Some experimental sessions at the ASSA meetings...

Jan 03, 2016 10:15 am, Hilton Union Square, Continental – Parlor 1 
American Economic Association

Tax Experiments (H2, C9)

Presiding: ERZO F.P. LUTTMER (Dartmouth College)

Shaming Tax Delinquents

RICARDO PEREZ-TRUGLIA (Microsoft Research)

UGO TROIANO (University of Michigan)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Demand for Redistribution in Large and Small Groups

JOHANNA MOLLERSTROM (George Mason University)

DMITRY TAUBINSKY (Harvard University)

[View Abstract]

Heuristic Perceptions of the Income Tax: Evidence and Implications

ALEXANDER ROBERT REES-JONES (University of Pennsylvania)

DMITRY TAUBINSKY (Harvard University)

[View Abstract]

Raising the Stakes: Experimental Evidence on the Endogeneity of Taxpayer Mistakes

TATIANA HOMONOFF (Cornell University)

JACOB GOLDIN (Princeton University)

NAOMI FELDMAN (Federal Reserve Board)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Discussants:

STEFANIE STANTCHEVA (Harvard University)

DAVID SEIM (University of Toronto)

JUDD KESSLER (University of Pennsylvania)

UGO TROIANO (University of Michigan)

Jan 03, 2016 10:15 am, Marriott Marquis, Sierra B 
Economic Science Association

Economics Experiments on Networks (C9, D3)

Presiding: GARY CHARNESS (University of California-Santa Barbara)

Trading in Networks

SYNGJOO CHOI (University College London)

ANDREA GALEOTTI (University of Essex)

SANJEEV GOYAL (University of Cambridge)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Communication and (Non)-Equilibrium Selection

GARY CHARNESS (University of California-Santa Barbara)

FRANCESCO FERI (University of London-Royal Holloway)

MIGUEL MELENDEZ (University of Malaga)

MATTHIAS SUTTER (University of Innsbruck)

[View Abstract]

Strategic Communication and Learning in Networks

ABHIJIT BANERJEE (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

EMILY BREZA (Columbia University)

ARUN CHANDRASEKHAR (Stanford University)

ESTHER DUFLO (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

MATTHEW O. JACKSON (Stanford University)

[View Abstract]

Competition for Status Creates Superstars: An Experiment on Public Good Provision and Network Formation

THEO OFFERMAN (University of Amsterdam)

ARTHUR SCHRAM (University of Amsterdam)

BORIS VAN LEEUWEN (Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse )

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Jan 03, 2016 2:30 pm, Hilton Union Square, Yosemite B 
American Economic Association

Evidence from Lab and Field Experiments on Discrimination (J7, J2)

Presiding: PATRICK BUTTON (Tulane University and NBER)

Is it Harder for Older Workers to Find Jobs? New and Improved Evidence from a Field Experiment

DAVID NEUMARK (University of California-Irvine, NBER, and IZA)

IAN BURN (University of California-Irvine)

PATRICK BUTTON (Tulane University and NBER)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Discrimination at the Intersection of Age, Race, and Gender: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment

JOANNA LAHEY (Texas A&M University and NBER)

DOUGLAS OXLEY (University of Wyoming)

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Do Employers Consider Unemployment Duration, Low-Quality Interim Employment, and Age in Hiring? Evidence from an Audit Study

HENRY FARBER (Princeton University)

DANIEL SILVERMAN (Arizona State University)

TILL VON WACHTER (University of California-Los Angeles)

[View Abstract]

Exploring Both the Supply and Demand Sides of Discrimination

JOHN LIST (University of Chicago)

ANTHONY HEYES (University of Ottawa)

[View Abstract]

Discussants:

MATHEW J. NOTOWIDIGDO (Northwestern University and NBER)

CHRISTIAN MANGER (University of Tuebingen)

CATHERINE ECKEL (Texas A&M University)

Jan 03, 2016 2:30 pm, Hilton Union Square, Union Square 16 
Econometric Society

Bureaucrats and Politicians: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies (A1)

Presiding: JOHANNA RICKNE (Research Institute for Industrial Economics)

Who Becomes a Politician?

