southern China prior to the disruption of World War II.
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“what Is Expensive Must Be Good” – The Impact Of Materialism On The Vulnerability To Labelling Effects In The Quality Evaluation Of Products
Authors	Fabian Christandl (Presenting Author) from Department of Economic and Social Psychology University of Cologne Herbert-Lewin-Str. 2 D-50931 Cologne Germany
Authors	Detlef Fetchenhauer from Department of Economic and Social Psychology University of Cologne Herbert-Lewin-Str. 2 D-50931 Cologne Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The well documented labelling effect in the quality evaluation of products means that specific labels (e. g., price, brand etc.) are affixed to products and then exert a distorting influence when the quality is evaluated. We argue that the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions – materialism – may contribute to a higher vulnerability to labelling effects. In Study 1 we asked 300 participants to rate the taste of the same red wine, which was labelled as either high (20 €) or low (3 €) priced. Additionally, participants had to fill in the Material Values Scale by Richins and Dawson (1992). Besides a general labelling effect for all participants, it was observed that high-materialists were more vulnerable to the labelling effect. Studies 2 and 3 applied a 3 x 2 x 2 (label x product x materialism) design. In Study 2, 201 participants (aged 18-90) tasted carbonated water, which was either labelled as the premium brand “San Pellegrino” or as tap water with added CO2. In Study 3, 170 participants (aged 19-74) tasted coffee pads, which were either labelled as premium or unknown brand. In both studies, the quality expectations were measured before the tasting and the product was varied, which means that participants in fact either tasted a product which corresponded to the label or which did not correspond to the label. The label had an influence on quality evaluation, while the product itself had none. It was further found that the relation between label and the perceived quality was mediated by expectations raised by the label. The significant interaction of label and materialism from Study 1 was replicated. Hence, high-materialists rated the premium brand (e. g., “San Pellegrino”) better than low-materialists; irrespective of the product they really tasted (e. g., “San Pellegrino” or tap water) and vice versa.
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	Agent-based Computational Economics And Emotions For Decision Making Processes
Authors	Pietro Cipresso (Presenting Author) from IULM University - Miilan - Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences
	Anna Balgera from Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences
	Marco Alessandro Villamira from IULM University - Miilan - Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Preliminary remarks: Agent-based computational economics has been developed extensively in recent years, using sophisticated algorithms of evolutionary computation and artificial life. Surely, the trend has been to shape systems, frameworks, and environments to be as much like a human being as possible. However, to adequately characterize the economic systems viewed as complex adaptive systems, we must integrate emotional aspects with agent-based technology in order to facilitate behavioral shortcuts for the development of fast and adaptive decisional skills, which are innate human behaviors. Theoretical foundation and state of art: There is a growing consensus among researchers in agent-based computational economics that teamwork models can enable flexible coordination among heterogeneous entities. These models are based on a belief-desire-intention (BDI) architecture. We integrate analysis with a review of recent emotions theories that could be useful for integration into agent-based computational economics environments. Analysis and tools: Our role is to integrate agent-based architectures with emotions. So we consider, the emotions, “behavioural shortcuts”. Our future purpose is to develop artificial agents that incorporate emotions to run simulations and create frameworks that can be used cooperatively with business intelligence technologies to understand the different ways that enterprises decline or improve as a consequence of the actions of their managers. Results: The theoretical results are expected to be of considerable importance in terms of providing a defensible, functional approach for the analysis of future applications, and, above all, they will provide the essential basis for creation of human-based systems. Discussion and conclusions: The literature relevant to emotions and agent-based areas will be reviewed, the elements of the model will be described, suggestions for future work will be presented, and the many implications for theory, research, and practice will be discussed.
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Behavioural Strategies In Social Network Formation
Authors	Anna Conte (Presenting Author) from University of Westminster, London, UK
	Daniela D. Di Cagno from LUISS Guido Carli, Rome, Italy
	Emanuela Sciubba from Birkbeck College, London, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We run a computerised experiment of network formation, where all connections are beneficial and only direct links are costly. Players simultaneously submit link proposals; a connection is made only when both players involved agree. More in detail, we run two treatments: in the first (second) treatment the unitary cost of link formation is lower (higher) than the benefit obtained from each connection. When all agents are expected utility maximisers and form static expectations about what the other players will do, the model admits non-trivial equilibrium network architectures in the low cost treatment, but not in the high cost treatment. In particular, any minimally connected network is stable when the cost of links is low, while only the empty network is stable when the cost of link formation is sufficiently high. In a companion paper we explain individual propensity and group effects for best response behaviour. We find that approximately 40% of the network formation strategies adopted by the experimental subjects can be accounted for as best responses. In this paper we provide an explanation for the remainder 60% of choices. We test for each of the following behavioural strategies: 1. Subjects propose links to those that have proposed links to them in the previous round 2. Subjects propose links to those who have attained the highest profit in the previous round Together with best response behaviour, strategies 1 and 2 explain approximately 70% of the choices across the two treatments. We estimate the propensity to behave according to each of these strategies taking into account individual unobserved heterogeneity and group-effects. The paper concludes with a mixture model of the three relevant strategies to highlight the proportion of each type of decision maker in the population.
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	Can Sustainable Consumption Be Learned? A Model Of Cultural Evolution
Authors	Guido Buenstorf from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Authors	Christian Cordes (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 11.00 to 11.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	This paper shows how sustainable consumption patterns can spread within a population via processes of social learning even though a strong individual learning bias may favor environmentally harmful products. We present a model depicting how the biased transmission of different behaviors via individual and social learning influences agents’ consumption behavior. The underlying learning biases can be traced back to evolved cognitive dispositions. Challenging the vision of a permanent transition toward sustainability, we argue that “green” consumption patterns are not self-reinforcing and cannot be “locked in” permanently.
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Beauty Contest In The Brain: The Neural Basis Of Strategic Thinking
Author	Giorgio Coricelli (Presenting Author) from Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Centre of Cognitive Neuroscience, CNRS, and, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, CIMeC, University of Trento
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate human mental processes in a competitive interactive setting - the “beauty contest” game. Actual choices revealed different levels of iterated reasoning (“what I think that you think that I think”) about what players expect the others to do. High-level reasoning and a measure of strategic IQ correlate with the neural activity in the dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex, areas associated with third person perspective taking and thinking about others as ‘like me’. This pattern of neural activity suggests that high-level strategic reasoners treat other players as similar and used cognitive skills to predict others’ thinking and behaviour, while low-level used a simplified model of other players. This supports a cognitive hierarchy model of human brain and behaviour, a manifestation of bounded rationality.
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	Dual Motive Theory In India: An Analysis Of Sen's Development As Freedom
Authors	Gerald A Cory (Presenting Author) from Senior Fellow, Graduate Studies & Research, San Jose State University
	Mikel Duffy from International Technological University, Sunnyvale, California
	Bhagat Patlolla from Stanford University, California Odessa Medical University, Ukraine
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Dual motive theory, deriving from and anchored in brain physiology, permits a new perspective on economic and political development. It is a well-known academic challenge that the contemporary social sciences (political, sociology, and economics) lack a comprehensive theory of development. In 1999, Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen, taking a new turn, wrote a book on development as freedom. He cited expansion of freedom as both the primary aim and principle means of development. He saw a deep complementarity between individual agency and social arrangements with the market mechanism itself, as deriving from the more fundamental way humans live and interact with each other naturally--interchanging words, goods, and gifts(1999:xii, 6-7). In the statement of this thesis, Sen builds, then, upon the well-worn Smithian assumptions about the human tendency to "truck and barter" (Smith 1776). Such assumptions although taken as obvious givens by economic writers, must ultimately rest on factors of human nature. But human nature itself, a traditionally poorly defined and testily argued concept, must in turn rest ultimately on human physiology. The arguable nature of human nature derived historically from the lack of scientific understanding of human physiology--specifically the physiology of the human brain. Late 20th century science has fortunately effectively closed that knowledge gap and the assumptions of Sen and Smith can be anchored securely in the evolved architecture of the human brain. The new findings, coming primarily from evolutionary neuroscience, clarify and correct traditional economic assumptions, thereby anchoring economics in the more fundamental natural sciences in a manner previously not possible. The authors explore the implications for economic and political development from this new perspective.
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	Impact Of Cognitive Constraints On The Endowment Effect For Food Products
Authors	Leonie Cramer (Presenting Author) from Wageningen University
Authors	Gerrit Antonides from Wageningen University
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Purpose We consider patterns of food consumption as a lifestyle which is difficult to change because of status quo bias. In previous experiments we found different endowment effects within sets of food products. Endowment effects were found to be stronger for unhealthy than for healthy food products, and stronger for functional than for regular food products. Here, we expect these effects to be even stronger when consumers’ analytic reasoning is constrained. Furthermore, we expect different effects between types of food products. Methods In several experiments we varied the endowment by providing different pairs of food products (either a healthy or an unhealthy food product, and either a functional or a regular food product) in classrooms with 16-18 year old pupils. Half of the 1439 pupils were confronted with cognitive constraints and all pupils made a choice between keeping their endowment or exchange it for the alternative. Results Overall, we found that the endowment effect was significantly (p < .05) stronger when participants’ analytic reasoning was constrained as compared with unconstrained reasoning. In addition, we found significant differences between the groups with and without cognitive constraints for pupils who received an unhealthy food product or a regular food product, which was in accordance with our expectations. One of the functional food items showed a less strong endowment effect for participants confronted with cognitive constraints. Conclusions These results show that the status quo bias for unhealthy food may lead to subsequent relatively unhealthy food choices and even stronger so when consumers’ analytic reasoning is constrained as frequently occurs in real life situations. In addition, the results indicate that for functional food products to become preferred choices consumers need to have the possibility to think about the added value of the product. This knowledge might help future attempts to change food consumption behaviour.
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	Ego Depletion And “the Tragedy Of The Commons”: Self Control As A Limited Resource And Decision Making In Commons Dilemmas
Authors	David Crelley (Presenting Author) from University of Exeter, UK
	Stephen Lea from University of Exeter, UK
	Peter Fischer from University of Exeter, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 11.20 to 11.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Over the past few years ethical consumption has gained an increased prominence in both the media and on our supermarket shelves. We propose that considering the ethical implications of a purchase is a form of self regulation, which requires the ability to forgo our urges to maximize immediate utility and to consider the long term implication of our actions. Self control is believed to be a limited resource similar to energy or strength which depletes with use (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, and Tice, 1998).This paper proposes that ethical consumption is subject to self-regulatory fatigue which may restrict our ability to consider the long term implications of spending. Utilizing a multiplayer public good game developed by Sheldon and McGregor (2000) our results suggest that people with depleted self-regulatory resources do indeed show greater concern for short term economic gain as opposed to considered the long term benefits to the wider group.
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	Entrepreneurial Choice: Aptitudes, Motivations And Behavior
Authors	Serena Cubico (Presenting Author) from Università di Verona - Italy
	Elisa Bortolani from Università di Verona - Italy
	Alessia Cubico from CIG/Centre for Youth Entrepreneurial – University of Verona (Italy)
	Giuseppe Favretto from Università di Verona - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Entrepreneurship represents an interesting way to develop professionally and personally: people have different levels of aptitudes; they are led to be entrepreneurs for various motivations, and put specific behaviours to use. The objectives of our research are: to estimate entrepreneurial aptitude (by Test di Attitudine Imprenditoriale – Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test) in people who show entrepreneurial interest and to distinguish specific ways of being or of not being an entrepreneur; to see whether successful entrepreneurs, when compared to unsuccessful ones, show different motivations in their entrepreneurial choices; and to describe different choices and behaviour of people who have different motivations and aptitudes. The current sample (the research is still in progress) consists of 100 users (representative of population) of the New-Entrepreneurial-Service of Chamber of Commerce of Verona, who were interviewed by telephone. The first results reveal that successful entrepreneurs are (significantly): less willing to conciliate work and family, more intent upon realizing new ideas, and more oriented to a working without a boss (effects of age and educational qualification appear) and present different entrepreneurial aptitude levels related to behavior (i.e. difficulty in information research, management of bureaucracy…).
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Tax Evasion And Culture: The Impact Of Deterrence In Different Cultures
Authors	John Cullis (Presenting Author) from University of Bath
	Philip Jones from University of Bath
	Alan Lewis from University of Bath
	Antonio Savoia from University of Reading
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical Empirical Policy
Abstract	While neoclassical economists analyse tax evasion with reference to the gamble that any taxpayer takes when choosing to evade tax, there is evidence that willingness to evade tax is also sensitive to culture. There is evidence, for example, that tax evasion is more pervasive in Southern European countries (such as Italy) as compared with Northern European countries (such as the UK). Culture is inculcated nationally and it is also imbibed by education . The first objective in this paper is to compare the impact of more than one 'culture' on willingness to evade tax . Students of psychology and students of economics participated in a tax compliance study in Italy and in the UK. Respondents were presented with different rates of detection, they were subject to different framing effects and some were subject to prompts to behave instrumentally. Questionnaire responses are compared to assess the proposition that Italians are more likely to evade tax, other things equal. Responses are compared to assess whether economists are more likely to declare less income, are significantly more susceptible to framing effects and are less co-operative than psychologists. This study offers insight into the impact that culture exerts as the gamble inherent in tax evasion changes. With evidence that culture matters, how will culture affect the likelihood of success when tax authorities in different countries attempt to deter evasion by increasing the probability of detection?
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An Examination Of The Relationship Among Attitudes Towards Education And Work Related Values Of The Youth
Authors	Marija Cutura (Presenting Author) from University of Mostar
Authors	Mirela Mabic from University of Mostar
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG ATTITUDES TOWARDS EDUCATION AND WORK RELATED VALUES OF THE YOUTH The objective of this empirical study is to investigate relation among youth’s attitudes towards education and their values related to work. The assumption was that youth’s attitudes towards education are an important indicator of their work related values as well as their work ethic in general. For the purpose of the research two hundred and ten students from three biggest faculties at the University of Mostar were sampled. This paper includes an alternative approach because the students are not employed yet. For that reason upperclassmen were included in sampling because they have already started to think actively about their future employment. The main starting point for the analysis was to establish the future employability characteristics of this social group based on potential relation between student’s attitudes towards education and their value orientation towards the work. The main hypothesis was that the students who have higher evaluation for education will show more favorable attitudes to intensive and more demanding employment in the future, which indicates an existence of willingness to improve their employability skills and working habits in general. This hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the research. Key words: youth, attitudes towards education, work related values, work ethic
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	Environmental Protection – In How Far Does “setting A Good Example” Matter?
Authors	Hans J Czap (Presenting Author) from St. Lawrence University
Authors	Natalia V. Ovchinnikova from St. Lawrence University
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In our experiment cooperation between participants in providing an environmental public good does not increase their pecuniary benefits. It may, however, increase their shared feeling of “doing-the-right thing” for the environment. We placed our participants into an extreme situation in which they have to decide whether they want to extract as much money as they can or demonstrate their environmental consciousness and walk away from the experiment with only half the money. The group leader, whose contribution to the environmental good is public knowledge, sets the behavioral norm and the reference point. The followers can either imitate the leader’s decision or may try to outdo her and make a more generous donation. Preliminary results indicate that players choose to balance their decisions across rounds. The participants also choose to forgo monetary benefits in order to conform to the environmentally conscious behavior. The leader’s behavior affects the followers, but we also observe a feedback loop from the followers’ decisions back to the leader.
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Time Preferences: Psychological And Biological Substrates
Authors	Michael Daly (Presenting Author) from School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, UCD Geary Institute
	Liam Delaney from UCD Geary Institute, School of Economics, University College Dublin, School of Public Health and Population Science, University College Dublin
	Colm Harmon from UCD Geary Institute, School of Economics, University College Dublin
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Borghans et al (2008) provide a comprehensive overview of the linkage between economic preferences and personality traits. Following from this, this paper considers the relationship between the economic concept of time preferences and relevant concepts from psychology and biology. Using novel data from a time diary study conducted in Ireland that combined detailed psychometric testing with medical testing and real-time bio-tracking, we examine the distribution of a number of psychometric measures linked to the economic concept of time preferences and test the extent to which these measures form coherent clusters and the extent to which these clusters are related to underlying biological substrates. The paper contributes to the growing literature attempting to establish biological foundations for models of economic preferences.
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	Economists’ View About The Economy Evidence From A Survey Of Italian Economists
Author	Luca De Benedictis (Presenting Author) from University of Macerata - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper, using a novel dataset of a representative sample of Italian academic economists, shows that: (1) economists disagree on both the causes why the Italian economy is not performing better than it is and which are the more useful policy proposals to make the economy to recover; (2) that political/value opinions are significantly related to the judgment on both causes and policy proposals, also after controlling for individual characteristics, academic position, field of specialization, type of research and methodological approach.
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	Designing “optimal” Promotional Offers According To Consumers’ Preferences: A Conjoint Study
Author	Pauline De Pechpeyrou (Presenting Author) from University of Lille II
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Repeated discounting decreases the reference price of the product (Diamond and Campbell, 1989). Therefore, brand managers tend to favour extra product offers over immediate discounts. However, empirical research has demonstrated that consumers discriminate between economically similar deals, with a marked preference for immediate discount reductions (Smith and Sinha, 2000). Moreover, for the same technique, deal semantics affect consumer evaluations (Das, 1992). Our aim is to provide a deeper understanding of consumers’ preferences for different price promotions. A first major step was undertaken by Diamond (1992) who gradually incremented Offer B until the subject was indifferent between Offer A and Offer B. His results showed that the preference for discounts increased with size of promotion. Asking respondents to equate two different promotions might be a difficult task. In his second experiment, Diamond asked respondents to rate the attractiveness of different promotions. We follow this methodology and propose a conjoint analysis approach to construct the profiles and to estimate the preference part-worths (Green et al., 2001). We chose two product categories (detergent/cake) to vary the perishability level. The promotion attributes were reduction amount (15%, 25% and 50%), type of promotion (bonus pack vs. discount) and semantic formulation (quantity vs. percentage). We measured two individual variables (consumption level and deal proneness) following Ong et al. (1997) guidelines. A hundred students had to rate eight promotions on a 0-100 scales. We observed a great heterogeneity in part-worths. A segmentation analysis on part-worths led to two groups: the “savings-oriented” group (mostly affected by the “amount” factor) and the “semantic-oriented” group (equally affected by the “amount” factor and the two “expression” factors). Brand managers and retailers could take advantage of these results to design “optimal” offers according to their promotional budget and to their customers’ preferences.
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Psychology Of The Stock Market In The Interface Between Investors And Media
Author	Annamaria Silvana De Rosa (Presenting Author) from University "La Sapienza" of Rome, Faculty of Psychology 2
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In the scenario of a globalized economy, the practices and representations of the stock market have expanded out of the restricted community of financial experts and are assuming an increasing importance among the general public. This paper is based on two economic psychology studies on the social representations of the stock market. This is an area of research that merits further consideration and development and we will be presenting the most important results obtained from two integrated studies: 1. The goal of this study was to highlight the contents and structure of the stock market's social representation and its relation to the perception of risk in print media. The guiding hypothesis was that fluctuation in stock market indexes is influenced by the emotional impact in the media of critical events (like 9/11). To this end, we carried out a textual analysis of 200 randomly selected articles on the stock market. These were published from January 2000 to December 2003 in two of Italy's best-selling newspapers: “Il Sole 24 Ore” (“specialized” financial newspaper) and “La Repubblica” (mainstream daily that mostly deals with political news and current economic affairs). 2. This study analyzed Italian investors' stock market practices as guided by the social representations of stock market, risk and Internet and as mediated by their financial knowledge and temporal perception. Two different sub-populations were examined: a) Hetero-directed investors, who invest through promoters, intermediaries and advisers, with low scores of risk propensity and who prefer traditional investment systems; b) Self-directed investors, an emerging typology who play the stock market with a high-level of risk propensity and who autonomously invest a high percentage of their family capital. For this study, 63 stock investors were interviewed via Internet from March to August 2005. A multi-methodological approach was employed that included associative networks, Stanford time perspective inventory, risk evaluation scales, interviews and statistical tools (Alceste, Evoc 2000, Spss).
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	Event-related Potentials Reveal Differential Brain Regions Implicated In Discounting In Two Tasks
Authors	Kevin Denny (Presenting Author) from University College Dublin
	Liam Delaney from University College Dublin
	Caroline Rawdon from University College Dublin
	Richard Roche from National University of Ireland Maynooth
	Wen Zhang from University College Dublin
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The way individuals discount future costs and benefits has important implications for both financial planning, health behaviour, education and other outcomes. Both theoretical and empirical economics typically assumes exponential discounting. However there is considerable evidence that it declines hyperbolically with the rate of discount being proportionate to the delay distance. There is relatively little evidence as to whether neural areas mediating time-dependent discounting processes differ according to the nature of the task. The present study investigates the potential neurological mechanisms underpinning domain-specific discounting processes. We present high-density event-related potentials (ERPs) data from a task in which participants were asked to make decisions about financial rewards or their health over short and long time-horizons. Participants (n=17) made a button-press response to their preference for an immediate or delayed gain (in the case of finance) or loss (in the case of health), with the discrepancy in the size of benefits/losses varying between alternatives. Waveform components elicited during the task were similar for both domains and included posterior N1, frontal P2 and posterior P3 components. We provide source dipole evidence that differential brain activation does occur across domains with results suggesting the possible involvement of the right cingulate gyrus and left claustrum for the health domain and the left medial and right superior frontal gyri for the finance domain. However, little evidence for differential activation across time horizons is found.
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	A Continuum Of Handedness Predicts Socio-economic Success
Authors	Kevin Denny (Presenting Author) from University College Dublin
Authors	Wen Zhang from University College Dublin
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Handedness is one of the most commonly observed neuropsychological traits in normal populations. A pervasive feature of all human societies, it has been widely studied due to its association with cerebral lateralization. It has been shown to be related to a wide range of psychological and biological phenomena including cognitive ability, psychiatric morbidity and numerous other outcomes. Its connections with socio-economic outcomes (including earnings, returns to human capital, time use, and occupational choice) have only been explored very recently. This paper builds on this recent work to show how a continuum of handedness predicts a variety of outcomes for both young people and adults. This paper departs from most of the laterality literature by analysing relative hand-skill in addition to hand-preference (i.e. whether individuals are right or left-handed). Applying semi-parametric models to British longitudinal data, it is shown that there is a non-monotonic relationship between handedness and measures of social adjustment, delinquency and occupational choice. Those at the centre of the continuum (i.e. the ambidextrous) tend to do better: they have fewer behavioural problems at ages 7 and 11 and are less likely to become involved with the police as teenagers. Hand preference, by contrast, is not predictive. Handedness also predicts whether people choose white or blue collar occupations with more right handed individuals more likely to enter white-collar occupations. Thus, handedness is likely to have long term effects on people’s lives and careers. These results are interpreted with respect to recent theories of cerebral dominance and genetic models of handedness.
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Linking Risk Aversion And Type Of Income
Authors	Carmela Di Mauro (Presenting Author) from Dipartimento di Analisi dei Processi Politici, Sociali ed Istituzionali, Università di Catania
Authors	Rosy Musumeci from Dipartimento di Analisi dei Processi Politici, Sociali ed Istituzionali, Università di Catania
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Several experimental and survey studies (Barsky et al., 1997; Cramer et al., 2002; Ekelund et al., 2005 among others) have found evidence that being self-employed is negatively associated to risk aversion, interpreting the causality relationship as going from the latter to the former. We present a test of a variant of this hypothesis, namely that employees whose incomes have a variable component (for instance, commercial promoters) display lower risk aversion with respect to fixed-income employees (e.g. low level clerks, teachers). This hypothesis was tested on a sample of 258 Italian employees aged between twenty-five and forty in the course of a survey study on consumption and saving attitudes and habits. Individuals interviewed in the course of the study are classified according to four levels of risk aversion, following Barsky et al. (1997). We find strong support for the hypothesis: the probability of being a fixed-income earner significantly increases with risk aversion. Other control variables which have been found to be related to the type of occupation have been added to the estimated equation. As in other studies, women are significantly more risk-averse than women, and low-income occupations (such as blue-collars) exhibit a higher risk-aversion.
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Pricing Procedural Fairness
Authors	Dennis A. V. Dittrich (Presenting Author) from University of Erfurt
Authors	Stephan Tontrup from Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	While issues of distributional fairness already attracted much attention in the experimental economics literature issues of procedural fairness received scant attention so far. Motivated by legal reforms that aim to reduce costs and to speed up decisions in public administrations by reducing the citizens' rights to participate, we investigate the existence and the impact of several factors on norms of procedural fairness. We design an experiment in which a decision maker earns in a real effort task an entitlement to some objectively determined payoff. His actual payoff is, however, determined by a neutral third party. As the third party decides under incomplete information,the allotted payoff is often lower than the earned entitlement. A rational, non-risk-seeking, payoff maximizing decision maker should accept this sure payoff. Even though participants in the experiment are risk averse, many file an objection against this payoff and subsequently face a gamble with expectation equal to the payoff determined by the neutral third party. A higher transparency of the decision process of the third party reduces the occurrence of objections substantially (by 40 percentage points). The experiment design therefore is suitable to investigate the issues of procedural fairness we are interested in. In subsequent experiments we elicit the willingness to pay for filing an objection and for increasing the transparency of the third party's decision process. Both willingness to pay are substantial. In further experiments we manipulate different institutional factors to gain insight into the sensitivity of procedural fairness norms. These insights may help to calibrate institutional processes like administrative procedures.
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	Probability Weighting Function For Experience-based Decisions
Author	Katarzyna Domurat (Presenting Author) from Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management Centre for Economic Psychology and Decision Sciences
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	According to prospect theory, when making decisions under risk people use decision weights in such a way that they overweight low probability events and underweight high probability events. This claim has been supported in several experiments, including Kahneman and Tversky (1992) and Gonzales and Wu (1999). However, recent experiments suggest that this pattern holds only for "description-based" decisions, i.e. for decisions when people are provided with probabilities of potential outcomes. Such decisions are contrasted with "experience-based" decisions, in which people learn probabilities of potential outcomes through sampling and direct experience. Experiments by Hertwig, Barron, Weber & Erev, (2004), and by Barron & Ursino (2008) shows that in "experience-based" decisions people behave as if they underweighted small probabilities. Fox and Hadar (2006) argue that this description-experience gap is due to sampling error. However, my research shows that even when we eliminate sampling error, probability weighting function estimated in context of experience-based decisions differs from weighting function estimated in context of descriptive decisions. It turned out that in context of experience-based decisions, the inverse S-shaped weighting function become more linear. In line with Sawicki & Tyszka’s (in preparation) finding, I interpret this result as a consequence of the fact that under experience-based probability format people’s perception of probability became more accurate than under numerical format.
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Sick Pay Provision In Experimental Labor Markets
Authors	Peter Duersch (Presenting Author) from University of Heidelberg
	Jörg Oechssler from University of Heidelberg
	Radovan Vadovic from ITAM, Mexico City
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Sick pay is a common provision in most labor contracts. Even when not required by regulations, firms often choose to offer sick pay in case workers become ill. In this paper we conduct a first systematic study of sick pay provision in labor contracts by using a controlled laboratory experiment. We adopt a modified gift-exchange environment in which the labor contract is a lottery with the regular wage being the high prize and sick pay being the low prize. Firms can benefit from sick pay provision in two different ways: directly, from workers reciprocating higher sick pay with higher efforts; and indirectly, from self-selection of reciprocating workers into contracts with higher sick pay. Our main finding is that the direct effect is rather weak (actually negative) but the self-selection effect can have an important impact on a firm’s output. Thus, the unexpected value of sick pay provision could be in attracting cooperative workers. This, in turn leads to a higher provision of sick pay when firm compete for workers relative to a monopsonistic labor market.
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	Peak Impact: Financial Risk Perception And The Peak Of The Return Distribution
Authors	Barbara Summers from Leeds University Business School. University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
Authors	Darren Duxbury (Presenting Author) from Leeds University Business School. University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 3- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	AIM - Assuming normally distributed returns, finance theory posits that investment decisions are a function of variance (risk) and expected return, while prior experimental studies support the impact of higher moments of a distribution (skew), on financial risk perception. It is unlikely, however, that naïve decision makers assess risk in terms of squared and cubed deviations from the mean (Lopes, 1984). So what mechanisms for financial risk assessment do such decision makers use? We propose and evaluate a heuristic decision rule based on the peak of the distribution, in which risk perception is driven by an evaluation of the value and probability of the most likely outcome (horizontal and vertical position of the peak). Such an approach draws upon, but extends, Parducci’s (1965) range-frequency theory, in which people evaluate outcomes relative to a psychologically neutral point determined by the range and median. EXPERIMENT - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate experimentally the impact of the peak of the return distribution on risk perception, to this end we isolate movements of the peak from other distributional characteristics. Movement of the peak is operationalized by manipulating variance and skew, while controlling for expected value and maximum loss, in a full factorial design. Variance changes the probability of the monetary outcome associated with the peak (moving the peak vertically), while skew changes the value of the monetary outcome associated with the peak (moving the peak horizontally). The experimental manipulations control for range and median, thus separating the effect of the peak heuristic from range-frequency theory. RESULTS - We find significant influences for expected value and skew on risk perception, along with significant interactions among the four distributional characteristics studied. Our results provide strong support for the peak heuristic conjecture, with evaluations being in line with range-frequency theory.
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News, Uncertainty And Subjective Macroeconomic Expectations
Authors	Joshy Z. Easaw (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, University of Bath
Authors	Atanu Ghoshray from Department of Economics, University of Bath
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The purpose of the present paper is to provide some microfoundations of how households form subjective expectations of the macroeconomy. We focus on the role of perceived news. We outline a testable model where households may give unequal importance (or weights) to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ news. Using household survey data compiled for the US, the model is empirically verified at both the aggregate and disaggregate level. We find in all cases households give no weight to bad news. The paper also considers scenarios when there is uncertainty in the news. In this case, the results largely reverse as more importance is now given to bad news.
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	Linking Psychometrically Measured Financial Risk Tolerance With Choice Behaviour.
Authors	Peter Brooks from Barclays Wealth, London, UK
	Greg B Davies from Barclays Wealth, London, UK
	Daniel P Egan (Presenting Author) from Barclays Wealth, London, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Financial institutions have a regulatory obligation to determine the risk tolerance of their investment clients. We present a psychometric risk tolerance questionnaire is a reasonable proxy for financial risk taking behaviour in a stated choice experiment. We find that individuals that indicate greater risk tolerance on our psychometric scale also indicate that they are willing to bear greater risk in choices between the outcome distributions of risky investments. Our approach is novel for a number of reasons. Firstly we create direct linkages between a subjective psychometric measure of financial risk and utility risk parameters. Secondly we use pseudo-continuous outcome distributions in our choice tasks, rather than the more conventional binary gambles, and thirdly, our study respondents were sourced from the wider UK population with an income constraint roughly equivalent to the top 10% of all earners.
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	Cross Cultural Variation In Financial Risk Perception And Risk Tolerance
Authors	Daniel P Egan (Presenting Author) from Barclays Wealth
	Gregory Davies Egan from Barclays Wealth
	Peter Brooks from Barclays Wealth
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Systematic differences in risk perception and risk-return preferences across cultural groups have been repeatedly noted, with most focussed on western European/Americans and East Asian individuals. Few explanatory hypothesis are tested concurrently to assess comparative explanatory power. Our study provides some interesting answers, and more questions, about the variance of differences of financial risk perception across cultural groups. Generally, Asian individuals expect high annual returns, and are comfortable accepting greater risk to pursue them. A key insight to the differences is that East Asian clients believe themselves to be “long-term” investors, but have a significantly shorter time-horizon for assessing the performance of investments. Consistent with the “cushion” hypothesis (Weber and Hsee 1998), we do find that Indian, Chinese, and Taiwanese individuals do have significantly greater “cushions” to rely on financially. Moreover, individual level data analysis is consistent with the idea that even within cultures, the greater the number of “cushions” an individual has, the greater their comfort taking financial risk. However, controlling for the effect of the number of “cushions” individuals have, the prevalent patterns of mainland Chinese and Indians exhibiting higher risk tolerances remains, thus indicating that the cushion hypothesis does not fully explain the majority of variation across geographies. The data come from a long-term project run in conjunction with a major financial institution. Our sample has considerable advantages in that it does not consist of only university students, but rather an age, income, and educationally heterogeneous population, far more representative of the general population than are usually available. We are thus able to assess standard demographic correlates over a range, and thus with greater power in the tails, than usually possible. Our delivery instrument, an internet based survey, was completely unbranded and un-associated with any university or organisation.
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The Dual Process Account Of Reasoning: Some Experimental Evidence
Author	Massimo Egidi (Presenting Author) from LUISS GUIDO CARLI
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper hints that the discrepancies between the prescriptions of expected utility theory and real human behavior cannot be ascribed to imperfect axiomatic description of human choices but to some more general features of human reasoning: the dual-process account of reasoning (Schneider and Shiffrin) is assumed to be a promising explanatory key. The emergence of “intuition” is analyzed through a computer experiment with two groups of players playing a solitaire. The two groups were asked to play a solitaire which could be solved with two different strategies, A and B; strategy A was more efficient and easier than B if applied to a sub-set of initial cards’ distributions, (call it type A* cards’ distributions); and viceversa, B was more efficient than A if applied to a type B* card’s distributions. During the first part of the tournament (the training phase) one group was exposed to game’s configurations of A* type, and the other group was exposed to B* type. After the training phase both groups were exposed to the same sequence of card’s distributions. The data show the emergence of a persistent differentiation in the players' behavior. The group of players exposed to a set of configurations which led more easily to learn one strategy continued to use it more frequently in the second part of the tournament, and symmetric behavior arose in the other group. Moreover in both groups there emerged a subset of players with strongly automatized behaviors. These results are used to test experimentally the degree of automatization in players' behaviors and the existence of "cognitive traps" in the learning processes. Eventually, the experimental data are discussed to show the “filtering” effect of automatized skills, i.e. to show that automatized skills direct the selection of the relevant information for playing.
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Explaining Partial And Heterogenous Contributions To Public Good As A Trade-off Between Individualistic And Social Preferences
Author	Hicham El Moussaoui (Presenting Author) from University of Paul CÃ©zanne, Aix-en-Provence (France)
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	When agents are brought to contribute to the provision of a public good they face a double conflict of preferences: an intrapersonal conflict and an interpersonal one. In the standard game theory handling public good games, only the interpersonal conflict was treated while the intrapersonal conflict was neglected. In this paper we integrate this dimension by supporting that the level of cooperation relies on first of all on the resolution of the intrapersonal conflict. If the theories of the meta-preferences and of multiple selves allowed putting in evidence the concept of internal conflict, they remain incomplete as for the dynamics of resolution of this conflict. Consequently, our contribution consists in explaining how an agent coordinates the various functions of utility (representing preferences) held to result in a choice, particularly when these utilities indicate divergent choices. Although joining the approach by multiple selves, the metaeconomic approach, based on plural and endogenous preferences, distances itself from contractual and strategic approaches by the fact that it does not still conceive the interaction between the various preferences as the zero-sum game. This will allow us to explain, on one hand, the partial and positive contribution as a compromise of preferences, and on the other hand, the heterogeneousness and the contingency of the individual preferences as the result of the variance of weights attributed by every agent to the individualistic and not individualistic (social and moral) preferences.
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Mind Money!
Authors	Michele Piunti from ISTC - CNR
Authors	Tarek El Sehity (Presenting Author) from ISTC - CNR / University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	A medium of exchange allows market agents to trade in mutual ignorance of each other´s needs to the sole knowledge of market prices. Our simulation investigates the socio-cognitive peculiarity of such an interactional system. We analyze the ambiguous notion/s of money as a medium of exchange and its emergence in the course of social interactions. The working thesis of our simulation: money functions as a hub through the de-socialization of man’s interaction. In this respect money is a catalyst of complex social interactions. The theoretical base for the socio-cognitive modeling of the agents is derived from Castelfranchi’s theory of social dependence. The simulation investigates the socio-cognitive foundation of money in a time dependent environment. Agents and resources are represented in terms of an individual expiration date. Consumption of resources postpones an agents expiration date. The dynamics of the simulation system are due to each agents independent rational time scale which is the base of agents’ decision algorithms. These rational times scales are embedded in a general interval time scale environment. The simulation starts with multiple single agents in a resource environment. An agents search for resources is prone to create periodic behavior, or “time circles”, due to an environment with periodically appearing and disappearing resources. Coincidental contacts between two agents do not provoke any changes in agents’ behavior. The encounter of three agents leads to the emergence of a “giving” algorithm. “Giving” emerges as a mirrored algorithm of “taking” by the third party and is therefore the pre-social form of the exchange algorithm. A gradual increase of the number of agents involved creates a growing complexity of the market system to observe when and due to what factors trade collapses occur or the emergence of a new order manifests.
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Monies’ Psychologies –the State Of The Art Of The Psychology Of Money
Authors	Tarek El Sehity (Presenting Author) from ISTC-CNR & University of Vienna
Authors	Erich Kirchler from University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The paper undertakes the review of theoretic and empiric research which contributed to an understanding of money from the psychological point of view. Although being among the most prominent objects in our daily life, dedicated research on the psychological basis of money are rare. Hitherto 8 academic articles where explicitly dedicated to a psychology of money. The present article offers a cross-disciplinary review on implicit psychologies of monies by the means of text analysis. We analyze the underlying psychological assumptions with respect to the use and functioning of money as put forward by the authors. About 112 academic contributions from the field of History, Anthropology, Ethnology, Sociology, Economics are included so far in the text analysis. Preliminary results indicate that the poorness of the present state of the psychology of money might be due to the neglected dimension of money as a matter. Anthropologist and historians as well as economists from the Austrian School report on the difficulties in their investigation of money because of an underdeveloped definition of money. Different monies (digital, paper, specie…) do hardly function with the same psychological principles. Up to date a general model which takes into account of these differences is outstanding. The present article concludes with a lists of open issues for the development of a general model of money.
