WEAI 2018 Annual Conference Summary

Summary Description
SABE Sessions at the WEAI 2018 Annual Conference

The 93rd Annual conference of the Western Economic Association International (WEAI) took place in Vancouver, British Columbia from June 26 to 30, 2018. The Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE) organized 11 sessions during this conference.

Scholars came from many institutions across the U.S. (Appalachian State University, Carleton College, City College of New York, Eastern Michigan University, Kent State University, Manhattan College, Morningstar, Skidmore College, Santa Clara University, Seattle University, The New School, University of Central Oklahoma, United States Military Academy, Wharton School-University of Pennsylvania) as well as from across the globe (Ariel University, Corvinus University of Budapest, Halle Institute for Economic Research-Germany, Hang Seng Management College, Institut de Science Financier et Actuarielle, Keiai, University, Nanyang Technological University, STATEC Luxembourg, University of Hamburg, University of Innsbruck, University of Magdeburg, University of Newcastle, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, University of Warwick, Vienna University of Economics and Business).

In the 11 sessions, over 39 papers were presented. Session titles included:

  • Honesty, Self-Serving Beliefs, and Deception
  • Field Experiments
  • Cooperation, Public Goods, and Guilt
  • Gender
  • Extensions to the Standard Choice Model
  • Cooperation, Comparisons, and Social Responsibility
  • Happiness, Mood, and Productivity
  • Power, Competition, and Order Effects
  • Markets, Competition, and Information
  • Preferences, Financial Decision-Making, and Decision Architecture
  • Climate, the Environment, and Generational Cohorts

Respectfully Submitted,

John Ifcher
Western U.S. Representative, the SABE
Associate Professor of Economics, Santa Clara University

Call for Papers: JBEP Special Issue on “Heuristics in Organizations and Society”

Herbert Simon Society Presents
International Conference
Heuristics in Organizations and Society

Turin, 13 rd – 14 th December, 2018
Collegio Carlo Alberto

The Herbert Simon Society brings together cognitive scientists, economists, social scientists and philosophers aiming to renew the fundamental concepts of rationality and social action. Starting from the seminal work of Herbert A. Simon in economics, psychology, computer science, organizational theory, philosophy of science, the HSS wishes to tackle the current debate about the crisis of economic and social rationality, the alternative architectures of mind, the mind-brain relations and the simulation of creativity.

  • Send an abstract (up to 800 words) by 29th September 2018
  • Deadline for Conference Registration: 31st October 2018

Paper must be sent to: callforpapers@herbertsimonsociety.org

 

For more information: herbertsimonsociety.org

Call for Papers: JBEP Special Issue on “Behavioral Economics of the Unseen”

Can economists pry into the depths of the human heart?

Homo Economicus started life as a superhuman abstraction, a useful simplification for economists concerned only with externally observable behavior. Over time, the cold, calculating, cardboard cutout of a person it embodied began to be confused for a model of what people actually do.  In recent decades, behavioral economics has returned to the normative cast of H. Economicus to support the view that humans’ in-built decision-making processes, based as they are on all manner of warm-blooded factors, are biased and need correction.

As economic explorations of altruism, self-esteem, honour, shame, and other unseen psychological factors have proliferated in recent years, the discipline has edged closer to a formal accounting of the unseen motivators that drive human decision-making.  Yet a formal accounting is still a long way from being realized, because few have been prepared to think and theorize deeply about the complex and unseen ideals, commitments, loves, and allegiances nestled in the hearts of human decision makers.  The current state of economists’ understanding of how such factors play into real decision making is largely empirically driven, but not formalised into coherent systems of thought – and thus all but useless to policy-makers.  As economists, we can do better.

This Special Issue seeks papers that consider the relevance of such unseen, typically unmeasured, yet innately human factors to productivity and welfare, and hence to policy.  Included papers might look at the role of tax-paying morale in sustaining modern economies; the mechanisms through which the state can increase or decrease a population’s loyalty towards pro-social or nationalistic ideals, and the impact of this on economic efficiency; the role of education policy in delivering workers complete with internal punishment systems to promote honest behavior; or the primary mechanisms related to how love and loyalty arise, and to what economic uses they can be put by governments and organizations more broadly.  The goal of the issue is to inform the identification of unifying, pragmatic, and policy-relevant ways for economists to appraise humans’ unseen, warm-blooded motivations.