OLLE FOLKE (Columbia University)

JOHANNA RICKNE (Research Institute for Industrial Economics)

ERNESTO DAL BO (University of California, Berkeley)

FREDERICO FINAN (University of California, Berkeley)

TORSTEN PERSSON (Stockholm University)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

The Determinants and Consequences of Bureaucratic Effectiveness: Evidence from the Indian Administrative Service

MARIANNE BERTRAND (University of Chicago)

ROBIN BURGESS (London School of Economics)

ARUNISH CHAWLA (Department of Economics)

GUO XU (London School of Economics)

Personalities and Public Sector Performance: Evidence from a Health Experiment in Pakistan

MICHAEL CALLEN (Harvard University)

SAAD GULZAR (New York University)

ALI HASANAIN (Lahore University of Management Sciences)

YASIR KHAN (International Growth Center)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Efficiency Wages in the Public Sector? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

NAVA ASHRAF (Harvard Business School)

ORIANA BANDIERA (LSE)

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Jan 04, 2016

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Jan 04, 2016 8:00 am, Hilton Union Square, Continental Ballroom 4 
American Economic Association

Gender at Work: Evidence from Experimental Economics (C9, J7)

Presiding: CATHERINE ECKEL (Texas A&M University)

Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning In

CHRISTINE EXLEY (Stanford University)

MURIEL NIEDERLE (Stanford University)

LISE VESTERLUND (University of Pittsburgh)

[View Abstract]

A University-Wide Field Experiment on Gender Differences in Job Entry Decisions

ANYA SAMEK (University of Southern California)

[View Abstract]

Born to Lead? Gender Differences in Incentive Provision and Its Evaluation

ALEXANDRA VAN GEEN (Erasmus University)

OLGA SHURCHKOV (Wellesley College)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Gender Differences in Negotiation by Communication Method

ADAM GREENBERG (University of California-San Diego)

RAGAN PETRIE (George Mason University)

[View Abstract]

Stress and the gender difference in willingness to compete

THOMAS BUSER (University of Amsterdam)

ANNA DREBER ALMENBERG (Stockholm School of Economics)

JOHANNA MOLLERSTROM (George Mason University)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview] [Download PowerPoint]

Discussants:

CHRISTINE EXLEY (Stanford University)

ANAT BRACHA (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)

KATHERINE COFFMAN (Ohio State University)

ALEXANDRA VAN GEEN (Erasmus University)

Jan 04, 2016 8:00 am, Marriott Marquis, Sierra B 
Economic Science Association

Experiments on Bargaining: The Role of Risk, Deadlines and Reference Points (C7, C9)

Presiding: KYLE HYNDMAN (Naveen Jindal School of Management and University of Texas-Dallas)

Is Earned Bargaining Power More Fully Exploited?

NICHOLAS FELTOVICH (Monash University)

[View Abstract]

Bargaining Under Time Pressure

EMIN KARAGÖZOĞLU (Bilkent University)

MARTIN GEORG KOCHER (University of Munich)

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Dynamic Unstructured Bargaining with Private Information and Deadlines: Theory and Experiment

COLIN F. CAMERER (California Institute of Technology)

GIDEON NAVE (California Institute of Technology)

ALEC SMITH (University of Arizona and Compass Lexecon)

[View Abstract]

Reference Points, Reputation and Strategies in a Dynamic Bargaining Environment with a Residual Claimant

MATTHEW EMBREY (University of Sussex)

KYLE HYNDMAN (University of Texas-Dallas)

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Discussants:

ALISTAIR WILSON (University of Pittsburgh)

MATTHEW EMBREY (University of Sussex)

CHLOE TERGIMAN (Pennsylvania State University)

TIMOTHY SALMON (Southern Methodist University)

Jan 04, 2016 10:15 am, Hilton Union Square, Franciscan C 
American Economic Association

Reproducibility of Social Science Experiments: Some Innovative Evidence(C9, C8)

Presiding: COLIN F. CAMERER (California Institute of Technology)

Do Economics Lab Experiments in AER and QJE Replicate Predictably?