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	What’s The Partner Role In The Family-decision Making?. The Use Of Different Disuassive Tactics
Authors	Barles-arizon Mª Jose from University of Zaragoza
	Fraj-andres Elena (Presenting Author) from University of Zaragoza
	Martinez-salinas Eva from University of Zaragoza
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In the seventies researchers focused on the role that each family member played in the purchase decision-making. Social changes such as number of children, the distribution of economic resources and the family culture are considered by researchers as great motivators of this fact. The study of the consumer and the family purchase behaviour has arisen the interest of diverse disciplines such as the psychology, sociology and marketing. Nowadays, it seems key to know what the role is that each family member plays in the family-decision process when they decide to design their strategies, and specially, for a couple as a basic decision unit (Hawkins, Best and Coney, 2004). At this respect, the literature points out that most of the decisions are taken jointly (Martinez, 1999). It is habitual that disagreements largely arise from decisions which takes that the two members of the couple use tactics to influence each other. In this context, this study aims to know the influence tactics used by the members of the couple when there is a conflict in a buying decision. Moreover, it will be analysed to what extend the couple is agree with the influence that each one exerts on the purchase. Thus, a questionnaire was designed which collected information on 300 Spanish couples, who were married or lived together, that filled them separately. Findings show a high degree of agreement between the members of the couple for the grade of influence of each one. Furthermore, they explain that there is agreement between the couple in buying decisions on common goods and they use different influence tactics when they want to persuade their partner. Moreover, these tactics vary depending on some socio-demographic aspects. Results have a remarkable relevance for managers as they will obtain added value through the improvement of their services.
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A Shock Therapy Against The “endowment Effect”
Authors	Dirk Engelmann (Presenting Author) from Royal Holloway, University of London
Authors	Guillaume Hollard from Paris School of Economics and CNRS
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Simple exchange experiments have identified that participants trade their endowment less frequently than standard demand theory predicts. This implies that subjects are likely to miss beneficial trades. List (2003) finds that experienced dealers acting on a well functioning market are not subject to the “endowment effect”. This does, however, require very high levels of experience, which suggests that the market is a rather poor teacher. We argue that two types of uncertainty can lead to an “endowment effect”, choice uncertainty and trade uncertainty. Markets should be good teachers to reduce choice uncertainty, but not trade uncertainty. We design an experimental framework to test for the importance of trade uncertainty, while controlling for choice uncertainty. We find that a few rounds of training, using a special procedure to force subjects to give away their endowment, are enough to eliminate the “endowment effect” in a subsequent experiment. This supports the view that trade uncertainty is crucial for the “endowment effect”.
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	A Preliminary Account Of An Empirical Investigation Of Professional Asset Manager Decision-making Understood Within The Framework Of Emotional Finance.
Authors	David A Tuckett from Visiting Professor, Psychoanalysis Unit, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, Gower Street, LONDON WC1E 6BT
Authors	Arman Eshraghi (Presenting Author) from University of Edinburgh Business School
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical Policy
Abstract	A preliminary account of empirical data from a study of professional asset managers will be presented to show how standard psychoanalytic thinking can illuminate the potential for instability in financial markets. An interview-based exploratory study of 53 investment fund managers working for leading asset managers was conducted in the first eight months of 2007. After demonstrating how the interview instrument could collect relevant data and that respondents were willing to talk freely and informatively, findings in three areas will be presented: (1) How professional investors searched for and used information over time to make decisions to start (buy), continue (hold) or exit (sell) their relationship to assets (investments). The process can be conceived as a decision to begin, continue or end an emotional relationship, characterised by unconscious phantasies and ambivalent feelings necessarily created by the uncertainty surrounding outcomes and the potential defences against recognising it. (2) The states of mind discernible when professional investors judged or explained to themselves and others the risks they took when making decisions and how they sought to account for their successes and failures? Aspects of the institutional framework in which they are judged influenced this process. (3) How professional investors explained and understood what they did more generally and the likely consequences of their explanations. In particular, how the theories they used was able to facilitate or inhibit their capacity to learn from failures. The author will conclude that an interdisciplinary theory recognizing and making possible the integration of emotional experience with rational thinking may be more useful to economic agents than present mainstream theories which contrast rational and irrational decision-making and model them as making consistent decisions on the basis of reasoning alone.The potential implications of the study for the design of regulatory activity will be raised.
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Psychological, Social And Economical Consequences Of Temporary Work: An Empirical Survey
Authors	Alessandra Falco (Presenting Author) from University of Padova - Italy
	Laura Dal Corso from University of Padova - Italy
	Alessandro De Carlo from Catholic University Milano - Italy
	Annamaria Di Sipio from University of Padova - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 9.40 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Uncertainty, mobility, and opportunity are some of the concepts to describe work in today’s flexible and rapidly changing/evolving society. Past working conditions – namely remaining in just one organization throughout life – are nowadays turning into great instability and insecurity, although there may be, depending on the situation, more opportunities for personal initiative and autonomy. This two-fold aspect is typical of societies, which, after an “open-ended employment era”, are known as a “society of jobs” to differentiate them from the so-called “society of work” of the past. Greater economic energy and flexibility has certainly created conditions enabling organizations to be more competitive as well as offering better opportunities for the employees. However, these changes determine an increase in uncertainty, instability and risk for the workers, which lead to a subsequent rise of stress and anxiety. This is particularly true for those workers who are less prepared and competent, and therefore more vulnerable. In the past researchers used to study the effects of repetitive and monotonous work, namely adjustment disorders, demotivation and dissatisfaction; today they study the effects of uncertainty and flexibility. Within this framework, this study aims to investigate – using an empirical survey on a sample of 106 Italian tertiary workers – the effects that temporary contracts may have on workers’ and organizations’ well-being. Particular attention has been given to studying in depth the effects of employment contracts – taking into consideration their type, whether the worker had a choice and whether the contract could eventually be turned into an open-end one – on some individual and organizational variables such as collective efficacy/efficiency, absenteeism/turnover, perceived organizational support, commitment, organizational citizenship, strain, burnout and mobbing. The results indicate some of the effects of temporary work on individual and organizational well-being. They may be useful in outlining some potential operative guidelines for management, designed to foster the sustainability of different forms of temporary work.
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	Debating An Agenda For Applications In Economic Psychology – A Brazilian Proposal
Author	Vera Rita M. Ferreira (Presenting Author) from COGEAE - PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DE SÁO PAULO - PUC-SP
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Theoretical Policy
Abstract	The paper proposes a debate on applications for economic psychology and behavioral economics in a country facing several economic, political, social, educational and environmental challenges. First, a brief outline of the current foundations of the discipline is introduced, including goals, methodological and epistemological issues, as well as considerations for the micro and macro dimensions involved in it. Lines for research, debate and intervention are presented regarding the Brazilian scenario and comprehending areas such as micro-finance, citizen and consumer protection, credit and indebtedness, environment and policy-making (economic, public and social), along with proposals that contemplate specific professional insertions for specialists working in the psychological-economic field. Two relevant examples of major behaviour changes that involved large populations and were successful (energy rationing, in Brazil, in 2001 and the world-wide mobilization to avoid the millennium bug, prior 1999-2000) are discussed, pointing to the need of further investigating such phenomena more thoroughly as they might disclose important lines of action concerning collective transformation. Some psychological economic literature on application of knowledge produced by the discipline is reviewed ranging from a historical perspective (Katona, 1975, Lea et al., 1987) to more recent contributions (Earl, 2003, 2005, Wärneryd, 2005a, b, Loewenstein, 2007, Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). Potential difficulties for such applications are analysed from two angles: psychological limitations, of both cognitive and emotional natures, commonly found in decision-making processes, and a large array of structural problems that have since long hindered consistent development perspectives in Brazil. A broad project regarding information, awareness, empowerment and emancipation of significant sectors of the population closes the debate, laying special emphasis on the importance of necessarily including the emotional components present in decision-making and changes of behaviour, as outlined in a psychoanalytic-based decision-making model (Ferreira, 2007, 2008) also described here.
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A Lesson Seldom Learned – Why Life Does Not Inform Us About Others’ Trustworthiness
Authors	Detlef Fetchenhauer (Presenting Author) from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
Authors	Dave Dunning from Cornell University, Department of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In previous studies focusing on a binary trust game, we have shown that American and European participants heavily underestimate the likelihood that others will reciprocate their trust, thus leaving “money on the table” that they easily could have gained. In the present study we tested two possible explanations for such unwarranted cynicism. First, participants may have shown such a bias because they had no financial incentive to provide valid estimates. Second, life experience often informs people about cases of untrustworthiness but not about all cases of trustworthiness; if people deny another person trust, they deprive themselves of the chance of learning that this person was actually trustworthy. To test these two explanations, we showed participants (N=120) videotapes with 56 stimulus-persons. Participants estimated the trustworthiness of each person in a binary trust game, deciding whether to give 7.50 Euro to that person with a chance to receive 15 Euro back. Participants were told that one of these decisions would be made for real. Half of all participants received a financial incentive, a bonus in addition for each stimulus-person they estimated correctly. Participants also differed in the feedback they received their decisions. They either received no feedback, conditional feedback (i.e., only when they handed their money to the stimulus-person), or unconditional feedback (i.e., regardless of whether they handed their money to the stimulus-person). Overall, participants underestimated the trustworthiness of the stimulus-persons, irrespective of financial incentive condition. However, in the unconditional feedback condition, participants more accurately estimated that a greater number of stimulus-persons would be trustworthy, and were more likely to trust, than in the two other conditions. Thus, our results confirm our hypothesis that people are overly cynical because in real life they never receive crucial feedback about just how trustworthy other people are.
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	The Intergenerational Transmission Of Low Income Status For Working Versus Non-working Poor Canadians: Family And Neighbourhood Effects
Author	Ross E. Finnie (Presenting Author) from University of Ottawa (Gr4aduate School of Public and International Affairs)
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This research looks at the intergenerational transmission of poverty status in Canada, with a focus on how growing up in a working poor or a non-working poor family affects the chances that a person (male or female) will him- or herself live in such conditions as an adult. Neighbourhood characteristics are also considered, captured by the percentage of poor families (working or non-working) in the neighbourhood in which the person lived while growing up. While growing up in a poor family or in a poorer neighbourhood is associated with a greater probability of living in poverty when older, these associations are weakened if the family was working poor (rather than non-working poor) or there was a higher percentage of working poor individuals living in the person’s neighbourhood when young. These effects are greatest when non-working poverty, which is the more extreme poverty state, is the outcome in question. These results are extremely robust to different specifications, including when income level is controlled for, suggesting that these effects are (at least mostly) not due to income differences between the two groups, but rather some other factor or set of factors, including value formation, the transmission of a “taste” for work, and perhaps related influences.
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Why Did Democracy Emerge ? Evidence From The Experimental Laboratory.
Authors	Urs Fischbacher from University of Konstanz
Authors	Justina Av Fischer (Presenting Author) from OECD, Social Policy Division
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	It has long been debated why democracy in the Western World emerged. As one possible explanation, game theorists claim that changes in the production technology allowed for econmic welfare gains if property rights could be secured, triggering high investment levels. We test this hypothesis with the following set-up: We assume a three person investor society, in which one investor is a dictator. Prior to the investment stage, she can choose to share her power and introduce democracy. I the second stage, investments are made. What is not invested, can be consumed. Finally, the output is shared. In a dictatorship, only one players decides, while in a democracy, the majority vote decides. Using backward induction, we predict that it is rational for powerless players in a dictatorship not to invest, as the dictator cannot credibly commit to not-expropriating them. In contrast, under a democracy porperty is protected as a expropriative policy will not find a majority. We predict that if endowments are of equal size, the Nsh sharing rule will be 33% for each person, and everybody will invest the same positive amount. However, investment levels will not be economically efficient. We also investigate issues of repeated games in dictatorship, that allow for repuation building. Possibly, a stable dictatorship will lead to higher investent and thus welfare compared to an unstable (in terms of sharing rule) democracy. Finally, we also compare an exogenous democracy with an endogneous democracy.
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Enforced Versus Voluntary Tax Compliance: Testing The Interplay Hypothesis Against Field Data.
Author	Justina Av Fischer (Presenting Author) from OECD, Social Policy Division
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Most empirical research on the individual and institutional determinants of tax evasion and, more narrowly, tax morale has investigated this question in a purely additive manner, unrealistically assuming a ‘linear world’. In contrast, Kirchler, Hoelzl and Wahl (2008) claim that tax compliance is determined by an interplay by the two dimensions ‘trust in the tax authority’ and ‘power of the tax authority’. KHW define ‘trust’ as “the general opinion […] that the tax authorities are benevolent and work beneficially for the common good” (p.212). The authors relate ‘power of the authorities’ to the tax authorities’ means to enforce the tax law. They claim that there is a positive interplay between the two dimensions, with tax compliance reaching its lowest level when both trust in authority and power of the authority are very small. This paper aims to test this prediction for individual tax morale, using a cross-section of micro-level information on a wide range of socio-demographic characteristics and personal attitudes of originally 120’000 persons in 80 countries, obtained from the combined 3rd and 4th waves of the World Values Survey (WVS). Following Torgler and Schneider (2006), we measure tax morale with the following question “Do you think it is justifiable to cheat on taxes”, with (re-coded) answers ranging from ‘always justifiable’ to ‘never justifiable’, on a 10-point-scale. ‘Trust in tax authorities’ is approximated with WVS measures of an individual’s confidence in national government institutions, while ss proxies for tax authorities’ power serve measures of government effectiveness and the rule of law (Kaufmann et al., 2003). Our empirical analysis shows strong evidence for a positive interplay between ‘trust in the tax authority and ‘power of the tax authority’. However, postulated stronger effects for democratic countries or highly educated persons are only weakly supported.
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A Dynamic, Multilevel, Dual-process Model Of Behavior
Authors	Thomas Foulquier (Presenting Author) from Chaire de recherche en géomatique d’affaires Faculté d'administration, Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke (Québec), Canada, J1K 2R1
Authors	Claude Caron from Chaire de recherche en géomatique d’affaires Faculté d'administration, Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke (Québec), Canada, J1K 2R1
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	An examination of the role of procedures in organizations and for individuals in crisis situations (Weick, 1993) has led us to investigating the question of compliance and derogation to rules and models of behavior internalized by the economic agent (Young, 2003). Drawing from this analysis we propose a theoretical, dual-process model of behavior useful to describe the economic agent, individual or organization. The dynamic interaction between 2 modes of processing, S1 and S2 (Stanovitch, 1999, Kahneman and Fredericks, 2002) results from the competing influences of signals of compliance or derogation to rules of behavior – internalized models – stored in the agent’s long term memory. The relative weight of signals of compliance and derogation is evaluated by a central instance that we associate to volition. Two structures constantly comparing short term and long term memories emit each a type of signal towards the central instance, and are described as complier (s1) and derogator (s2) respectively activating S1 and S2 processes. An unconscious, rapid, automatic, high capacity (Evans, 2008) response of the agent (by S1) is activated by signals of compliance to models internalized when the reconstruction of the situation in the short term memory matches models internalized in the agent’s long term memory. The short term memory is fed by perceptions of the internal and external environment (Simon, 1955) of the agent and by the automatic recall of models associated to them in the long term memory. A mismatch between short term and long term memory models starts a conscious, slow, deliberative (Evans, 2008) and effortful process of recombination of parts of internalized models (S2) and a search for new information in the environment to reconcile those models. When reconciliation is completed, the new model is internalized in the long term memory, which constitutes the process of learning.
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Is Machiavellianism Compatible With Well Â€“ Being?
Author	Kyriaki Foussiani (Presenting Author) from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Machiavellianism can be considered as a defecting strategy based on the manipulation of others, which was shown to have a positive association with primary and secondary psychopathy (Mc Hoskey, Worzel & Szyarto, 1998). It was also shown that defectors like High Machs as well as economic opportunists are externals in matters concerning economic reinforcements, overestimating the role of chance and thus perceiving their environment as uncertain, uncontrollable and chaotic (Sakalaki, Kanellaki, Richardson, in press). We therefore hypothesize that Machiavellianism has a negative correlation with subjective well-Being (SWB), (Diener & Lucas 1999), psychological well being (PWB), (Ryff & Keyes 1995), as well as with just world beliefs (JWB). A sample of 219 participants in Greece completed the SWB and the PWB scale as well as the Mach IV scale and a brief scale of JWB. The findings provided support for our hypothesis. Machiavellianism was negatively correlated with both SWB. (life satisfaction: r = -.139, p<0.05, positive affects in general: r = -.167, p<0.05, negative affects in general : r = .254, p<0.001, positive affects last month: r = -.149, p<0.05, negative affects last month: r = .136, p<0.001) and PWB (self-actualization: r = -.351, p<0.001, vitality: r= -.178, p<0.05, anxiety: r = .167, p<0.05, somatization: r= -.129, p>0.05), as well as with Just World Beliefs (r = -.383, p<0.001).
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	Team Formation Experiments: Differences In Inequality Aversion And Excessive Cooperation In Lab And Field Experiments
Authors	Arvind Ashta from Burgundy School of Business
	Brice Corgnet from Universidad de Navarra
	Fabrice Galia (Presenting Author) from Burgundy School of Business
	Angela Sutan from Burgundy School of Business
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We study team formation in project management and report data form laboratory real-effort experiments and field experiments in which subjects bargain over a jointly produced outcome. In laboratory experiments, subjects decided between undertaking a task alone or with another subject, by releasing the minimum share of the future team outcome that they are willing to accept. In field experiments, subjects don't have knowledge about being involved in an experiment; they are working on projects during the semester alone or in teams and at the end of the semester they have to release the minimum share of the grade they deserve. We assume observability of coworkers’ actions. We consider the most favourable case for workers’ cooperation by focusing on teams with a sufficiently close level of collaboration such that agents are able to observe each others’ performances and actions, i.e. there is no place for free riding. Our results confirm the prevalence of the equality norm encountered in the bargaining experiments literature. The inability of the great majority of individuals to claim a large share of the team outcome renders the dissolution of inefficient teams difficult, and sustains unprofitable cooperation as a result. We argue that this inertia may threaten the well functioning of a large number of organizations.
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	Gender As Moderator Of Temperamental Background Of Impulse Buying Tendency
Author	Agata Gasiorowska (Presenting Author) from Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Impulse buying is a phenomenon that is understood and treated extremely different by marketers and psychologists. Marketers usually focus on market influence on consumers, and underline impulses development as a result of this influence. Behavioral approach to consumer decision making concentrates on individual factors that influence one’s impulse buying tendency, and states, that this tendency in certain circumstances leads to the act of impulse buying. Previous research on impulse buying (Dittmar, et.al, 1996; Gasiorowska, 2003) suggest, that this tendency might have differerent background, depending on gender. In case of females, it is associated stronger with sensation seeking than with impulsivity, and in case of males, the relation is opposite. Thus, this paper focus on different temperamental background of impulse buying in women and men. The hypotesis that gender moderates the impact of sensation seeking and temperamental dimensions according to Regulative Theory of Temperament on impulse buying was tested with Structural Equation Modelling. In the group of females, impulse buying tendency is positively related to need for sensation and negatively to age. In the group of males, this tendency is related to formal features of behavior according to RTT, and is not related to age. These results confirm that women treat impulse buying as a kind of risky game, that is to provide high level of stimulation, needed by some consumers. When men engage in impulse buying, it is rather connected with their sensitivity to market stimuli, or low endurance in case of information overload.
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	Why We Asses Our Financial Situation As Good Or Bad? Income And Money Attitdes Influence On Subjective Financial Situation Assesment.
Author	Agata Gasiorowska (Presenting Author) from Wroclaw University of Technology
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper examines a model of economic status satisfaction (money satisfaction) that controls attitudes toward money, income level and gender. Money attitudes were measured with SPP scale (G±siorowska, 2003), fully developed in Polish environment, and better adjusted to Polish conditions than other money attitudes scales. SPP scale consists on seven subscales, i.e. contoll and planning, anxiety, power, debt aversion, ocasion seeking, evil, and cash. In the first, pilot study, path analysis showed that gender is the strong moderator of money attitudes - money satisfaction relationship. Money attitudes presented by females do not influence significantly their economic status satisfaction (3% of explained variance), while in case of males, financial anxiety and power connected with money explained 13% of variance of dependent variable. In the second study, in adition to the previous, income data were also collected. In the group of females, income together with money attitudes (anxiety) explained 24% of money satisfaction variance, and income alone explained 22% of variance. After deleting anxiety->satisfaction path, model was still good fitted. In the group of males, income together with money attitudes (anxiety, control, power, debt aversion, ocasion seeking) explained 50% of money satisfaction variance, income alone explained 25% of variance, and money attitudes accounted for 19% of money satisfaction variance. After deleting money attitutes influence on money satisfaction, model was not good fitted any more. Thus, satisfaction of oneself financial situation depends on income for both men and women, but for men, this relationship is also strongly influenced by money attitudes. It is very probable, that when females are assesing their financial situation, they take into consideration also the income their spouse/partner, but when males do so, they concentrate on their own situation, as they are socially seen as “head of family”.
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	Why We Spend More Than We Planned. The Preliminary Estimate Fallacy
Author	Piotr Gasparski (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The preliminary estimate fallacy concept is introduced by analogy to the planning fallacy concept. The preliminary estimate fallacy consists in the underestimation of the costs of a future financial venture: the planned costs are lower than the actual costs. Two studies were conducted to see whether the preliminary estimate fallacy is only limited to institutional budget planning or is also typical for personal, everyday budgets. It was hypothesized that individuals would spend more money than they intended to. The experimental design was analogous to the designs adopted in the research on planning fallacy and involved two studies. Respondents were asked how much money they planned to spend on particular ventures and then actual expenditure was calculated ex post. In study one (N=39) respondents were requested to make a preliminary shopping estimate. In study two (N=80) they were asked to prepare a weekly household budget. In both cases respondents spent much more (about 30%) than they had planned. In his discussion of the preliminary estimate fallacy the author refers to motivational and cognitive factors and especially to what he calls the underestimation heuristic. Key words: planning fallacy, preliminary estimate fallacy, underestimation heuristic
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Underlying Interests In Negotiation And Construal Level Theory.
Authors	Mauro Giacomantonio (Presenting Author) from Università \"Sapienza\" di Roma
	Carsten K.W. De Dreu from University of Amstrerdam
	Lucia Mannetti from Università "Sapienza" di Roma
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The aim of this contribution is to integrate Construal Level Theory (CLT) (Trope & Liberman, 2003) to negotiation theory and research. CLT proposes that great psychological distance enhances the relevance of primary and superordinate features of an object or event during the judgment and decision making process. In opposition, contextual and subordinate features are more relevant with small psychological distance. This study assumes that underlying interests (Rubin, Pruitt e Kim, 1994; Pruitt e Carnevale, 1992; Fisher e Ury, 1981) are superordinate compared to positions taken during the negotiation. In three studies, we tested the following general hypothesis: Construal Level (CL) influences the relevance of underlying interest in orienting negotiators’ cognition and behaviour. In the first study we showed that negotiators with high CL are more accurate in recalling counterpart’s underlying interests. In the second study we predicted and found that high CL increases preference for offers meant to maximize the value of underlying interests, whereas participants with low CL preferred offer meant to maximize value on arguments. We did not found any difference in the preferences of the control group. Moreover results showed that, with high CL, aspirations are lower and more coherent with underlying interests. Consistently with the previous results, in the third study we found that dyads with high CL reached higher Joint Outcome than dyads with low CL because they are better able to perceive the integrative potential of the task given by underlying interests. Furthermore the effect of CL on Joint outcome is mediated by self-reported competition.
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	Money Perception As Predictor Of Polish Seniors’ Attitudes Towards Saving, Banking And Investments
Authors	Jean-christophe Giger (Presenting Author) from Polish Academy of Science
Authors	Dominika Maison from Warsaw University, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Seniors represent a growing population with a big monetary potential. Their economic, financial and consumption behaviors have then attracted attention of marketers and researchers. The present talk deals directly with Seniors’ financial behavior and is aimed at determining the socio-psychological determinants of Polish seniors’ attitudes towards saving, banking and investments. This study was supported by a grant from the National Polish Bank. One thousand Polish seniors from 50 to 89 year old were surveyed in all Poland (Meanage = 63.20 ; SD = 9.28). The sample is a representative sample and it is composed of 566 women (Meanage = 63.89 ; SD = 9.26) and 434 men (Meanage = 62.31; SD = 9.24). Attitude towards money was measured by the short version of the Money Ethic Scale (Tang & Kim, 1999) and a scale developed specifically for the study. Values towards family and work were measured by the Protestant Work Ethic Scale (Blood, 1969) and a scale developed specially for the study. The internal structure of the Money Ethic Scale (Tang & Kim, 1999) was replicated and its three components (Budget, Success and Evil) predict differentially attitudes towards saving, banking and investment. Furthermore, the 4 factors of the Polish attitude scale towards money (i.e., Self, money as a Mean, Evil and Regret), the Protestant Work Ethic Scale, the Family Work Values Scale and age of participants turn to be also significant predictors of attitudes towards saving, banking and investments. Methodological and managerial implications are discussed.
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Behavioral Economics And Social Policy: Election 2008
Author	Neil Gomeringer (Presenting Author) from gSOMM.org
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 16.20 to 16.30
Category	Policy
Abstract	gSOMM is an organization, a project and a methodology. gSOMM, the organization, works to support the expansion of behavioral economics to include methodologies from other disciplines, new standards and a model-of-models called Global Society Optimization Management Model (gSOMM) to more fully capture the complex, multi-discipline environment of human activity. gSOMM, the project, examines this expansion against the background of a metaphorical 15 year $16 Trillion plan to develop actualizing cultures throughout the world. The kick-off point for the plan is the set of current economic policy issues facing the United States, now, and during the 2008 presidential election. The model integrates forty-three (43) current practice methodologies by employing a proposed Knowledge-Interface-Standard (KIS). Methodologies include basic tools currently in use such as Behavioral Accounting, Developmental Psychology, ERP, Neurology, PLM, Program Budgeting, Six Sigma and Knowledge Management. Formulated from the integration of the examined disciplines, a model of Basic-Human-Needs (BHN) is developed establishing a societal and economic mechanism for measuring and directing time dependent resource requirements throughout an individual’s lifetime for actualized participation in a baseline economically developed culture. From this baseline, a Human-Activity-Model (HAM) is constructed to implement a lifetime action plan coordinated with aggregated BHN as represented in “findings” based Social Policy. Connections between theory, practice and measurement are examined with emphasis on the innovation implementation cycle and global distribution.
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	The Emperor’s New Clothes – Searching For The Meaning Of Materialism
Author	Malgorzata E. Gornik-durose (Presenting Author) from Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The concept of materialism by Richins and Dawson, widespread among researchers, does not explain psychological mechanisms which lie beneath the special concentration on material aspects of life. Also measurements of this construct are problematic from the methodological point of view. The paper contains a critical analysis of this concept and presents its redefinition as well as a new measurement scale related to the concept. The redefinition was based on a series of research studies. The first was based on the assumption than the concept of materialism is a working lay concept. It involved 196 subjects – men and women from 4 age groups, who answered 3 open questions: (1) who – you think – a materialist is, (2) how to recognize a person materialistically oriented, (3) how to recognize a person who is not materialistically oriented. As a result we obtained a set of about 600 statements on which we ran a content analysis. Four major categories were identified – motivation, emotions, social relations and dominant activities. In the second stage a 173-item questionnaire was created. The series of statistical analyses on its items showed a clear latent structure which was confirmed in further studies. The final version of the questionnaire contains 93 items in 10 dimensions, which create four subscales. It corresponds with a theoretical model based on the assumption that materialistic tendencies can be assessed only in the context of the opposite orientation. The model includes values, perception of the world, a character of social relationships and self-presentation styles. Its validity was confirmed, as well as the psychometric value of the questionnaire. The results show that the new approach to materialism helps to uncover and explain certain aspects of materialistic orientation which was missing from studies based on the traditional conceptualization of the concept.
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	Entrepreneurial Sustainability –exogenous Structural Factors Vs. Endogenous Absorptive Capacity.
Author	Colin W Gray (Presenting Author) from Open University Business School Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The development of a strong small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is a central policy objective. However, there is abundant evidence that the majority of SMEs, especially the microfirms with less than 10 employees, are not entrepreneurial in the sense of being growth-oriented and driven to innovate in order to compete successfully with other firms. It is not entirely clear why some firms are entrepreneurial or some remain entrepreneurial. Nor are the effects of the business climate on entrepreneurial motivation very clear. It seems likely that entrepreneurial behaviour is a function of the owner’s personal objectives and perceptions of risk and opportunity which are Sustained entrepreneurship requires the continuing strength of the owner’s motivation, which is also often related to growth or improved internal capabilities and resources (absorptive capacity. These issues were tested empirically through the responses of SME owner-managers to regular quarterly surveys conducted by the Small Enterprise Research Team (SERTeam), an independent non-profit body based at the Open University Business School. Each survey has around 700 respondents . The results indicate a significantly positive relation between a continued intention to grow on the part of small firm owner-managers and increases in the annual sales turnovers of their firms, though the direction of causality is less clear. Secondly, small firms are affected adversely by exogenous structural factors but those with more developed absorptive capacity are less concerned about competitors and problems. Thirdly, better resourced and more experienced firms are managed by younger, better educated and more entrepreneurial owners . The development of internal organisational strengths and core competences associated with knowledge management and absorptive capacity, linked to a strategy of sustained growth, is the hallmark of entrepreneurial firms and enables them to survive the bad times and to grow and innovate at other times.
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	Suffering With The Neighbours: Perceived Inflation In Switzerland After The Euro Introduction
Authors	Katarzyna Grinberg (Presenting Author) from University of Fribourg Switzerland Department of Quantitative Economics
Authors	Hans Wolfgang Brachinger from University of Fribourg Switzerland Department of Quantitative Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Already in spring 2002, half a year after the euro introduction, there was nothing left from the initial enthusiasm concerning the common European currency. Throughout the European Union, the consumers were perceiving a significant increase of prices. This perception of high inflation was not supported by the rates of the national Consumer Price Indices (CPI). To explain this discrepancy, Brachinger (2005, 2008) developed a novel approach to measure perceived inflation, the Index of Perceived Inflation (IPI). Sharing the market basket as well as the prices used for CPI computation, this index has been calculated for Germany. The IPI time series from 1996 through 2005 shows a particularly high perceived inflation around the euro introduction. This increase in the level of perceived inflation has been linked more or less directly to the currency changeover. The question arises whether a gap between perceived and officially measured inflation can also be observed outside the EU. In this paper, this issue is examined for the case of Switzerland. This country is a particularly interesting case since it is an immediate neighbour and economic partner of the Euro zone. A suitable model to analyse this question is the IPI approach. For the calculation of the IPI, national buying frequencies are required. As such frequencies were not available, in a tentative analysis, the buying frequencies used in the German IPI were adapted to the Swiss market basket. The estimation of the IPI for Switzerland shows a significant increase in the level of perceived inflation around the point of the introduction of euro. Obviously, for that period, the phenomenon of divergence between perceived and officially measured inflation can also be observed outside the EU. This suggests that there was a particular development on the European markets responsible for that phenomenon independent of the euro changeover.
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Three-person Ultimatum Game With Voting: Or Are All Animals Equal, And Who Is More Equal Than Others?
Authors	Jaroslaw Grygolec (Presenting Author) from Center for Mind/Brain Science (CIMeC) at University of Trento , Italy
Authors	Aldo Rustichini from Department of Economics, University of Minnesota
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We introduced majority voting into the 3-person ultimatum game due to Guth, van Damme (1998), and investigated it experimentally. In our setup once a proposal about a split of $30 among 3 players is made all players vote for or against the split. Thanks to the introduction of voting the strategic situation of voting-only players, other than the proposer, is symmetric, unlike in Guth, van Damme (1998). This last feature allows us to study the interpersonal preferences without priming to discriminate against the inactive player. We consider 4 treatments with respect to what voting-only players know about the proposed split under vote: 1) “full information” (FI) – voting-only players know the shares of each voter in $30; 2) “pivotal information” (PI) - they know only the share of the proposer; 3) “essential information” (ES) each of voting-only players knows his share only; 4) “irrelevant information” (II) - each of voting-only players knows only the share of the other voting-only one; In the experiment the subjects in the role of a proposing player proposed for themselves: $13.4 (± $0.231) in FI, $12.6 (± $0.217) in PI, $17.7 (± $0.249) in EI, $21.6 (± $0.356) in II. This pattern suggests that the proposers tried to exploit the informational situations of others to their advantage, while avoiding “spitting in the face” perception by voting-only players. The voting rejections (at least 2 votes against) were as follows: 6.7% (± 0.0120%) in FI, 6.9 % (± 0.0122%) in PI, 11.7% (± 0.0154%) in EI, 16.6% (± 0.0179%) in II. Rejections while infrequent increased the less the voting-only players have known about their shares. This evidence suggests that strategic selfishness rather than fairness motivates subjects in the 3-person ultimatum game.
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The Proces Of Rising Income And Saving Inequality Lovers Perception Of Social Mobility
Authors	Ewa Gucwa-lesny (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics and Institute for Social Research, University of Warsaw, Poland
Authors	Barbara Liberda from Department of Economics, University of Warsaw
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The aim of the paper is to show that under the conditions of increasing income and wealth inequality in the transition countries, especially Baltic States and Poland, the mobility of households between different income and saving groups has lead to their polarization with regard to accumulation of assets and wealth. Income mobility was particularly intensive in the first years of transition and gradually diminished. The policy of minimizing the role of the state and the drive to comply as quickly as possible with the requirements of the economic efficiency resulted in less solidarity and social protection than in the old market economies of Western Europe. As public institutions perform less efficiently as a result of limited funds, the development of human capital depends more and more on the effort of the family and its accumulated wealth. The results of research on savings motives show it clearly. Subjective feelings reflect the reality. In the group of low income mobility Gini coefficient proved to be significant factor affecting satisfaction with income. The perception of the opportunities for social advancement has decreased with time and depends more on level of education attained. In the same time the feeling of inequality in access to education has increased. The research is made on the basis of data from Polish Household Budget Surveys for the years 1996-2000 and the data from Consortium of Household Panels for European Socio-Economic Research (CHER). The data from Polish General Social Survey 2002 and International Social Survey Program, Social Inequality III for the years 1992 and 1999 are also used. The paper concerns mostly Poland but some comparisons with Hungary – member of CHER and ISSP consortia – are discussed.
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Consumers Reluctance To Dispose Of Objects They Do Not Use Anymore.
Author	Valerie Guillard (Presenting Author) from Paris Dauphine University DMSP 75775 PARIS
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Many people are reluctant to dispose of objects they no longer have a use for . This reluctance can slow down their willingness to buy new, improved versions of products (“what am I going to do with the replaced product?”) and deprive charitable organisations of objects still usable by the needy. Understanding why some consumers are chronically reluctant to dispose of objects can thus prove useful for both marketing researchers and social welfare workers. However, it is surprising that this phenomenon received little attention in the consumer behaviour literature. This article explores the reasons why some consumers have a chronic reluctance to dispose of objects. An exploratory, qualitative study on 60 consumers was first carried out to improve our knowledge of this phenomenon then a structured questionnaire was administered to 310 consumers. A principal component analysis yielded seven factors: uncertainty regarding the future use of these objects (a = 0,853); nostalgia (a = 0,877); environmental concern (a = 0,810); guilt (a = 0,8); indecision (a = 0,79); fear of emptiness (a = 0,70) and felt responsibility vis a vis future generation (a = 0,76). The article concludes with some ideas for future research.
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Understanding, Defining And Measuring The Trait Of Superstition
Authors	Eva Delacroix from Universite Paris Dauphine
Authors	Valerie Guillard (Presenting Author) from Universite Paris Dauphine
Session	Parallel Sessions 8- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Superstitious beliefs influence a wide range of decisions and activities in the everyday life. Yet, superstition has received little attention in the consumer behaviour literature, which is surprising since superstitious behaviours are found in numerous related domains, such as sports (Schippers & Lange, 2006), gambling or travelling. In the psychological and sociological literature, there is no consensus regarding the definition and measure of superstition (Mowen & Carlson, 2003). For some authors, superstition includes all types of paranormal beliefs (i.e. religion, astrology¡K) which we think are not relevant for superstition construct. Other authors have a very narrow definition of superstition restricting it to popular beliefs such as (black cats bring bad luck; if you break a mirror, you will have bad luck; the number 13 is unlucky¡¨). The aim of this research is threefold: (1) to better define the superstition construct (2) to develop a scale that measures superstition and (3) to discuss the interest of superstition for marketing. An exploratory qualitative study allowed us to define superstition as ¡§beliefs and/or practices that have no religious nor scientific foundations and which lead people to think that certain facts (external events or one¡¦s own actions), or objects can bring good or bad luck, or be signs announcing positive or negative consequences¡¨. Three quantitative data collections helped us develop a scale that contains 27 items and 5 dimensions (good fortune popular beliefs ƒÑ = 0,84 ; misfortune popular beliefs ƒÑ = 0,85 ; belief in destiny ƒÑ = 0,83 ; magical thinking ƒÑ = 0,86 ; defensive pessimism ƒÑ = 0,67). Finally, the article concludes on future research and how the superstition construct could help explain irrational decision making.
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	Influence Of Negative Emotions And Probability Magnitude On The Accuracy Of Probability Of Negative Events Assessments And On The Quality Of Probabilistic Information Understanding
Authors	Jakub Gutowski (Presenting Author) from University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland
Authors	Katarzyna Hamer from University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The experiment examined what the influence of negative emotion is on the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment and the quality of probabilistic information understanding. On the basis of theoretical considerations concerning two systems of reasoning (Kahneman, 2003) and well known biases in probability magnitude assessments (tendency to overweight low probabilities and underweight the high ones - Kahneman, Tversky, 1979), we have advanced two alternative hypotheses for the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment and two alternative hypotheses for the quality of probabilistic information understanding: the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment: 1a. The direction of the influence of negative emotions on the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment depends on the level of objective probability of negative event: -In the case of lower probability negative emotions have negative effect on the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment -In the case of higher probability negative emotions have positive effect on the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment 1b. Negative emotions have negative effect on the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment, regardless of the level of objective probability of those negative events. the quality of probabilistic information understanding: 2a. The direction of the influence of negative emotions on the quality of probabilistic information understanding depends of the probability level: -In the case of lower probability negative emotions have negative effect on the quality of probabilistic information understanding -In the case of higher probability negative emotions have positive effect on the quality of probabilistic information understanding 2b. Negative emotions have negative effect on the quality of probabilistic information understanding, regardless of the probability level. The experiment confirmed hypothesis that the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment depends on negative emotions and probability magnitude. The direction of the relation of negative emotions and accuracy assessments depends on the level of objective probability of negative event: in the case of lower probability (e.g. 5%), negative emotions negatively influence the accuracy of probability of negative events assessment, and in the case of higher probability (e.g. 80%) – this influence is positive. The study confirmed hypothesis 1a. Second main result showed that negative emotions have negative effect on the quality of probabilistic information understanding, regardless of the probability level. Subjects from group with induced negative emotions made more mistakes and gave less correct answers than control group. This result confirms hypothesis 2b.