Guest editor, Gigi Foster (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia).

Please send an abstract of 500 or fewer words to Gigi Foster at gigi.foster@unsw.edu.au.

Submission deadline: Oct 31 2018.

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

Psy-Games Workshop and Summer School in “Modelling Emotions with Economic Theory”

Dear all,

We are writing to announce (1) a Workshop, (2) a Graduate Student Summer School on the topic of Psychological Game Theory:

Psychological Game Theory is a formal framework for studying strategic interaction when players have belief-dependent motivations. The framework was first introduced by Geanakoplos, Pearce & Stacchetti (1989, GEB) and further developed by Battigalli & Dufwenberg (2009, JET). It has proved useful in modelling intentions-based reciprocity (the pioneer application, due to Rabin 1993, AER), emotions (e.g. anger, guilt, regret, disappointment, anxiety) and concern with others’ opinion (e.g. social respect).

The topic of the 2018 edition of the Psy-Games Workshop & Summer School will be “Modeling Emotions with Economic Theory”.


3rd Workshop on Psychological Game Theory

25-27 July 2018, Atrium Kircherianum, Soleto (Apulia, South of Italy)

Keynote speakers:

  • Pierpaolo Battigalli  (Bocconi University)
  • Gary Charness  (University of California Santa Barbara)
  • Giorgio Coricelli (University of California Los Angeles)
  • Martin Dufwenberg  (University of Arizona & University of Gothenburg)
  • Werner Güth (LUISS Rome & Max Planck Institute Bonn)
  • Christian Ruff  (University of Zúrich)
  • Marie-Claire Villeval  (University of Lyon)

Call for papers:

  • To submit a paper for the workshop email a pdf of the abstract or full paper to giuseppe.attanasi@univ-lille1.fr by 30th April 2018.
  • Maximum number of attendants: 40 presenters.
  • The workshop fee is 200 €.

The Workshop has received funding by SABE (Society for the Advancement in Behavioural Economics) and IAREP (International Association for Research in Economic Psychology).


SABE/IAREP Summer School on Behavioural Game Theory: Psychological Games

23-25 July 2018, Atrium Kircheerianum, Soleto (Apulia, South of Italy)

Taught by:

  • Giuseppe Attanasi  (University of Lille)
  • Pierpaolo Battigalli  (Bocconi University)
  • Giorgio Coricelli (University of California Los Angeles)
  • Martin Dufwenberg  (University of Arizona & University of Gothenburg)
  • Werner Güth (LUISS Rome & Max Planck Institute Bonn)
  • Christian Ruff  (University of Zurich)
  • Alec Smith (Virginia Tech)

The summer school will entail a mixture of lectures and students’ presentations. Lectures will cover fundamental results in psychological game theory, specific models of preferences (e.g. guilt-aversion, reciprocity, anger), experimental tests, cognitive measures and applications. Students working on related research will present and receive feedback. Students will be invited to attend (free of charge) the workshop on psychological games if they wish.

  • The summer school costs 200 €.
  • Maximum number of attendants: 40 graduate students.

To apply for the summer school email giuseppe.attanasi@univ-lille1.fr by 30th April 2018.

SABE / IAREP scholarships

10 SABE/IAREP scholarships of 400 € each are available. In particular:

  • 5 scholarships (especially meant for Graduate students in Behavioural Economics) funded by SABE (Society for the Advancement in Behavioural Economics)
  • 5 scholarships (especially meant for Graduate students in Economic Psychology) funded by IAREP (International Association for Research in Economic Psychology)

How to apply

To apply for a scholarship email the following to giuseppe.attanasi@univ-lille1.fr by 30th April 2018.

  1. A letter of motivation
  2. A one page CV
  3. A reference letter from your advisor

We are looking forward to having you join us in the South of Italy this summer!

Giuseppe Attanasi, Pierpaolo Battigalli, Martin Dufwenberg & Amrish Patel

SABE Monk Prayogshala Workshop on BehExEco

Monk Prayogshala (Mumbai), in association with the Richard Thaler Center for Behavioural Economics at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE, Pune) is proud to announce its Workshop on Behavioural and Experimental Economics to be held on 2nd to 3rd April, 2018 at the GIPE campus in Pune, Maharashtra, India. We are grateful to the Society for Advancement of Behavioural Economics (SABE) for sponsoring this workshop.