ESKIL FORSELL (Stockholm School of Economics)

TECK HO (University of California-Berkeley)

JUERGEN HUBER (University of Innsbruck)

MICHAEL KIRCHLER (University of Innsbruck)

ANNA DREBER ALMENBERG (Stockholm School of Economics)

[View Abstract]

P-Curve Analysis Shows False Positives are Not Common in Experimental Economics

KLAVDIA ZEMLIANOVA (National University of Singapore)

COLIN F. CAMERER (California Institute of Technology)

[View Abstract]

Using Prediction Markets to Estimate the Reproducibility in Science: The Many Labs 2 Replications

ESKIL FORSELL (Stockholm School of Economics)

THOMAS PFEIFFER (NZ Institute Advanced Study)

YILING CHEN (Harvard University)

ANNA DREBER ALMENBERG (Stockholm School of Economics)

MAGNUS JOHANNESSON (Stockholm School of Economics)

[View Abstract]

 

Jan 04, 2016 2:30 pm, Hilton Union Square, Franciscan C 
American Economic Association

Experimental Gender Economics (C9, D8)

Presiding: MURIEL NIEDERLE (Stanford University)

Affirmative Action and Stereotype Threat

ANAT BRACHA (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)

ALMA COHEN (Harvard University)

LYNN CONELL-PRICE (Carnegie Mellon University)

[View Abstract]

Risk in the Background: How Men and Women Respond

ALEXANDRA VAN GEEN (Erasmus University)

[View Abstract]

After You: Gender and Group Decision-Making

PEDRO BORDALO (Royal Holloway)

KATHERINE COFFMAN (Ohio State University)

NICOLA GENNAIOLI (Bocconi University)

ANDREI SHLEIFER (Harvard University)

[View Abstract]

Bursting the Bubble: Gender Differences in Financial Bubbles with Anonymous Traders

CATHERINE ECKEL (Texas A&M University)

SASCHA FÜLLBRUNN (Radboud University)

[View Abstract]

Discussants:

JOHANNA MOLLERSTROM (George Mason University)

MARIA RECALDE (International Food Policy Research Institute)

ANYA SAMEK (University of Southern Califiornia)

OLGA SHURCHKOV (Wellesley College)

Jan 04, 2016 2:30 pm, Hilton Union Square, Union Square 22 
American Economic Association

Experimental Impacts of Vocational Education in Low and Middle Income Countries (J1, O1)

Presiding: ADRIANA DEBORA KUGLER (Georgetown University)

The Demand for, and Impact of, Youth Internships: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Yemen

DAVID MCKENZIE (World Bank)

ANA PAULA CUSOLITO (World Bank)

NABILA ASSAF (World Bank)

[View Abstract] [Download Preview]

Long-Term Direct and Spillover Effects of Job Training: Experimental Evidence from Colombia

ADRIANA DEBORA KUGLER (Georgetown University, NBER, CEPR, and IZA)

MAURICE DAVID KUGLER (IMPAQ)

JUAN SAAVEDRA (University of Southern California)

LUIS OMAR HERRERA (Inter-American Development Bank)

[View Abstract]

Vocational Education Voucher Delivery and Labor Market Returns: A Randomized Evaluation Among Kenyan Youth

JOAN HAMMORY HICKS (Center for Effective Global Action)

MICHAEL KREMER (Harvard University)

ISAAC MBITI (University of Virginia)

EDWARD MIGUEL (University of California-Berkeley)

[View Abstract]

Returns to Vocational Education in Mongolia

ERICA FIELD (Duke University)

LEIGH LINDEN (University of Texas-Austin)

DANIEL RUBENSON (Ryerson University)

SHING-YI WANG (University of Pennsylvania)

[View Abstract]

Discussants:

OFER MALAMUD (University of Chicago)

ERICA FIELD (Duke University)

REBECCA THORNTON (University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign)

AHMED MUSHFIQ MOBARAK (Yale University)

So, you want to run an art gallery?