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Csr Wanted? Corporate Social Responsibility As A Job Choice Criterion For Applicants
Authors	Alexandra Haferkamp (Presenting Author) from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
	Detlef Fetchenhauer from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
	Stefan Koch from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
	Simone Selter from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The topic "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) has especially recently gained attention in the media and in entrepreneurial practice. Companies oblige themselves to overtake ethical and philanthropic responsibility. A company can involve in CSR by investing money in a charitable foundation or in social or environmental projects. Another form of CSR incorporates the possibility of the employees for active corporate volunteering (e.g., painting the wall of a kindergarten). This study examines the role these different forms of CSR play for young skilled applicants when looking for an employer. Does CSR really increase the attraction of employers? A representatively selected sample of N=576 applicants was questioned. Based on a neutrally pretested description of a fictitious company the height of the wage relative to the participants’ expectations (lower, matching, higher) and the form of CSR (investing money in projects – yes, no; active corporate volunteering – yes, no) were experimentally varied in a 3x2x2 between-subjects design. Results showed that companies who are involved in CSR are more attractive to applicants than firms that do not engage in CSR. The specific form of CSR did not matter. However, companies, which are involved in both forms, were evaluated more attractive compared to firms that are involved in only one form of CSR. Our empirical results indicate that CSR might even be able to have a compensatory function with regard to wage. We currently extend these findings by investigating possible reasons, why companies are more attractive when they engage in CSR activities. It might be that CSR is based on true altruism. Yet another explanation might be that CSR is appreciated due to applicants’ (hidden) self-interest since this information functions as a signal for the company's behavior toward oneself when this information is not otherwise detectable.
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The Role Of Emotional Competence In Affective Forecasting Of Regret
Authors	Luise Hahn (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna
Authors	Erik Hölzl from University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Anticipated emotions are assumed to influence decisions. However, research on affective forecasting showed that people often mispredict the intensity and duration of their future emotions. These biases have mostly been examined as a general phenomenon. In the present paper, it is hypothesized that interindividual differences in emotional competence need to be considered. Emotional competence describes the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking. A replication of the study by Gilbert et al. (2004) was conducted with slight adaptations. Forty participants had to sort two sets of products according to price and to decide which of the two sorted sets they believed to be closer to the real prices. If the chosen set was correct, they would win €10. In the experiencer condition, they were told that their decision was wrong. Participants completed the regret experience measure (Creyer & Ross, 1999) with the factors Regret and Retrospective Self-recrimination. In the forecaster condition, participants completed the same measure after imagining being told that their decision was wrong. Measures of emotional competence included scales for Emotional Attention (the extent to which emotions are noticed and observed) and for Emotion Regulation (the tendency to ameliorate negative emotional states and maintain positive ones). Participants were debriefed and those whose chosen set was correct were paid. Although results point in the same direction as the results by Gilbert et al. (2004), no significant differences between experiencers and forecasters were found. However, Emotional Attention was positively correlated to Retrospective Self-recrimination, which indicates that people who attend more to their own emotional states are more capable to consciously report their thoughts and feelings at the moment of decision. On the other hand, Emotional Regulation was negatively correlated with Regret, which indicates that people who are better able to regulate their emotions and to ameliorate negative emotional states do forecast and experience less regret. Results of this preliminary study suggest that interindividual differences in emotional competence are relevant for affective forecasting of regret.
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	Social Identities In Poland In System Transformation And Globalisation Era
Author	Katarzyna Hamer (Presenting Author) from University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Nowadays issues of social identities are difficult to conceptualize outside the context of globalization (Arnett, 2002; Hoshmand, 2003; Sampson, 1989; Marsella, 1998). In recent decades the degree and intensity of connections among different parts of the world, cultures and countries have risen dramatically. Globalization encompasses a wide range of issues and phenomena (Arnett, 2002), but one needs to pay particular attention to its psychological meaning. Forces of globalization have important psychological influences on identity processes. The collapse of the former Soviet Union, attempts to unify Europe and the process of globalization have provided challenges to the social identities of Poles. A closed, communist, catholic country suddenly opened up to the world. Poland is also a country under influence of another proccess which can affect social identities: system transformation. On the basis of her own study (conducted on a representative sample for Poland) and also other opinion polles in Poland, the author explores social identities of Poles from 1990 till nowadays. The results show weakening of national and religious social identities in Poland during those years. It was also found out that young people had the weakest social identities, no matter which group of identification was considered: neighbors, citizens of the same town/city, Poles, citizens of the European Union or all humanity. They are the least rooted age group in Poland nowadays. The results are discussed in terms of globalisation and system transformation influence on social identities.
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	Linking Distributive Justice Perceptions Of Eu Transfer Payments, Social Identity, And Eu-tax Compliance
Authors	Martina Hartner (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna
	Silvia Rechberger from University of Vienna
	Erich Kirchler from University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The influence of distributive justice perceptions on tax compliance has been shown to be shaped by social identity. Justice considerations have a strong influence on reported tax compliance if people show strong identification with their nation (Wenzel, 2002, 2004). Founded on findings from basic social identity research, these results have been applied to the context of European transfer payments from the European Union (EU) in respect to hypothetical EU taxes. Although, direct taxes to the EU do not exist until now, direct contributions have been discussed recently throughout Europe which makes it essential to investigate EU-taxpaying intentions and taxpayers’ acceptance. Furthermore, when investigating justice perceptions, recent literature (Skitka, Winquist and Hutchinson, 2003) emphasizes the importance of differentiating outcome favourability from outcome fairness, because people who benefit from something are more likely to evaluate it as fair than people being disadvantaged by it. This is especially applicable for the EU transfer payments because some member states are net paying countries and others are net receiving countries. The relationships between outcome favourability and justice perceptions of EU transfer payments, taxpayers’ identification with their nation and the EU as well as hypothetical EU tax compliance was investigated in three representative studies with samples of N=763 Austrian taxpayers (= “net payers” of EU transfer payments), N=672 Czech taxpayers (= “net receivers”), and N=756 British taxpayers (= “discount receivers”). Using the multi-group-method of structural equation modeling for data analyses, results show a negative correlation betweenthe identification with one’s nation and justice perceptions when outcome favourability is perceived as low and no correlation when outcome favourability is high. In terms of identification on a higher level, the EU, no differences of “net payers” and “net receivers” occur. High identification with the EU relates positively with the perception that transfer payments are fair. EU tax compliance correlates positively with justice perceptions and social identification with the EU, but negatively with social identification with the nation under the conditions of high as well as low outcome favourability.
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Playing With The Good Guys: A Public Good Game With Endogenous Group Formation
Authors	Kjell Arne Brekke from Department of Economics, University of Oslo
	Karen Evelyn Hauge (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, University of Oslo
	Jo Thori Lind from Department of Economics, University of Oslo
	Karine Nyborg from Department of Economics, University of Oslo
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper we study a public goods game with endogenous group formation. Subjects can choose between two types of groups. In group X, here referred to as the red group, 50 kroner ($10) is given to the red cross for each group member, while in group Y, here referred to as the blue groups, the subject receives the same amount. Otherwise groups play a standard public goods game. We find that those who choose red groups contribute more in the public goods game than those in blue groups. The main reason is that in red groups there is no decline in contributions except for an end game effect, while contributions decline in blue groups, as is also well known from the literature. The higher contribution is not sufficient to compensate for the amount given to the Red Cross, so the pure opportunist is better served with choosing the blue group. The extra cost of choosing to be in a red group thus allows conditional cooperators to be matched in the same groups without giving opportunists incentives to invade their groups. A potential real world application is the use of Corporate Social Responsibility in firms. Team work within a firm share some characteristics of the public goods game, and firms would thus like to hire the conditional cooperators who maintain high contribution. Spending money, that could have been paid as wages, on outside causes like the Red Cross, may be a method to achieve such a beneficial labor market screening, as discussed in Brekke and Nyborg (2008).
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	Choosing From The Reform Menu Card - Individual Determinants Of Labour Market Policy Preferences
Authors	Friedrich Heinemann (Presenting Author) from ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research)
	Ivo Bischoff from ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research) University of Giessen
	Tanja Hennighausen from ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research)
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical Policy
Abstract	Recently, a number of empirical studies have shed light on the determinants of (labour market) reforms based on country panel data. However, this macroeconomic evidence has natural limitations with respect to the identification of the individual determinants of reform acceptance. Our contribution is the first to shed an empirical light on explanations for resistance against employment enhancing labour market reforms using individual data. For that purpose we make use of the representative German General Social Survey (ALLBUS), which in the year 2006 includes also a number of questions addressing preferences for different types of labour market policy approaches. These approaches assessed by survey participants are diverse and range from publicly financed employment programmes over reduction of working hours up to wage moderation or cutting support to the unemployed. Thus, this spectre of questions offers a rich starting point to find out which kind of individual characteristics, beliefs or norms are important for labour market policy preferences. Our theoretical reasoning takes account of different strands in the literature which point to very different potential drivers of reform preferences: First, rational choice aspects recommend self-interest and the expected losses or gains from reforms as explanatory variables. Second, behavioural economics point to the role of fairness judgements and reciprocity considerations independent from immediate self-interest. Third, cultural, religious and normative features of individuals are increasingly identified to haven an impact on economic behaviour and beliefs. For Germany particular interest in this respect is paid to the normative differences between the formerly communist eastern and the western part of the country. Our results indicate that a purely rational model is unable to fully explain the heterogeneity of views on labour market reforms. Therefore, a successful communication policy targeting at increasing reform acceptance must not be limited to stressing the (individual) advantages of reforms.
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	Maximizing Individual Or Common Profit: Regular Or Variable Preferences In Economic Games?
Authors	Anna M Helka (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Authors	Tomasz Zaleskiewicz from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	According to games theory people should maximize their own gain. However, in many researches the social behavior can be observed instead of the individual ones (Fehr, 2004). This tendency is regarded as evolutionary acquired (Smith, 2003). It is also known that people differ in their preferences and some of them are more and other less pro-socially oriented (He³ka, 2007). The question remains if we are able to modify this tendency through external training and what would we like to verify. The sample case has been assembled from 57 women and 59 men of different occupations, aged 19-50. Participants were told that they take part in two different experiments. Randomly they were assigned to 5 experimental conditions (social or individual training & gain or loss final of training). The first stage was the training in which one could win an award for an appropriate behavior. Secondly the two computer trust games (Smith, 2003) were played* with two different, anonymous partners located in separate rooms. The dependent variable was measured as the sum of money sent to Player2 and the sum and percentage of money sent back to Player1. The results tend to show that trainings may have different impact on women and men. Example: social training increase the amount sent back to another party compared to control group. In men’s group when finished with gain (mean’s change: 4PLN), whereas in women’s group such effect exists only after loss (mean’s: 3,9PLN). Individual training increase the amount sent back to another party in men’s group when finished with loss (mean’s: 3,1PLN), whereas in women’s group the amount decreases after gain (mean’s: -2,6PLN). External training may influence behavior in economic games, but this statement needs further examination with gender control.
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	Managers And Teachers Burnout According To The Stevan Hobfolls Conservation Of Resources Theory
Authors	Elzbieta Lisowska from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Authors	Anna M Helka (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The burnout definition appeared forty years ago; however still remains subject to research. Tri-component model (Maslach, Jackson, 1980) is its best empirically proven theory so far. Lots of attention is being drawn recently to the correlation between burnout and resources. The study’s aim was to verify the hypothesis about the correlation between declining resources, inability of their regeneration and burnout in two groups of professions: managers (N=88) and teachers (N=118). The selection criterion for the comparable groups was identified based on abilities of coping with difficult situations regarding economical status. The interrelationship between the gender and the burnout, has been investigated additionally as it still remains insufficiently addressed (e.g.: Malkinson et al., 1997) and till now not considered in the context of resources. The results met the expectations. Burnouts* registered higher value of resources decline*** (F(5,120)=21,423, p<,001) and lower value of resources gain (F(5,120)=51,600, p<,001) than non burnouts. Gender factor turned out to be significant both in case of losses (F(5,112)=2,798, p =,02) as well as in case of gains (F(5,112)=6,829, p <,001). The greatest losses were observed among burnout women, and the lowest among non-burnout men. The greatest gains were among non-burnout men, and the lowest among burnout women. The sort of the profession had significant impact on all resources losses (F(10,120)=4,646, p<,001). Significant differences appeared in all areas except power and prestige. Managers presented lower losses than teachers in all resources areas. The profession had also a significant impact on all gains (F(10,120)=2,119, p=,03), however that results solely from the differences in scope of economical-political resources, which were bigger among managers.
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	Physicians Provision Behavior Under Different Payment Systems -- An Experimental Investigation
Authors	Heike Hennig-schmidt (Presenting Author) from BonnEconLab, Laboratory for Experimental Economics, University of Bonn, Germany
	Reinhard Selten from BonnEconLab, Laboratory for Experimental Economics, University of Bonn, Germany
	Daniel Wiesen from BonnEconLab, Laboratory for Experimental Economics, University of Bonn, Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	While reforming a health care system, effects of variations of health care market institutions are ex ante not necessarily known to policy makers and may influence actors on the market in an undesired manner. As the general intention of health care reforms is to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and maintain or increase quality, a crucial role is attributed to health care providers, i.e. physicians. Their provision behavior is in turn believed to be influenced by the payment system. Theoretical health-economic studies have highlighted the different incentives of commonly used payment systems. The two most prominent `pure\' payment systems analyzed are fee-for-service (FFS) and capitation (CAP). There is empirical evidence that incentives from payment systems influence physicians\' behavior. Yet, the results are too contradictory for a definite conclusion about the direction of an effect to be drawn. Fuchs (2000) makes the point that health economic research may largely benefit from incorporating methods of experimental economics. Our study is meant to contribute to the research agenda suggested. We use a controlled laboratory experiment to improve the understanding of the institutional parameter `payment system\'. In our study, experimental physicians decide on the quantity of medical services under the two payment systems. Patients gain a monetrary benefit from these services. No real patients participated in our experiment. To allow for other-regarding behavior of physicians the money corresponding to the benefits of all abstract patients were donated to a charitable foundation caring for real patients. Our main finding is that patients are overserved under FFS and underserved under CAP. Financial incentives are not the only motivation for physicians\' quantity decisions though. Patient benefit is of considerable importance as well. Patients in need of a low level of medical services are better off under CAP, whereas patients with a high need of medical services gain more health benefit when physicians are paid by FFS.
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	Naïve, Resolute Or Sophisticated?
Authors	John D Hey (Presenting Author) from LUISS, Italy and University of York, UK
Authors	Gianna Lotito from Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Dynamically inconsistent decision makers have to decide, implicitly or explicitly, what to do about their dynamic inconsistency. Economic theorists have identified three possible responses – to act naively (thus ignoring the dynamic inconsistency), to act resolutely (not letting their inconsistency affect their behaviour) or to act sophisticatedly (hence taking into account their inconsistency). We use data from a unique experiment (which observes both decisions and evaluations) in order to distinguish these three possibilities. We find that the majority of subjects are either naïve or resolute (with slightly more being naïve) but very few are sophisticated. These results have important implications for predicting the behaviour of people in dynamic situations.
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A Neuroeconomic Approach To Understanding The Sub-processes Involved In Human Valuation Of Risky Prospects Entailing Reward Or Loss
Authors	Neal S Hinvest (Presenting Author) from Department of Psychology, University of Bath
	Gemma Calvert from Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick
	Tim L Hodgson from Department of Psychology, University of Exeter
	John G Cullis from Department of Economics and International Development, University of Bath
	Alan Lewis from Department of Psychology, University of Bath
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Neoclassic economic theories comprise of unitary models of utility maximisation. In contrast to this, psychological theories describing human behaviour suggest that it comprises of non-unitary, integrated, systems involved in cognitive and emotional processing (Brocas & Carillo, 2006; Lowenstein & O’Donoghue, 2004). Integration of psychological theories into economics has led to the formulation of new ideas and research which have been applied to real-world settings within economics. Our research melds together methodologies from psychology and neuroscience to inform economic theory. This emerging field of research is called “Neuroeconomics”. The brain has limited resources that have to be allocated in an efficient manner in order to obtain the highest expected returns (Read Montague, 2007), thus working upon economic principles. By understanding how the brain organises and processes information, we can obtain greater understanding as to the systems involved in a particular behaviour. In this project, we aimed to identify the key sub-processes involved in valuation. Valuation forms utilities incorporating cost-benefit ratios, which can then be inputted into a decision-making framework. Understanding the sub-processes involved in valuation and how these interact will provide us with the basis for a model describing human valuation in risk environments. Previous research has already linked discrete neural regions with specific sub-processes involved in economics choice such as prediction of reward occurrence, defining benefit-cost ratios, and assigning relative values to goals (Elliot et al, 2003; O’Doherty et al, 2001; O’Doherty et al, 2004; Rolls, 2000; Rogers et al, 1998). This project presented human participants with consecutive single probabilistic monetary rewards or losses and then presented the prospects in binary choice environments in conjunction with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI). This project allowed us to identify which neural systems are involved in a valuation scenario and thus allow us to posit which behavioural mechanisms are involved in this process.
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	Are Men And Women Really That Different? A Qualitative Investigation Into The Best, Worst And Ideal Shopping Experiences
Authors	Ivonne Hoeger (Presenting Author) from University of Exeter
	Carole B Burgoyne from University of Exeter
	Brian M Young from University of Exeter
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.40 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Current trends in the consumer research literature seem to be changing from the traditional view that men and women differ in their shopping behaviours and enjoyment (Lunt & Livingstone, 1992; Campbell, 1997), to making a case for both sexes enjoying and engaging in shopping activities in equal amounts (Otnes & McGrath, 2001; Bakewell & Mitchell, 2004, Holt & Thompson, 2004). The aim of this study is to understand more about men’s and women’s motivations to engage in shopping behaviours. It investigates participants’ (27 men and 71 women) written accounts of past (good and bad) and ideal shopping experiences using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that women report higher overall enjoyment of shopping than men, which is in agreement with previous research results. Additionally men and women describe similar obstacles and negative experiences that deter them from participating or wanting to participate in shopping activities, and at the same time have similar motivations when thinking about shopping, while all descriptions of ideal shopping experiences were highly idiosyncratic.
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Hedonic And Utilitarian Evaluations Of Credit Plans
Author	Erik Hoelzl (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Improving sequences of events are often preferred over declining sequences. For positive money flows, e.g. income, such a preference for improvement has been established in several studies. We extend this notion to negative money flows, in particular credit repayment. According to a preference for improvement, credit plans with decreasing rates over time should be preferred to credit plans with increasing rates. In the current study, 180 participants read a scenario about taking up a 10-year-credit for an apartment. In a between-subjects design, the credit was described as having (a) constant, (b) increasing or (c) decreasing patterns of rates over time. The three different credit plans were constructed to result in the same repayment amount. Participants gave an overall evaluation of the credit plan, and predictions about their hedonic and utilitarian evaluations of the credit in the first and the tenth year of repayment. Results indicate that the overall evaluation of the credit plan was considerably better for constant and decreasing rates than for increasing rates. In addition, hedonic and the utilitarian predictions were different between the credit plans. Hedonic predictions follow the monetary value of the rates: Credit plans with increasing rates were predicted to be hedonically better in the first year than the tenth year, whereas credit plans with decreasing rates showed the opposite pattern. Utilitarian predictions follow the effectiveness of debt repayment: For the first year of repayment, credit plans with increasing rates were predicted to be less useful than credit plans with decreasing rates, whereas for the tenth year – when the credit is nearly repaid – these differences diminished. Results support the assumption of a preference for improvement, i.e., that credits with decreasing rates would be preferred over credits with increasing rates. However, credit plans with constant rates are evaluated similarly as credit plans with decreasing rates, indicating that a second motivation is relevant. In line with previous research, a preference for even spread over time or a preference for simplicity might be at work. Implications for the design of credit repayment plans are that consumers could be offered a choice between different repayment plans.
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A Life By Instalments: Purchase And Propensity To Risk
Authors	Calogero Iacolino (Presenting Author) from LUMSA
	Arrigo Pedon from LUMSA
	Clara Amato from LUMSA
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In the last few years a constant flow of research has studied the factors associated to the consumer’s tendency to run up debts (Webley & Nyhus, 1999). The interest of scientific literature has been focused mainly on debt, considered as a risk factor for families ( it is, indeed, associated to expenditure exceeding income) and on the psychological and economic variables connected to it. First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between loans and debts. Loans are planned and intentional and can imply the granting of a credit whereas debts are not planned (Zappalà & Sarchielli, 2005). There are three specific financing categories which more give an idea of the credit riskiness: consumer credit (correlated to specific purchases such as pc, television, car …), non oriented personal loans and credit on revolving cards ( with reimbursement by instalments). As for these categories the rejection percentage by the financing entities is really high: three applications of credit out of ten are rejected. A disappointment which mainly hits people living in Southern Italy; they would like to buy a motorcycle or restore a house but they don’t have the right requisites: it is what comes out from an elaboration by the Sole 24 Ore on provincial data processed by Experian (Barbiero, 2008). Which is the margin between the evaluation of the risk made by those who are called to grant a credit and people requiring it? Is the propensity to risk an implied variable in the choice of a purchase by instalments? The aim of our research is estimating the propensity to risk of those, more and more numerous, who count on payment by instalments for the purchase of daily services and goods. So we have made a questionnaire with 7 steps answers according to the Likert scale.
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Cultura And Luxury: A Conceptual Approach
Authors	Raimundo Nonato Oliveira Barros from Faculdade Novos Horizontes
Authors	Ester Eliane Jeunon (Presenting Author) from Faculdade Novos Horizontes, PUCMG
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The study on luxury has arisen by the interest of different social sectors. Any historical, social or cultural analysis is subjected to the historical comprehension of this phenomenon. The objective of this paper is to present a brief conceptual application of culture so later on we can deal with the conceptual evolution of luxury right from the beginning to nowadays. Understanding the relationship between culture and luxury is a key point to understand the symbolic determiners that mark human actions in the different activities, mainly on consumer context. The conceptual treatment of culture and luxury can help this process and once this is understood the phenomenon will be clearer and more assimilated.
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Antecedents And Concequents Of The Relational Benefits: A Study Of The Services Consumers
Author	Ester Eliane Jeunon (Presenting Author) from Faculdade Novos Horizontes PUCMG
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 9.40 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This study aims to analyze the relationship among relational benefits and their antecedent and consequent variables in the services field. This paper employed an exploratory study as well as a survey type, quantitative descriptive research. The field research was carried out with 415 consumers who pointed out their types of services. The collected data were analyzed by statistical tests, including structural equation modeling given by statistical tests and models based on previous studies. This study presents an original model because it evaluates for the first time relational benefits and their antecedent and consequent variables together. The outcomes of the proposed model concluded that relational benefits are perceived by costumers either in high contact customized providers or moderate contact non-personalized providers. Furthermore, it seems that there are strong associations among satisfaction with employees and the other constructs, valuing the importance of relational chains between employees and costumers.
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	A Model Of Choice: Food Consumption, Weight Preferences And Obesity Rates
Author	Marina Selini Katsaiti (Presenting Author) from University of Connecticut Department of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The purpose of this paper is to construct a macroeconomic model that can help explain the origins of obesity and its impact on economic aggregates such as capital accumulation, sectoral labor choice, and wage inequality. Under a framework of a two-sector economy, one producing food and one producing a composite consumption good, we investigate the effect of technological progress and thus lower food prices on food consumption and hence on average weight in the population. Heterogeneity is introduced by allowing individuals to differ in their patience levels. In our two period general equilibrium model we are trying to see whether impatience can lead to obesity and possibly alter peoples allocation decisions. We calibrate the model and we allow for different caloric consumption in the two sectors. This differentiation provides some useful insights about how sectoral decomposition affects weight levels in the population. As a last thing we introduce borrowing constraints and examine how they influence consumption patterns. Our results, following our intuition about how certain variables interact in the economy, prove to have the expected signs. Greater patience, is associated with lower weight levels. More people in the service sector lead to higher obesity rates as well as higher wages in the service sector. When we introduce borrowing constraints interest rates go up. Moreover, initial conditions alter our results but by not much and in the expected direction. For example, higher initial asset holdings are associated with lower interest rates and higher weight levels on average, higher initial wage rates lead to higher consumption too, and relaxing borrowing constraints allow for lower interest rates and consumption smoothing in the two periods. An empirical examination will test whether calibration results agree with the data and to what extend.
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	Equilibrium Refinement Vs. Level-k Analysis: An Experimental Study Of Cheap-talk Games With Private Information
Authors	Toshiji Kawagoe (Presenting Author) from Department of Complex Systems, Future University - Hakodate
Authors	Hirokazu Takizawa from Graduate School of Management and Information Sciences
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We present the experimental results of cheap-talk games with private information. We systematically compare various equilibrium refinement theories and bounded rationality models such as level-k analysis in explaining our experimental data. As in the previous literature, we find that when interests between sender and receiver are aligned, informative communication frequently arises. While babbling equilibrium play is observed more frequently in conflicting interest cases, a substantial number of players tend to choose truth-telling and credulous play. We also find that level-k analysis outperforms equilibrium refinement theories in explaining this phenomenon. Our results also confirm the existence of the gtruth biash and gtruth-detection biash reported in communication theory.
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	Perception Of Change In Government Spending
Author	Simon Kemp (Presenting Author) from University of Canterbury Christchurch, NZ
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In recent years, the New Zealand government, like some others, has increased government spending in a number of areas, particularly health, education and culture. Spending in other areas, for example, unemployment benefits, has decreased. But has anybody noticed? New Zealand student and general public samples were asked for their perception of changes in government spending in a number of areas over the previous five years. They were also asked what change they saw in the quality of government service delivered in each of the areas, the value of overall government spending in each area, and whether they or anyone close to them had made use of each of the services. Generally people did not have an accurate picture of the changes in government spending, and did not perceive much change in quality in those areas that had received increased spending. At first sight, the results suggest the extra spending has not been worthwhile, although a number of alternative explanations remain possible.
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	What Can Behavioral Economics Say About Eco-business?
Authors	Marianna Khachaturyan (Presenting Author) from University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA
Authors	Gary D Lynne from University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	A recent book (Esty and Winston. 2006. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. Yale University Press, New Haven) documents how companies worldwide are achieving both environmental and business success through acting on the evolving "eco-advantage" in the marketplace - building upon the synergy between green and gold. This contention is based on their interviews with dozens of CEOs and middle managers from over 200-companies that are “going green” (actually, most are going beyond green, moving onto the eco-path of true sustainability). Some of these large companies include – in the US - Wal-Mart, Home Depot, DuPont, GM, IBM, Dell; worldwide – Shell, Toyota, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, BP, Sony, Holcim, Alcan and many others. Esty and Winston contend that moving to the eco-path is values based, reflecting a shift towards a joint and simultaneous concern with both making money and doing-the-right-thing. This paper works to make sense of this phenomenon through the lens of behavioral economics, and especially the evolving subfield of metaeconomics which builds upon dual motive theory. In order to achieve their sustainability goals the companies are reorganizing their business and industry, which is often if not always associated with sacrificing some profits. This fits nicely with the metaeconomic contention of inherent conflict and sacrifice in both domains of interest, with rational choice bounded by the joint and simultaneous tendencies to pursue egoistic-hedonistic based self(ish)-interest of profit and to pursue empathy-sympathy based other(shared)-interest in long-term sustainability of the world’s ecosystems. Metaeconomics points to the potential synergy between green and gold that real-world companies are experiencing, while pointing to the essential need for sacrifice in both domains of interest as companies move onto the eco-path.
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	„you Get What You Pay For“: Price As A Signal For Product Quality
Author	Erich M. Kirchler (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna, Austria
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Consumers are confronted with a wide variety of product information, supplied through advertising and branding, packing and characteristics of the point of sale, the price and other cues which serve the formation of preferences and purchase decisions. Research on perceived quality has shown that consumers frequently use the price as quality cue. Is the price indeed a reliable signal of quality which consumers should use? To obtain insight into the relationship between price and objective quality as suggested by economic theory, a measure of objective quality (i. e., quality as measured by standardized techniques and experts) is necessary. In most countries, consumer magazines are available which publish product tests with price indications of a set of products of different brands and quality judgements. The correlation between price and expert judged quality can be used as indicator of the relationship between price and quality. Past research has shown that the relationship is in general positive but weak. In the present study, we analyze data on prizes and product quality judged by experts, published in the Austrian consumer magazine “Konsument”. Additionally, we assess consumers’ opinions about prize-quality relationships. This allows analyzing differences between price and objective quality relationships as well as price and perceived (assumed) quality relationships. Moreover, we assess consumers’ assumptions about product complexity and test price quality relationships by perceived (assumed) product complexity. We also compute correlations separately for different product categories and for inexpensive and expensive goods. Preliminary findings show that the price-quality relationship is generally weak and for most product categories insignificant, especially if products are inexpensive, such as food and beverages. Subjective quality judgements are unrelated to objective quality judgements. In sum, the prize seems to be an unreliable signal for product quality.
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Some Aspects Of Assessing Research Activities
Author	Iva Kirovová (Presenting Author) from VSB-Technical University of Ostrava Faculty of Economics Department of Management
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.50 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	For many reasons assessing research activities belongs to various evaluation practices, e.g. for interconnection of science and competitiveness’ development. These relations have emerged especially in the era of globalization, and transition to post-industrial era and knowledge economy. Assessing research activities is important also within universities. In the Czech Republic research activities assessment has become an important criterion for commencing academic degrees or applying for managerial university positions. Foreign experience differentiates various approaches which can be labeled as evaluative and explanatory. Results from application of various measures point out that no single measure can be taken as the only one. The measures should be reasonable. Not always is easy to distinguish between the quality and the quantity of measures. Not always all academics have the equal opportunities in the same university. Providing equal opportunities and application of reasonable criteria is a responsibility of universities, if they apply criteria assessing research performance.
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Intercultural Context Of Mba Studies
Author	Iva Kirovová (Presenting Author) from Technical University Ostrava, Faculty of Economics, Department of Management
Session	Parallel Sessions 9- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The author presents experiences with the application of MBA program at the Faculty of Economics in Ostrava. The transition from a centrally planned economy to a market driven economy needs managers, who are equipped with relevant competences for constantly changing global economy. MBA studies were offered in the Czech Republic after 1989. MBA studies became popular in Czech Republic. Universities offer franchizing programs mostly from USA, or UK. The module Effective People Management is a part of MBA program, and aims to develop managerial critical skills and knolwedge that contributes to the strategic management of the organization. This module provides opportunity to developing knowledge and skills associated with the task of managing individuals, groups, and teams in organizations. The format of delivery differs from what MBA students used to in their former educational history. Participative methods are used to create and active learning experience. They are used following methods: combination of lectures, discussions, group activities, or written case studies. The assessment of the course consists of two written assignments. They should involve investigating a problem (s) at work, applying theoretical approaches and concpets, analysing the sitaution and reaching a rational conclusion. The teaching methods differ from students educational experiences. Teachers were expected to give lectures, and students were expected to listen, and memorize concepts. The idea of open class discussion is mostly outside of students’ educational experience. Students have also different idea about what is the essence learning. MBA studies use dicussions, case analysis, written projects (assignments), which provide evidence of understanding the teaching concepts, and their relevant application. These differences are influenced by different intercultural environment. Although it is evident that the New Economy globalizes; there are intercultural differences, which are apparent also within MBA studies and influence also the outputs, the benefits.
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	Involvement And Consumer Selectivity Within And Outside The Consideration Set
Authors	Kleopatra Konstandoulaki (Presenting Author) from Athens University of Economics and Business
Authors	Flora Kokkinaki from Athens University of Economics and Business
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The research reported in this paper focuses on the relation between product and purchase involvement and consumer selectivity when making purchase decisions. We examine two types of selectivity: (a) selectivity outside the consideration set, which refers to the number of brands considered for purchase (consideration set size) relative to the number of brands the consumer is aware of (awareness set size), and (b) selectivity within the consideration set, which refers to the ease with which the consumer substitutes any considered brand for another brand in the consideration set. The relations between these variables were explored in a stimuli-based decision-making context. Three product categories, evoking different levels of product involvement in a pretest, were selected for the purposes of the study: jeans (high product involvement), shampoo (moderate product involvement) and bottled water (low product involvement). A total of 124 students participated in the study. They were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of three identical sections, one for each product category. In the first part of each section, participants’ product and purchase involvement were assessed. Subsequently, they were asked to indicate the brands they were aware of in each category (awareness set), as well as the brands they would consider for purchase (consideration set). Finally, their willingness to substitute among the considered brands was measured. The results support a positive relation between product and purchase involvement and both types of selectivity. Specifically, they indicate that as consumers become more involved with a product category or purchase situation they tend to consider fewer brands from their awareness sets for purchase. In addition, highly involved consumers are less willing to substitute among their considered brands compared to the less involved ones. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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	Compensation Systems As A Tool Of Talent Management In It-companies
Authors	Sofia Kosheleva (Presenting Author) from Graduate School of Management of St-Petersburg State University
Authors	Elena Zavyalova from Graduate School of Management of St-Petersburg State University
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 10.00 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Abstract The work analyses the role and the significance of the system of financial and non-financial remuneration in the structure of labor motivation of specialists and staff of IT-companies. The research of the efficiency of the incentive system in the international company “X” was conducted. The analysis of the compensation system of financial and non-financial incentives acting in the company demonstrated problems connected with personnel motivation and development. Key words: compensation, motivation, talent-management.
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Social Decisions Under Risk: Evidence From The Probabilistic Dictator Game
Authors	Michal Krawczyk (Presenting Author) from University of Amsterdam
Authors	Fabrice Le Lec from Max Planck Institute Berlin
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper reports the results of a probabilistic dictator game experiment in which subjects had to allocate chances to win a prize between themselves and a dummy player. Using a within-subject design we manipulated two aspects of the decision: the relative values of the prizes–being equal for both players, higher for the dictator or higher for the dummy–and the nature of the lottery determining the earnings–independent draws for the two players (‘noncompetitive’ condition) vs. a single draw (’competitive’ condition). We also asked for decisions in a standard, non-probabilistic, setting. The main results can be summarized as follows: first, a substantial fraction of subjects do share chances to win, also in the competitive treatments, thus showing concern for the other player that cannot be explained by outcomebased inequality aversion or quasi-maximin models. Second, this concern hardly ever leads to equalizing expected payoffs. Third, subjects share less in the probabilistic treatments than in the deterministic control treatment, possibly because in the former even a generous choice cannot remove outcome inequalities. Fourth, subjects appear to be somewhat efficiency-oriented, as they share more when partner’s prize is relatively high.
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The Impact Of Risk Attitudes On Entrepreneurial Survival
Authors	Marco Caliendo from IZA
	Frank Fossen from DIW
	Alexander S. Kritikos (Presenting Author) from Hanseatic University
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 4 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Risk attitudes have an impact on not only the decision to become an entrepreneur but also on the survival and failure rates of entrepreneurs. Whereas recent research underpins the theoretical proposition of a positive correlation between risk attitudes and the decision to become an entrepreneur, the effects on survival are not as straightforward. Psychological research posits an inverse U-shaped relationship between risk attitudes and entrepreneurial survival. On the basis of recent waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we examine the extent to which risk attitudes influence survival rates of entrepreneurs. The empirical results confirm that persons whose risk attitudes are in the medium range survive significantly longer as entrepreneurs than do persons with particularly low or high risks.
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	Negotiation Attitudes And The Gender Pay Gap In Managerial Positions - Why Women Don't Ask
Authors	Clara Kulich (Presenting Author) from University of Exeter
	Michelle K. Ryan from University of Exeter
	S. Alex Haslam from University of Exeter
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this work, we examine the underlying causes and the consequences of gender pay disparities in upper management by considering the organizational and social context. In a self-report survey with 180 UK and Austrian employees with managerial responsibilities, we investigate gender similarities and differences in experiences with and attitudes towards pay and pay negotiations. No gender differences in attitudes about the importance of pay and other job characteristics were found. However, women perceived their pay to be less related to their accomplishments, and they were more likely to want to avoid negotiations compared to men. These distinct views were explained by women’s experience that their pay was less fair, pay gains more difficult to achieve, and a higher fear of social costs if they ask for a pay rise compared to men. The importance of integrating gender differences in contextual factors (e.g, women’s distinct experiences with pay) in the analysis of the reasons for the gender pay gap is discussed. Pressure of societal beliefs such as the conflict of gender and leader role stereotypes are considered to be influential in women’s avoidance of pay negotiations and their decisions to ‘opt out’ of high paying jobs. Finally, we line out implications of our findings for the making women responsible for gender disparities by critically discussing the ‘opt-out revolution’ in upper management.
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Economic Opportunism And The Preference For Products Of Uncertain Value
Author	Giorgos Kyriakopoulos (Presenting Author) from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.30 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Empirical findings on motivated communication and deception support that subjects who communicate information are more likely to opportunistically manipulate it when it is rather uncertain than when it is rather certain (Schweitzer & Hsee, 2002). Therefore, it can be hypothesised that goods of uncertain value may be preferable investments for opportunistic buyers and sellers who are likely to be prompt to manipulate, exploit or strategically communicate the uncertain information concerning their value. To test the hypothesis, 80 participants completed a 20-item-scale of economic opportunism (Sakalaki, 2008) after they were presented with a scenario of having to choose between two paintings with different ranges of estimated values which one they would be more interested in buying and right afterwards reselling. One painting was presented as having a quite certain (9,000â‚¬-11,000â‚¬), and the other, as having a quite uncertain estimated value (5,000â‚¬-15,000â‚¬). No photographs of paintings were presented so as to exclude aesthetic judgments from participantsâ€™ decisions. Logistic regression analysis suggests that an increase of the score of economic opportunism increases the probability of choosing the painting of the uncertain estimated value with statistical significance, thus confirming the hypothesis.
