/pdf/the-theory-of-industrial-organization-19bejph0ej.pdf

The Theory of Industrial Organization

In the Hamadryas baboon, males are substantially larger than females. A troop of baboons is subdivided into a number of ‘one-male groups’, consisting of one adult male and one or more females with their young. The male prevents any of ‘his’ females from moving too far from him. Kummer (1971) performed the following experiment. Two males, A and B, previously unknown to each other, were placed in a large enclosure. Male A was free to move about the enclosure, but male B was shut in a small cage, from which he could observe A but not interfere. A female, unknown to both males, was then placed in the enclosure. Within 20 minutes male A had persuaded the female to accept his ownership. Male B was then released into the open enclosure. Instead of challenging male A , B avoided any contact, accepting A’s ownership.

Evolution and the Theory of Games

Does culture have a causal effect on economic development? The data on European regions suggest that it does. Culture is measured by indicators of individual values and beliefs, such as trust and respect for others, and confidence in individual self determination. To isolate the exogenous variation in culture, we rely on two historical variables used as instruments: the literacy rate at the end of the 19th century, and the political institutions in place over the past several centuries. The political and social history of Europe provides a rich source of variation in these two variables at a regional level. The exogenous component of culture due to history is strongly correlated with current regional economic development, after controlling for contemporaneous education, urbanization rates around 1850, and national effects. (JEL: O10, F10, P10, N13)

https://www.ifs.org.uk/conferences/tabellini.pdf

Culture and institutions: economic development in the regions of europe

The Theory of Monopolistic Competition.

We present simple one-shot distribution experiments comparing the relative importance of efficiency concerns, maximin preferences, and inequality aversion, as well as the relative performance of the fairness theories by Gary E Bolton and Axel Ockenfels and by Ernst Fehr and Klaus M. Schmidt. While the Fehr-Schmidt theory performs better in a direct comparison, this appears to be due to being in line with maximin preferences. More importantly, we find that a combination of efficiency concerns, maximin preferences, and selfishness can rationalize most of the data while the Bolton-Ockenfels and Fehr-Schmidt theories are unable to explain important patterns.

/pdf/inequality-aversion-efficiency-and-maximin-preferences-in-36n0oysm2h.pdf

Inequality Aversion, Efficiency and Maximin Preferences in Simple Distribution experiments

Background and Purpose Previous work has shown that rates of cerebral microemboli downstream of high-grade internal carotid artery stenosis are higher in recently symptomatic compared with asymptomatic patients. In addition, microembolic rates decline after carotid endarterectomy. We conducted a prospective investigation of 40 consecutive asymptomatic or recently symptomatic patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy for 70% to 95% internal carotid artery stenosis to determine the relationship between microembolic rate and pathoanatomic features of the carotid plaque. Methods Transcranial Doppler monitoring including automated emboli detection was performed preoperatively to assess the rate of cerebral microemboli of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery. The corresponding endarterectomy specimens were evaluated histologically with respect to the occurrence of plaque fissuring, intraplaque hemorrhage, plaque ulceration, or intraluminal thrombosis. Results There were strong associations between plaque ulc...

Plaque Ulceration and Lumen Thrombus Are the Main Sources of Cerebral Microemboli in High-grade Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis

We report on the results of a large-scale field experiment that enables us to test for consistency with utility-maximizing behavior and to investigate the correlation between individual behavior and demographic and economic characteristics. We conducted the experiment with the CentERpanel (a representative sample of over 2,000 Dutch households), using procedures similar to those used by Choi, et al. (2007b) in a setting with risk. We find a high level of consistency in the individual-level decisions. There is also considerable heterogeneity in subjects’ consistency scores. High-income and high-education subjects display greater levels of consistency. Men are more consistent than women, and young subjects are more consistent than those who

Who is (more) rational

https://homepage.univie.ac.at/wieland.mueller/publications/geb_2001_equal_splits.pdf

The Relevance of Equal Splits in Ultimatum Games

We report on an experiment designed to compare Stackelberg and Cournot duopoly markets with quantity competition. We implement both a random matching and a fixed-pairs version for each market. Stackelberg markets yield, regardless of the matching scheme, higher outputs than Cournot markets and, thus, higher efficiency. For Cournot markets, we replicate a pattern known from previous experiments. There is stable equilibrium play under random matching and partial collusion under fixed pairs. We also find, for Stackelberg markets, that competition becomes less intense when firms remain in pairs but we find considerable deviations from the subgame perfect equilibrium prediction which can be attributed to an aversion to disadvantageous inequality.

/pdf/stackelberg-beats-cournot-on-collusion-and-efficiency-in-14f269issm.pdf

Stackelberg Beats Cournot — On Collusion and Efficiency in Experimental Markets

This paper reports the results of experiments designed to test the theory of the optimal composition of prizes in contests. In the aggregate the behavior of subjects is consistent with that predicted by the theory, but we find that such aggregate results mask an unexpected compositional effect on the individual level. Whereas theory predicts that subject efforts are continuous and increasing functions of ability, the actual efforts of our laboratory subjects bifurcate. Lowability workers drop out and exert little or no effort, and high-ability workers try too hard. This bifurcation, which is masked by aggregation, can be explained by assuming loss aversion on the part of the subjects. (JEL: C92, D44, D72, D82, J31)

/pdf/workaholics-and-dropouts-in-organizations-2tpgktxa11.pdf

Wieland Müller

Papers

Plaque Ulceration and Lumen Thrombus Are the Main Sources of Cerebral Microemboli in High-grade Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis

Who is (more) rational

The Relevance of Equal Splits in Ultimatum Games

Stackelberg Beats Cournot — On Collusion and Efficiency in Experimental Markets

Workaholics and Dropouts in Organizations