Be prepared for high rent, and insurance: The New Art World Math: What It Really Costs to Be an Art Dealer: And why costs are going up

Stanford faculty on Stanford football (while waiting for the Rose Bowl)

Someone at Stanford thought it would be funny to make very short videos of Stanford faculty members saying something non-traditional about football, in the run-up to the Rose Bowl. (I think Hank Greely No 2, who also talks about market design of sorts, is the winner, but maybe I'm the runner-up:)  

Persis Drell on Stanford Football - YouTube

▶ 0:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38siXF9eNgk

12 hours ago - Uploaded by Stanford

Ahead of the 102nd Rose Bowl Game, Persis Drell, dean of theStanford School of Engineering, explains the ...

Hank Greely on Stanford Football - YouTube

▶ 0:46

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h-f1oR3ur8

12 hours ago - Uploaded by Stanford

In preparation for the 102nd Rose Bowl Game, Hank Greely, the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor ...

Alex Nemerov on Stanford Football - YouTube

▶ 0:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLIF-OEKzr8

12 hours ago - Uploaded by Stanford

Whether in a museum or a football stadium, the potential for great beauty exists. In advance of the 102nd Rose ...

Hank Greely on Stanford Football, No. 2 - YouTube

▶ 0:46

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8PIBTnHfTE

12 hours ago - Uploaded by Stanford

What concerns does a bioethicist bring to the 102nd Rose Bowl Game? Hank Greely, the Deane F. and Kate ...

Al Roth on Stanford Football - YouTube

▶ 0:22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlmiLW4sLKw

12 hours ago - Uploaded by Stanford

Ahead of the 102nd Rose Bowl Game, Alvin Roth, the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics, shares ...

MGP, the market for American whiskeys, and thoughts of the year gone by

Suppose you would like to start producing fine bourbon, aged for (at least) several years in charred American white oak. How can you hit the ground running?  MGP.  Those initials used to stand for  Midwest Grain Products, Inc., but the company is now called MGP Ingredients, Inc., and makes industrial quantities of lots of things that start out as plants.

So, if you are a new bourbon producer (or an established brand, non-distilling producer), you can buy bourbon from MGP,  which makes it in vast quantities in Indiana, and, voila, you have your own small batch whiskey ready to go. (According to Wikipedia, "There are generally no clear criteria as to what defines a "small batch.")

(I'm reminded of how Samuel Adams beer, which started off being sold to beer drinkers in Boston who appreciated a local beer, was initially brewed under contract by Iron City in Pittsburgh, where I lived at the time...none of this is mentioned at https://www.samueladams.com/history).
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I might do some market research tonight, while thinking of the year gone by.

Among economists whose passing I marked this year, John and Alicia Nash (and here and here), Herb Scarf, and Douglass North.

Non-directed kidney donors: are they neurologically different?

I'm somewhat skeptical of broad conclusions drawn on the basis of brain imaging, but here's a paper from the October 21, 2014 PNAS reporting an imaging study from a population that included 19 non-directed ('altruistic') kidney donors. It shared this year's Cozzarelli Prize, given annually to six papers published in PNAS:

Neural and cognitive characteristics of extraordinary altruists

1. Abigail A. Marsha,1, 
2. Sarah A. Stoycosa, 
3. Kristin M. Brethel-Haurwitza, 
4. Paul Robinsonb, 
5. John W. VanMeterc, and 
6. Elise M. Cardinalea

Author Affiliations

1. aDepartment of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057;
2. bDepartment of Radiology, Integrated Brain Imaging Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195;
3. cDepartment of Neurology, Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington,DC 20057

1. Edited by Michael S. Gazzaniga, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, and approved August 18, 2014 (received for review May 8, 2014)

1. Abstract
2. Full Text
3. Authors & Info
4. Figures
5. SI
6. Metrics
7. Related Content
8. PDF

Significance

Altruism, and particularly costly altruism toward strangers, such as altruistic kidney donation, represents a puzzling phenomenon for many fields of science, including evolutionary biology, psychology, and economics. How can such behavior be explained? The propensity to engage in costly altruism varies widely and may be genetically mediated, but little is known about the neural mechanisms that support it. We used structural and functional brain imaging to compare extraordinary altruists, specifically altruistic kidney donors, and controls. Altruists exhibited variations in neural anatomy and functioning that represent the inverse of patterns previously observed in psychopaths, who are unusually callous and antisocial. These findings suggest extraordinary altruism represents one end of a caring continuum and is supported by neural mechanisms that underlie social and emotional responsiveness.