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Study And Work: The Point Of View Of An Italian Teenagers’ Group
Authors	Paula Benevene from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
	Bianca Lagioia (Presenting Author) from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
	Raffaella De Stefano from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
	Calogero Iacolino from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Aims of the research General aim of this research is to collect the opinions, perceptions and attitudes of a group of Italian high school students regarding child work and the opportunity/feasibility for an adolescent to combine a light job with study. More specific aims of this research are: · Verify whether or not adolescents distinguish between unacceptable forms of child work and acceptable forms of child work; · Verify the inclination or will to carry out a light job; · Find out the evaluation of possible economic activities carried out by interviewees. Methodology The methodology is one of quantitative type. A questionnaire was outlined and administered to 1.263 high school Italian students. The questionnaire is composed of 74 items, mainly closed questions. The questionnaire investigates the following areas: · Representation of adolescents as autonomous subjects, capable of self-determination vs representation of adolescents as subjects with little judging autonomy; · Adolescents’ will or inclination to carry out a light job; · Mental representation and perception of child work; · Subjective norm (perceived parental, teachers’, friends’ attitudes). The last part of the questionnaire collects social-personal data. Main results 1. Adolescents condemn child work exploitation, but express a positive attitude towards light forms of work; 2. Adolescents believe that light forms of work are acceptable, since they can be combined with study and school attendance as well as with recreational activities. 3. Adolescents believe to be able to adequately evaluate whether to carry out a light work or not, and to have the duty to decide in an autonomous and independent way.
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	Hiv/aids, Risk Aversion And Intertemporal Choice
Authors	Judith Lammers (Presenting Author) from University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for International Development
Authors	Sweder van Wijnbergen from University of Amsterdam
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	This study analyses the relation between perceived health status and intertemporal choice. We use data from experiments with real monetary rewards conducted among students in South Africa to estimate risk and time preferences. These experimental data, based on multiple price lists developed by Coller & Williams (1999), Holt & Laury (2002), and Harrison et al. (2002, 2005a), show that HIV+ agents and participants that perceive to have a high HIV contraction risk are less risk-averse. Although the latter group displays higher discount rates, HIV positive agents seem to have substantially lower discount rates, indicating longer time horizons in spite of their lowered life expectancy. However, we show that direct estimates of discount rates can be seriously biased estimators of the pure rate of time preference when other factors than just the pure rate of time preference are not considered simultaneously. We correct for differential mortality risk, risk aver! sion and differences in anticipated future marginal utility increases and price in these factors when calculating pure rates of time preference from observed discount rates. Once these factors are taken into account, HIV+ agents' time preferences conform to expectations.
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	Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Economists And The Moral Trial
Author	Alessandro Lanteri (Presenting Author) from International Centre for Economic Research (ICER)
Session	Parallel Sessions 5- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Most people believe that economists are more selfish than non-economists. However, the reasons for such belief and for the related moral condemnation of economists remain confused. Some (lab) experiments show that economics students are more selfish than non-economics ones, but other (field) experiments show that adult economists are not different from non-economists. This article investigates the experiments, examines who counts as economist, questions the meaning of more selfish and shows that this veritable ‘moral trial’ on the profession is flawed by inconclusive evidence, imprecise indicted, and unclear charges. Consequently, we should suspend our judgment on the morality of economists.
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	Lost In Aversion. Loss Aversion, Endowment Effect, And (little) Realisticness
Authors	Alessandro Lanteri (Presenting Author) from International Centre for Economics Research (ICER)
Authors	Anna Carabelli from Università del Piemonte Orientale
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Two of Behavioural Economics’ (BE) milestones, Loss Aversion (LA) and Endowment Effect (EE), have been celebrated as ‘well documented,’ ‘robust,’ and ‘important.’ Yet, well documented, robust, and important what? Stylized facts, hypotheses, psychological truths? The experiments exposing the EE are usually interpreted as evidence of LA, but LA at the individual level has never been found. We discuss the problems with the nature of LA in the lights of the goals of BE: to improve economics’ realisticness and to be considered mainstream. We argue that a sensible interpretation of LA doesn’t make BE more realistic than the mainstream.
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	A Neuroeconomic Model
Author	Torben Larsen (Presenting Author) from Southern Danish University
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Background: Departing from recent neuroeconomic reviews a descriptive decision-making model is aimed in order to relate economic theory better to economic behaviour than achieved by the dogma of economic man. Method: A 4-level phylogenetic client-server-integrator model (L1-4) which integrates existing models of McLean and Luria is the general framework. L1. The fight-or-flight response originating in the Reptile brain stem (RAS). L2. Emotions or ‘somatic markers’ are originated in Papez circuit which is modulated with respect to reward experience by mesolimbic dopamine activity and projects by the thalamo-cortico pathways. This Mammalian ‘Limbic System’ (L) comprizes active centres during dreaming when the prefrontal cortex sleeps. L serves a wait-for-reset modification of the basal fight-or-flight response. L3. Cognition in the associative cortices relates L to the semantic recollection centre (R) in Superior Temporal Sulcus. L4. The Executive is a tripartite frontal integration unit minimizing prediction errors: ventromedial voluntary emotional control (CONC) of the orbitofrontal utility centre (U) enables dorsolateral sequential analysis (A) of R served by the Intraparietal Sulcus (I). Results: The major finding is that the subdivisions (L1-4) are integrated by two meta-functions across levels: a bottom-up emotional intelligence (LU) and a frontoparietal-downward logico-matematico intelligence (RIA). The over-all neuroeconomic decision making formula approaching zero by learning is: CONC := LU–RIA ▬> 0 The model upgrades the autonomic nervous system from a somatic automatism to a primary centre of consciousness in ACC (L) which interacts in a 3-channel and 2-way communication with the prefrontal CONC. However, the relationship between L and CONC is typical stabilized by negative, defensive feedback. The root of the negative character of L-arousal is Amygdala which mobilizes fear of missing a reward to be counterbalanced by fear of making errors from CONC.
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	One-reason Decision-making In Pigeons (and Humans)
Authors	Stephen E G Lea (Presenting Author) from School of Psychology, University of Exeter, UK
	Catriona M E Ryan from School of Psychology, University of Exeter, UK
	Catherine Bryant from School of Psychology, University of Exeter, UK
	Andy J Wills from School of Psychology, University of Exeter, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Gigerenzer and his colleagues have argued that humans take multidimensional decisions by using simple heuristics such as “take the best” rather than by using a weighted average of information from multiple cues. This approach is consistent with a consistent theme in the experimental literature on human categorization, that humans frequently categorize by using rules that focus on a single dimension, whereas associative processes would lead to multiple dimensions playing a part. However recent experiments on human categorization, and much evidence on animal discrimination learning, suggests that animals (which presumably only use associations, not rules) frequently categorize on the basis of single dimensions, while humans sometimes use multiple dimensions. We conducted experiments with pigeons and undergraduates to compare their categorization of multi-dimensional stimuli, under conditions where information about different dimensions was sometimes acquired sequentially and was sometimes of different validity. In three experiments the dimensions were all perfectly valid predictors of the response that would be reinforced and mutually redundant; in two others they varied in validity. In tests with stimuli including anomalous dimension values, most but not all individuals of both species categorized them in terms of single dimensions. When information was delivered as a function of the passage of time, some students but no pigeons waited for the most useful information, especially when the cues differed in objective validity. When the subjects could control information delivery, both species obtained information selectively. When cue validities varied, almost all students tended to choose the most valid cues, and when all cues were valid, some chose the cues by which they classified test stimuli. Only a few pigeons chose the most useful information in either situation. Despite their tendency to unidimensional categorization, the pigeons showed no evidence of rule-governed behavior, but students followed a simple Take the Best rule.
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Regulatory Mode Orientation And Anticipated Regret In The Ultimatum Game
Authors	Susanne Leder (Presenting Author) from Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
	Mauro Giacomantonio from Sapienza University Rome
	Lucia Mannetti from Sapienza University Rome
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 15.00 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The present study examined how two regulatory mode orientations, locomotion and assessment, influence the effect of anticipated regret on offers in the ultimatum game. When people anticipate regret in the ultimatum game, i.e. when they expect to find out which would have been the lowest offer accepted by the recipient, they tend to offer less compared to when they do not expect to receive such information (Zeelenberg & Beattie, 1997). According to regulatory mode theory (Higgins, Kruglanski & Pierro, 2003), individuals may self-regulate giving priority either to a locomotion or to an assessment orientation. Whereas locomotion constitutes the aspect of self-regulation concerned with movement from state to state, assessment constitutes the aspect of self-regulation concerned with making comparisons. It was predicted that the offers made by persons high in assessment, compared to persons high in locomotion, would be more strongly influenced by the tendency to minimize future regret. Regulatory mode orientation was measured by a self-report scale (Kruglanski et al., 2000) before participants – all in the role of the proposer – played the ultimatum game. The results supported our prediction and extend previous findings concerning the influence of locomotion and assessment on post-decisional regret (Pierro et al., 2008).
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A Dynamic Model Of Investment Decision Making: How Adaptation To Losses Affects Future Selling Decisions
Authors	Carmen Lee (Presenting Author) from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
	Roman Kräussl from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
	André Lucas from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
	Leonard Paas from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We conduct an experiment to test whether the size of a loss and the time in a losing position affect investors’ adaptation to the loss situation and, subsequently, whether this adaptation affects future investment decisions. As investors adapt to losses, their neutral reference point shifts downwards causing losses to become psychologically less painful. This shift in reference point is a dynamic process that is updated every time new information is received about the stock’s performance. The dynamically changing reference point, together with changing perceptions on the stock’s expected future performance, influence the decision to hold on to or to capitulate an investment. We study the relative contribution of each of these components as well as their inter-relationships in a dynamic experimental design. Our results indicated that a larger loss size and a longer time in a losing position are related to a more downwardly shifted neutral reference point. This neutral reference point is compared to the price of the stock in the next time period to create a perceived value (i.e. perceived size of loss) of the stock price, a larger perceived loss relates to less positive emotions but more optimistic expectations about future price changes. The actual decision to capitulate an investment, however, only depends directly on the expectation about the stock’s future performance. The neutral reference point, by contrast, affects the actual investment decision indirectly via its impact on expectations.
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Partially Specified Probabilities Is Games And Decisions
Author	Ehud Lehrer (Presenting Author) from Professor, Tel Aviv University
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Decision makers, in the Ellsberg paradox, who are only partially informed about the actual probability distribution, violate the expected utility paradigm. This paper develops a theory of decision making with partially-specified probability. Partially-specified decision making is then extended to interactive models in order to introduce the concepts of partially-specified equilibrium.
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	Naïve Reconstruction Of Macro-economic Causality
Authors	David Leiser (Presenting Author) from Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Authors	Ronen Aroch from Ben-Gurion University
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The functioning of the economic system is extremely complex and technical. For its part, the general public is constantly presented with information on economic causality. It is important for its members to assimilate it, whether to further their personal goals or in order to participate advisedly in the democratic process. We presented naïve and economically educated participants with questions of the form: If VARIABLE A increases, how will this affect VARIABLE B ? for all possible combinations of 19 key economic indicators. Naïve participants were willing to commit themselves on most questions, despite their medium to low self-report of understanding the concepts involved. Analysis of the pattern of responses reveals the use of a simple but powerful heuristic: the economic world functions in either a virtuous or a vicious circle. An increase in one good variable will increase the values of other good variables, and decrease those of bad variables. This yields a sense of competence without requiring understanding of the causality involved. The good-begets-good heuristic does not imply the ability to explain causal links. The depth of explanation of economic concepts is low in all segments of the population (Leiser & Drori, 2005), and indeed, the lack of explanatory depth seems to be a general feature of human understanding.
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	Leading Style In Medium And Big Companies In Bosnia And Herzegovina
Authors	Lidija Lesko (Presenting Author) from Faculty of Economics, University of Mostar
Authors	Zdenko Klepic from Faculty of Economics, University of Mostar
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Leading, besides planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling, is one of main functions of management. It is often pointed out that it is the most important function because success of management does not depend so much on any other function as it does on the function of leading. Leader can realize its influence on behaviour of others in several ways, so we can speak on various styles of leading. The research of leading style comprised total 30 medium and big BiH companies of different scope of activities. Leading style is analyzed by Likert's model witch defines four styles i.e. systems of management: 1. Extremely-authoritative (System 1) 2. Benevolently-authoritative (System 2) 3. Consultative (System 3) 4. Participative (System 4). Differences among the listed systems are determined through the following six dimensions: motivation, communications, decision-taking, interaction and impact, goals and control. Results of the research show that in the mentioned companies benevolently-authoritative leading style (system 2) prevails with elements of consultative style (system 3). Characteristics of benevolently-authoritative style are especially manifested with variables of decision-taking. Relatively high level of centralized decision-taking is present - decision are taken mainly at the top, without or with rather little delegating. Elements of this leading style are reflected in not quite known problems of employees by managers as well as in tendency of management to use material factors and factors of force as the means for performing tasks rather than participation of employees. On the other hand, elements of consultative leading style are dominant with variables of goal and especially with control variables. Function of work control and business operation is carried out by all managers (sometime by employees themselves), while controle data are mainly used for awards, as well as for self-orientation of work of employees.
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Email	lidijalesko{at}yahoo.com lidija.lesko{at}sve-mo.ba (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

	An Exploratory Analysis Of Composite Choices: Weighing Rationality Versus Irrationality
Author	Bijou Yang Lester (Presenting Author) from Deprtment of Economics & International Business, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104 U.S.A.
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Theoretical Policy
Abstract	Humans are engineered neurologically to make rational and irrational choices. This paper introduces a new approach – a composite choice model – in which economic agents constantly weighing rationality versus irrationality when encountering options. In an exploratory, deterministic, two-period model, an assumption of a two-way cross-embedment (i.e., a two-way interaction between the rational and irrational components) results in a paradoxical phenomenon, an outcome of either tending toward bliss or abyss at the end of the first period. This can imply a psychological struggle between two selves within the mind. Future research will explore implications for public policy design and implementation.
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Individual Responsibility And The Funding Of Public Health Care: An Experiment
Authors	Louis Lévy-garboua (Presenting Author) from University of Paris 1 and Paris School of Economics, Centre d\'économie de la Sorbonne, and CIRANO
	Claude Montmarquette from CIRANO and University of Montreal
	Marie-claire Villeval from GATE (CNRS), and IZA
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical Policy
Abstract	When a deficit occurs in the funding of public health care, it is usually covered by raising the amount of taxes or by rationing the supply of the goods. This article compares the efficiency of these institutions and their influence on individual contribution behavior. We report the results of a 2x2 experiment based on a game in the first stage of which subjects can voluntarily contribute to the funding of a private good collectively financed that is being used to compensate the victims of a disaster. In the second stage of the game, in case of a deficit, we introduce either taxation or rationing. Each treatment is subjected to two conditions: the burden of the deficit is either uniform for all the subjects, or individualized according to the first-stage contribution. We show that the individualized treatments favor the provision of the public health care through voluntary cooperation whereas the uniform treatments encourage free-riding. Individualized taxation brings the voluntary contributions closer to the optimum while uniform rationing appears to be the worst system since free-riding restrains the provision of the good.
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Cultural And Individual Differences In Tax Compliance:the U.k. And Itlay Compared.
Author	Alan Lewis (Presenting Author) from University of Bath
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Alan Lewis,John Cullis,Philip Jones, Sonia Carrera. University of Bath. 505 Italian psychology and economics students took part in a questionnaire based tax compliance experiment.Participants were asked to imagine they ran a small business paying tax with detection rates of 1%,10% and 25% in a repeated measures design. A previous identical study conducted with 530 psychology and economics students in the U.K.(Cullis,Jones and Lewis,2006) revealed that students studying econimocs, and males compared to females,declared less income in all conditions but the effects of gender and degree choice were confounded. The Italian data was collected to address this issue and to see how compliance differed between cultures given that tax evasion is more prevalent in Italy. Although the tax sytems of Italy and the U.K. are similar the replies to the questions differed significantly. The results show that an anthropologist searching for a calculating,instrumental and self-interested Rational Economic Man is more likely to find the beast among Italian males and Italians studying economics.
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	The Egalitarian Ape - Welfare State Games And The Preference For Equality
Authors	Sebastian Lotz (Presenting Author) from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
Authors	Detlef Fetchenhauer from University of Cologne, Department of Economic and Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Do humans prefer to live in rather equal societies even if this is associated with a lower overall wealth? The present study investigated this question using a “welfare-state game”. Participants (N=213) represented societies consisting of three individuals. They could choose to be in either an equal or an unequal world. An equal world (a total of 36 monetary units) led to a real payoff of 14 units (4.67€) for the rich, 12 units (4.00€) for the middle class, and 10 (3.34€) units for the poor. On the other hand, the unequal distribution yielded an overall higher payoff (44 units) giving 26 units (8.67€) for the rich, 16 units (5.34€) for the middle class, and merely 2 units (0.67€) for the poor. Additionally, we introduced a fourth neutral person for each group. The task of these neutral persons was to derive a decision for the respective group without being personally involved (to compensate for that lack of incentives, a total sum of 150€ was raffled among all neutral deciders). Whose selection was actually enforced was randomly drawn. Given the pay-off structure of the game the rich and the middle class had to decide between maximizing their personal outcome or an equal distribution. Of all rich participants 51.8% preferred the equal distribution sacrificing a substantial share of possible payoff. Of the middle class participants 50.0% preferred the equal distribution. The poor, on the other hand, were to profit of an equal distribution by earning 10 units versus only 2 units in the unequal world. A large majority of 94.1% selected this self-serving split. Of all neutral persons a majority of 83.9% voted for the equal distribution. Thus, for a part of our participants results showed a strong inequality aversion while another part merely maximized their own outcome.
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	Prospect Theory And Fiscal Reforms: Tax Rebate Or Fiscal Bonus?
Authors	Sonia Carrera from University of Bath (UK), Visiting researcher
	Edoardo Lozza (Presenting Author) from Università Cattolica di Milano (Italy), Assistant professor
	Claudio Bosio from Università Cattolica di Milano (Italy), Full professor
Session	Parallel Sessions 5- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 12.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Fiscal psychology has deeply investigated phenomena related to tax evasion/compliance, referring to Prospect Theory as well as to taxpayers’ psychological and social features. So far, however, less attention has been paid to the possible implications that these factors can determine on taxpayers’ responses to positive changes in the fiscal asset. A survey carried out in Italy during 2005 explored citizens’ perceptions about a fiscal reform (a bonus involving a reduction of the tax burden) introduced by the government. Results showed differences between respondents belonging to different occupational groups, as well as effects imputable to the different description of the bonus used in the study, but didn’t allow to disentangle these factors. The current study, therefore, aims to investigate whether and how (1) the frame used to describe a fiscal bonus and (2) taxpayers’ occupational status could influence their evaluation and usage purposes of this tax reduction. To this aim, 252 participants, belonging to different occupational groups (self-employers, employees and students), were submitted to two between-subject framing conditions (bonus described as a reduced loss or as a gain). Then they were asked to evaluate the bonus’ relevance for their personal wealth and to state how they intended to use it. Results demonstrate that the frame, rather than the occupational status of respondent, influences taxpayers’ responses to the bonus. When it was described as a loss reduction, in fact, respondents attached it a higher relevance, and were keener to save it than when it was presented as a gain. These results are interpreted referring to Prospect Theory’s loss aversion and to mental accounting, producing new insights on the processes through which framing can affect fiscal policies evaluations. Practical implications are furthermore discussed, especially focusing on the relevance of a ‘marketing-oriented’ communication for fiscal policies’ effectiveness.
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	Talent Management: Influences On Job Satisfaction And Performance
Authors	Roberto Luna-arocas (Presenting Author) from UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA
	Jose VICENTE Pascual Ivars from UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA
	Lorena Garrido Bautista from UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Today business has to cope with hard competition and continuous change (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994) and Human Resources Management (HRM) is clearly affected by this turbulent environment. In spite of the great deal of research in HRM in the last decades, there is still a big gap between what happens in theory and practice (Pfeffer & Sutton, 1999). One new perspective is assuming organizations as a bank of talents, that is, focusing on talent management. Talent strategy it means attract, develop and retain people with excellence competencies to work. Generally, talent management (TM) is associated with competency based management (CBM) where competencies are aligned to organizational values and goals. TM is associated with a high performance system in organizations.If a talent strategy it means a return of investment about twenty two points over other firms in the same sector, why it is not widespread in firms if talent strategy is related with performance? Indeed, practices should warranty the use of talents in the organizations. We propose a TM scale with five indicators: alignment with organizational values, manager’s TM, effective TM, job autonomy / empowerment and TM development. In this sense, other outcome variables are analysed: job satisfaction and job performance. Almost 200 employees were asked about TM practices and their outcomes. Results outline the important role of job satisfaction in the TM relation with performance. More research should be done in the definition and implications of TM literature.
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	Factors Of Social Influence In Virtual Multicultural Teams
Authors	Iris C. Fischlmayr from Johannes Kepler UniversityDepartment of INternational Management
	Satu Lähteenmäki (Presenting Author) from Turku School of Economics
	Eeli Saarinen from Turku School of Economics
	Timo Lainema from Turku School of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Research on group processes in virtual teams, especially concerning factors of social influence, is in its infancy. It is suggested in research on virtual teams that commitment to the common goal and feeling of belongingness would remain at lower level compared to face-to-face teams. These findings already lend us to ask whether similar processes of social influence in traditional teams i.e. groupthink, majority and minority influence, conformity and normalization also apply for virtual teams and what role they play on differences noticed in team performance. It has been shown e.g. that virtual teams when making decisions tend to have high quality decisions, be more creative i.e. to generate more ideas and solutions, and be more satisfied with the outcome. The reasons for these might be worth tracing back to a) higher and open-minded participation in the communication process due to lack of face-to-face contact, b) computer-mediated communication reducing the process losses of larger face-to-face teams, c) more equal possibilities to contribute due to lack of predestined roles based on in-group status made visible by the symbols of power, d) focusing to the task instead of investing in internal relations due to time pressure, feeling of temporariness and lack of togetherness and social support e) the tendency of taking more risk than traditional face-to-face teams due to lower commitment, f) lack of social loafing due to lack of strong social pressure, leading to high quality in innovation or, g) most skilled experts being more apt to e-working due to personal preference for independence and professional ambition as their career anchors. In our paper we aim at discussing factors of social influence on virtual teams by also providing some empirical insight of students´ virtual team projects.
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Long-term Investing Decisions When People Mispredict Their Future Ability To Adapt To Old Age
Author	Serge Macé (Presenting Author) from Institut Catholique de Lille
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	To a certain extent, people adapt to old age as well as to most other undesired events. However, there is evidence to suggest that young people typically underestimate their ability to adapt to ageing (Lacey, Smith and Ubel (2006)). This paper explores the economic implications for health investment and saving decisions of this misprediction considered as a projection bias in the spirit of Loewenstein, O’Donoghue and Rabin (2003) in a simple two-period model. Our main assumption is that as long as the individual underestimates his ability to adapt to old age, the predicted utility for the second period lies between the true future utility and the utility that the person would perceive without adaptation. In other words, the person predicts the direction of the change but underestimates its intensity. Using a simple linear specification for both adaptation and misprediction makes the individual’s investment decision depend on a single indicator of mispredicted adaptation. In the model, the health capital depreciates at a rate that depends negatively on the time invested to preserve it. During the first period, the individual allocates his time between health activities and the labour market for immediate consumption or for saving. Assuming exogenous interest rates, discount rates and wage rates, we get two results: i) The misprediction of adaptation to ageing leads young people to overinvest in future health capital. This rather surprising conclusion comes from the fact that adaptation reduces the marginal utility of health during the second period and so the incentive to invest in it in the first one. ii) The effect on financial investment depends on the sign of the cross partial derivative between consumption and health in the utility function. People tend to underinvest when the latter is positive and overinvest when it is negative.
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The Influence Of Perceived Injustice On Trust And Risk Propensity.
Authors	Tadeusz Tyszka from Leon Kozminsky Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management
	Anna Macko (Presenting Author) from Leon Kozminsky Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management
	Marcin Malawski from Leon Kozminsky Academy of Entreprenership and Management
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Numerous studies showed that when distributive justice fails to one’s disadvantage emotion of anger arises, while when it fails to one’s advantage emotion of guilt arises. It is also known that emotions elicited in one context influence decisions in another unrelated situations. Yet, little is known about the impact of perceived injustice on trust and risk propensity. This study examines whether • feelings of injustice resulting in anger lead to (1) lowering trust (measured by the amount of money entrusted to an anonymous trustee), (2) increasing expectations of trust reciprocation (measured by the amount of returned money considered to be fair) and (3) increasing propensity towards risk in a lottery task; • feelings of injustice resulting in guilt lead to (4) increasing trust, (5) decreasing expectations of trust reciprocation and (6) increasing risk propensity in a lottery task. All subjects were recruited to work for approximately an hour and earn 20 PLN (about 6 EUR) but the “unfair” treatment was that groups starting their work at different hours finished it in the same moment with all subjects being paid 20 PLN. Thus, the same money was paid to everybody but for different amount of work, and this was common knowledge of all subjects. Immediately after work, subjects made decisions about their trust level in a mini-trust game with anonymous trustee and about a lottery choice. They were also asked how much they would return from the entrusted sum in the role of trustee. The data is still being collected but preliminary results indicate that persons paid generously (in relation to their working time) entrust higher proportion of their earning (hypothesis 2) and are ready to return significantly higher proportions of entrusted sum than those who earned the same money for longer work. The detailed result will be available soon.
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	Understanding The Effect Of Labour Market Institutions On The Demand For Public Environmental Protection.
Author	Elisabetta Magnani (Presenting Author) from School of Economics The University of New South Wales Sydney Australia
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 14.40 to 14.50
Category	Empirical Policy
Abstract	In recent years, there has been a huge increase in interest in the environment and its interaction with the economy (see Baumol and Oates, 1988, and Perman et al., 2003, for reviews). A key feature of this literature is its recognition of the interdependence between the economy and the environment. In general, this interdependence operates in both directions and it is poorly understood. In addressing Bromley.s question "How to we wish the future to unfold for us?", this paper reviews recent contributions in the broad behavioural/experimental literature to investigate the way Labour Market Institutions, and in particular the privatization of social risk (through both pension and labour market reforms) affect the preference for environmental care. In particular, I review two strands on the behavioural economic literature to illustrate why (LM) institutions should matter for the emergence of a virtuous downward sloping segment in the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The first links LM institutions that are relevant for the existence of socially provided safety nets (e.g., unemployment insurance, citizenship incomes) with risk taking behaviour, for example choices involving adoption of new technology adoption. The second links LM institutions to inequality and the incentive for individuals to cooperate in the provision of GPG.
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Warm-glow Of Giving Motives In Fair Trade Consumption
Authors	Thuriane G Mahé (Presenting Author) from INRA/University of Grenoble, UMR 1215 GAEL, F-38000 Grenoble, France and CECO, Ecole Polytechnique, UMR 7176, F-75005 Paris, France
Authors	Laurent Muller from INRA, UMR 1215 GAEL, F-38000 Grenoble, France
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 10.20 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper, we empirically address the issue of consumers' motives for fair trade consumption. As a starting hypothesis, we argue that fair trade consumption is similar to a one-shot donation behavior. There is no constraint for fair trade consumers to repeat their ethical purchases, but they do this good deed because of (1) their other-regarding preferences, (2) the social desirability and (3) their credence to the label. We explore these hypotheses by means of an experiment. Our design is such that we observe if altruism or warm-glow of giving is linked to fair trade consumption (1). For this purpose, we control for the social desirability (2) and the credence to the label (3). Put differently, we create an experimental design aimed at observing individual behavior for different tasks. Our experiment consists first in a social orientation value test, secondly in a set of dictator games and finally in experimental auctions. With this design, we observe 'linear' altruism, the presence of the warm-glow of giving and the premium for the fair trade label at the individual level. The originality of our experiment lies in two points: first our study is within subjects; secondly we are able to compare individual scores for altruism in different settings. The experiment takes place in France, mainly with students. The first results show a great heterogeneity among participants. This heterogeneity is correlated to the students' major. As we supposed, the results rule out the correlation between the social value orientation (the 'linear' altruism) and the preference for fair trade in food. On the other hand, the results show that the intensity of the gift, the warm-glow of giving and the gender of a person are correlated to higher premiums for the fair trade label.
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	In-store Audio Advertising Can Boost Brand Awareness, Product Perception And Sales
Authors	Dominika Maison (Presenting Author) from Warsaw University, Poland
	Jean-christophe Giger from Polish Academy of Science, Poland
	Marek Roslan from Warsaw University, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The talk deals with the influence of in-store audio ad on brand awareness, product perception and sales. So far, research focused on the impact of price promotion, sampling and displays on sales either alone or in combination. Surprisingly, retail audio, that is, commercials and promotional announcements broadcast directly in the store through the store audio system has received little scientific attention. Five experimental field studies were conducted in grocery supermarkets. Overall data come from 76 Polish supermarkets and 958 face-to-face interviews. The three first studies examine the influence on sales of the broadcasting of an image advertising for a brand of cheese (study 1), a “price reduction” promotion for a pot of mayonnaise (study 2), and a “price reduction and gift” promotion for herrings (study 3). Study 4 explores the impact of audio ads using an “additional free product” promotion on both brand awareness (spontaneous recall and recognition) and brand image of a toothpaste brand. Finally, Study 5 explores the influence of retail audio on product awareness, perception and sales for a low involvement product which was never been previously advertised either with in-store ad or with ATL ads. Results show that audio ads are perceived and processed (studies 3, 4 and 5) and do have a pervasive positive effect on sales (studies 1 to 5), on brand awareness (studies 3, 4, and 5) and on brand image (studies 4 and 5). Advertised brands are more sold, more spontaneously recalled and more frequently recognized and their attributes are perceived more favorably leading to a better image. Moreover, advertising a particular product favors sales of all the other products belonging to the same umbrella brand (studies 1 and 2). Methodological and managerial issues, and further avenues for research are discussed.
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	A Paradox Of Place And Circumstance: Food Consumption Behavior Among Rural Low-income Families
Authors	Sheila Mammen (Presenting Author) from University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 USA
	Jean W. Bauer from University of Minnesota St.Paul, MN 55108 USA
	Leslie Richards from Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331 USA
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The United States is one of the richest nations in the world. However, survey data from a multi-state longitudinal study revealed a paradox where rural low-income families from states considered prosperous were persistently more food insecure than similar families from less prosperous states, a pattern not widely observed in other studies. The sample consisted of 135 rural low-income families living in seven states that exhibited this paradox. Using quantitative and qualitative data we found that families in the four food insecure, yet prosperous, states were more likely to experience greater material hardship and incur greater housing costs than families in the three food secure, but less prosperous, states. Interestingly, however, the families in the food insecure states did not have lower per capita median incomes or express lower life satisfaction than those in the food secure states. A wide range of consumption strategies to cope with food insecurity reported by families in both food insecure and food secure states, was examined using the Family Ecological Systems Theory. Families in the food insecure states used several risky consumption reduction strategies including curbing their appetite and using a form of triage to determine who would eat. Families in the food secure states, on the other hand, employed positive techniques involving their human capital such as gardening, canning, or stretching their meals. The paradox of food insecurity, in the midst of prosperity, has become more critical as the price of food has skyrocketed around the world, forcing even more trade offs in consumer decisions. Understanding consumer behavior in these difficult times will enable policymakers to formulate assistance programs that would better serve the needs of low-income families.
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	Any Meal, Any Time - How People Satiate Different Wants With Food And Why This Has Led To Obesity
Author	Corinna M Manig (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 7- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 10.40 to 10.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	In this paper a behavioral approach to food consumption is chosen that focuses on observable changes in preferences for food and the influences of habituation and culturally conditioned eating habits. Based on findings from psychology, medicine and biology it will be argued that food consumption is motivated by a number of behavioral dispositions, or wants. For example, food can be used to satiate hunger and the want for health. High quality convenience food can signal status and satisfy the want for social recognition. The time patterns of food consumption are constrained by the patterns of deprivation and satiation of these wants. Additionally, the important role of consumption knowledge will be explained and how it is built up and used in everyday situations. Consumption knowledge, i.e. knowledge about means and ends relating to the satisfaction of different wants, is changing continuously as a result of many new kinds of food being introduced to the market. Therefore, both cognitive and non-cognitive learning processes play an important role. With our analysis we try to address the question of how consumption patterns evolve and which relevant factors play a role in the process. Therefore, our theory allows us to describe individual behavior in more detail than the neoclassical approach of consumption can do. The interdisciplinary approach we have chosen focuses both on the description of the behavior observed and on the dynamics behind the changing consumption patterns. Our analysis can be applied to explain the growing number of overweight and obese people. Because of the advantages of food as a means to satiate different wants besides hunger, people consume more food. Simultaneously, caloric intake is very difficult to monitor and as a consequence people consume more calories than they used to and that leads to increasing weight.
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Priming The Ant Or The Grasshopper In People’s Mind: How Regulatory Mode Affects Inter-temporal Choices
Authors	Lucia Mannetti (Presenting Author) from University of Rome La Sapienza
	Susanne Leder from Zeppelin University -Germany
	Libera Insalata from University of Rome La Sapienza
	Antonio Pierro from University of Rome La Sapienza
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The present study examined the influence of two regulatory mode concerns -a locomotion concern with movement from state to state and an assessment concern with making comparisons (Higgins,E.T., Krugalnski, A.W., & Pierro, A. , 2003) - on choices between immediate and delayed (from 2 to 6 weeks) money rewards. Regulatory mode orientation was induced by means of a priming procedure. Following Camerer, Lowenstein and Prelec (2005), we predicted that the choices in the assessment condition would be less impulsive and more far-sighted than those in the locomotion condition. After taking into account the effects of amount of early reward, length of delay and increase in delayed reward--all of which were in the direction of previous studies—this regulatory mode prediction was supported. Our findings suggest that it might be possible to induce more far-sighted (or economically rational) inter-temporal choices by means of instructions that induce an assessment orientation independent of stable inter-individual differences in discount rate.
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Cubist Psychology And Economics: A Microeconomics Of Matching
Author	Kenning Marchant (Presenting Author) from Credit River Institute
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	This is a psychology-based microeconomic method using mathematics of matching rather than measurement. Empirical psychology and behavioural economics show that subjective utilities, and money values to express them, often do not comply with logical pre-requisites of measurement, i.e. complete, consistent and transitive preference orderings; nor with the empirical requirements of metrology, i.e. repeatability, reproducibility, accuracy and convertibility. Functions on continuous variables whose measurement properties are in doubt are also suspect. However, behavioural and psychological results are not random. They express context-dependent logics such as framing, reference levels, and asymmetric appraisals. The central apparatus in matching economics is Ashby’s law of requisite variety, how variety on one side, e.g. demand, is economically attenuated or amplified to match or mismatch variety on the other, e.g. supply. Different matching systems - markets, tournaments, insurance, charities, government operations – generate different economic results because they have different logics of psychology, technology or institutions. For example, insurance deals in losses, which are asymmetrical with appraisals of gains or non-gains of the same things; and insurance allocates by event incidence rather than appetite. Matching logics determine economic allocations as partitions: for example, incomes by occupation or market shares in an industry. Leontief input-output tables and Stone social accounting matrices show economies as industry or transaction sector rows partitioned by industry or transaction sector columns, and columns partitioned by row. The matching methodology yields results that contrast with the neoclassical method: an efficiency standard which is independent of the matching system chosen; money as a system to enforce partitions in addition to its traditional property as a medium of exchange; properties of mismatched or excluded sets as well as those matched; and endogenous logics of psychology, technology, and institutions for both positive and normative purposes.
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It In Organizations: Extending Technology Acceptance Model With Constructs Of Task–technology Fit And Trust
Authors	Matteo Mario Antonino Curcuruto from Università di Verona - Italy
	Marco Giovanni Mariani (Presenting Author) from Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Educazione - Università di Bologna - Italy
	Salvatore Zappalà from Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Educazione - Università di Bologna - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Even if Information Technology is a factor leading to success, organizations can have problems when introducing new technologies into their processes. Among models for explaining intention to use a technology there are the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), the Task–Technology Fit model (TTF) (Goodhue, Thompson, 1995) and Trust in Information System Technology model of Lippert (2002). TAM is one of the better known models for explaining intention to use a technology. TAM focuses on attitudes and intentions toward using a particular IT developed by users on the basis of the perceived usefulness and ease of use of the IT. Another significant model is TTF model which suggests that factors explaining software utilization are based on the type of task of the users. Trust is an important psychosocial dimension in the study of information technology. TIST Model considers trust in information technology as a dynamic construct that is established and is consolidated in progressive experiences with technology. We believe that TAM, TTF and TIST overlap in a significant way and, if integrated, could provide an even stronger model than either standing alone; therefore a new model has been defined in which: intention to use a technology is determined by perceived utility, ease of use, trust in technology and task-technology fit. Moreover task-technology fit would influences perceived utility, ease of use and trust. Research's participants are 501 employees from eight organizations; data was collected by a structured questionnaire. SEM were used to test the model. Results confirm the model (GFI=1.00; AGFI=.99; CFI=1.00). In brief, it is possible to assert that the empirical data obtained in the research have proved the validity of the majority of the original hypothesis.
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The Role Of The Social Representations In The Evolution And The Resolution Of Conflicts
Authors	Ehrlich K. Marianne (Presenting Author) from INRA
Authors	De Causans Aigline from Université Champagne Ardenne
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Projects of wind turbine installation of which the number suddenly increased induced different type of conflicts related to the territory and its use. Peri-urban territory present various factors of conflict us sensitive eco-system, residential pressure, high industrial and farming activity, social problem and land use planning. The object of this research is to determine the role of the social representations in the evolution and the resolution of the conflicts. The main questions of investigation in this work will relate to the role of the representations in the conflicts, thus putting forward the link between the practices and the representations. Our assumption is that the results of the analysis of the social representations of the local actors will assemble more divergence between the groups at the beginning of the conflict than at the time of its resolution. In our study we aim to propose a method to help resolution of the conflicts and for this purpose we examine the role of social representation of « environment », « ecology » and « wind turbines » in function of different uses of the space linked to their implantation in the community of Visandre, localized in Seine and Marne. Three categories of populations are examined: Farmers, members of the communal councils and simple residents. We carried out the interviews and questionnaires that allowed us distingue specific representations of each category of individuals. Thus the cross analysis of the social representations of the environment, ecology and the wind turbines make it possible to explain the positions of social groups in the conflicts related to the wind farm installation generating alternative energy. In particular we demonstrate in this study existence of a link between social representation, personal implication, and the acceptance of project of wind turbine installation in the prei-urban territory.