Behavioural science is fast emerging as a versatile area of scientific knowledge with wide applications. As evidenced by contemporary research in behavioural and experimental economics, there is a steady push toward incorporating behavioural science in resolving various policy issues (particularly in developing countries such as India), addressing organizational challenges, and enhancing our understanding of economic behaviour. This workshop aims to equip participants with the foundational principles of behavioural economics, toolkits to address relevant research problems, and the critical ability to apply lessons from behavioural sciences to diverse areas in policy and organizational issues.

Speakers at our workshop include:

  • Prof. Dilip Soman, Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto, Canada
  • Prof. Sujoy Chakravarty, Centre for Economic Studies & Planning,
  • Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • Dr. Pawan Bakhshi, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, New Delhi
  • Dr. Neela Saldanha, Centre for Social and Behaviour Change,
  • Ashoka University, Sonepat (TBC)
  • Vivek Balaraman, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Research Dev. & Design Centre, Pune

We invite applications from Undergraduate students, Postgraduate students, MPhil students, PhD students, professionals or faculty pursuing research or practice with some background in economics/psychology/public policy.

For further details, please:

Call for Papers: Early Career Researchers Workshop

VI SABE Early Career Researchers Workshop
in association with the SABE-IAREP 2018 conference

https://economics.mdx.ac.uk/sabe-2018

CALL FOR PAPERS

SABE traditionally offers young researchers an opportunity to present their research in front of the experienced academics (mentors) in the field of experimental and behavioural economics and psychology.

The IV ECR workshop shall be organized in association with the of forthcoming SABE-IAREP 2018 conference on 18 July 2018 at Middlesex University London, UK (prior to the beginning of the main conference).

Alexis Belianin (chair), Mark A. Pingle, Lara Ezquerra

Who is eligible and how to apply

  • Who is eligible: PhD students, postdocs and tenure-track researchers in the first academic year of their career.
  • How to apply: Submit a paper to the main SABE-IAREP conference and in addition, a separate letter of intent confirming your status, title and abstract of the paper you would like to present (not necessarily the one you have submitted to the conference). To submit a letter of intent please go to the SABE-IAREP submission page, in TOPICS scroll down till you find “Letters for ECR”. Submission of the letter of intent is due by Wednesday February 28, 2018, 23:59 Greenwich time.
  • Acceptance: Acceptance to the ECR workshop is not related to acceptance to the main conference. Authors of accepted papers shall be notified by Tuesday March 20, 2018 and should prepare a short version of her paper (up to 7,000 words, excluding appendices) for mentor’s review.
  • Venue and logistics: ECR workshop shall take place on the premises of the main conference at Middlesex University. Arrival and lodging during the workshop is the participants’ responsibility. There is no separate fee for the workshop over the main SABE-IAREP participants fee.

How does it work

Mentors shall be selected by the ECR workshop organisers, from among the senior SABE-IAREP participants and speakers. The workshop lasts for the whole day, with coffee and lunch break for the workshop participants. Each ECR presented for 10 minutes, followed by the 10-minutes mentor comments and 10 minutes for discussion.

Workshop participants may be offered priority treatment to additional training programs during the main conference, including a how-to-publish workshop.

Questions and queries: can be addressed to workshop organizer Alexis Belianin (icef-research@hse.ru)

 

Special issue on Behavioral interventions: Practitioners informing Academics

Call for papers

The Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE) jointly with the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology (IAREP) will celebrate their annual meeting at Middlesex University London in July, 19-22, 2018.

Speakers list includes Colin Camerer, Joe Herbert, Elke Weber, Dean Karlan and Dave Rand.

More information is available at https://economics.mdx.ac.uk/sabe-2018/

There is an special session for practitioners running interventions/experiments outside academia (but also academic people collaborating with consultancy firms or the Cabinet, etc). This session will be focused on research with clear policy implications.

Special issue at the JBEP

Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the JBEP (published in March 2019). Antonio Espin and Pablo Branas will be the guest editors of the special issue. Note that JBEP publishes short but informative papers (see the statement).

Submissions

To submit a paper for the session on “practitioners” please visit the “call for paper” webpage (please, select the topic “practitioners” into the input field “topics”). Only papers submitted for the conference will be considered for the JBEP special issue.

Deadline

Feb 28, 2108

 

Thank you so much for your interest,

Prof. Pablo Brañas and Dr. Antonio Espin
Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy Guest Editors