Abstract

Altruistic behavior improves the welfare of another individual while reducing the altruist’s welfare. Humans’ tendency to engage in altruistic behaviors is unevenly distributed across the population, and individual variation in altruistic tendencies may be genetically mediated. Although neural endophenotypes of heightened or extreme antisocial behavior tendencies have been identified in, for example, studies of psychopaths, little is known about the neural mechanisms that support heightened or extreme prosocial or altruistic tendencies. In this study, we used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess a population of extraordinary altruists: altruistic kidney donors who volunteered to donate a kidney to a stranger. Such donations meet the most stringent definitions of altruism in that they represent an intentional behavior that incurs significant costs to the donor to benefit an anonymous, nonkin other. Functional imaging and behavioral tasks included face-emotion processing paradigms that reliably distinguish psychopathic individuals from controls. Here we show that extraordinary altruists can be distinguished from controls by their enhanced volume in right amygdala and enhanced responsiveness of this structure to fearful facial expressions, an effect that predicts superior perceptual sensitivity to these expressions. These results mirror the reduced amygdala volume and reduced responsiveness to fearful facial expressions observed in psychopathic individuals. Our results support the possibility of a neural basis for extraordinary altruism. We anticipate that these findings will expand the scope of research on biological mechanisms that promote altruistic behaviors to include neural mechanisms that support affective and social responsiveness.

The Washington Post discusses compensation for organ donors

Frank McCormick alerts me that the Washington Post yesterday took the recent article he coauthored in the American Journal of Transplantation as a jumping off point to discuss the pros and cons of addressing the shortage of transplantable kidneys by allowing the government to pay donors (the article proposed that only the government could pay, and considered payments of $45,000 for a living donor kidney).

 The  WaPo starts with a general description of the opposing positions:  Compensation for organ donors: A primer.

Their brief discussion sets the stage with lots of links (and will be familiar to readers of this blog who have been following my several posts on  compensation for donors).  

They end with this promise of more discussions, which I'll link to below as they appear (spoiler--Sally Satel is pro compensation, and Frank Delmonico doesn't think it's a good idea):

"Over the next few days, we’ll hear from:

Sally Satel, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and practicing psychiatrist at the Yale University School of Medicine,

Francis Delmonico, Harvard Medical School professor of surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Alexander Capron, professor of law and medicine at the University of Southern California,

Scott Sumner, economist at Bentley University and blogger at The Money Illusion,

Benjamin Humphreys, program director at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute,

{Josh Morrison, who wasn't on the original list but is a great choice...}

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, founder of Organ Watch and anthropology professor at University of California, Berkeley."

Sally Satel is first:  Generosity won’t fix our shortage of organs for transplants

Taking the opposite point of view (but arguing that we should do more to reduce financial disincentives to donating, by paying for donor expenses): Francis Delmonico and Alexander Capron December 29, Our body parts shouldn’t be for sale

Scott Sumner's headline and sub-headline also speaks for itself:  The moral case for paying kidney donors:  We can save lives and cut costs with one change in policy. 

Will lab-grown kidneys fix our transplant waiting lists?: Benjamin Humphreys is optimistic that they will, eventually.
It’s time to treat organ donors with the respect they deserve: Josh Morrison is a kidney donor and the executive director of WaitList Zero, a nonprofit devoted to representing living donors and supporting living donation.

Scott Carney disagrees, on practical grounds (he thinks that a legal US market would foster badly regulated overseas markets): If you’re willing to buy a kidney, you’re willing to exploit the poor: Legalizing the sale of kidneys in America would lead to a booming black market everywhere else.

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, who has spoken to many black market kidney sellers, thinks that legal markets couldn't funcion much differently: The market for human organs is destroying lives We don't have "spare" kidneys. They shouldn't be up for sale.