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	How United Is Germany? Cultural Convergence Between East And West After 1991
Authors	Robbert Maseland (Presenting Author) from Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Political Science PO Box 9108 6500 HK Nijmegen The Netherlands
Authors	André Van Hoorn from Radboud University Nijmegen Department of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Two decades of re-unification have done little to reduce economic disparities between East and West Germany. One explanation for this fact is provided by institutional economics, which suggests that enduring regional inequality might be due to embeddedness in historically established institutions and culture. In the case of re-unified Germany, formal institutions have been equalized between East and West (Streeck, NPE 1997). Any institutional explanation for enduring divergence therefore has to lie in informal institutions; norms, expectations, beliefs, and values. Häder and Häder (1995) and Wagner (1999) argue that the partition of Germany did not only constitute political-economic division, but also created ‘eine Mauer im Kopf’. The question is how persistent this ‘cultural wall’, created by four decades of division, is. Little empirical work has been done on this question. An important exception includes Alesina and Fuchs-Schündeln (AER, 2007), which has a number of shortcomings. First, it makes claims about a trend on basis of observations at two points in time. Moreover, it pays little attention to the mechanisms behind any value convergence. Finally, it ignores criticism of values surveys data (Clarke et al, APSR 1999; Maseland and van Hoorn, JIBS forthcoming). This paper investigates value convergence in unified Germany on basis of panel time series data, available in G-SOEP. By drawing biographies of respondents, we are able to establish the mechanisms behind convergence between East and West. We distinguish between value shifts between generations and value shifts within respondents. We also show how much of convergence is driven by actual value change, as opposed to diffusion of values due to migration. Finally, it is indicated that convergence is a symmetric process, with West Germany experiencing shifting to less market-oriented values and East Germans shifting to a more market-oriented value orientation.
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	Organizational And Psychological Influences On Small Firms Innovativeness
Authors	Salvatore Zappalà from University of Bologna, Italy
Authors	Fabio Massei (Presenting Author) from University of Bologna, Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	To be competitive in the global market, organizations must develop through adoption and development of innovation. This study examines whether psycho-social and organizational characteristics are related to the number of innovations developed by small firms and to employees’ evaluation of firm’s innovativeness. Data were collected in 10 companies; two questionnaires were used. The first, filled by the 10 owners of the companies, reported number and types of innovations adopted in the last three years. The second one, filled by 148 employees, was used to assess perception of organizational characteristics (e.g. climate for innovation, organizational and group self-efficacy) and organizational innovativeness. The innovations adopted by the companies range from 3 to 53 (mean=17); they are mainly related to new products, methods and equipments to improve employees’ work and efficiency. The owners rated R&D as important for their organizations and they invest on this on average 12% (range 3% to 35%) of profit. Two companies submitted and had approved patents application. On average, in these companies employees perceive a positive psycho-social climate; e.g. employees are motivated to be creative, relationships with supervisors are good and companies evaluated as opened to change. Nonetheless, t-test showed no difference between companies reporting more and less innovations on these variables. We tested if characteristics of the tasks (e.g. autonomy, job demands) were related to organizational innovativeness and if interaction with the leader facilitated innovations’ introduction. Organizational characteristics (openness to change, resource availability) were hypothesised to be related to both variables. Main results suggests that companies adopting more innovations are those which: 1) tolerate errors in their work activities and employees can rely on leader support; 2) encourage workers in proposing new ideas, resources are easily available and rewards and acknowledgements matches what promised by the management.
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Changing Reference States Through Priming
Author	Astrid Matthey (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	In economic theory, utility depends on past, present and future outcomes. The experiment described in this paper suggests that utility also depends on people’s attitudes, and that it can easily be manipulated through these attitudes. At the first stage of the experiment subjects complete a simple priming task, which focuses either on material or on social achievements. This aims at influencing subjects' reference states through influencing their attitudes. The effects of the priming are identified at the second stage, where I measure subjects' risk attitudes as expressed in a lottery investment decision. Systematic differences in risk attitudes between treatments show that subjects’ reference states, and hence their utility, are influenced by the concepts they encounter in their environment, even if these concepts are neither outcome-relevant, nor are subjects aware of them. The results imply, first, that purely outcome-based models of individual utility may be incomplete. Second, that reference states are not determined completely endogenously but can be influenced from outside. And third, that experiments in economics may be sensitive to subtle details of the experimental design.
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	Contextual Art And Hedonic Price Indexes: To Be Or Not To Be Marketable?
Authors	Belén Mazuecos (Presenting Author) from Faculty of Arts. University of Granada Spain
Authors	Marilena Vecco from ICARE – International Center for Art Economics University of Ca’ Foscari – Venice
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The aim of this paper is to measure the market success of a group of artists, part of the movement called “Contextual Art” (CA). They represent a paradigm of critique against the commercial aspects of art (mechanisms of circulation, diffusion and selection), the concept of author, the notion of authenticity and the collecting. The strategies developed by these artists against the art business and its institutions will be also analysed. We try to understand if this kind of art has a market and its dimension. Our hypothesis is that even if these artists criticise hardly the market, they are submitted to its laws: the more revolutionary the artist actions, the more acquiescent the contexts of intermediation as the market of art neutralizes the artist’s critique and incorporates it. We analyse this “trick game” (José Luis Brea, 2004) and its impact on the market. The methodology used is base on the hedonic regression method in order to find out the price index of the movement Contextual Art (Pre War, Post War and Actual Art) and its sub-movements (Dadaism, Surrealism, Nouveau Realisme, Body Art, Conceptual Art, Land Art, Fluxus, YBA, etc.) on the base of 5005 works belonging to a sample of 52 CA artists, sold at art actions between 1990 and 2007.
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Credit Consumers’ Payment Protection Insurance Decisions: The Effect Of Relative Cost And Level Of Cover
Authors	Sandie J Mchugh (Presenting Author) from University of Bolton
Authors	Rob Ranyard from University of Bolton
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Credit consumers can defuse the risk of repayment default on loans by the purchase of payment protection insurance (PPI). Rational economic analysis and Huber’s Risk Defusing Operator (RDO) theory predict that PPI decisions will be sensitive to changes in PPI cost and level of cover. The simplification assumption of bounded rationality theory, however, implies that changes in level of cover may not necessarily affect PPI choice. In a previous study (N = 241) high street bank customers chose whether or not to purchase PPI with loans. Decisions were significantly influenced by PPI cost in some contexts only. In the present postal questionnaire study (N = 215) sensitivity to the effect of cost and cover was investigated in four PPI choice scenarios. In this randomised groups 2 x 2 experiment the level of cover (premium versus basic) and the cost of the insurance (expensive versus budget) were varied. Also, the relative cost of PPI was manipulated within participants by varying the cost of a credit option without PPI. Additionally, judgements were sought on the usefulness of different aspects of insurance cover, and on participants’ willingness to pay extra for insurance policies. Consistent with rational economic and Huber’s RDO analysis, it was found that there was some sensitivity to PPI cost and relative cost in PPI purchase, although this was not consistent over the 4 scenarios. However, consistent with bounded rationality assumptions, there was no significant effect of level of cover on the take up of PPI, even though there were substantial differences between premium and basic cover. Nevertheless, hierarchical multiple regressions showed that judgements of the usefulness of accident and sickness insurance predicted PPI choice and willingness to pay to some extent. Implications for the understanding of consumer decisions and the role of cost and cover in insurance purchase are discussed.
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	The Impact Of Procedural Satisfaction On Outcome Acceptance - Experimental Evidence
Authors	Vanessa Mertins (Presenting Author) from IAAEG Trier, Germany
	Max Albert from JLU Giessen, Germany
	Henrik Egbert from JLU Giessen, Germany
	Georgi Chobanov from Sofia University, Bulgaria
	Teodor Sedlarski from Sofia University, Bulgaria
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	While social psychological research suggests a strong impact of procedural satisfaction on outcome acceptance, the issue did not attract much attention in the economic literature. In order to extend our knowledge of the underlying dynamics which is primary based on panel and survey data, we use a novel experimental design. In doing so, we study the effects of procedural satisfaction on responders willingness to accept various proposed allocations by investigating the role of proposers appointment procedure. In the experimental setting, we distinguish between responders having their procedural preferences satisfied and responders having them not satisfied. One proposer faces four responders who can invest in resistance against the split of a pie. Resistance is modeled as a threshold public good: resistance is successful and nothing has to be paid only if responders total contributions exceed a certain threshold. Experimental evidence from Bulgaria suggests that costly resistance depends significantly on whether responders individual and group preferences regarding the proposers entitlement procedure are satisfied: responders whose procedural preferences are satisfied offer significantly less resistance towards unfavorable allocations.
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Information Search Patterns In Risk Judgment And In Risky Choices Across Domains
Author	Agata Michalaszek (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The study was designed to investigate: (1) the relative importance of basic dimensions of a risky situation (i.e. payoffs and probabilities), and (2) the information acquisition patterns in risk perception and choice. The modified version of Mouselab Web public domain software proposed by Willemsen and Johnson (http://www.mouselabweb.org) was used as an investigative tool. In two experiments, 180 respondents were presented with a risky situation, which consisted of 3 options. Each option consisted of four possible outcomes - 2 losses and 2 gains. Participants could disclose as much detailed information about the options as necessary to judge their riskiness and to choose one of them. Each participant judged risk and made a choice for seven different risky situations related to financial risk, health hazards, gambling, etc. On the basis of preliminary analysis of respondents‘ patterns of information search, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) On average, respondents looked at approximately 50% of available information for all risky situations. (2) No difference was observed in the amount of considered information between risk judgment and choice. (3) A majority of information search patterns (70%) is in line with the dimensional model, i.e. respondents compared the options across a given dimension. Only in approximately 5% of cases information was searched according to patterns compatible with models based on the expectation principle (i.e. looking at all available dimensions for a given option). (4) Although the dimensional pattern was more frequent for both risk judgment and choice, this tendency was more pronounced for risk judgment (chi-sq=24.35, df=5, p<.001). Analysis of data that relates relative importance of different dimensions to different domains (e.g. financial risk, health hazards) is in progress.
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	“get A Life”: The Role Of Social Factors In Materialism And Subjective Well-being
Authors	Harold W.j.m. Miesen (Presenting Author) from the Department of Communication and Information Science, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
Authors	Juliette Schaafsma from the Department of Communication and Information Science, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Relatively many studies have addressed the relationships between materialism, subjective well-being and economic variables, examples of which are income, welfare level, and socio-economic class. Less research has been done on the relationships between people’s interpersonal relationships, materialism, and subjective well-being. There is evidence that the quality of the social life is an important predictor of the amount of happiness experienced. At the same time, research suggests that negative interpersonal experiences may increase materialism and decrease subjective well-being. To date, however, few attempts have been made to predict and explain materialism and subjective well-being by means of social-psychological variables. The present study addressed this issue by exploring the relationships between socio-demographics, self-esteem, need to belong, social provisions, family stressors, compulsive buying behavior, materialism, and subjective well-being. Participants were 300 Dutch (112 male and 188 female) who filled out an online questionnaire. Data were analysed by means of correlation and regression analyses. The first regression model significantly predicted materialism by means of self-esteem, need to belong, social provisions, family stressors, and compulsive buying behavior (Adj. R2=.45; p<.01). The results showed that a high need to belong and high levels of compulsive buying behavior by younger, wealthy males resulted in high levels of materialism. The second model significantly explained 37% (p<.01) of the variance in subjective well-being by means of socio-demographics, self-esteem, need to belong, social provisions, family stressors, compulsive buying behavior, and materialism: females who had a more than average income, greater social provisions and self-esteem, and who reported less family stressors and compulsive buying behavior, expressed greater subjective well-being. The results suggest that satisfactory social conditions are elementary for achieving happiness and that a lack of it increases materialism. Implications for scholars and practitioners will be discussed.
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Determinants Of Violation Of Copy Right Law: Insight From Survies And Experiments
Authors	Anna Maffioletti from University of Torino
	Matteo Migheli (Presenting Author) from University of Eastern Piedmont and University of Torino
	Giovanni B. Ramello from University of Eastern Piedmont
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The strategy of suing consumers for copyright infringement when they illegally download music adopted by major recording companies is premised on the assumption that actual suit raises the price of downloading and dissuades use of downloads in favour of legal CDs. This experiment suggests that this assumption is questionable since a market for downloaded and copied music exists despite the fact that it is costless to copy, absent the prohibitions of copyright law. Consumers are willing to pay a non-zero price for a downloaded or copied music file, a price in general quite a bit below their willingness to pay for a CD, but quite a bit more than what would be expected for a product that can be obtained at zero cost. To prove this, we asked our participants their WTP for original and burned CDs using hypothetical as well as real choices. We compare our results with the usual market pricing and we explore infringing behaviors in order to verify if an increase in lawsuits is effective in reducing infringing activities and raising legal demand. In the experiments and in the surveys we also asked subjects questions about their ethical attitudes toward burning CDs and awareness about present legislation. Comparing WTP prices with this more behavioral question we found that perceptions about illegality of burning CD positive influence WTP for original CD and negatively influence WPT for burned CD. More over , the declared WTP is influenced by gender age and income. These result can be very important to infer useful consideration in order to redefine public policy towards piracy more effectively.
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	Social Representations Of Money And Bank: Before, During And After Economic Crisis
Authors	Jale Minibas - Poussard (Presenting Author) from Galatasaray University Business Administration Dept.
Authors	Ozge Sahin from Geneva University - HEC
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 12.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Economy supposes a separation of an object from reality and its autonomy within a model but individuals associate economic and social elements in their representations (Verges, 1989). The social representations concept has three main advantages in the economic psychology research. First of all, it helps to incorporate the contextual side of the related object and a particular situtation. It takes into account the creation of social process and the use of economic knowledge as well. Finally, it encompasses all the cognitive dimensions related to psychological nature of reasoning (Verges, 1998). Turkey lived an economic crisis in february 2001, with more than 100% devaluation of its currency. In this study, the aim was to understand what the crucial terms of money and bank represent in the people’s mind during different economic periods. Data were collected in three different periods; these were respectively in early 1999, just before economic crisis with 150 observations, in the beginning of 2001 with 165 observations during the economic crisis and in early 2007 with 160 observations after economic crisis. As a result, the most frequently evoked representations are revealed based on the periods as follows: money representations before economic crisis are power/powerful, necessity for living and reaching the aims. During crisis, money is represented as power, shopping/expenses, debt and hapiness. After crisis, power, buying power/shopping, have money/earn a lot/life target are cited as the most frequent money representations. Bank representations are money, service/ support, saving/investment/interest and corruption before crisis. During crisis, money is represented through money, saving/investment, corruption and finally credit card and credit. After crisis, bank representations are credit card and credit, debt payment/interest payment. The results reflect the socio-economic structure of these three periods. This research was funded by Galatasaray University.
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	Double Coordination In Small Groups
Authors	Luigi Mittone (Presenting Author) from University of Trento
Authors	Ivan Soraperra from University of Trento
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper investigates a problem of double coordination using a game in which two groups of subjects have to coordinate at two different levels. The idea is to reproduce in the Laboratory situations in which the subjects must coordinate both with the members of their own group and with the members of another group, e.g. two groups of stakeholders in a firm, two departments of the same firm, consumers and producers of goods with network externalities, etc. Our design investigate two different treatments. In one setting (baseline treatment), the subjects of both groups have a higher incentive to coordinate with the subjects of the other group than to coordinate with the members of their own group. In the alternative treatment (treatment 1), the members of group 1 have a higher incentive to coordinate with the members of group 2 while the members of group 2 have an higher incentive to coordinate among themselves instead than with the member of group 1. In addition we investigate about the impact of two different rules of payoff determination, i.e., unanimity vs. majority. The preliminary results show that a very high rate of coordination if compared to the coordination levels reported in the literature. Furthermore there is a tendency towards a lower coordination in the alternative treatment (treatment 1) if compared to the Baseline.
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Some Requirements Of A Theory Of Behavior
Authors	Marco MM Monti (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute for Human Development Department for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition
Authors	Shabnam SM Mousavi from Max Planck Institute for Human Development Department for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Keywords: Observation Data, Theory Building, Axioms of Rationality, Psychology, Economic Behavior. Abstract Herb Gintis [2], in his recent BBS target article, has outlined the requirements for a unified behavioral theory. He argues that preserving a minimum of consistency axiom within the framework of “the beliefs, preferences, and constraints (BPC) model” is the best analytical tool for such theory. He maintains that evolutionary theory (both genetic and cultural evolution) is the integrating principle of behavioural science. Also, if decision theory and game theory encompass other-regarding preferences, then modelling ALL aspects of decision making, including those normally considered “psychological,” “sociological,” or “anthropological” becomes affordable. “The mind as a decision-making organ then becomes the organizing principle of psychology.” He summarizes his view as, “The true power of each discipline’s contribution to knowledge will only appear when suitably qualified and deepened by the contribution of the others. For example, the economist’s model of rational choice behaviour must be qualified by a biological appreciation that preference consistency is the result of strong evolutionary forces, and that where such forces are absent, consistency may be imperfect. Moreover, the notion that preferences are purely self-regarding must be abandoned.” Gigerenzer [1] advocates the importance of theory building prior to and in completion of meaningful collection of data. He boldly asserts: “Data without theory are like a baby without a parent: their life expectancy is low.” In elaborating his discussion, he specifies several “surrogates for theories in psychology: one-word explanation, redescription, drawing vague dichotomies, and data fitting.” Since behavioral economics aims at making economics psychologically sensitive, we find Gigerenzers’ warnings relevant for the practice of behavioral studies in economics. Vernon Smith in his Nobel Prize lecture dedicates an entire section to theory building from observation data. His reflection on theory building from observations from a Lakatosian approach implies strong skepticism of relying on data, however abundant, as the sole basis for developing a theory. He warns against “the untenable belief that general theories can be derived directly from observations if you just have enough data.” And resonates with Gigerenzer’s conception of re-description in saying, “More data will not help, as the fairness concept is used here as a word that provides no effective means of modifying standard theory to correct for its predictive flaws.” Mousavi and Garrison (2003) establish a bridge between a transactional (pragmatic) view of action and a study of choice behavior in the marketplace. They raise some methodological concerns with neoclassical economics, and suggest that acknowledgment of the role of bodily habits in the making of final choices by humans is crucial and informing to any realistic theory of human action. By juxtaposing these views, our primary goal is to provide an answer for this question: “Can an original theory of behavior be deducted from mere observation? We analyze the methodological agreements and disagreements of the abovementioned work toward sketching some requirements of a behavioral theory. In doing so, we: (1) explore the proposed conditions under which a theory of behavior is conceivable, (2) examine the necessity and extent of retaining the neoclassical framework in the construction of such theory, and (3) outline some components of a plausible behavioral theory. References Gigerenzer, Gerd (1998). “Surrogates for Theories,” Theory & Psychology, 8(2), 195-204. Gintis, Herb (2007). “A Framework for the Unification of the Behavioral Sciences,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 30(1), 1-61. Mousavi, Shabnam; Garrison, Jim (2003). “Toward a Transactional Theory of Decision Making: Creative Rationality as Functional Coordination in Context,” Journal of Economic Methodology 2003, 10(2), 131-156. Smith, Vernon (2003). “Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics,” The American Economic Review 93(3), 465-508.
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Boundary And Interior Equilibria: What Drives Convergence In A "beauty Contest"?
Authors	Andrea Morone (Presenting Author) from Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Metodi Matematici Università degli studi di Bari
Authors	Piergiuseppe Morone from Università degli studi di Foggia
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We present an experimental game in the p-beauty framework. Building on the definitions of boundary and interior equilibria, we distinguish between ‘speed of convergence towards the game-theoretic equilibrium’ and ‘deviations of the guesses from the game-theoretic equilibrium’. In contrast to earlier findings (Güth et al., 2002), we show that (i) interior equilibria initially produce smaller deviation of the guesses from the game-theoretic equilibrium compared to boundary equilibria; (ii) interior and boundary equilibria do not differ in the timeframe needed for convergence; (iii) the speed of convergence is higher in the boundary equilibrium.
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Transaction Utility, Reference Prices And Purchase Motivation
Authors	Erich Kirchler from Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna
	Angelika Kunz from Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna
	Stephan Muehlbacher (Presenting Author) from Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Transaction utility (Thaler, 1999) is defined as the perceived value of a deal. If the price of a product is below a consumer’s reference price, e.g., the expected price, she is more likely to buy the respective product. We manipulated the reference price and study the impact of positive and negative transaction utility on consumers’ purchase motivation. Study 1 (N=70) shows that likelihood of buying a product increases with transaction utility. In study 2 (N=228) we replicate our prior findings and show that effects of the psychological gains and losses from transaction utility are moderated by the duration of their validity. For instance if the offer of a rebate on future purchases allows to compensate for one’s psychological loss, purchase motivation remains unaffected by transaction utility.
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Can Psychology Improve Our Understanding Of Puzzles Of Intertemporal Consumption At The Macroeconomic Level?
Authors	Roberta Muramatsu (Presenting Author) from Mackenzie University of Sao Paulo
Authors	Patricia Fonseca from Mackenzie University of Sao Paulo
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Psychological Economics and Economic Psychology has contributed to our understanding of patterns of individual choice behavior that are regarded as anomalies. Our starting point is the idea that the behavioral approach also enables us to explain actual intertemporal consumption at the macroeconomic level. This paper aims to diagnose three Brazilian puzzles of consumption (savings) behavior based on some behavioral concepts, such as projection bias, dread factor, loss aversion, hyperbolic discounting and self-control. To accomplish the foregoing task, we focus on the analysis of Brazilian aggregate consumption and saving series from 1981 to 2007. We also investigate income levels, interest and inflation rates of the period under study so as to better scrutinize the following anomalies: (a) increasing private savings in a hyperinflationary environment at the end of the 1980s; (b) significant drop of savings rates in 1990s; and (c) the growing private consumption trend accompanied by indebtedness in a macroeconomic scenario with concrete possibilities of consumption planning after 1994. We go on to explain the first anomaly by reference to projection bias, dread factor and loss aversion. We claim that such items enrich our interpretation of the phenomenon as an instance of precautionary savings. The second puzzle is accounted for in terms of emotional reactions and loss aversion following an ineffective price stabilization policy that temporarily confiscated part of agent's financial wealth. We provide an account of the third anomaly based on features of the institutional environment that allows for the evolution of myopic preferences, hyperbolic discounting, self-control problems and projection biases. We conclude that economists benefit from incorporating insights from psychology into their models of intertemporal consumption. In the real world of boundedly rational agents, emotions, higher order cognition and institutional settings shape individual perception of the payoffs of immediate consumption relative to future gratification.
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Constructing Gender In Dictator Games
Authors	Anne Boschini from Stockholm University, Department of Economics
	Astri Muren (Presenting Author) from Stockholm University, Department of Economics
	Mats Persson from Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Is the difference between men and women a social construct? Formulated in such a general fashion, the question is almost meaningless. However, a hint of the answer can be sensed in an experimental setting where we try to find gender differences in terms of, for instance, egoism and altruism. If such differences tend to be accentuated by gender stereotyping, this is an argument supporting the idea of gender as a social construct. Stereotyping means gently reminding each participant of his or her gender. In this paper we use two kinds of stereotyping of the participants in a dictator game: letting the subjects enter their gender on the questionnaire before making their dictator decisions, and letting female participants play in one room and male participants in another. We find that such stereotyping does have an effect as compared to a control group where the participants sit in a gender-mixed room and enter their gender after having made their decisions. It turns out that stereotyped med are more egoistic than men in the control group, while stereotyped women are more generous than women in the control group. Regardless of whether maleness and femaleness are social constructs, they are not homogenous categories. Each gender is composed of a number of basic personality types, and it appears that within each gender these types are represented in different proportions. For instance, among women the “egalitarians” are significantly more frequent – while among men the “egoists” are more frequent. And stereotyping accentuates these differences in composition of types.
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Eliciting Behavioral Strategies In A Sequential Decision Context.
Authors	Antoine Nebout-javal (Presenting Author) from CNRS & UniversitÃ© de Montpellier 1
Authors	Marc Willinger from UniversitÃ© de Montpellier 1
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	We report experimental findings about subjectsâ€™ behavior in sequential decision problems involving risk. We adopt a within subject design to study subjectsâ€™ choices in dynamic decision problems involving multistage lotteries with different timings of resolution of uncertainty. The aim of our experiment is to identify behavioural strategies of dynamically inconsistent subjects. Specifically we sort out subjects whose choices are compatible with the Bayesian-Nash equilibrium of a multiple-selves game (Karni & Safra, 1989) and those who follow a â€œcooperative strategyâ€ among selves (Nielsen & Jaffray, 2006). These two theories rely on McClennensâ€™ (1990) distinction between sophisticated and resolute choice behavior. Besides, our experiment allows us to test whether subjectsâ€™ choices are consistent with the consequentialist hypothesis (Hammond, 1988, Machina, 1989) and whether they satisfy dynamic consistency. These underlying axioms are tested and analysed in comparison to a common ratio effect-like behavior for a wide range of parameters. A within-subject analysis is applied in order to identify precisely each subjectâ€™s behavioral strategy. Our results show that about 40% of the subjects are dynamically inconsistent, and that most of them are of the resolute and naÃ¯ve choice or - types rather than of the sophisticated-type.
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	The Effect Of Past Price Patterns And Price Memory In Asset Markets: A Behavioral Hypothesis Test With Brazilian Young Investors
Author	Bernardo F Nunes (Presenting Author) from POST GRADUATION PROGRAM IN ECONOMICS (PPGE) - FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL (UFRGS-BRAZIL)
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This work analyzes the power of Behavioral Finance to explain technical analysis use in buy-hold-sell decisions of capital market assets. We map the investors’ decision processes in accordance with Efficient Markets Hypothesis (FAMA, 1970) and Behavioral Finance (SHLEIFER, 2000), identifying their implications and confronting them with the experimental evidence from laboratory about past prices memory. Technical analysis is the forecasting of future market prices movements studying the past negotiation process plotted in charts, traded volumes and number of transactions data. This method to evaluate stocks and bonds in capital markets is not predicted in conventional financial theories as Capital Asset Pricing Model because other hypothesis conventionally assumed, Random Walk Hypothesis (MALKIEL, 1973) and Rational Expectations (MUTH, 1961), do not allow neither systematic deviations from fundamental prices nor any kind of price forecast using past trends or public information. This paper shows the results of an experiment performed in a sample of undergraduate Brazilian economics students with low experience in investment decisions and capital market affairs. This kind of sample and hypothesis test were selected to reflect a relevant current part of Brazilian Stock Exchange (BOVESPA) which has presented, in 2007, a strong growth of participants with ages between 11 (eleven) and (30) thirty years old. Usually, technical analysis is the first step of young investors learning process. We replicate the first experimental treatment presented by Mussweiller and Schneller (2003), testing the salience effect promoted by extreme recent prices over asset pricing decisions. Our results confirm the salience effect of past prices depicted in charts. Also help to explain the use of technical analysis as a broadly method to evaluate financial assets taking into account the cognitive biases and heuristics of human decision making: representativeness, selective thinking, confirmatory bias, self-deception, and communal reinforcement.
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	The Consideration Of Future Consequences Scale: An Assessment And Review
Authors	Ellen K. Nyhus (Presenting Author) from University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Authors	Tom R. Eikebrokk from University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 17.40 to 18.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This study examines the factor structure of the 12-item Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) scale (Strathman et al, 1994) which is a frequently used scale for measuring future time perspective (Petrocelli, 2003). CFC is defined as a stable individual trait describing the extent to which people consider distant versus immediate consequences of their behaviour. Degree of CFC is found associated with behaviour relating to health, academic achievement, environmental and financial behaviour. The CFC-scale consists of 12 statements (7 reversed-scored), to which respondents express their opinion by using a 5-point scale. So far, the scale has been tested using rather small student samples. Strathman et al, used samples of 167 and 323 respondents when developing the original 12-item 1-factor scale. Petrocelli, being the first to validate the scale, used a larger sample of 664 students and concluded that a 1-factor 8-item version of the CFC scale is more appropriate. This study is the first validation study using panel data from a large representative sample. Internal consistency for the 12-item scale was found satisfactory for both waves of data collection (range of Chronbach's alpha was .73 - .76). For both years, alpha would increase if deleting 2 items. Test-retest reliability for respondents who had answered the CFC scale in both years (n=1591) was .65, showing reasonable stability in responses to the scale. The factor structure was tested by confirmatory factor analyses. We found the CFC scale to include several factors, and that a 3-factor solution fit the data best. We found indications of a measurement error since all non-reversed scored items loaded on Factor 1, while the reversed scored items loaded on Factors 2 and 3. If correcting for the measurement error by allowing error-terms to correlate, we find support for the 1-factor 12-item solution. Implications of the study are discussed.
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	The Role Of Metaphors In Financial Market Predictions And Trading Decisions
Author	Thomas Oberlechner (Presenting Author) from Webster University
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Research based in cognitive linguistics shows that metaphors go beyond linguistic decoration; instead, they help discern underlying patterns of thinking and perceiving. Indeed, traders’ conceptualizations of financial markets have been shown to revolve around seven main metaphors; i.e., the market as bazaar, as war, as sports, as gambling, as ocean, as machine, and as living being, and the use of these metaphors is related to how predictable traders perceive the market to be. Based on questionnaire responses of 416 professional traders at Wall Street, the current study examines in-depth the use of these metaphors by market participants and the consequences of various metaphors’ usage. Explicit use of metaphors was assessed by asking traders for a deliberate analogy of the market, while implicit market conceptualizations were assessed on a series of scales measuring traders’ agreement with various metaphor-related statements. The results show that market participants conceptualize the market differently and that there are significant differences in the use of implicit and explicit market metaphors. Furthermore, there are significant connections between traders’ use of metaphors and their notions of market predictability, their efforts to predict the market (i.e., their use of fundamentalist and chartist forecasting approaches), and their use of various trading mechanisms to generate trading profits. Implications of these findings for assumptions about decision-making held in neoclassical economics and behavioral finance are discussed. The study concludes that understanding market metaphors provides fresh and deep insights into the various “rationalities” of how market participants actually form their trading decisions.
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An Integrative Approach To Assess Externalities: Combining Ecological-economic Modelling And Choice Experiments In The Context Of On-shore Wind Energy Supply
Authors	Cornelia Ohl (Presenting Author) from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Economics
Authors	Jürgen Meyerhoff from TU Berlin, Chair in Environmental and Land Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 1- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical Policy
Abstract	Wind energy contributes to reach the goals of the Kyoto Protocol. The reduction of CO2-emissions by increasing the quota of wind energy production, however, conflicts with public attitudes regarding landscape aesthetics and considerations of nature conservation among others. To minimize disturbances of both humans and nature an integrative research framework is indispensable to assess the landscape related impacts (externalities) of wind energy production. The characteristics of wind energy production (i.e. the height and the spatial configuration of the turbines, their impacts on wildlife and natural scenery etc.) can be defined as attributes of environmental changes and are presented to the public for valuation in a choice experiment (CE) in order to gain knowledge on the non-market value of selected attributes. The idea is to integrate empirical evidence from the CE in an ecological-economic modelling framework (EEMF) to decrease social conflict in the course of change. To do this the EEMF uses a geographic information system (GIS) to identify spatial locations for wind power production in two concrete regions in Germany. Each location is assessed among others in terms of its output in wind energy supply and the value it delivers for nature protection. Taking into account the results of the modelling procedure we develop the attributes of the CE to confront the “objective/expert assessment” of potential locations for wind power generation with the “subjective/empirical assessment” of societal preferences for wind power generation (based on 700 interviews in the two considered regions). Integrating the results from the empirical study - which delivers the trade-offs between the attributes - in the EEMF should allow identifying spatial locations at which a certain quota of wind energy is produced with a minimum of negative externalities and thus support the process of pre-selecting sites for sustainable production of wind energy.
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	Hungarian And French Economics Students' Social Representation Of Competition And Fraud: A Confirmatory Study
Author	Gábor Orosz (Presenting Author) from University of Szeged, University of Rheims, Eötvös Lóránd University
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Considering Fülöp et al's previous studies, immoral competition is pervasively present in the Hungarian business sphere. This phenomenon can be interpreted as the negative after-effect of the change of regime. Hence, the aim of this research project is to analyze how the moral dimension appears in the next generation of businessmen's social representation of competition. Therefore, Hungarian and French economics students with different historical and cultural backgrounds were compared. The former results show that moral dimensions are present, but only in the secondary peripheral part of Hungarians' representation of competition. Moreover, Hungarian students concentrate on the result of competition, while French students' representation contains more elements in connection with the process of competition. Surprisingly, in the Hungarians' fraud representation, academic cheating was strongly present. 127 Hungarian and 115 French economics students participated in this research; first they had to choose the five most typical words from a 20-word list concerning competition and fraud, later they made relations between the 12 most peculiar words. These lists of words were constructed based on a previous study. The results of these tasks confirm the first study: French students' competition representation is more self-developmental than that of Hungarian students, whose representation focuses on the results and not the manner of competition. In the Hungarian's social representation of fraud academic cheating appeared again significantly more frequently than among their French peers. Previous studies show that academic cheating is more prevalent where goal orientation is more important (Hungarian students) than self-developmental aspects (French students). Furthermore, these results suggest that the relation between competition and fraud is not that strong according to French and Hungarian economics students than among Hungarian businessmen, which means students do not interpret school assessments as competition. However, in the business sphere, assessments often turn into competition, and former dishonest strategies might appear. Moreover, former studies found a strong correlation between academic cheating and workplace frauds, which proves the importance of academic cheating in the socialization of dishonesty in the business sphere.
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	Context Effects Under Time Pressure In Personnel Selection Decisions
Authors	Clemens Otto (Presenting Author) from University of Lüneburg (Germany), Institute for Business Psychology
Authors	Jörg Rieskamp from Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	People’s preferential choices often deviate from the standard economic view of utility maximization. People’s choices seem to be influenced by the context in which decisions are made. Three interesting context effects are the attraction effect (Huber, Payne, & Puto, 1982, Journal of Consumer Research), the compromise effect (Simonson, 1989, Journal of Consumer Research), and the similarity effect (Tversky, 1972, Psychological Review). These effects show that the preferential relationships between two alternatives can be remarkably changed by adding a third alternative to the choice set. Although the conditions and implications of these effects have been widely studied, very little attention has been drawn towards the influence of time pressure. The present experimental study examines how time pressure affects the three effects. Following a sequential choice model of decision making, the so-called Decision Field Theory (Roe, Busemeyer, & Townsend, 2001, Psychological Review), it can be predicted that the compromise and attraction effect should be stronger under low compared to high time pressure, whereas the similarity effect should not be affected by time pressure at all. We tested this prediction in an experimental study, in which the participants repeatedly had to make personnel selection decisions. The participants evaluated job candidates on the basis of information taken from resumes and application documents. One group of participants had to make the decisions under severe time constraints whereas a second group was given a very relaxed time limit. We did not find that time pressure had a main effect on the three context effects. However, when examining the response times in detail it became clear that the more time an individual spend on the decision the more the choice was affected by the decision context. The findings show that people’s preferential choices can be strongly influenced by the decision context.
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Social Norms And Beliefs: An Experimental Investigation
Authors	Marco Faillo from University of Trento
	Stefania Ottone (Presenting Author) from EconomEtica and University of Eastern Piedmont
	Lorenzo Sacconi from University of Trento and EconomEtica
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The main contribution of this paper is twofold. First of all, it focuses on the decisional process that leads to the creation of a social norm. Secondly, it analyses the mechanisms through which subjects conform their behaviour to the norm. In particular, our aim is to study the role and the nature of Normative and Empirical Expectations and their influence on people’s decisions. The tool is the Exclusion Game, a sort of ‘triple mini-dictator game’. It represents a situation where 3 subjects – players A - have to decide how to allocate a sum S among themselves and a fourth subject - player B - who has no decisional power. The experiment consists of three treatments. In the Baseline Treatment participants are randomly distributed in groups of four players and play the Exclusion Game. In the Agreement Treatment in each group participants are invited to vote for a specific non-binding allocation rule before playing the Exclusion Game. In the Outsider Treatment, after the voting procedure and before playing the Exclusion Game, a player A for each group (the outsider) is reassigned to a different group and instructed about the rule chosen by the new group. In all the treatments, at the end of the game and before players are informed about the decisions taken during the Exclusion Game by the other coplayers, first order and second order expectations (both normative and empirical) are elicited through a brief questionnaire. The first result we obtained is that subjects’ choices are in line with their empirical (not normative) expectations. The second result is that even a non-binding agreement induces convergence of empirical expectations – and, consequently, of choices. The third results is that expectation of conformity is higher in the partner protocol. This implies that a single outsider breaks the ‘trust and cooperation’ equilibrium.
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Moral Sentiments And Material Interests Behind Altruistic Third-party Punishment
Authors	Stefania Ottone (Presenting Author) from EconomEtica and University of Eastern Piedmont
	Ferruccio Ponzano from University of Eastern Piedmont
	Luca Zarri from University of Verona
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Social norms are ubiquitous in human life. Their role is essential in allowing cooperation to prevail, despite the presence of incentives to free ride. As far as norm enforcement devices are concerned, it would be impossible to have widespread social norms if second parties only enforced them. However, both the quantitative relevance and the motivations underlying altruistic punishment on the part of ‘unaffected’ third parties are still largely unexplored. This paper contributes to shed light on the issue, by means of an experimental design consisting of three treatments: a Dictator Game Treatment, a Third-Party Punishment Game Treatment (Fehr and Fischbacher, 2004) and a Metanorm Treatment, that is a variant of the Third-party Punishment Game where the Recipient can punish the third party. We find that third parties are willing to punish dictators (Fehr and Fischbacher, 2004; Ottone, 2008) and, in doing so, they are affected by ‘reference-dependent fairness’, rather than by the ‘egalitarian distribution norm’. By eliciting players’ normative expectations, it turns out that all of them expect a Dictator to transfer something – not half of the endowment. Consequently, the Observers’ levels of punishment are sensitive to their subjective sense of fairness. A positive relation between the level of punishment and the degree of negative subjective unfairness emerges. Subjective unfairness also affects Dictators’ behaviour: their actual transfers and their ideal transfer are not significantly different. Finally, we interestingly find that third parties are also sensitive to the Receivers’ (credible) threat to punish them: as the Dictator’s transfer becomes lower and lower than the Observer’s ideal transfer, the Observer’s reaction is – other things being equal – significantly stronger in the Metanorm Treatment than in the Third-Party Punishment Game Treatment.
