Social Preferences: An Introduction to Behavioural Economics and Experimental Research

by Michalis Drouvelis

Overview

This introduction to one of the key areas of behavioural economics – social preferences – explains in clear, nontechnical language how particular groups of experiments have been used by behavioural economists to shed light on the processes of economic decision making. These include bargaining games, trust games and public good games. The significance of determinants such as punishment, sanctioning, emotion, cooperation, reciprocity, leadership, framing and cross-cultural differences are demonstrated and explained, and students are provided with the understanding and resources needed to replicate the experiments themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788214179
Publisher:	Agenda Publishing
Publication date:	09/30/2021
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	6.15(w) x 9.20(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michalis Drouvelis is Professor of Behavioural Economics at the University of Birmingham.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction1.1 Homo economicus1.2 Behavioural and experimental economics1.3 Deception and monetary incentives

2. Bargaining games2.1 Introduction2.2 Dictator games2.3 Competition from proposers’ and responders’ side2.4 Psychological factors2.5 Financial factors

3. Trust and gift exchange games3.1 Introduction3.2 Disentangling motives in the trust game3.3 Behavioural determinants of trust3.4 Gift exchange games

4. Public Good Games I4.1 Introduction4.2 Do people cooperate? 4.3 Why do people cooperate? 4.4 Conditional cooperation

5. Public Good Games II5.1 Introduction5.2 Can pre-play communication promote pro-social outcomes? 5.3 Income inequality and pubic good provision5.4 Social identity and discrimination in public good experiments

6. Leadership6.1 Introduction6.2 Sequential vs simultaneous public good games6.3 Leader appointment6.4 Who leads more effectively?

7. Public good games with sanctioning I7.1 Introduction7.2 The role of emotions7.3 Sanctioning mechanisms7.4 Does the presence of monetary sanctions always promote cooperation?

8. Public good games with sanctioning II8.1 Introduction8.2 Voting on public good institutions with punishment and rewards8.3 Voting on formal sanctions8.4 Third-party punishment games8.5 Factors determining the assignment of third-party sanctions

9. Cross-cultural experiments9.1 Introduction9.2 Fairness and bargaining behaviour9.3 Trust games9.4 Cooperative behaviour9.5 Negative reciprocity

Appendix A Experimental instructionsAppendix B Glossary

Editorial Reviews

A true tour de force treatment of lab experiments that measure social preferences. This convivial tome is a must for any student, researcher, and policy-maker interested in other regarding preferences.

John List

Timely, engaging, and accessible... An ideal resource for students (undergraduate to PhD), and an informed audience, who want to learn more about the experimental evidence around social preferences, as well as to gain an appreciation of how to conduct their own experiments in this area. A very welcome addition to the economics library.

Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics

Research on social preferences has been a flourishing area of investigation and a major contributor to the success of behavioural economics. Michalis Drouvelis’ marvellous book provides the reader with a fantastic and eminently readable introduction into this fascinating research to which he has also made many important contributions himself. Highly recommended for anyone interested in human social behaviour.

Simon Gächter

As economists, we have a hard time understanding and modeling social behavior. In this book, Drouvelis does an outstanding job at presenting the empirical evidence in a clear and comprehensive way. I enjoyed reading his take on the literature, and believe this will be an important book for everyone who wants to understand the way economists think about social preferences.

Uri Gneezy

A very accessible and valuable introduction into behavioural and experimental economic research with a focus on social preferences; nicely written, the book is ideally suited to form the basis for a course.

Michael Kosfeld

If you are looking for an easily accessible and clearly written introduction into the experimental economics literature on social preferences, you will enjoy reading this book. The well-picked selection of seminal contributions in this multifaceted field provides an ideal starting point for anyone interested in embarking on research on social preferences and is a valuable source also for experts in the field. The combination of an insightful overview with the detailed exposition of selected research and with methodological and practical guidance makes this book novel and precious.

Bettina Rockenbach

A very exciting book on the mysteries of social preferences and human sociality. The book allows students to view the inside of what makes economic experiments on social interactions so inspiring and thought-provoking.

Marie Claire Villeval

If you are interested in social preferences and how to study them with the tools from experimental economics, this is a must read! Covering the main economic games on this, Michalis Drouvelis has written a very inspiring and informative textbook that will help not only economists but all researchers interested in these questions.

Anna Dreber

Highly recommendable... it is exactly the textbook that has been missing... Very accessible - the presentation is non-technical and non-experts will be interested to dig into the topic.

Theory and Decision