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	“i Don’t Want To Be Selling My Soul”: Two Experiments In Environmental Economics
Authors	Natalia V Ovchinnikova (Presenting Author) from St. Lawrence University
	Hans J Czap from St. Lawrence University
	Gary D Lynne from University of Nebraska-Lincoln
	Christopher Larimer from University of Northern Iowa
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We conducted two experiments in the context of environmental protection. Our statistical analysis of the data shed light on pecuniary and non-pecuniary determinants of individual contributions to the solution of environmental problems. We found that considerations for profit and personality traits play an essential role in guiding individual behavior. Subjects displayed path dependency in the sense that high contributions to the environment in the past tended to increase contributions in the future. This study shows that environmental considerations are powerful motivators. Environmental groups can offer a lower-than market price for carbon offsets and still obtain a relatively large market share.
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	Trade Unions, Reciprocal Loyalty And Group Cohesion
Authors	Georgios A. Panos (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, Univesity of Aberdeen Business School, and Centre for the European Labour Market Research
Authors	Ioannis Theodossiou from Department of Economics, Univesity of Aberdeen Business School, and Centre for the European Labour Market Research
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Utilizing a novel dataset with unusually rich information on semi-skilled employees from four European countries, this study examines differences in the patterns of behaviour between union and non-union workers that have been suggested or implied in the union literature. The evidence suggests that (a) union workers are more likely to value loyalty as a job attribute, in a conjoint analysis setting where higher effort is reciprocated with job security provisions. This is more likely to be the outcome of exposure and adaptation to union-mediated cooperation rather than self-selection. (b) Consistent with the loyalty observation, they are more likely to exercise the voice rather than the exit option in their current job. (c) Union workers are more likely to exhibit conformist preferences when it comes to wage comparisons with their peers, while non-union workers are more likely to show status-seeking patterns. (d) Consistent with idea of the 'fair wage' union workers are more likely to state that their effort levels are influenced by peer observation and the opinions of their colleagues, rather than by the provision of relative wage incentives such as higher payment than that of similarly qualified workers. The evidence endorses the idea of adaptation to cooperative outcomes that is entirely consistent with rationality on behalf of the workers. Although learned under one set of circumstances, rules and habits initially induced by exposure can become self-enforced norms and generalized reasons for behavior.
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Work As A Crucial Element Of Immigrant’s Integration
Authors	Paula Benevene from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
	Federica Pantanella (Presenting Author) from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
	Calogero Iacolino from Università LUMSA, Roma (Italia)
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	General aim of this research, which is an exploratory study, is to verify if immigrants, and specifically a group of Rumanian immigrants, conceive work as the main step for their integration, more than other ways of integration. More specific aims of this research are: - The investigation about the priority the interviewees give to their integration - The individuation of those elements considered important for their integration with particular attention to the work issue - The assessment of the priority given to work within the current migratory project - The assessment of the perception and evaluation of their own working condition, salary and economical situation gained in Italy. The methodology is qualitative. The exploratory study and has been conducted on a group of 34 Rumanian immigrants. For the realization of this exploratory investigation we have set up a scheme of semi-structured interview, together with a closed set of questions for the social-personal data collection. Trough the interview the immigrants have expressed their opinions on: - the migratory project that induced them to leave their country. - The evaluation of their social fitting in and the priority given to it. - the evaluation of their working condition (amount of salary, working condition, career possibility, relationship with employers and colleagues) - Expectations about their future Main results: · Work is a priority element on evaluation concerning their own integration and their migratory project. · Their working situation is not entirely assessed referring to salary. · None of the interviewed gave a bad evaluation of his own working situation. The most mentioned motivation in this question is quality of the relationship with colleagues and bosses · The importance assigned to social fitting in is in relation with the duration of migratory project.
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Institutions And Feelings
Author	Roberta Patalano (Presenting Author) from Università Parthenope and Luiss
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The approach of economists to institutions has brought to important achievements in the last decade, among which the development of a psychological micro foundation that focuses on the link between institutions and the mind. The relationship of institutions with habits (Hodgson 2004), perceptions (North 2005), mental models (Denzau & North 1994), imagination (Patalano 2007), social learning (Mantzavinos et al. 2004), knowledge (Loasby 1999) and expectations (Aoki 2001) has already been explored. But, where are emotions? Do they play any role in institutional emergence and change? And if so, how may this role be conceptualized? For a long time, and apart from scattered exceptions, emotions have been a kind of a taboo in economics due to the fear that they are an obstacle to rationality. Recently, however, a different approach has been gaining support that see feelings as functional to human thought instead of detrimental. In this paper we aim at exploring the implications of such a new perspective for “cognitive institutionalism” (Mantzavinos, North & Shariq, 2004). A starting point of the analysis will be the theory of change that has been developed by Douglass North since the ‘90s and that has recently culminated in the publication of “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” (2005). Our proposal will articulate in four steps. Firstly, we will develop a novel concept of mental representation that extends North’s approach by taking affective states into explicit consideration. Secondly, we will argue that institutions are not only anchored in the beliefs that individuals share, but they also reflect a common way of attaching values to social problems and their possible solutions. Thirdly, we will explain why feelings can be a source of change in the social realm. The implications for agency and human involvement in institutional processes will be explored at the end of the paper.
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Social Norms And Naive Beliefs
Authors	Amrish Patel (Presenting Author) from University of Kent
Authors	Edward Cartwright from University of Kent
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.20 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	In this paper we analyse the effect that naïve agents (those who take behaviour at "face value") have on the nature of social norms. We argue that some individuals either choose not to, or are unable to, make fully Bayesian inferences in everyday contexts. Evidence for the fundamental attribution error and a belief in the law of small numbers leads us to suppose that these agents have naïve beliefs. We find that naive agents affect the existence of social norms and compress the set of possible norms closer to the socially optimum action, they therefore act as an equilibrium selection device.
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The Neuro-physiological Foundations Of Dual Motive Theory: A Review Of The Brain Model In Wilson And Cory's The Evolutionary Epidemiology Of Mania And Depression(2008)
Author	Bhagat Patlolla (Presenting Author) from Odessa Medical University, Ukraine Stanford University, California (stem cell research)
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Dual motive theory is an emergent new approach to economics that offers a challenging alternative to traditional Western economic thinking. Classical western economics has long been based on the assumption of a sole primary motive of self-interest. This assumption, claimed to be scientific, was never grounded in science but upon the preference of particular thinkers in the early history of economics. It has always been suspect to scholars from other parts of the developing world. This paper reviews the model of brain physiology put forth in the recent (2008) book by Wilson and Cory. Although that book concerns the evolutionary epidemiology of mania and depression, the model of brain physiology is also the foundation for dual motive theory. As a native of India, as well as a physiologist and researcher, I find it a worthy challenge to achieve a linkage between physiology and the socio-economic sciences, which impact us so importantly in the emerging global society.
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The Consumption Behaviour In Tourism: A Scale Of Measurement
Authors	Arrigo Pedon (Presenting Author) from Lumsa
	Roberta Maeran from Università degli studi di Padova
	Mirko Fontana from Università degli studi di Padova
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This research aims to investigate tourism in terms of consumption, using as a key to reading the economic psychology approach. The holiday is less and less considered an occasional experience, a luxury consumption; in Western-style societies like ours, the holiday is typically more and more a necessity, an essential time for escaping from routine and stress and, at the same time, an element of social prestige and status. It becomes a rule of behaviour determining both the integration of the person in his/her own group and an occasion to be part of "other groups" of reference. In recent years we have been witnessing a transformation of the meaning attributed to products which, in parallel with the consumer’s evolution, change especially in terms of intangibility and status: new prestige goods are now all intangibles. The alternation of fashions is also an expression of imitative behaviour determining the characteristic trickle effect. Tourism assumes, thus, the character of a social norm (Ragone, 1974) that takes place through an act of consumption, i.e. through the use of assets for the fulfilment of human needs. Tourism consumption, with a strong cultural meaning and able to emotionally involve not only those who enjoy, but also observe those who benefit, thus performs the function of enhancing personal expressiveness and/or of communicating one’s belonging to an elite or status or lifestyle (Calvi, 1992). The objective of the research is the construction and validation of a measuring instrument to investigate tourist consumption, attitudes towards tourism/holidays with particular attention to economic aspects. This instrument, a Likert scale consisting of 47 items, must be of quick and simple administration, given the characteristics of the survey one wants to achieve, and make it possible to highlight the meaning and procedures for the use of the tourist product also in comparison with other assets.
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Compulsive Buying And Credit Card Behaviour: A Study On Italian Consumers.
Authors	Arrigo Pedon (Presenting Author) from Lumsa
	Calogero Iacolino from Lumsa
	Clara Amato from Lumsa
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Scientific literature is full of essays relative to the analysis of the factors which favour and accompany the arising of compulsive buying. During the years, personality features (Belk,1985; Norvilitis et al., 2006), comorbidity (Lejoyeux et al., 2000, 2002), mass media influences (Kwak et al., 2002; Lee et al., 2000), associated with that phenomenon, have been pointed out. McElroy (1994) was one of the first researchers to deal more specifically with compulsive buying and the use of credit cards and to highlight a positive correlation between the two variables under discussion. In recent years, researchers have focused on the use of credit cards among adolescents, too. These studies have been mainly carried out in the U.S. Paying attention to the peculiarities of the American socio-cultural context, hazardous buying behaviours and the use of credit cards on the part of students from various campuses in Midwest (Lyons, 2008) have been examined, as well as the processes underlying the use of credit cards (Kamleitner & Kirchler, 2007). It is in such a complex framework that the contribution of our research takes its place; it aims at comparing the incidence of compulsive buying between two experimental groups: group 1, adults who make frequent use of credit cards as a means of payment for purchases of goods and daily products and group 2, made up of people paying cash. The comparison will be based on the data gathered through a questionnaire built on purpose.
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Negative Effects Of Loyalty Programs On Consumer Behavior : An Empirical Investigation In The French Mobile Phone Sector
Author	Virginie Pez (Presenting Author) from Université Paris Dauphine
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Loyalty programs have been the object of a growing interest in the area of marketing. However, it is quite surprising that there is no generally accepted theoretical or empirical research that study how these programs could elicit negative effects on consumer behavior. Using a two-step method, qualitative and quantitative, conducted in the mobile phone sector in 2007, the research explores the potential negative effects of loyalty programs. Results indicate that loyalty programs can generate negative emotions, resulting in extreme behaviors, such as shunning the operator a direct competitor. This demonstrated that loyalty programs are apt to encourage behaviors that oppose the ones they actually should.
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	A Simple Behavioral Finance Model Of Exchange Rates And Asset Prices
Author	Giulia Piccillo (Presenting Author) from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Session	Parallel Sessions 3- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.10
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	This paper studies the relationship between exchange rates and asset prices. It takes the novel approach of modeling both the markets in a framework of heterogeneous agents. Investors maximize their profits from the international equity markets by solving a Mean-Variance problem. As a result, agents choose between different combinations of rules in the home and foreign equity market as well as in the foreign exchange market. Given the incomplete information setting, agents check the past profitability of their rules and switch behavior in the effort to maximize their profits. Due to the heuristics embedded within the model, this simple framework alone is able to create a complex, time-varying dynamics. This dynamics is analyzed for different parameters and conditions. Finally the model is brought to the data, to check the fitness of the predictions on the real world markets.
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	Ambiguity, Pessimism, And Religious Choice
Authors	Mark A Pingle (Presenting Author) from University of Nevada, Reno
Authors	Tigran Melkonyan from University of Nevada, Reno
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Using a relatively mild restriction on the beliefs of the alpha minimax expected utility preference functional, in which the decision maker’s degree of ambiguity and degree of pessimism are each parameterized, we present a rather general theory of religious choice in the decision theory tradition, one that can resolve dilemmas, address the many Gods objection, and address the inherent ambiguity. Using comparative static analysis, we are able to show how changes in either the degree of ambiguity or the degree of pessimism can lead a decision maker to “convert” from one religion to another. We illustrate the theory of religious choice using an example where the decision maker perceives three possible religious alternatives.
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Behavioural Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment
Author	Ricardo Pinheiro-alves (Presenting Author) from Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal University of Bath, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The paper presents a behavioural economics approach to foreign direct investment. Starting from the behavioural finance literature, it uses content analysis based on interviews and questionnaires covering 12% of the Portuguese firms with investments abroad. The study presents evidence of several behavioural rules (e.g., herding, cascading, anchoring, overconfidence, mental accounting) in firms’ location decisions that originate a new set of determinants of FDI flows and complement the neo classical paradigm. Moreover, it confirms the Heiner model (1983, 1985, 1989) by showing that the higher is the uncertainty faced by decision makers the more frequent is the use of behavioural rules. The central role of uncertainty helps explaining why FDI flows occur more frequently among developed countries.
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Tax Evasion And Death Salience: An Experimental Application Of Terror Management Theory To The Punishment Of Tax Evaders
Authors	Julia Pitters (Presenting Author) from Webster University Psychology Department Berchtoldgasse 1 1220 Vienna
Authors	Erich Kirchler from Department of Economic Psychology, Educational Psychology and Evaluation University of Vienna Universitaetsstrasse 7 A-1010 Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Tax evasion is often considered a petty crime compared to delicts that lead to equal loss for the public. Applying Terror Management Theory, it is expected that tax morale can be increased when thoughts of mortality are activated. In an experimental study, participants were either asked to imagine their own death or to think of nature by associating words that accordingly come to their mind. Participants either read a scenario of a person who evaded taxes or committed insurance fraud to the same financial extent and were asked to judge the crime. As expected, insurance fraud was less tolerated than tax evasion. When thinking of death however, the tax evader was punished significantly stronger than in the nature condition, whereas the degree of penalty did not differ in the insurance fraud condition. Assuming that death salience may lead to defend the tax system, cautious implications are discussed.
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Extending The Ellsberg Paradox To Ceu: An Experimental Investigation
Authors	Laetitia Placido (Presenting Author) from GREG, HEC Paris & CNRS
Authors	Olivier L\\\'haridon from GREG HEC Paris & University IV
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In a recent paper, Machina (2007) suggests choice problems in the spirit of Ellsberg that may challenge Choquet Expected Utility (CEU) to the same extent as the Ellsberg paradox challenges Subjective Expected Utility (SEU). These new choice problems are based on a Modified Ellsberg Urn which contains twenty balls that could be red, yellow, black or blue. Ten balls are red or yellow in unknown proportion and the remaining ten are blue or black in unknown proportion. Machina argues that the information-symmetric structure of this urn could give rise to three different criteria to manage ambiguity. Consequently, depending on the criterion they follow, individuals could violate a necessary property of CEU models called tail-separability. We report the results of an experiment which aims at providing an empirical counterpart to this conjecture. We found that more than 70% of subjects violate tail-separability contradicting the choice pattern predicted by CEU. Moreover, the prevailing patterns of choice empirically support two specific criteria, namely, ambiguity aversion in terms of individual payoffs, and ambiguity aversion in terms of exposure to ambiguity. These results confirm that Machina's Modified Ellsberg Urn challenges Choquet Expected Utility to the same extent as Ellsberg challenged Savage Expected Utility.
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Fit Between Prediction And Actual Experience Of Product-related Emotions
Authors	Maria Pollai (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology
	Nina Stonitsch from University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology
	Erik Hoelzl from University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	People base many decisions on affective forecasts, i.e., predictions about future feelings. Research indicates that these predictions are susceptible to accuracy-reducing biases: Actual experienced emotions differ systematically from predicted emotions. The most common bias found in research is the impact bias, defined as the tendency to overestimate intensity and duration of emotional reactions to an event. Although the importance and relevance of mispredictions of feelings for consumer behaviour is discussed in the literature, not many empirical studies have investigated predictions of emotions in this context. The main goal of the present study was to examine the fit between predictions and actual experience of product-related emotions. A second goal was to examine hindsight bias in this context as the tendency to misremember original predictions in the direction of actual experienced emotions. A two-wave longitudinal survey was conducted with 41 consumers who had just bought a pair of shoes. At the first wave, participants had to rate current product-related emotions right after the purchase and had to predict how they would feel about their shoes at a later point in time: The time frame of forecasts was either two or four weeks. At the second wave, conducted two [four] weeks later, participants had to rate their current emotions about that particular pair of shoes. Furthermore they were asked to recall their original predictions. Results showed that participants predicted a decrease in positive emotions over time. However, actual experienced positive emotions did not differ right after the purchase and two [four] weeks later. Therefore predictions were systematically biased: participants were too pessimistic, predicting lower positive emotions than they actually experienced. No differences between the two-weeks and the four-weeks conditions emerged. A hindsight bias for product-related emotions was found: Participants misremembered original predictions as being more consistent with actual experienced emotions. The observed forecasting error between prediction and actual experience is inconsistent with the impact bias; an alternative interpretation could be that the error is due to incorrect intuitive theories of adaption. People seem to hold an intuitive theory of decreasing product-related positive emotions that contributes to mispredictions and might lead to unfavourable decisions.
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	Non-cognitive Traits And The Gender Wage Gap
Authors	Empar Pons (Presenting Author) from University of Valencia
Authors	Ellen K Nyhus from University of Agder
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this study we examine the relationship between non-cognitive traits and gender wage differences. More specifically, we explore the effect of Locus of Control, Consideration of Future Consequences and the Big-Five Personality Traits. Previous studies show that men and women, on average, rate themselves differently with respect to the non-cognitive traits and that there are gender differences in the returns to non-cognitive traits in the labour market*. In order to test how much of the gender wage gap may be attributed to gender differences in the non-cognitive traits, we adopt the Oaxaca-Blinder methodology. We apply the Neumark (1988) variation that uses the sample of men and women to estimate the wage structure that would exist in the absence of “discrimination”. These estimates are in turn used as weights in the decomposition of the observed wage gap into two pars: One that may be explained by gender differences in characteristics and one that may be explained by differences in returns of these characteristics. This last part is usually attributed to unobserved differences in preferences, productive skills or gender discrimination. In our study the gender difference in logarithms of hourly wages amounts to 0.246. Our results show that 11.9% of this gender gap can be attributed to differences in the non-cognitive traits (mainly due to differences in Agreeableness and Intellect) and only 1% to differences in returns. Comparing the results of a model that only include the traditional human capital variables and the model that also incorporates non-cognitive traits, we observe that the inclusion of non-cognitive traits reduces the unexplained gender wage gap from 85.2% to 72.1%. This indicates that a part of the unexplained term that we observe in the traditional human capital analysis may not be due to discrimination but rather caused by the omission of important non-cognitive variables.
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Social Vs. Risk Preferences Under The Veil Of Ignorance
Authors	Nicola Frignani from Università di Ferrara
Authors	Giovanni Ponti (Presenting Author) from Universidad de Alicante and Università di Ferrara
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper reports experimental evidence from a series of a simple Dictator Games in which, randomly matched in pair, subjects choose repeatedly one out of four alternatives involving a pair of fixed monetary prizes, one for them and the other for an anonymously matched subject. While in some treatments player position (i.e. the identity of the best paid agent) is known in advance before subjects have to select their favorite option, in one treatment subjects choose under "the veil of ignorance", only knowing that either role is equally likely. Finally, we also collect evidence from another treatment, in which the same options correponds to binary lotteries, in which subjects may win one prize or the other with equal probability. Subjects' decisions are framed in the realm of a simple mean-variance utility maximization problem, where the parameter associated to the variance is interpreted (depending on the treatment) as a measure of risk or inequality aversion, or some combination of the two.
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Some Differences In Revealed Behaviour Under Different Inquiry Methods
Authors	Guido Ortona from Università del Piemonte Orientale - Italy
	Stefania Ottone from Econometica, Università Bicocca, Milano - Italy
	Ferruccio Ponzano (Presenting Author) from Università del Piemonte Orientale - Italy
	Francesco Scacciati from Università di Torino - Italy
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The research presented in this paper has two aims, both methodological. First, we wanted a confirmation of the results we obtained in previous experiments within a different experimental setting, i.e. without resorting to the strategy method. Our suspect was that the strategy method may, by its very nature, affect the behavior of subjects in the lab. Second, we wanted to test whether the behavior obtained in the lab is confirmed by a questionnaire on a hypothetical case similar to that studied in the lab. The lab approach involves real effort and real money, but may be affected by a “lab bias” ¬– few cases observed, small payoffs, unrealistic setting. On the other side, the questionnaire allows for realistic settings and high stakes, but at the price of a “questionnaire bias”: the setting is hypothetical. If the two settings provide the same result, this would strengthen not only the results themselves, but also the validity of both methods. Both in the lab and in the questionnaire subjects were request to declare their labor supply. In a first group subjects were asked to work with no taxation on the earned income, but under the risk of losing it (or part of it). In a second group subjects were taxed but protected from risk (both groups therefore bid without strategy method). In the third group subjects were asked to declare their labor supply with the strategy method, i.e. conditional to the above mentioned settings. Our main results are: a) the strategy method may be misleading, but for reasons different from those suggested by the previous literature; b) the questionnaire and the lab provide different results, and those of the lab look more reliable when, as in our case, the political orientation of respondents may be relevant.
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Productivity Of Permanently And Temporarily Employed Agents: An Experimental Study Of Co-employment
Authors	Werner Gueth from Max Planck Institute of Economics
	Martin Kocher from University of Munich
	Vera Popova (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics
	Jianying Qiu from Max Planck Institute of Economics
	Torsten Weiland from Max Planck Institute of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	This study investigates experimentally the effort choices of workers as a reaction to linear incentive contracts that may be perceived as (un)fair. A principal repeatedly interacts with a permanently hired worker, in addition to whom he may contract a temporary worker. While permanent workers stay with the same principal for a certain time – thus allowing for reputation building and retaliation – temporary workers are randomly assigned to a (new) principal in each round. Knowing the principal's contract offer and (possibly) being informed about the co-worker's contract details, workers decide on how much costly effort to provide. Thereby their decisions may be influenced by other-regarding preferences. We find that principals mostly offer equal contracts, especially when offers are visible to both workers. When contracts remain private information, discrimination against the temporary worker takes place. Both workers react negatively to discrimination against the temporary worker, with the temporary worker withholding a significantly higher amount of effort.
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	Russian Entrepreneurs In Changing Society: Regional And Gender Features.
Authors	Vladimir P. Poznyakov (Presenting Author) from Moscow Humanitarian University. Moscow. Russia.
Authors	Yulia V. Sergeeva (presenting Author) from Moscow Humanitarian University. Moscow. Russia
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The report introduces research results analyzing socio-psychological distinguished characteristics of Russian entrepreneurs. The subject of the research is to study psychological attitude of entrepreneurs to different areas of their economic activity. In the research done in 1997 the sample consisted of 206 small and middle venture entrepreneurs of Moscow and Central Russia. The research led in 2001 covered 285 small and middle venture entrepreneurs of Moscow, Central Russia and Siberia. Currently conducted observations include Moscow and Russian Regions. Gathered results are sure to allow us to make a conclusion about existing not only common socio-psychological features of entrepreneurs in different regions of Russia but also features that are different. The samples have shown alike traits as “need for achievement”, autonomy, independence, internal locus of control, capacity for endurance, low need for support and ability to exploit opportunity. The research also indicated common predominant motivational factors through all the samples. However, it should be noted also that there emerged to be some differences based on the regional factor. For instance, regional entrepreneurs turned out to have less positive attitude compared to Moscow entrepreneurs. Along these lines, there tend to be noticeable differences based on gender factor that gives a ground for further detailed consideration. At the same time, socio-psychological characteristics of regional entrepreneurs, as a result of going economical and political changes, getting close to Moscow entrepreneurs characteristics and these of the characteristics of women entrepreneurs approaching to the male ones. However, receiving substantial proof of these findings demands further thorough researches.
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Assessing Intercultural Competences With An Assessment Center Approach- A Validation Study Of An Instrument-
Author	Elisabeth Prechtl (Presenting Author) from University of Bayreuth, Ph.D. student at the department of Human Resources
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	TITLE: Validation of an intercultural assessment center (Elisabeth Prechtl, Bayreuth) At an institute at the University of Bayreuth, an intercultural assessment centre was developed. It aims at the culture-general assessment of intercultural competence. The assessment centre consist of several exercises (like role-plays, group exercises, written scenarios and questionnaires) and assesses six intercultural competences. The competences are tolerance for ambiguity, behavioural flexibility, respect for otherness, empathy, knowledge discovery and communicative awareness (based on the so-called Inca-model) It is used as a tool helping to assess a candidate´s potential for intercultural encounters. In the presentation, an approach to criterion validation of the intercultural assessment centre is demonstrated. The approach is to analyse the predictive validity of the intercultural competences and exercises used in the assessment centre. In an empirical study, n=112 subjects participate in the assessment center. Some months after the assessment, they are sent abroad and are asked to rate the success of their assignment or of their work in an international team. The subjects participate in Germany in the assessment centre and are sent to different countries afterwards. There, they rate the effectiveness, adaptation to work, commitment to the host organisation as well as their adaptation to interpersonal contacts when abroad. Additionally, a superior or collegue from the host country is asked to rate the same criteria. As the study shows, the results from the intercultural assessment can help to predict self- and other rated success. However, intercultural competences and assessment exercises do explain different facets of the criteria rated during the assignment. Implications of these findings, e.g. for international human resources, are discussed.
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	Cognitive Theory Of Total Participation Management
Authors	Piotr Prokopowicz (Presenting Author) from Jagiellonian University, Institute of Sociology
	Ryszard Stocki from Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology
	Grzegorz Zmuda from Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Participatory management has been a recognized field of research in managerial studies since the fifties. Practices that involve a high degree of engagement on the part of the employees, including decision making, process improvement, and ESOPs, have since then been shown to have a neutral or slightly positive impact on company and team performance (Heller, Pusić, Strauss, Wilpert, 1998). Still, some studies suggest that only a fully participative organization can produce highly effective and efficient work environment (Summers and Hyman, 2005). In order to test this assumption a new theory of total participation is required – the one that takes into consideration a multifaceted nature of a person in organizational setting. While studies of total participation are underrepresented in the mainstream of academic research, a new branch of management practices is gaining popularity. Companies like Semco, SRC, Southwest Airlines, SAIC have developed a management system that is based on the recognition that every employee should be engaged in the management of the company on every possible level (Barton, Shenkir, Tyson, 1998). This kind of approach to participatory conditions renders those efforts revolutionary in terms of providing high levels of organizational performance and employee satisfaction and calls for a closer psychological analysis. The cognitive theory of total participation management, based on the findings in the fields of psychology (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi), philosophical anthropology (Wojtyła), economic history (Kwiatkowski) and sociology (Blasi, Erdal), recognizes that in order to increase organizational effectiveness, an entire set of psychological and structural conditions must be satisfied (Perotin, Bauer, 2003). Presented theory identifies the main conditions, systems and outcomes of participatory management. It predicts that only by securing all conditions of organizational participation, organization can improve its performance. The theory and the subsequent research will prove useful for companies that aim at transforming their workplaces into more effective organizations.
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	How To Hide Mutual Fund Fees – Experimental Evidence
Authors	Markus Nöth from University of Hamburg, Chair of Banking & Behavioral Finance
Authors	Tatjana-xenia Puhan (Presenting Author) from University of Hamburg, Chair of Banking & Behavioral Finance
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	An increasing number of people have to make individual investment decisions, e.g. in their retirement account or in their individual portfolios. Private investors face a vast number of investment choices. In this field experiment we demonstrate that even the relatively easy task of comparing mutual fund fees seems to be too challenging as soon as specific additional, uninformative information is provided. Instead, chasing past fund returns dominates behavior. Thus, even with an obvious disclosure of cost information it is possible to “hide” fees. In an online survey with more than 3,000 readers of a large German magazine for private investors we asked the subjects to decide between three index funds that all had the same underlying but differing dates of fund inception and fee structures. We show that private investors are not able to choose the optimal fund given their investment horizon. Even though our sample has a positive selection bias more than 92% of the participants fail to minimize costs – instead, return chasing patterns are relevant for more than 60% of all participants. Even participants, who know that the fees are relevant, mostly fail to process the provided information correctly. We show that these suboptimal individual investment decisions are independent of subjects’ investment horizons. We also find that private investors are more likely to make adequate investment decisions if they are more literate in terms of financial issues. In addition a high overall education and (mutual fund) investment experiences are positively related to the probability of cost minimizing behavior.
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Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Risk, Ambiguity, Sample Space Ignorance And Conflict
Authors	Helen Pushkarskaya (Presenting Author) from University of Kentucky
	Xun Liu from University of Kentucky
	Michael Smithson from The Australian National University
	Jane E. Joseph from University of Kentucky
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The present within subjects experimental study examines a decision making in four different types of uncertainty: risk (when information about outcomes and probabilities is available), ambiguity (when outcomes are known, but probabilities are unknown), sample space ignorance (when information about some of the possible outcomes is missing), and conflict (when a decision maker receives conflicting information about probabilities from two equally trusted sources). While the literature is clear in understanding the importance of risk and ambiguity in decision making, sample space ignorance and conflict environments do not receive sufficient attention. The present study contributes to the literature by reporting how aversion-rates to these different kinds of uncertainty correlate with each other. Ambiguity and ignorance aversion parameters correlate strongly whereas the conflict parameter does not correlate with any of the others, suggesting a common psychological basis for orientations towards ambiguity and ignorance but not toward conflict.
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How To Measure Everyday Well-being?
Author	Anu Raijas (Presenting Author) from National Consumer Research Centre
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 17.20 to 17.40
Category	Policy
Abstract	Most indicators measuring well-being describes this phenomenon on the one hand in a general and on the other hand in a restricted specific level. Well-being is often assumed to consist of certain elements that experts determine. In everyday life, well-being is actually developed in people’s subjective experiences. Therefore, I propose that more emphasis should be set how people run their everyday life, manage its activities and experience this entity. In this paper, I want to discuss if it is possible to examine the well-being of people in a practical level. My aim is to investigate the well-being of individuals. In this paper, I focus on drafting a framework that facilitates to study subjective well-being in people’s everyday life. My approach is based on everyday activities that are central in producing well-being. The examples of these activities could be living, eating, financial planning, spending leisure time and caring. All these activities contain doings and commodities and are deeply influenced by other actors in a society. When producing well-being household members make choices how much to use their resources, i.e. time and money, and attain commodities from the market. In order to clarify the general view of well-being we have to enquire further about people’s objective living conditions. Furthermore, it is necessary to investigate people’s personal views and experiences towards activities in everyday life, satisfaction towards the fluency of everyday life, and trust towards the functions of the market and society. Everyday well-being could be operationalised as peoples’ satisfaction towards 1) the choices in time use and consumption beyond living conditions, 2) the functionality of environment (public, private and third sectors) from the viewpoint of people’s everyday activity, and 3) interaction between the household and market. In addition to satisfaction, we have to find out the importance of these issues in their life.
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Knowledge Of The Cost And Duration Of Credit: Effects On Repayment Decisions
Authors	Rob Ranyard (Presenting Author) from University of Bolton, UK
	Sandie H Mchugh from University of Bolton, UK
	Alan Lewis from University of Bath, UK
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 1 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In most countries ‘truth in lending’ regulations require banks and other lenders to inform credit consumers of the annual percentage rate (APR) of interest charged on credit agreements. Varying assumptions are made to calculate APR, but all take into account that as repayment instalments are made, interest is charged only on the reducing balance. In addition to APR, regulations for fixed-instalment credit often also require lenders to provide information on the Total Cost (TC) of a loan. However, for flexible agreements such as credit cards, this information is not normally available, and neither is information on loan duration. In earlier research we varied cost information and investigated the accuracy of consumers’ estimates of flexible loan duration. These were slightly worse when APR was given, but improved substantially with TC information. In the present paper we present the findings of two new studies. The first tested the hypothesis that UK bank customers (N = 1023) overestimate the TC of a one-year fixed-instalment loan at 5% APR. This was confirmed and it was concluded that credit consumers misinterpret APR as the ‘flat rate’ of charge. The second study (N = 242) confirmed this finding and also investigated the role of TC and loan duration information on flexible credit repayment choices. In a randomised groups factorial design it was found that monthly repayments were increased when either TC or loan duration information was provided for a relatively high mortgage debt although this was not the case for a lower credit card debt. The findings are interpreted in terms of a mental accounting model of instalment credit evaluation. It is argued that the prominent presentation of TC information would help people to evaluate and budget better with flexible credit. Finally, research in progress to further clarify these issues is described.
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Tax Compliance As Depending On National And Occupational Norms And Social Identification
Authors	Silvia Rechberger (Presenting Author) from Dept. of Economic Psychology, Educational Psychology and Evaluation, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A-1010 Vienna
	Martina Hartner from Dept. of Economic Psychology, Educational Psychology and Evaluation, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A-1010 Vienna
	Erich Kirchler from Dept. of Economic Psychology, Educational Psychology and Evaluation, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A-1010 Vienna
	Elisabeth Werle from Dept. of Economic Psychology, Educational Psychology and Evaluation, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A-1010 Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Tax compliance can either be achieved by rigorous enforcement procedures, such as frequent tax audits and harsh punishments for tax evaders (Allingham & Sandmo, 1972), or by predominantly psychological factors, such as personal and social norms. Personal norms are ethical standards regulating behaviour in specific situations that are experienced as a moral obligation (Schwartz, 1977). Social norms, on the other hand, are ethical standards that are shared and accepted among the members of a social group or category, and that are guiding the behaviour of the members of the group or social category (Cialdini & Trost, 1998; Turner, 1982; Hogg & Abrams, 1998). The internalisation of social norms depends on the level of identification with one’s group or social category. Australian taxpayers have been shown to comply with tax law if social norms prescribe compliance and identification with the nation is high. In case of low national identification the effect of social norms on tax compliance was not significant (Wenzel, 2004). In addition to national social norms, social norms of occupational groups may be even more relevant for tax compliance (cf. Roth, Scholz & Witte, 1989; Sigala, 2000). The purpose of the current study is to replicate the positive effect of national social norms on tax compliance in case of high national identification, and to show that social norms of the occupational group have equivalent or higher effects on tax compliance in case of high identification with the occupational group. Two samples of N = 83 Austrian hairdressing and N = 83 mechanic trainees were asked questions on their identification with Austria and their occupational group, their social norms and how they would react in hypothetical taxpaying scenarios. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed for the subsample of the mechanic trainees that national social norms positively influence tax compliance in case of high national identification. In the subsample of hairdressers this effect did not reach statistical significance. Social norms of the occupational group did not have any significant influence on tax compliance.
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Is Observed Other-regarding Behavior Always Genuine?
Authors	Tobias Regner (Presenting Author) from University of Jena
Authors	Astrid Matthey from MPI of Economics, Jena
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	We investigate to what extent genuine social preferences can explain observed other-regarding behavior. In a social dilemma situation (a dictator game variant), people can choose whether to learn about the consequences of their choice for the receiver. We find that a majority of the people that show other-regarding behavior when the payoffs of the receiver are known chose to ignore them if possible. This behavior is inconsistent with genuine other-regarding preferences. Our model explains other-regarding behavior as avoiding cognitive dissonance: People do not behave fairly because they genuinely care for others, but because they like to think of themselves as being fair. The model can explain our data as well as earlier experimental data.
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	Electrophysiological Correlates Of Monetary Gains And Losses In A Competitive Context: An Erp Investigation
Authors	Davide Rigoni (Presenting Author) from Department of Socializing and Developmental Psychology, University of Padua
	Sara Agosta from Department of Socializing and Developmental Psychology, University of Padua
	David Polezzi from Department of Socializing and Developmental Psychology, University of Padua
	Giuseppe Sartori from Department of General Psychology, University of Padua
	Rino Rumiati from Department of Socializing and Developmental Psychology, University of Padua
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 15.20 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Recent researches in decision making have employed event-related potentials (ERPs) in order to investigate the neural correlates of environmental feedback assessments. Several studies (e.g. Gehring & Willoughby, 2002) demonstrated that an early potential named Feedback Related Negativity (FRN) reflects a rapid evaluation of decision’s outcomes, distinguishing between gains and losses. More exactly, FRN following a negative feedback (e.g. a monetary loss) is larger than that following a positive one (e.g. a monetary gain). Fliessbach et al. (2007) have recently showed that social comparisons influence reward processing in human brain. This study demonstrated that brain correlates of monetary gains and losses are modulated by the social context (e.g. another individual’s gains and losses). In the present study, we run two experiments in which participants were given an initial budget of 6 euro and were asked to chose between two balloons containing different monetary gains and losses. After each choice, two feedbacks were showed to the subjects: the first feedback indicated the monetary outcome of the alternative choice, and the second feedback indicated the monetary outcome of the chosen balloon. In the first experiment, the alternative outcome did not affect subjects’ reward, whereas in the second experiment (competitive context), the alternative outcome influenced subjects’ reward. Further, in the second experiment the alternative outcome was given to another participant. As expected, we found the well-known distinction in gains and losses reflected by FRN amplitude. However, results show that outcomes assessment mirrored by FRN is affected by environmental variables associated with interindividual competitiveness. These data suggest that economic decision making can change within a social context.
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	Money In The Transition To Adulthood: Patterns Of Money Allocation Between Parents And Children In Italy
Authors	Emanuela Rinaldi (Presenting Author) from Dipartimento di Sociologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano
Authors	Carole B. Burgoyne from School of Psychology, University of Exeter
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Economic socialization is the process by which individuals acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes relevant to their functioning in the economy. Despite the importance of this process, especially in western society where so much value is attached to money, research on economic socialization has been quite limited in Italy. The first part of the paper, therefore, examines the most significant results revealed by quantitative studies carried out recently in Italy on the relationship between children, parents and money, focusing on teenager-hood as a crucial phase of individual life cycle to reinforce one’s own identity. However, as indicated by some authors such as V.Zelizer and J.Pahl, the most ambivalent and meaningful relationships that tie family members and money together can be studied more deeply using non-quantitative methods. The second part of the paper, thus, shows the results of an empirical and exploratory qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with 26 Italian young-adults (aged 27-34) and 20 of their parents (46 interviews in all). Participants were interviewed about their relationship with money, its source and uses, from teenage until the present day. Using criteria derived from Pahl’s typology for the allocation of income, the concepts of control and allocation were found to be useful for understanding not only couples’ relationships but also that between teenagers and their parents. The results indicate that a variety of parental styles in dealing with inter-generational exchanges or transfers of money. Some parents were against their children working in their teens, whilst others used money as a means of control over disapproved activities (like buying heavy-metal cds). Some of the parents’ attitudes had the effect of discouraging teenaged children from developing their financial independence, despite the latter being a crucial stage in the transition to adult-hood.
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Willingness To Donate: Victim's Identifiability And In-group Effects
Authors	Ilana Ritov (Presenting Author) from Hebrew University
Authors	Tehila Kogut from Ben-Gurion University
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	When does identifying an individual victim enhance willingness to help? We suggest that increase in helping due to identifiability of the victim depends on the self social categorization of the contributor in relation to the victim. Several Experiments presented participants with an opportunity to make real monetary contributions to specific victims. Two types of groups were examined: nationality based and randomly generated groups based on the minimal group paradigm. Identifying the victim increased donations to in-group members but not to out-group ones for victims of the Tsunami. Similarly, participants in the dictator game who were randomly assigned to the role of allocator transferred more money to recipients who were identified by a (random) number, only when those recipients were perceived as in-group members. We discuss possible accounts of these findings.
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	Non-hyperbolic Time Inconsistency
Authors	Han Bleichrodt from Erasmus University Rotterdam
	Kirsten I.M. Rohde (Presenting Author) from Erasmus University Rotterdam
	Peter P. Wakker from Erasmus University Rotterdam
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The commonly used hyperbolic and quasi-hyperbolic discount functions have been developed to accommodate decreasing impatience, which is the prevailing empirical finding in intertemporal choice, in particular for aggregate behavior. These discount functions do not have the flexibility to accommodate increasing impatience or strongly decreasing impatience. This lack of flexibility is particularly disconcerting for fitting data at the individual level, where various patterns of increasing impatience and strongly decreasing impatience will occur for a significant fraction of subjects. This paper presents discount functions with constant absolute (CADI) or constant relative (CRDI) decreasing impatience that can accommodate any degree of decreasing or increasing impatience. In particular, they are sufficiently flexible for analyses at the individual level. The CADI and CRDI discount functions are the analogs of the well known CARA and CRRA utility functions for decision under risk.
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Email	rohde{at}few.eur.nl (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

Memory Of Economic Drawbacks Of War Via Social Representations Of War And Terrorism.
Author	Christine D. Roland-levy (Presenting Author) from University of Paris Descartes & University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper, based on the theory of social representations with the analysis of a free association task, we examine how war and terrorism are perceived in French collective memory; the idea was to test if economic drawbacks were kept in the collective memory and therefore associated to war and terrorism. Based on a brief presentation of some of the French particularities due to the legacy of the French Revolution, as well as various other conflicts that marked France’s recent history, focusing particularly on World War 2, on the war France waged with Algeria, one of its former colonies, during the early 60s, and on the 1995 terrorist attacks in the Parisian subway, we shall analyze how these events have might have shaped today’s perception of war in France. The investigation of the legacy of the French revolution and of the other mentioned conflicts allow us to interpret the discourse used in France when referring to terrorism and/or to wars. What is particularly interesting to us is the reference (or absence of reference) of the financial elements in the collective memory and associations made. For this study, three samples of men and women were selected, based on age (18-25; 35-60; 65 and above); thus each age group had a potential proximity with one, two or three of the above-mentioned events. Overall, our results show that, for our participants, war is clearly associated with the three ideas of death, fighting, and conflict, these three ideas belong to the central nucleus of the representation; economic and financial notions appear in the near periphery of the social representations. In the paper, we also discuss the differences in social representations according to age, gender and political affiliation.
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Email	Christine.Roland-Levy{at}univ-paris5.fr (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

A Signal Detection Analysis Of The Base Rate Fallacy
Author	Fabio Rontini (Presenting Author) from Università degli Studi di Trento
Session	Parallel Sessions 8 - Stream 3 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Empirical
Abstract	There is evidence that people change their estimation of the probability of an event occuring, when they consider different kinds of presentation of the same information. The main distinction to make is between described vs. experienced probability. In the first case people learn the probability of an event reading a written decription of a situation; in the second case they observe directly the frequency of that event occuring in that situation. It is possible to test the difference between these two kinds of acquisition of information in problems that usually induce the subject to make some systematic errors of reasoning. In the present work we have observed the effect of two kinds of presentation of information on the behaviour of subjects involved in some interactive “Bayesian” games.
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Email	fabio.rontini{at}unitn.it (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

Reference-dependent Risk Preferences Of Higher Orders
Authors	Johannes Maier from University of Munich, Germany
Authors	Maximilian Ruger (Presenting Author) from University of Augsburg, Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Higher order risk preferences, such as prudence and temperance, have been shown to explain economically important aspects of behavior that cannot be captured solely by the second-order effect of risk aversion. Within expected utility theory (EUT), these concepts were extensively employed in order to analyze, for instance, precautionary motives and behavior under background risk (Leland, 1968; Kimball, 1990, 1992). However, some empirical and experimental findings concerning decision making under risk were not reconcilable with EUT altogether. Alternative models of behavior such as reference-dependent preferences therefore received increasing attention. So far, those alternative models restricted their analysis to risk aversion and did not question their implications for higher order risk preferences. By employing the model independent gamble definitions of Eeckhoudt & Schlesinger (2006) this paper analyzes risk attitudes of higher orders in models of reference-dependent preferences. We consider a wide range of exogenous as well as endogenous references and find for the latter unexpected results that hold in very general settings. If references are formed endogenously by expectations (Koszegi & Rabin, 2007), reference dependency eliminates third- (prudence) but neither second- (risk aversion) nor fourth- (temperance) order effects. If references are formed endogenously by regret (Loomes & Sugden, 1982), second- as well as fourth- but not third-order effects are eliminated. We further generalize these results for risk preferences of arbitrary order n. Several implications of our results are also discussed. For instance, we show that empirical findings on seemingly sub-optimal amounts of precautionary saving can be attributed to the optimal behavior of individuals with reference-dependent preferences. Also, the theoretically puzzling existence of costly insurance when capital markets are well developed is less surprising for such individuals. Furthermore, we highlight the relevance of our results for the normative concept of the precautionary principle and investigate the influence of background risk.
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	Who Studies In College? (an Empirical Study Using Microdata On Student Time Use)
Authors	Martin Ryan (Presenting Author) from UCD School of Economics and UCD Geary Institute
	Dr. Liam Delaney from UCD School of Economics and UCD Geary Institute
	Prof. Colm Harmon from UCD School of Economics and UCD Geary Institute
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	A recent paper in the economics of education literature shows that a causal relationship exists between time spent on study and academic performance (Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner, 2007). Given that time spent on study leads to better academic results, and hence a higher level of human capital investment, we ask “Who Studies in College?” We believe that this question requires further attention because most studies to date have only considered the effect of time use on student outcomes; and have not examined why students allocate their time as they do. This paper investigates the time use of students across 35 higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland. We use self-reported data on individual characteristics such as attitude to risk (Dohmen et al, 2005), consideration of future consequences (CFC) (Strathman, 1994), and personality factors (Gosling et al, 2003). Self-reported data of this nature is becoming more widespread in the efforts of economists to understand typically unobserved heterogeneity in human capital investment, e.g. Coleman (2003). The use of survey measures on attitude to risk is established in the labour economics literature by Bonin et al (2007). The need for a measure such as the CFC is implied by Beshears et al (2007) in their discussion about the normative weighting of discount rates. Furthermore, Heckman (2007) suggests that consideration be given to the economics and psychology of personality (Borghans et al, forthcoming). We consider all of these issues in our efforts to parametrise a model of student time use that relates to human capital investment. The research is ongoing but the preliminary results show that the self-reported survey data on personality characteristics help to explain the determinants of student time use.
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	Is There An "industry Bias" In Private Investing?
Author	Katharina Sachse (Presenting Author) from Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology)
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 12.00 to 12.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	According to traditional theories of finance, the willingness to invest in stocks is determined by risk and return. Yet, studies have shown that other factors such as the “home” of the company also affect investment decisions. The reason for this so called “home bias” is linked to a preference for the familiar over the ambiguous . Investors perceive themselves more knowledgeable of domestic companies than they do about companies headquartered in foreign countries. Because most of the people are ambiguity averse they avoid investing in stocks of foreign companies. As a consequence, stocks of domestic companies are overrepresented in many private investors’ portfolios. Do knowledge differences about several industry groups affect private investing as well? We hypothesized that investors prefer stocks of those companies producing well known tangible commodities, such as automobiles or media over those companies producing unfamiliar, intangible commodities like biotechnology. 189 participants were asked to invest (hypothetically) in different industry groups. The participants also rated their knowledge of these industries. Our results showed that investment behaviour is not affected by knowledge of the industry. In a second experiment we tested the hypothesis that the image of an industry influences the willingness to invest. 140 participants were asked to invest (hypothetically) 50.000 € in funds of different industry groups. Subjects also had to assess the image of these industries. A regression analysis showed that the amount invested was best predicted by the image. Perceived risk and benefit were significant predictors as well.
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	Belief Updating In Individual And Social Learning: An Internet Experiment
Authors	Shunichiro Sasaki (Presenting Author) from Nagoya University of Commerce and Business
Authors	Toshiji Kawagoe from Future University - Hakodate
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 6 6 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We conducted an Internet experiment with more than 1,000 participants who have various demographic characteristics. In the experiment, we examined participantsf belief-updating behaviors in the individual learning environment where they observe a sequence of private signals on the underlying state and in the social learning environment where they observe a sequence of other peoplefs decisions on the underlying state. We observed that the posterior beliefs that participants evaluated in the individual learning environment are always higher than those in the social learning environment even when the informativeness of private signals and other peoplefs decisions is exactly the same. This result indicates that participants rely more on their private signals than on other peoplefs decisions. However, we also observed that participants always underweight the newly observed information by putting too much weight on the prior of the state of the world. Thus, we argue that participantsf belief updating is basically characterized as conservatism, and that overconfidence on private signal which have been documented in the laboratory experiments of informational cascades should be interpreted just as relative, not as absolute. We also investigated the relationship between participantfs demographic characteristic and the accuracy of their evaluation on the posterior beliefs in the social learning environment of the experiment. Although they consistently exhibited conservatism, we observed that males and students evaluate their posterior beliefs more accurately than females and working people. Furthermore, we examined participantfs conformity by considering the situation where they make decisions on the same problem with and without reference to other peoplefs previous decisions. We confirmed that participants who tended to rely highly on other peoplefs decisions in the social learning environment of the experiment are more likely to conform to others than those who did not.
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Anticipatory Emotions As Guides To Choice. The Role Of Emotions When Choosing Risky Options.
Authors	Thomas M Schlösser (Presenting Author) from University of Cologne (Germany) & Central Archive for Empirical Social Research (Cologne, Germany)
	Detlef Fetchenhauer from University of Cologne (Germany) & University of Groningen (Netherlands)
	David A. Dunning from Cornell University
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The perception of risks and its influence on actual behaviour (i.e., choosing a risky option or not) commonly is discussed from a rational and consequentialistic perspective. Questioning both paradigms we took into account the effect of emotions which may influence decisions at different points of time: not only anticipated emotions connected to the possible outcomes of a gamble but also anticipatory emotions perceived at the very moment of taking the decision to gamble or not. In our study 167 subjects had to decide whether they wanted to keep €5 or risk to lose the money in a game of chance with a winning probability of 4/6. A total of 110 participants (65.5%) went for that risky option. Subjects had to indicate anticipated as well as anticipatory emotions before making their decision. Participants’ decisions were influenced by both types of emotions. Anticipated emotions were able to explain 7% of the variance of the dependant variable, Anticipatory emotions were able to explain 14%. Both variables were rather independent from each other. Besides emotions, we also measured individuals’ subjective probability to win. Binary regression analyses showed that both, anticipatory emotions and subjective probabilities did influence participants’ decisions (27% total explained variance). In particular this implied that predictive power of anticipatory emotions did not suffer from being a substrate of subjective probability as an individual preference. Risk-related personality traits were only weakly connected to subjective probability but were substantially related to emotional states: Answers to a financial domain-specific risk-taking scale were connected partly to subjective probability and the anticipated emotions but could not predict decisions. Scales related to personal need for structure were connected to anticipatory emotions but were also not able to predict decisions.
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	Implementation Of A Corporate Strategy - Spotlight On The Employees
Authors	Maria Schmidt (Presenting Author) from Chemnitz University of Technology
	Mathias Keil from Chemnitz University of Technology
	Birgit Spanner-ulmer from Chemnitz University of Technology
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 11.00 to 11.10
Category	Policy
Abstract	Implementing a corporate strategy means fundamental changes. Hence, different factors are required for success. Ways must be found to communicate the intention to employees intelligibly. Their contribution to the business objectives has to be clarified. Due to specific enterprise situations, success of the corporate strategy all the more depends on an appropriate implementation strategy. We would like to present a project which has been accomplished at the “Professorship of Human Factors and Ergonomics” at the Chemnitz University of Technology. The task was to develop a master plan for implementing the corporate strategy of a medium-sized German enterprise. It is a global player with about 12.000 employees, thereof 3.500 in Germany. Its main duties are services in logistics and transport. The corporate strategy is called “WIR” for the German words “Wachstum, Innovation, Rentabilität” (growth, innovation, profitability). At the same time it means “we” (in German “wir”) because changes make sense only in co-operation. Sustainable success can be achieved if the specific enterprise situation is considered as well as ergonomic principles, i.e. the human-centred perspective of change processes. Therefore, a three step program was conceived: “to inform”, “to interest” and “to activate”. From the beginning of May 2006 to the end of April 2007, the phase “to interest” was realized. So called “WIR”-workshops were arranged. Each employee was comprehensively instructed about the business objectives. A further part was to point out his or her contribution for reaching these objectives. Major problems (especially communicational and motivational ones) were identified and countermeasures were planned. In the following months it was possible to put about 60% of these measures into action. For evaluating the results, several statistical analyses were made. At the time the unresolved problems are followed up in the phase “to activate” via continuous improvement process.
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Email	maria.schmidt{at}mb.tu-chemnitz.de (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

	Incentives To Invest In Studying The Native Language Of The Host Country
Author	Erez Siniver (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, COM Academic Studies, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Cross-sectional analyses show that immigrant earnings tend to rise faster than those of natives. One reason for this phenomenon is that immigrants' wages rise as they acquire the host country's native language. Immigrants can improve their knowledge of the native language simply by interacting with native speakers or by taking formal language courses. In Israel, the government finances the cost of a basic Hebrew language course for immigrants. While taking the course is costly in terms of time and job interruption, it has the benefit of reducing the amount of time needed for the acquisition of Hebrew proficiency. The desirability of taking the course depends on whether the gains to lifetime earnings produced by the course exceed its costs. Thus, the higher the expected benefits, the greater the incentive to take the course. The present study inquires whether immigrants with the highest expected benefits from studying Hebrew will tend more to invest in learning the language by taking the basic Hebrew course. The findings show that male, uneducated, older and single immigrant workers benefit more from taking the course than do female, educated, younger and married immigrants. Empirical data regarding actual enrollment in the basic Hebrew course reveal that male, older and single immigrants who benefit more from it are more likely to take it. Taking the course is more common among educated immigrants than among uneducated immigrants although uneducated immigrants benefit more from taking the course than educated immigrants. The greater tendency of educated immigrants to take the course may reflect lower psychic cost of education for this group.
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Email	sinivr{at}colman.ac.il (To avoid spamming, we modify the address. Please, replace manually {at} by @)

Towards An Understanding Of Endogenous Identity In Games
Authors	John A Smith (Presenting Author) from Rutgers University-Camden Department of Economics
Authors	Katerina Bezrukova from Rutgers University-Camden Department of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	We study how the strategic nature of a game affects identification in social groups and whether this identification matters in an economic setting. In our experiment, the subjects play one of two versions of the Prisoner's Dilemma game where the attractiveness of the uncooperative action is varied. We refer to the version with a relatively attractive uncooperative action as the "Mean Game" and the other as the "Nice Game." Throughout the experimental procedure we measure identity, as standard in the psychology literature, in order to assess the extent to which subjects identify with their group. First, we find evidence of an interaction between the strategic nature of the game and the action selected in the game as affecting the identity of the subject. In the Mean Game, there is little difference in the change in identification of those playing cooperatively and those playing uncooperatively. However, in the Nice Game, those playing cooperatively exhibit a significantly stronger change in identification than those playing uncooperatively. Second, we find a relationship between identity and the action selected. Specifically, we find a positive relationship between our identification measure and the likelihood of playing the cooperative action against a subject in their own group. The results of our experiment suggest that a better understanding of endogenous identity in games will improve our overall understanding of behavior in games.
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Is The Inverse Relation Between Gain And Losses Universal In Risk Perception And Acceptance?
Author	Joanna Sokolowska (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In 1994 Alkahami and Slovic proposed that there is inverse relation between positive and negative consequences of risky activities. They found that for rejected hazards, people judged benefits as low and losses as high. This finding was linked to the strength of affect associated with hazards, and was subsequently generalized in the affect heuristic, which states that affect comes prior to and directs judgments of risks and benefits. In real world, risk and benefit are often positively correlated whereas they appear to be negatively correlated in people’s minds. One consequence of this is avoidance of trade-offs between risk and benefit, which simplifies decisions at the cost of accuracy. This might lead to decision-making that deviates from what is considered rational. Thus, it is important to establish whether inverse relation is a universal phenomenon in risk perception and acceptance. In the presented study it is hypothesized that under some circumstances people are aware of positive relation between losses and benefits and are willing to make trade-offs. First, since judgments might be less biased than decisions, the inverse relation should be weaker in risk perception than in risk acceptance. Second, different activities might be associated with different levels of affective and instrumental involvement. Specifically, instrumental aspects should be more salient for financial investments, whereas affective aspects should be more salient for stimulating behavior (e.g. gambling, extreme sports) or technological hazards. In this study 157 respondents evaluated risk, gains, losses and declared how likely they would be to engage in 24 risky activities, which represented 3 categories: instrumental actions, stimulating behavior and hazards. The results indicate that inverse relation is more salient (1) for risk acceptance than for risk judgment, and (2) for stimulating behavior and hazards than for instrumental actions. This raises questions about the generality of inverse relation.
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An Experimental Investigation On Optimal Bankrupcy Laws
Authors	Marco Spallone (Presenting Author) from Luiss and University of Pescara
Authors	Daniela Teresa Di Cagno from Luiss
Session	Parallel Sessions 9 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We performed an experimental investigation to assess whether the "restricted auction" mechanism proposed by Berkovitch,Israel and Zender (BIZ) in 1997 works as an optimal bankruptcy law, that is as a commitment device that implements both ex ante and ex post efficiency in specific investment decisions when moral hazard is binding. We focused on ex ante efficiency and we found that the restricted auction mechanism was able to induce efficient ex ante choices. Nonetheless, we found that under aplain unrestricted auction mechanism our experimental subjects over-invested in firm specific human capital. The first result confirms the theoretical predictions of BIZ; the second one, altough difficult to justify on theoretical grounds, it is experimentally robust and extremely important for policy makers. In fact, it states that the choices betweeen a debtor friendly bankruptcy code (i.e. the restricted mechanism) and a creditor friendly one (i.e. the unrestricted mechanism) should consider potential violations of the theoretical results.
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Online Banking Services
Authors	Antonino Callea from lumsa university
	Vincenza Spatola (Presenting Author) from lumsa university
	Valeria Caggiano from lumsa university
	Arrigo Pedon from lumsa university
Session	Parallel Sessions 3- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 17.10 to 17.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The bank is for its nature an enterprise that has the task to supply to its average customers of payment and intermediation between offer and question of understood them. With the advent and the increase of Internet the OnLine Banks have grown also that are defined like credit institutions without branches on the territory and that they operate exclusively via web. The customers of the Internet banks carry out all the operations exclusively for means of a connected computer to Internet and introduce all the other characteristics and offering of the traditional banks but with remarkable benefit on the costs and the time. The enormous one happening that the Internet banking has obtained in recent years, has tax to the traditional banks to adapt itself to this new management, through the promotion of numerous banking services on-linens. Between the services more it uses we find you: the statement of account, purchases and sale titles them, banking discounts, F 24, purchases on-linens. Recently the Internet banking has been to the centre of numerous searches, from which it is emerged that the banking services on-linens are mainly use you from wrap of age that goes from the 25 to the 65 years and that the women, although they do not use Internet very frequently, prep refer the purchases on-linens. Beginning from these data, our study wants to characterize the acquaintance and I use it of the Online banking services; draft of a search of exploratory type that has the scope to characterize the characteristics of the subjects that mainly use these typologies of services. The instrument used for the data collection is a questionnaire composed from a Likert Scale, in order to verify uses it of the services and from a semantic differential, in order to find the attitudes.
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Heterogeneous Ipr For Academic And Industrial Ideas, And Growth
Author	Luca Spinesi (Presenting Author) from University of Macerata
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.40
Category	Theoretical Policy
Abstract	Patent protection is a diffuse legal instrument used to guarantee economic rents to innovating firms and to spur private R&D investment. Since the '80s the U.S. - and recently the EU, the Japan and other OECD countries - extended patentability to basic ideas and research tools obtained in academia and in other government funded institutions. Within a Schumpeterian ladder quality model this paper distinguishes the basic and development stages and allows both of them to be granted of a full patent protection. It is shown that the market value's fraction of an innovation appropriated by a firm, and the subsidy of the industrial R&D cost both spur industrial research investments. Moreover, the higher the market value's fraction of a new commercialized product appropriated by a firm, the higher the subsidy effectiveness in stimulating per capita growth. A main policy implication suggests that - once patents are granted to basic academic ideas - a different regime of patent protection should be granted to industrial innovations and scientific knowledge. This paper also contributes to explain the mixed empirical evidence about a substitutability/complementarity relationship between industrial and public R&D investments. In particular, higher public expenditures in R&D increase both public and private innovative effort and the growth rate of the economy whenever population grows at a high enough pace.
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How To Be Kind? The Effect Of Effort And Intentions On Reciprocity
Author	Luca Stanca (Presenting Author) from University of Milano Bicocca Economics Department
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper we examine the role of both intentions and effort on the perceived kindness of an action, for a given outcome, and therefore on the reciprocating behaviour of the receiving subject. We test experimentally the hypotheses that an action is perceived to kind if (a) it is intentional and (b) it is costly. In order to test these hypotheses, we examine experimentally a two-player sequential move symmetric gift-exchange game. We consider four treatments in a between-within design. The first treatment, used as a benchmark, is a standard direct reciprocity setting. Treatment 2 removes intentions by making common knowledge for all subjects that A's choice is determined exogenously and randomly. Treatment 3 removes cost-effort by making common knowledge for all subjects that A subjects will be compensated by the experimentar for the amount sent, so that they will not bear any cost. Treatment 4 removes both intentions and cost-effort by making common knowledge for all subjects that A's choice is determined exogenously and randomly, and that A subjects will be compensated by the experimentar for the amount sent, so that they will not bear any cost. The results indicate that both effort and intentions significantly affect the perceived kindness of an action. The results also indicate that effort, more than intentions, is what makes an action kind and elicits stronger positive reciprocity.
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Measuring Indirect Reciprocity: Whose Back Do We Scratch?
Author	Luca Stanca (Presenting Author) from University of Milano Bicocca Economics Department
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 10.50 to 11.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper presents an experimental investigation of strong indirect reciprocity. We examine both generalized indirect reciprocity (if A helps B then B helps C) and social indirect reciprocity (if A helps B then C helps A), in a setting where reciprocal behavior cannot be explained by strategic motivations. We also consider a treatment for direct reciprocity, as a benchmark, and use a variant of the strategy method to control for differences in first movers' actions across treatments. We find evidence of strong reciprocity within each treatment, both for strategies and decisions. Generalized indirect reciprocity is found to be significantly stronger than social indirect reciprocity and, interestingly, direct reciprocity. This find- ing is interpreted as reflecting the relevance of first movers' motivation for second movers' reciprocal behavior.
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Understanding Traveler's Dilemma: An Experimental Analysis
Authors	Kaushik Basu from Department of Economics, Cornell University
	Leonardo Becchetti from Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", Facoltà di Economia
	Luca Stanca (Presenting Author) from University of Milano Bicocca Economics Department
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The Traveller's Dilemma (Basu, 1994) is a simple game that highlights that the assumption of rationality commonly made in game theory and economics does not hold in practice. When the game is played experimentally, people consistently reject the rational choice. Indeed, by acting illogically, they end up obtaining larger rewards. The experimental evidence in Capra et al. (1999) and Becker et al. (2005) indicates that in a TD agents choose strategically not to play NE. The question is: how do they choose? This paper provides an experimental investigation to discriminate between two alternative frameworks for decision making: pragmatism and rule of thumb. In the former, agents do not assume that rationality is common knowledge, but try to formulate an expectation about other player's bid and maximize expected payoff accordingly. In the latter, agents disregard the determinants of other player's choice and focus only on their own payoff under a given (fixed) scenario about other player's move.
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	Procedural Rationality And Habit Formation - How Far Does The Habit Reach?
Author	Pavel Stika (Presenting Author) from Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Session	Parallel Sessions 8- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 12.20 to 12.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Analysis of habit formation and functioning is (in my humble opinion) a key area which can make a substantial contribution to economic theory and which is, despite developments of recent decades, still rather underestimated. In this short article I would like to suggest few ideas originating in psychology which can enrich a common view on habits held by the majority of economists. Several streams of economic thought stem from the basis of methodological realism. This courageous approach is, however, noticeably demanding. Especially on the micro-level methodological realism brings economic theory into close relation with psychology. The post-Keynesian school offers probably the most advanced approach in this field, leading to a theory of lexicographic ordering. The post-Keynesian approach is established on the concept of fundamental uncertainty, to which people respond by so called ‘procedural rationality’. The concept of ‘procedural rationality’, first introduced by Herbert Simon, describes decision making as a heuristical model used to find a satisfying solution for an agent with bounded rationality. One of the key responses of such an agent to the fundamentally uncertain environment is a habitual behaviour. Though the importance of habits is widely acknowledged by many economists, I would like to mention few psychological conceptions which show that the phenomena of habit is also crucial to our perception and cognitive processes and thus influences our lives to a much wider extent than an ordinarily educated economist would realize.
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	Hidden Wealth – How Do Consumers Perceive Wealth And Its Management?
Authors	Anne M Sunikka (Presenting Author) from Helsinki School of Economics
	Tomi Dahlberg from Helsinki School of Economics
	Anssi Öörni from Helsinki School of Economics
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	According to mainstream financial theory, rational consumers optimize the risk-reward ratio of their wealth by allocating wealth to various assets as described by the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Many social-psychological theories explain consumer behavior as substantially cognitive processes. Within the context of consumer wealth management, our article answers two research questions. First, how do consumers perceive wealth in general and different asset classes, in particular? We also investigate which sources of information and experience influence consumers’ wealth management related decisions. As we explore empirically various goals, motives and information sources, we address the second research question; how well do empirically discovered motives relate to those proposed by financial and social psychological theories? We collected empirical data in Finland with financial expert interviews, consumer focus group discussions and a survey questionnaire sent to 3000 consumers. Motivated by the empirical findings, we introduce the concept of hidden wealth to describe consumers’ wealth management behavior and decision-making. According to our findings, consumers have predominantly other motives than those proposed by financial theory, and their behavior, including decision making, are significantly influenced by these factors. Security appears as the dominant motive of wealth management. Even in the case of financial assets related decision making, the importance of social values, past experience, feelings and intuition appears to override the importance of risk – reward thinking both as the source of behavioral motives and in information search. We also found differences in how various wealth categories are perceived. A distinctive feature of our study is that we collected empirical data from two independent sources. The underlying tone of the wealth perceptions is shared by consumers and financial experts. Finally, we discuss the significance of our findings by relating our findings to relevant theories as well as the implications of our research both for research and practice.
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	Investment Triggers And Trust. A Comparative Study On Perceptions Of Consumers And Financial Experts
Authors	Anne M Sunikka (Presenting Author) from Helsinki School of Economics
Authors	Liisa H Peura-kapanen from National Consumer Research Centre
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The purpose of this paper is to explore reasons triggering investing behavior. The interdependency of involvement and willingness to learn and the salience of trust are investigated. The methods used in the research are consumer panel discussions and financial expert interviews. The perceptions and opinions of both groups are compared in order to establish any differences and similarities. We adopted a critical realism approach in this study, and emphasize thus context-specificity of the results. This paper reveals the impact of involvement on willingness to learn and to act in a particular way in a financial decision making context. For the high-involved customers the interest and willingness to learn go hand-in-hand resulting in investments that require knowledge and effort. For the low-involved customers convenience is the main decision criteria in investment decisions. The low-involved consumers mainly rely on the financial advisors whereas high-involved consumers distrust financial advisors and the financial instruments that financial companies are trying to market to them. Trust is seen as a multi-faceted construct. Consumers emphasize cognitive trust in competence and integrity of the financial advisor. In addition, the feeling of compatibility is important. For financial experts, trust is considered as a general trust on Finnish financial institutions. Financial companies seem to be ignorant of the several dimensions of trust that consumers perceive. There is a clear need for transparency in costs, returns and risks. The attempt to obscure costs by bundling services might not be welcome by consumers who would had an even more strenuous task in trying to compare the offerings of various financial companies. In addition, consumers should invest in acquiring necessary skills in financial literacy. A distinctive feature of this study is that we collected data from two independent sources: consumers and financial experts, and compared the results of the two sources.
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Individual Inflation Perception: Micro Economic Foundation Of The Index Of Perceived Inflation (ipi)
Authors	Daniel Suter (Presenting Author) from University of Fribourg Switzerland
Authors	Hans Wolfgang Brachinger from University of Fribourg Switzerland
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 15.30 to 15.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	It is well-known that perceived inflation may differ from officially measured inflation rates. An approach to explain and quantify perceived inflation is the index of perceived inflation (IPI) recently developed by Brachinger (2008). The IPI is a macro economic indicator. However, the IPI doesn't specify how an individual purchaser builds up her perception relative to inflation. Additionally, the relationship between IPI and individual perceived inflation rates is unknown. The main goal of this paper is to model how an individual purchaser generates her personal inflation perception and to clarify the relationship between IPI and individual perceived inflation. Starting point of the model is, as for consumer price indices (CPI), the price distribution of the economy. It is assumed that the individual purchaser establishes her inflation perception by sampling from that distribution. Each price sampled is compared with a reference price. Thereby, price increases are encoded as losses and are evaluated higher than price reductions, which are encoded as gains. The individual purchaser's perceived inflation rate is given by the average over the transformed price relatives. A natural macro economic perceived inflation indicator is the average over all individual perceived inflation rates. It follows that the IPI can be interpreted as an estimator of the natural macro economic perceived inflation indicator.
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Self Image And Valuation Of Public Goods: Stated Versus Actual Willingness To Pay
Authors	Olof Johansson-stenman from Department of Economics Göteborg University
Authors	Henrik Svedsater (Presenting Author) from Organisational Behavior London Business School
Session	Parallel Sessions 1 - Stream 5 4 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Hypothetical bias from Stated Preference (SP) methods appears sometimes to be very large and sometimes non-existent, and no consensus seems to exists whether or not this is a major problem in the efforts of assigning economic values to non-marketed goods. More importantly, few studies have investigated for which types of goods and under what circumstances hypothetical bias is likely to occur, and why this is the case. In this paper we develop a theoretical model aimed at explaining variations of hypothetical bias in the literature. The model proposes that people, in addition to the instrumental benefits associated with a public good, derive utility from a positive self-image. This, in turn, is influenced by (i) the degree to which stated or real behaviour coincides with respondents' ethical views, and (ii) the extent to which they are honest toward themselves. The model predicts that people overstate their hypothetical Willingness To Pay (WTP) for goods with a perceived ethical dimension, denoted moral goods, but not for morally neutral goods. A Choice Experiment (CE) was conducted to test these predictions, assessing the value of a public good (a donation to the WWF) and a private good (a voucher valid at a local restaurant). The CE was then compared with the outcome of a similar exercise, only this time based on real instead of hypothetical monetary trade-offs. The empirical results are consistent with our model predictions; the stated WTP for the WWF campaign is significantly higher than the corresponding actual WTP (p>0.01; random and fixed effects logit), whereas no difference exists between stated and actual WTP for the private good. In following up on these findings we go on to illustrate how even the real-money CE tends to exaggerate people’s true valuation of the public good.
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Shifting The Blame: Perceived Responsibility For Unfair Outcomes In Allocation Decisions
Authors	Henrik Svedsater (Presenting Author) from London Business School
Authors	Lars-olof Johansson from Gothenburg University
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 6 5 September 2008, from 15.10 to 15.30
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	Over the last decade there has been a rapidly growing economics literature on social preferences that can explain departures from pure self-interest (e.g., Fehr and Schmidt, 1999). At the same time, a number of empirical studies have raised doubts over the extent to which people really care about the welfare of others, for instance showing that people care foremost whether their selfish acts are known to others (Dana et al., 2006a), and that they often interpret ambiguous information in a self-serving manner (Schweitzer & Hsee, 2002). This paper builds on this type of research, specifically investigating how the links between one’s actions and the consequences for others affect people’s concern with equality. A series of experiments are conducted varying the degree to which a decision maker has a direct influence on the payoff given to two anonymous recipients in a variant of the dictator game, and where the decision-maker may choose a higher payoff to herself at the expense of one of these recipients. In a control condition all payoffs are determined prior to the decision being made. Two conditions are introduced, one in which the actual victim of a higher own payoff is afterwards determined by a lottery (low perceived responsibility), whereas in the other the decision-maker has to actively target this person (high perceived responsibility). All conditions otherwise imply exactly the same economic inequality. As expected, the choice-frequency of equal payoff distributions is highest in the high responsibility condition and lowest in the low responsibility condition, with the control condition falling in between these two. We argue that these findings are driven largely by the possibility of shifting the blame of an unfair outcome to external factors, hence providing a justification for a more self-oriented behaviour. The implications for social preferences are discussed.
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	Hypothetical Bias And Certainty Calibration In A Value Of Time Experiment
Author	Jan-erik Swärdh (Presenting Author) from Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This study is the first attempt to analyze hypothetical bias and certainty calibration in a willingness to pay for time context. Hypothetical and real actions are compared in an experimental setting where the respondents are given an offer to leave the experiment in advance on payment of a given amount of cash. The results show that there is a weak tendency of positive hypothetical bias in the value of time, though not significant at conventional significance levels. However, when the information from a follow-up question where the respondents are self-stating the certainty about their choice, there is a significant hypothetical bias for non-certain respondents whereas this bias is eliminated for certain respondents.
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	Level-k Analysis Of Experimental Centipede Games: A New Explanation Without Fairness Or Altruism
Authors	Toshiji Kawagoe from Future University - Hakodate
Authors	Hirokazu Takizawa (Presenting Author) from Tama University
Session	Parallel Sessions 3- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 17.50 to 18.00
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	The centipede game is one of the most celebrated examples of the paradox of backward induction. Experiments of the centipede game has been conducted in various settings: two-person game with linearly increasing payoff (McKelvey and Palfrey, 1992), two-person game with constant-sum payoff (Fey, McKelvey and Palfrey, 1996) and three-person game (Rapoport et al. 2003). The deviations from the subgame-perfect equilibrium prediction observed in the laboratory have so far been attributed to some kind of fairness concern or altruism of the subjects. This paper offers another explanation for the observed deviations by using level-k analysis, a non-equilibrium model of strategic thinking. We show that level-k analysis gives consistently better predictions for the results of centipede games than explanations invoking fairness or altruism.
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A Behavioral Model Of Corporate Social Responsibility
Author	Shinji Teraji (Presenting Author) from Yamaguchi University
Session	Parallel Sessions 5- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 12.10 to 12.20
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Recent scandals involving large companies have highlighted corporate social responsibility (CSR) as one of the principal concerns. Economic theory, however, has argued that so long as agents are self-interested, they will be able to affect a better set of consequences than if their intentions had been benevolent. In fact, Milton Friedman wrote that the social responsibility of a business was to increase its profits. On the contrary, the behavioral theory of the firm (developed by Harvey Leibenstein) has the potential to incorporate morality as a critical component of the motivating structure. This article identifies CSR with the private provision of a public good. What motives a business to make a contribution to that public good? The model focuses on collaboration between the firm and its consumers. The motivation underlying CSR activities is modeled in terms of approval that the manager receives from consumers. Consumers experience the results of corporate behavior, so they influence the standards by which corporate behavior is judged and evaluate how well the manager performs according to those standards. The collaborative relations can reinforce positive responses with each other. Consumersf attitudes to encourage CSR are influenced by the managerfs view to practice CSR, and vice versa. Companies operating at the low level of moral development do not take moral consumer interests into account, and their decisions are perceived to be immoral by consumers. No public good is then provided by firms. On the contrary, companies operating at the high level of moral development focus on meeting the expectations of consumers according to ethical requirements. The provision of the public good can be improved substantially. More of the public good is provided when consumers are more likely to value corporate social participation. The manager is then expected to be attuned to the expectations about the ethical behavior.
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Construction Of Time Preference: An Investigation Of The Role Of Elicitation Method On Intertemporal Choice
Author	Oksana Tokarchuk (Presenting Author) from CIFREM, University of Trento
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 1 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The idea of construction of preference is not new to literature in decision making. Indeed, several theories have been developed to explain it (Lichtenstein and Slovic, 2006). The present paper considers heuristics activated in different elicitation procedures applied in time preference research. I show that activation of these rules in correspondence with different elicitation methods leads to observation of a particular pattern frequently reported in time preference literature: hyperbolic discounting. In particular, I analyze two most diffused elicitation procedures, matching task and two variations of choice task in multiple price list format (MPL). In a series of experiments I demonstrate that matching task (Thaler, 1981) is characterized by choice of focal amounts and anchoring to previously reported amount. At the same time, choice in MPL format largely depends on the structure of the list of alternatives from which the choice is made. I study two widely used structures of MPL choice task format: (a) MPL with nominal structure (Green et al, 1997), where choice alternatives correspond to the same nominal amounts that are available at different time horizons; (b) MPL with interest rate structure (Coller and Williams, 1999), in which monetary alternatives at each time horizon in consideration are constructed as increases corresponding to a fixed interest rate. Although these two elicitation structures activate similar decision processes they lead to observation of qualitatively different results that are in large part defined by the underlying structure of the list of alternatives. I show that matching task and MPL with nominal structure lead to observation of hyperbolic evidence, that could be of different kinds depending on the structure of MPL table. At the same time, elicitation with MPL with interest rate structure leads to observation of rather stable time preference that can be well approximated by exponential discounting.
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The Comparative Advantage Of Legitimate Procedure - A Intercultural Comparison Of Germany And China
Authors	Walter Tontrup (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods
Authors	Walfgang Gaissmaier from Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The legitimacy of procedures is an important determinant of people’s willingness to cooperate with one another in social dilemmas. In a public goods game, we allowed participants to vote on a set of rules vs. imposing the same institutions exogenously. As hypothesized, average contributions to the public good were much higher in the voting than in the control condition (85.2% vs. 58.5%). Contradicting the explanation that this effect of voting is due to subjects interpreting the outcome of the vote as a signal for cooperativeness, the size of the effect did not depend on the set of rules participants actually decided for. We excluded influences of self-selection in our design as well. Results indicated that it made no difference whether the subjects actually received the institutions they personally voted for (choice), or whether they were pro-social or pro-selfish orientated. Participation in the procedure was sufficient. This result was confirmed by the finding that subjects even displayed the effect, if they were simply informed about the voting procedure without having participated in it yet. Finally, we have shown that the effect is driven by the perceived legitimacy of the procedure. We replicated the experiment in a country where the dominant culture does not perceive the democratic majority rule as particularly legitimate: in China. As hypothesized and in sharp contrast to the results in Germany, we found no increased contributions in the voting groups of the Chinese sessions.
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Insurance, Risk, And Magical Thinking
Author	Orit E Tykocinski (Presenting Author) from Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	It was hypothesized that the possession of an insurance policy may not only affect the severity of a potential loss, but also its perceived probability. Intuitively people may feel that if they are insured nothing bad is likely to happen, but if they don’t have insurance they are at a greater peril. In Experiment 1 respondents who were reminded of their medical insurance felt that they were less likely to suffer health problems in the future compared to people who were not reminded of their medical insurance plans. In Experiment 2 participants who, due to circumstances, were unable to purchase travel insurance judged the probability of travel-related calamities higher compared to those who were insured. These results were replicated in Experiment 3 in a simulation of car accident insurance. The findings are explained in terms of intuitive magical thinking, specifically, the negative affective consequences of "tempting fate", and the sense of safety afforded by the notion of "being covered".
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Estimating A “stress Model” Using A Random Effects Ordered Probit Specification
Authors	Nicolas G Vaillant (Presenting Author) from Université Catholique de Lille LEM (umr 8179 cnrs)
Authors	Lisa Bellinghausen from Institut Français d'Action sur le Stress Université Descartes-Paris 5 Laboratoire Neuroscience et Psychologie Cognitive (UMR 8189 CNRS)
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 4 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	During last decades, work production and organisation conditions have greatly changed in developed countries. For several years, workers are subjected to new demands due to evolutions in the job market (a high unemployment rate, increased job instability,…). This evolution is translated by an intensification of work, constraints in terms of rhythm, greater versatility, etc. In parallel to this transformation of work, health burdens and problems caused by the professional environment are increasing in all sectors of activity. Physical stress and psychological stress, responsible for a growing number of work-related health problems, are growing. Our analysis uses data from French private firms. The survey was carried out in 2005 among 10,226 people aged 18 and over. It contains information about personal characteristics of respondents and questions on perceived stress. More precisely, we use the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond and Snaith, 1983), made up of 14 ordered categorical indicators. We compute a global stress indicator, estimated using a random effects ordered Probit model by a maximum likelihood method. The specification of the econometric model makes it possible to avoid the usual criticism concerning the additive score method (giving a cardinal significance to a cardinal result; equidistance between category bound). The model parameters, category bounds and individual scores related to stress estimated on the basis of maximum likelihood, may be subject to an inter-comparison by conventional tests.
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Longitudinal Changes In Self-reported Health: Evidence From Albania
Authors	Nicolas G Vaillant (Presenting Author) from Université Catholique de Lille LEM (umr 8179 cnrs)
Authors	François-charles Wolff from Université de Nantes LEN
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 5 6 September 2008, from 10.30 to 10.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper investigates the reliability of self-assessed measures of health, using a balanced panel that comprises 12360 observations over the 2002-2004 period. These data were collected in Albania by the World Bank from 2002 to 2004 through the Living Standard Measurement Study project. As the survey includes questions on the usual self-assessed measure of health and on more objective health problems, we combine both types of information to better understand how respondents revise their answers to the self-reported measures over time. The estimation of random effects ordered Probit equations provides two main results. First, differences in self-reported subjective health between individuals are much more important than those over time, suggesting a strong state dependence in subjective health status. Second, our empirical analysis sheds light on the coherence of respondents, both from a subjective and an objective viewpoint; health evolution is influenced by more permanent shock in health than by more transitory illness or injury.
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	The Role Of Lifestyle Patterns In The Choice Of Health-related Products And Services In Hungary
Authors	Beáta Vajda (Presenting Author) from University of Szeged
	Éva Málovics from University of Szeged
	Zoltán Veres from University of Szeged
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Lifestyle-based segmentation, which is also called psychographics, stresses the importance of psychographic criteria as opposed to and besides purely demographic criteria in forming consumer groups. Decisions connected with consuming health-related products (e.g. vitamin products, dietary supplements or whole foods) and services (e.g. medical or alternative care, massage or fitness centres) may be affected by one’s belonging to a group. As the system of medical services concerns the whole society, where every single person is a potential consumer, it is worth wile exploring factors that determine such decisions and behaviour as a buyer – both on the for-profit and the non-profit market. In our research, we wish to find out what explanatory force lifestyle typologies have and whether it is possible to analyse health-related decisions not only based on traditional socio-demographic and status characteristics, but on lifestyle groups as well in Hungary. We launched a two-phase research: we gather information through in-depth interviews on activities and consumption of health-related products and services of people belonging to a lifestyle group ; and intend to discover connections between lifestyle elements and behaviour in medical services through a questionnaire.
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Psychological Pricing: Professional Versus Private Vendors
Author	Tom Van Caneghem (Presenting Author) from Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel University of Antwerp
Session	Parallel Sessions 3 - Stream 4 4 September 2008, from 17.00 to 17.20
Category	Empirical
Abstract	A number of studies in marketing document that an abnormally large number of retail prices fall just below a round price. This finding has been labeled psychological pricing and is widely believed to boost sales. In this study, we further elaborate on this issue by performing a digital analysis on prices of second-hand cars. Unlike prior studies that only consider prices of professional vendors, we also explore prices of private vendors in our analyses. Our results show that psychological (round) prices are significantly more prevalent among professional (private) vendors. The observed dominance of zeroes among prices of private vendors tallies with humans’ reliance upon cognitive reference points (i.e. prior evidence shows that multiples of ten serve as cognitive reference points with a view to perceiving and evaluating numbers). Quite similarly, our findings suggest that private vendors tend to round the numbers of kilometers they post, whereas professional vendors provide more accurate numbers of kilometers. Last but not least, we report some evidence consistent with professional vendors strategically setting their sales prices just below pre-defined price thresholds that can be used to narrow search results.
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Favouritism Practices At A Young Age: Evidence From The Field
Authors	Jeroen Van De Ven (Presenting Author) from University of Amsterdam
Authors	Michele Belot from University of Essex
Session	Parallel Sessions 6- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 16.20 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This paper investigates favouritism practices among children, and in particular, examines the role of friendships and position in the social network in these practices. Using experimental data from school children in Belgium, we investigate whether children favour some of their peers above others, that is, whether they treat them better on grounds that are not related to merit or performance. We consider a situation where a group of children is involved in an activity where performance (and therefore merit) depends largely on effort, is measured precisely and is observed by everyone. Children are then asked to favour one of their peers. The experiments involved school children of different age groups (6-7 year olds and 11-12 year olds). We find that younger children are much more likely to favour unfairly some of their peers than older children. Older children choose to favour the best performing child in 75% of the cases against 50% for the younger ones.
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	Weber, Work Ethic And Well-being
Authors	André Van Hoorn (Presenting Author) from Radboud University Nijmegen
Authors	Robbert Maseland from Radboud University Nijmegen
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Ever since Weber published his seminal work on the relation between a Protestant ethic and capitalism, people have been trying to validate his thesis empirically. A large stream of recent work has turned to religious values to explain social and economic developments (e.g. Barro and McCleary, ASR, 2003; Granato, Inglehart and Leblang, AJPS, 1996; Guiso, Sapienza and Zingales, JME, 2003). Generally this work suffers from important weaknesses: it ignores criticism of values survey data (Clarke et al., APSR 1999; Davis, Dowley and Silver. AJPS, 1999; Maseland and van Hoorn, JIBS, forthcoming) and pays only scant attention to the mechanisms through which religion is supposed to affect socio-economic outcomes. This paper presents a test of Weber’s original thesis that addresses both limitations of previous research. We note that Weber’s thesis is about a relation between a Protestant ethic and a capitalist spirit, rather than economic performance directly. This paper establishes such a relation between individual Protestantism, the historical dominance of Protestantism in a country, and work ethic, paying attention to differences between various sub-denominations. To address some of the problems associated with values surveys data, we follow an alternative procedure for measuring a work ethic. Specifically, we build on a large literature that finds work or having a job matters for mental welfare. Using cross-country data from the World Values Survey (WVS) we subsequently assess the religion-specific psychic costs of unemployment. Our analysis provides strong support for Weber’s original thesis: for individual Protestants as well as Protestant countries, not having a job is associated with substantially larger negative well-being effects than for other religious denominations. This provides a clear channel through which religion is related to socio-economic and social and economic outcomes.
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Safe And Familiar Or A Rational Risk. The Influence Of Asperger Syndrome Characteristics On Exploratory Consumer Behaviour And Impulse Buying.
Authors	W. Fred Van Raaij (Presenting Author) from Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Authors	Tjerk H. Baas from Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 3 4 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The Asperger syndrome is a complex autism syndrome leading to restrictions in (non) verbal communication, acquisition and maintenance of social contacts and imagination. It may also negatively affect exploratory consumer behaviour and impulse buying. Exploratory consumer behaviour is the tendency to explore and try new products and the tendency of impulse buying. In this study we use the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Exploration Tendency in Consumer Behavior Scales (ETCBS) and the Impulse Behavior Tendency scale (IBT). Participants were 93 persons, of which 34 persons had an AQ score indicating the Asperger syndrome. These 34 persons were specifically selected for this study because of their high scores on the AQ scale. ETCBS and IBT were used as dependent variables in multiple regression analyses to be explained by AQ and sociodemographic variables such as gender, age and educational level. The results show that higher AQ scores, indicating the Asperger syndrome, lead to lower tendencies for exploratory behaviour (ETCBS) and lower levels of impulse buying (IBT), supporting our hypotheses.
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Behavioural Aspects Of Project Management Optimality
Author	Gerhardus Van Zyl (Presenting Author) from Professor in Economics; Dept of Economics & Econometrics; University of Johannesburg; RSA
Session	Parallel Sessions 9- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 14.40 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Aim of the paper: The aim of the paper is to introduce a project management efficiency model in order to identify and rank the driving forces for optimal project management. The results of the model will also demonstrate how project management acts as the primary function to enhance organisational performance, codified through improved logical end-state programmes, work ethics and process contributions. Literature study: In the literature study specific attention was given to portfolios, programmes, project teams, a project-management office, the project management maturity model and types of organisational structures for project management. This did enable the author to compile a questionarre that would include all the important aspects of project management best practices. Research design A survey was designed to facilitate the conversion of responses into data points in order to transfer them easily into a database and then interpret them with the assistance of a statistical package called SPSS version 11 for windows. In terms of the SPSS package the data results were tested by employing the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and the establishment of a covariance matrix in which a reliability analysis can be performed. A power function was then specified in order to determine the average elasticity’s of the six efficiency categories (independent variables). The average elasticity’s would indicate the relative magnitude of the impact of a specific category on the efficiency of project management. Empirical results From the estimated results it was clear that organisational support (an elasticity coefficient of 8.44), access to resources needed to execute projects (an elasticity coefficient of 6.74) and adequacy of human resources (an elasticity coefficient of 6.11) have a marked impact on the efficiency of project management. The other three categories of project management have a far lesser impact on project management efficiency.
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	Implicit And Explicit Changes Following Subtle And Blatant Advertisings.
Authors	Michelangelo Vianello (Presenting Author) from University of Padua
	Elisa M. Galliani from University of Padua
	Nicola A. De Carlo from University of Padua
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 10.10 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This study investigated the different effectiveness of subtle and blatant advertisings on implicit and explicit attitudes. Generally speaking, a persuasive message is assimilated when it is followed by a congruent change of attitude, whereas contrast occurs when the same persuasive message is followed by a change in the opposite direction. According to many theories (e.g. Wegener & Petty, 1995), contrast effects are the result of an individual “correction” of the effect of the persuasive message. As a consequence, correction processes are more likely to happen when the individual perceive and over-estimate the strength of the persuasive attempt. In 1999, Glaser and Banaji demonstrated that correction processes can occur unconsciously, thus in this contribution we hypothesized that subtle advertising produces assimilation of persuasive messages, whereas blatant advertising produces contrast, both in explicit and implicit attitudes. Further, given the nature of implicit attitudes (cf. Strack & Deutsch, 2004), we hypothesized that implicit attitude changes would be short-term in nature, whereas explicit changes would last longer. 62 psychology undergraduate students were involved in the study for no reward. Participants were chosen according to their preference toward one of two major brands of cola. We used a mixed factorial design, manipulating between subjects the type of advertising that participants watched (subtle, blatant, and control) and within subjects the time in which measures were taken. The study followed a pre – post – test design with a follow-up (third session) after 48 hours. Results generally supported our hypotheses. The subtle advertising was assimilated explicitly, while the blatant advertising had no effect. Explicit assimilation even increased after 48 hours. In addition, we observed that the blatant advertising produced an implicit contrast, which disappeared after 48 hours. These results provide evidence that subtle advertising may be more effective than blatant advertising, which can sometimes be counterproductive.
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	Human Capital And Educational Investment: The Resource In The Blended E-learning.
Authors	Antonino Callea from lumsa university
	Valeria Caggiano from lumsa university
	Ludovica Visca (Presenting Author) from lumsa university
	Antonio Chirumbolo from università desgli studi di Chieti e Pescara
Session	Parallel Sessions 4- Stream 7 5 September 2008, from 10.20 to 10.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Nowadays, company competition more linked to the intangible resources and less to the tangible and economic ones; the intangible characterizes each product or service and thus is an advantage for the company (Levy, 2003). The intangible good is represented by the advantage that it offers to the beneficiary and can be quantified by performance and not by material attributes (Pedon, Sprega, 2008). The intellectual capital is an intricate concept because it considers several different organizational and individual aspects (Locatelli, 2007); according to Sveiby's (1997) model it is necessary to distinguish the relational, structural and human capital. The most important human capital indicator is the ability of the company to create know how and intangible products that can give benefits in a middle to short time. In order to implement human capital, companies need to invest in educational classes that differ both in the variety of specific themes studied during the courses of the companies (Scaratti, Kaneklin, 2004), and also in the tools supplied for the course. This research aims to verify the companies' investment in education in order to increase and implement human capital. The sample is represented by companies that operate in the Rome area. The tool we used is a questionnaire that evaluates companies' investment in education, grade of satisfaction of the participants in the research and the possible future investments. The early results demonstrate that there is an interest in the educational investment that has a preference for blended e-learning, that is, mixed courses that allow to use several educational tools in order to satisfy the companies' educational demands.
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	Relative Coding Of Value In The Brain.
Authors	Ivo Vlaev (Presenting Author) from Department of Psychology University College London
	Ben Seymour from Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience Institute of Neurology University College London
	Ray Dolan from Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience Institute of Neurology University College London
	Nick Chater from Department of Psychology University College London
Session	Parallel Sessions 2- Stream 7 4 September 2008, from 15.00 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Estimating the financial value of pain informs issues as diverse as the market price of analgesics, the cost-effectiveness of clinical treatments, compensation for injury, and the response to public hazards. Such costs are assumed to reflect a stable trade-off between relief of discomfort and money. However, people are alarmingly susceptible to manipulations that change both their expectations and experience of the value of goods. Recent studies in behavioural economics suggest such variability reflects more than mere caprice, as people commonly judge options and prices in relative terms, rather than absolutely. Here, using an auction-based health market experiment, we show the price people pay for relief of pain is strongly determined by the local context of the market, determined either by recent intensities of pain, or their immediately disposable income, but not overall wealth. The absence of a stable valuation metric suggests that the dynamic behaviour of health markets is not predictable from the static behaviour of individuals. We conclude that our result is evidence for adaptive encoding—an important principle about reward processing in the brain, which postulates that relative valuation is necessary to represent values accurately given the limits of neuronal coding.
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	Power And Responsibility In The Production Of A Public Good
Authors	Friedel Bolle from Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)
Authors	Claudia Vogel (Presenting Author) from Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 1 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	We want to investigate with an experiment, how the power to allocate working hours or other resources or a budget is used. The allocator could pursue egoistic goals as increasing his income or social goals as increasing the society’s income and/or creating a just income distribution. The moral meaning of responsibility requires a powerful person to pursue social goals. In our study we wanted to test the consequences of responsibility in a Public Good Environment. Therefore, after playing a common Public Good game (for becoming familiar with and understanding the problem), one group member (the allocator) was chosen to decide for all members over their contributions. The question is how the subjects will use their power. Will they exploit the situation to their own favour? Will they do the best for the group? Or will their decision depend on behaviour in the preceding Public Good Game. In our first treatment of the experiment, the process of choosing the allocator varied from phase to phase. The allocator was chosen randomly or by voting within the group. In the second treatment the allocator was randomly chosen in all phases in order to keep apart the different effects from the process of choosing and repetition influences. The results from the Public Good Game in stages 1 confirm the results from former studies. In stage 2 with its powerful allocator, different motives play a role. Over the time, the allocator becomes more and more egoistic, while punishment motives lose their influence. It seems to be plausible that this is due to the repetition and not due to the process of choosing the allocator (We had expected an elected allocator to act more responsible than a random one). Further experiments will clarify this relationship.
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Development Of A Standardized Inventory To Measure Voluntary Tax Compliance, Enforced Tax Compliance, Tax Avoidance, And Tax Evasion
Authors	Ingrid Wahl (Presenting Author) from University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology
	Erich Kirchler from University of Vienna
	Martina Hartner from University of Vienna
	Silvia Rechberger from University of Vienna
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 14.50 to 15.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	A bulk of empirical research on tax behavior and compliance used quite modest methods to assess compliance. Frequently, one or few ad hoc questions were used, and different studies applying different questions and answering formats. Moreover, compliance has usually been conceived as a single faceted construct. Recent studies (c.f. Kirchler, 2007), however, show that a distinction between facets of compliance is needed. Compliance can be spontaneous and people cooperate voluntarily or deliberately enforced (Kirchler, Hoelzl, & Wahl, 2008). The outcome of voluntary and enforced compliance is similar for the public revenue, however, underlying motives differ. In the case of reduced tax payments dishonest tax behavior can either consist of legal deductions (i.e., tax avoidance) or illegal deductions (i.e., tax evasion). The outcome of tax avoidance and tax evasion is alike for the public revenue, however, citizens evaluate tax avoidance and tax evasion differently (Kirchler, 1998). Having an inventory, which differentiates between enforced and voluntary compliance as well as avoiding, and evading tax behavior is required in order to gain better understanding of tax behavior and underlying forces. In the present study (N = 150 students) 67 newly constructed items recording (a) enforced compliance, (b) voluntary compliance, (c) tax avoidance, and (d) tax evasion will be tested. Firstly, a new inventory consisting four scales, measuring different dimensions of tax behavior, will be constructed and analyzed for dimensionality and reliability using (exploratory and confirmatory) factor analysis and reliability analysis. Secondly, to ensure construct validity of the newly constructed inventory the five dimensions of motivational postures (i.e., commitment, capitulation, disengagement, resistance, and game playing; Braithwaite, 2003), which measure behavior tendencies will be used. We expect positive correlations between the commitment as a motivational posture (i.e., moral obligation to pay taxes) and voluntary tax compliance on the one side, and a strong positive relation between capitulation (i.e., deferring of authorities) and enforced tax compliance. Furthermore, both resistance (i.e., lowering the power of tax authorities) and disengagement (i.e., turning away form authorities) are expected to be positively associated with tax avoidance and tax evasion. For game playing (i.e., modeling laws for own interests) and voluntary compliance we anticipate a negative correlation.
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	Return Policy, Endowment Effect, And Consumption Levels: A Survey And An Experiment In China
Author	Xianghong Wang (Presenting Author) from Renmin University of China
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This study examines how return policy and endowment effect affect consumption levels. Lenient return policy can signal high quality and increase consumers~{!/~} tendency to purchase. Retailers may be concerned that it might result in high returns. Endowment effect, however, can make consumers reluctant to return purchased goods. It is possible that lenient return policies increase consumption levels. Different return policies may have partly contributed to China~{!/~}s high savings rate and America~{!/~}s low savings rate. We report two studies in China, a survey and an experiment, which examine the impact of return policies. In the survey, consumers rated factors that might affect their propensity to consume and indicated how return policy might affect purchasing behavior. Among nine factors that included credit convenience and others, consumers rated lenient return policy most important. Consumers had to give up purchasing opportunities about 40 percent of the time because of uncertainty. Our second study is an experiment that simulated the two stages of purchasing and returning. The return policy was manipulated as Long-return condition, Short-return condition, and No-and-return condition. The No-and-return condition means buyers were first told they could not return goods at purchasing time, but a week later they were told they could return. The results showed that lenient return policies had strong signal effect and increased buyers~{!/~} initial valuation of the goods under Long-return and Short-return conditions compared with the No-and-return condition. Return rate is generally low (about 3%), suggesting endowment effect on buyers after purchasing. Most importantly, even when buyers were warned that returns were not allowed, the same proportion of them did return goods when the policy changed. Lenient policy did not cause higher returns. The combination of signal and endowment effects caused much higher net purchasing rate under lenient return policies.
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To Act Or Not To Act: The Moderating Role Perceptions Of Moral Intensity On Omission And Action Biases
Authors	Gustav Lundberg from Duqesne University and Swedish Scool of Economics and Business Administration
Authors	David Wasieleski (Presenting Author) from Duquesne University
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 15.50 to 16.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Recently, the US Federal Aviation Administration punished Southwest Airlines for failing to respond to long known fleet-maintenance neglect. Similar failures to act on knowledge lead to Ford Motor Company’s Pinto debacle and to NASA’s disastrous cold-weather shuttle launch. Clearly, omission and commission can lead to moral issues for decision makers. Ethicists who focus on the consequences of an act do not distinguish failure to do something to resolve a dilemma from doing something “unethical” to handle the dilemma. Other philosophers see a distinction between action and inaction from a moral viewpoint. To date, these disparate points of view have not been tested empirically. We explore whether omission and action biases may be moderated by a person’s perceived moral intensity (MI) associated with an issue. To examine how individuals perceive the morality of the choice to act or not to act, we utilize Jones’ (1991) MI construct as the independent variable, focusing on the relationship between MI and the intent to act or not to act. We contend that the perceived MI of the issue itself will moderate individual tendencies toward omission and action biases. We test various issue characteristics through the use of four ethical dilemmas, framed either as possessing high or low MI. Following the short vignettes, adapted from the MI and cognitive biases literatures, respondents are asked whether or not they would act. This research project holds potential significance for both the decision sciences/heuristics and the business ethics fields. It is important for ethicists to have greater insights into how perceptions of moral issues affect a person’s impulse to act or to avoid action. The omission/commission literature, in turn, could be informed by the MI construct, potentially illuminating why individuals sometimes decide to take action, and why in other contexts, those same individuals may be biased not to act.
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	Attitudes Towards Money And Well-being
Author	Grazyna Wasowicz-kirylo (Presenting Author) from University of Warsaw, Department of Psychology
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The paper concerns the relationships between subjective well-being (financial and psycho-economic), income, life attitudes and values, motives of financial behaviours and attitudes towards money (ATM) described in five dimensions (CONTROL of Financial Affairs, Financial WELL-BEING and Money Investing, Money as a MEANS, Money as a Source of a Sense of GUILT, and Meaning of Money for the SELF). The first two dimensions concern mostly the cognitive approach to money. The next is connected with a strong focus on current spending of money to satisfy such needs as a comfortable and interesting life. The last two refer to emotions experienced in contact with money that are negative (GUILT) and positive (SELF). The presentation encompasses six studies concerning direct relationships between ATM and the well-being as well as the mediating role of ATM. They were carried out in Poland (2003-2006), on non-representative samples (82-210 persons, aged 18-67 years). The analyses suggest that personal income does not correlate with ATM, with the exception of GUILT, for which a negative correlation was obtained. The existence of a relationship between the ATM and various aspects of well-being was found. E.g. CONTROL is correlated positively with financial well-being, and the emotional dimensions of ATM correlate negatively with it. Moreover, the feeling of GUILT mediates between income and well-being. SELF is related to rejecting social values, which may limit the experience of well-being on the group level. The conduct of systematic research of ATM determinants and its relations to well-being is postulated, from which practical conclusions may be drawn on the directions of action (educational, therapeutic and social) serving to strengthen those aspects of ATM that may assist in the experience of well-being both on the individual and on the social level.
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	Poverty And The Poor In Malaysia: Adolescents' Perspective
Authors	Murnizam Halik from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia
Authors	Paul Webley (Presenting Author) from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Session	Parallel Sessions 5 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 12.40 to 13.00
Category	Empirical
Abstract	This research explores Malaysian schoolchildren's perception of poverty and the poor. The data consisted of 79 semi-structured interviews with school children aged 12-16 years old from rural and urban areas in Sabah, Malaysia. In line with other psychology of poverty research, their responses about the causes of poverty can be categorised as individualistic, structural, fatalistic and other factors (such as age, geography, land and encouragement). Older respondents from rural and urban areas gave more individualistic and structural attributions compared to the younger respondents. While they believed that government is most responsible to help the poor, other parties such as the poor, public and NGOâ€™s should also work together to alleviate poverty. Respondents acknowledged that hard work and education are important to improve their standard of living. However, education is regarded as a ticket to seek their fortune elsewhere. These results emphasised the need for the Malay adolescents to learn about not being dependent on the government for employment in order to avoid mass urban migration in the near future.
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Pc Skills Attitudes And Their Influence On Pc Skills Acquiring In The Achieving Society
Author	Patrik Weiss (Presenting Author) from Institute of Psychology, Charles University Prague
Session	Parallel Sessions 8- Stream 7 6 September 2008, from 12.30 to 12.40
Category	Theoretical Empirical
Abstract	The paper presents and discusses findings from psychological research in Czech general population (N=1606) focused on level of PC skills and attitudes to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). PC skills seem to be one of the most important success factors in career development and/or in executing everyday job duties. There are significant differences in attitudes between the group of people with higher level of PC skills (more positive attitudes) and the group of people with lower level of PC skills. There seems to be a “vicious cycle” caused by psychological barriers (negative attitudes) preventing people with lower level of PC skills to start learning and working with PCs and other ICT. Other part of quantitative research (N=1023) indorses findings from previous pilot research, that there exist significant differences between the group of people younger than 55 years (higher level of PC skills), who usually had opportunities to use the PCs in their childhood or in the first half of working life, and the group of people older than 55 years who could firstly meet with PC in their later adulthood (the PC phenomena generally spread in the 90’s of the twentieth century). The possible solutions (e.g. utilization of mental models, selection of appropriate learning method according to the user’s personality and cognitive style), the pros and cons, and effectiveness of the most often occurring ways of the PC skills acquiring in the adulthoods are discussed.
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	The Political Economy Of Mass Media: A Social-cognitive Approach
Author	Ulrich Witt (Presenting Author) from Max Planck Institute of Economics Jena, Germany
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 5 5 September 2008, from 11.10 to 11.30
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	Knowledge, beliefs, values, tastes people hold, and, after all, the choices they make emerge from the continuously processed information which they acquire through own experience, observation of, and communication with, other agents. While in most of human history observational learning and communication were basically tied to some form of locally bounded face-to-face interaction, this has changed dramatically since the occurrence of mass media -- press, motion pictures, radio, television, and most recently, the Internet. Overcoming the selectivity of decentralized communication via face-to-face interactions, these media are able to simultaneously provide the same information to large numbers of individual recipients. In the long debate on the role and effects of mass media in the social sciences in general and püolitical economy in particular (cf., e.g., Lippmann 1922, Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet 1944, Orr 1987, Herman and Chomsky 1988) the nexus between information disseminated by the mass media on the one hand and opinion formation and, eventually, the choices people make on the other hand has always been a matter of controversy. Concerns have been raised as to whether the mass media can lead to more or less subtle forms of manipulation. By mass dissemination of biased information not only political but also economic vested interests could try to utilize the media to their advantage. Many empirical insights on such a nexus have been gained in a huge number of case studies, statistical analyses, and experiments in research on mass communication (DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach 1989, Lowery and DeFleur 1995). However, the basic concerns about the effects of the mass media in political economy are still an unresolved issue. In part, this may be due to the fact that the theoretical underpinnings of these analyses are still rather rudimentary. In this paper, an attempt will therefore be made to elaborate the theoretical underpinnings by drawing on social-cognitive learning theory (Bandura 1986). The key feature in the suggested perspective on the mass media is that the mass provision of information by large numbers of media operating in parallel has lead to an information overflow on he part of the potential recipients. As a consequence, what information the potential recipients indeed process, and what not, is determined by highly selective attention allocation processes. The latter, in turn, result in scarcity of, and competition for, individual attention paid to information emitted by the mass media. Attentional processes are guided by automatisms of the human cognitive apparatus (Anderson 2000, chap. 3) and are thus – unlike in many other cases of resolving scarcity problems – not a matter of rational choice. The implications of this fact provide the basis for discussing the political economy of the mass media in this paper, using the case of direct and indirect effects of competitive advertisement and commercial information emission as an example. Anderson, J.R. (2000), Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications. San Francisco: Worth Publishers, 4th edit. Bandura, A. (1986), Social Foundations of Thought and Action - A Social Cognitive Theory, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. DeFleur, M.L., Ball-Rokeach, S.J. (1989), Theories of Mass Communication. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman. Herman, E., Chomsky, N. (1988), Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon. Lazarsfeld, P.F., Berelson, B., Gaudet, H. (1944), The People's Choice. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. Lippmann, W. (1922), Public Opinion. New York: Macmillan. Lowery, S.A., DeFleur, M.L. (1995), Milestones in Mass Communication Research. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman. Orr, D. (1987), Notes on the Mass Media as an Economic Institution. Public Choice, Vol.53, 79-95.
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	Junk Food, Home Cooking And Obesity: The Effect Of The Fat Tax And The Thin Subsidy
Authors	Odelia Rosin from Department of Economics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
	Yossef Tobol from Department of Economics and Business, Ariel University Center, Ariel, Israel
	Gideon Yaniv (Presenting Author) from Department of Economics, COM Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion, Israel
Session	Parallel Sessions 7 - Stream 2 6 September 2008, from 9.30 to 9.50
Category	Theoretical
Abstract	In an effort to reduce the growing prevalence of obesity, a tax on junk foods, known as ‘fat tax’, has been proposed, the revenue from which could be used to finance a ‘thin subsidy’ for healthy foods or exercising equipment. While at the moment there is no fat tax operating in the world, the idea is under active consideration by public health scholars and practitioners in several countries. The present paper addresses the fat tax and thin subsidy within a food-intake rational-choice model. Assuming that healthy meals are cooked at home with purchased ingredients and time input, the paper examines the effects on obesity of a tax on junk-food meals and a subsidy to cooking ingredients, distinguishing between a weight-conscious and a weight-unconscious individual, and between a weight-conscious individual who is physically active and physically inactive. The results show that for a weight-unconscious or a weight-conscious individual who is physically inactive, a fat tax will unambiguously reduce obesity, but a thin subsidy may increase obesity. The reason for this is that while the substitution effect of the subsidy acts to increase the purchase of cooking ingredients (at the expense of junk-food meals), the income effect acts to increase leisure (if it is a normal good), reducing the time left for cooking. However, for a weight-conscious individual who is physically active, even a fat tax may increase obesity! This is so because a fat tax will reduce not just the consumption of junk food, but also the time devoted to physical activity. The paper explores conditions on the parameters of the model under which obesity will rise, fall, or remain intact following the introduction of a fat tax or a thin subsidy.
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	Moral Judgment Of Economic Behavior Under Risk In Relation To Moral Emotions
Authors	Tadeusz Tyszka from Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management, Warsaw, Poland
Authors	Tomasz Zaleskiewicz (Presenting Author) from Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 6 - Stream 2 5 September 2008, from 14.30 to 14.50
Category	Empirical
Abstract	In this paper we explore the association between moral judgment of economic behavior under risk and moral emotions. Our previous research showed that people differently react to the quantitative risk parameters (outcomes and probabilities) in their moral judgments. When judging the immorality of some economic behaviors they act as if they were consequentialists using the values of risk parameters, while in other cases they act as if they were deontologists and completely ignore quantitative information. In the present studies we tested the hypothesis that people’s sensitivity to outcomes and probabilities in moral judgment under risk is related to the strength of affect evoked by the immoral behavior. In particular, we expected that people tend to make deontological judgments when they experience stronger negative emotions. In Study 1 we tested the association between moral judgment and three self-oriented moral emotions (shame, guilt, embarrassment) using four economic scenarios associated with moral issues. Study 2 focused on the relation between moral judgment and three others-oriented moral feelings (anger, disgust, contempt) in the same four scenarios. Results of both studies confirmed the hypotheses. Violating the norm in those scenarios where moral judgments were consistent with the deontological position evoked stronger negative emotions (both self-oriented and others-oriented) than in scenarios where judgments were consistent with the consequentialist position. This suggests that people take the deontological position when a stronger moral norm is violated, and the consequentialist position when a weaker norm is violated. It is also possible that deontological judgments are produced by the affective system of thought, whereas consequentialist judgments are the product of the rational system of thought.
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	Power And Consumer Preferences
Author	Anna Maria Zawadzka (Presenting Author) from University of Gdañsk, Gdañsk, Poland
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 2 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The study is based on Higgins’s Theory of Regulatory Focus (1994, 2002) and on the research done by Keltner, Guenfeld and Anderson (2003). They showed that increase in power is linked with approach-related tendencies whereas decrease in power is linked with inhibition-related approach. The study answers the following questions: does power influence consumer preferences, and how? Two experiments were carried out (exp1 N=103, exp2=87). The design of the experiments is 2x power status (low vs. high). The dependent variables are: level of materialism (exp1) and luxury brand preferences (exp2). The participants in high power status group had higher level of materialism and preferred luxury brands more than the participants in low power status group. The conclusion from both experiments is that power influences consumer preferences.
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	Who Cares About Dads In Ads And Why? Gender Similarities And Differences In Effectiveness And Elaboration Of Advertisements Which Use (non)traditional Male Portrayals.
Authors	Magdalena J. Zawisza (Presenting Author) from The University of Winchester, UK
Authors	Marco Cinnirella from Royal Holloway, University of London
Session	Parallel Sessions 4 - Stream 3 5 September 2008, from 9.50 to 10.10
Category	Empirical
Abstract	The outcomes of an experiment investigating gender similarities and differences in the effectiveness and elaboration of (non)traditional male portrayals in mock print advertisements for orange juice is reported. Ad effectiveness and elaboration were tested in relation to gender attitudes separately for women (n=108) and men (n=106). The participants were students from Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Winchester, UK. The experiment followed a 2 (ad type: traditional vs non-traditional) x2 (argument strength: strong vs weak) x2 (gender attitude: traditional vs liberal) mixed factorial design where the former two variables were within subjects factors and the third one was a between subjects factor. A 3-way ANOVA was conducted on message elaboration (thought number) and various indicators of ad effectiveness (affective and cognitive responses to the ads and purchase intent). Gender attitudes were measured with the Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory (Glick and Fiske,1999) and a median split was used to divide participants into Liberals and Traditionals. The main findings were that: 1) paternalistic ad strategies (non-traditional Househusband portrayals) were relatively more effective than envious ones (traditional Businessman portrayals), supporting the Stereotype Content Model (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002) for both genders (they triggered more positive affective and cognitive responses in both men and women); 2) the match hypothesis, predicting more favorable responses to ads which match one’s gender attitudes, was not supported; 3) the ‘watchdog hypothesis’ (Devine, 1989), that Liberals elaborate the message coming from a non-traditional source to a greater extent than Traditionals, held for females only: female Liberals, compared to Traditionals, responded with a greater number of thoughts to the Househusband ad when it was accompanied by weak arguments. These gender differences were congruent with the selectivity hypothesis (Meyers-Levy, 1989). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Traders Psychology And Blood Pressure May Have Correlation With Daily Stock Market Dynamics.
Authors	Anatoly M Zhirkov (Presenting Author) from Saint-Petersburg State University
	Kirill Chertkov from Harmony and life Association
	Olga Zhirkova from Saint-Petersburg State University
	Kirill Zhirkov from Saint-Petersburg State University
	Andrey Khlopushin from Saint-Petersburg State University
Session	Parallel Sessions 2 - Stream 6 4 September 2008, from 16.10 to 16.30
Category	Empirical
Abstract	Complex system theory may be effective tool to research connection between individual traders psychology and psychology of stock market. Earlier this year we presented data about interconnection between stock market and brokers’ blood pressure complex parameters (Zhirkov‘s phenomenon) (3 INSC,2008). The aim of this work was to research some mechanisms of this connection . We examined dynamics of stock markets (SM) as Dow (DJI), S&P (US) and RTS (RUS) indices daily moving and blood pressure (BP) of male brokers of different age in Saint-Petersburg during RTS and NY stock sessions. Psychological tests for emotions estimation were used before and after stock session. We had shown correlation between stock market dynamics and BP. Parameters of correlation were non linear. The higher correlation of parameters was revealed for quick movement of SM. They depend on brokers age, day of the week and emotional parameters of psychological tests and BP level. There was not strong correlation between psychology parameters and group stock session results self-appraisal. It was mentioned in recent publications that psychological factors may determine professional decisions and the same mechanisms are well known in BP regulation. Recently data about influence of sex and stress hormones levels of traders was published. Our psychological research match this point of view. More investigations are necessary to explore mechanisms of Zhirkov‘s phenomenon better. Latest publications about common mathematical laws of finance and biology systems functions may be used for this purpose. The first results show that researching connection between of brokers’ hypertension and stock markets should be an important part of the investigation.
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