On Friday, November 3, Dr. Dan Fragiadakis, a TAMU behavioral economist, gave a talk on Dr. Richard Thaler, the 2017 Nobel Prize winner in economics. Dr. Thaler received the Prize for his “contributions to behavioral economics” which were summarized by Dr. Fragiadakis.
Here is a recording of the presentation. Way to go, Dan!
The 2017 Meeting of the Economic Science Association (ESA) took place from October 20 – 21, 2017 at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.
Dr. Catherine Eckel gave the keynote address. The title was “Gender Differences: What have we learned from 25 years of Experimental Research?”
Dr. Dan Fragiadakis also presented, speaking on the topic of “Can Individuals Recognize Selected Information When They Satisfice?” (This paper was coauthored with a fellow TAMU behavioral economist, Dr. Alex Brown.)
A number of TAMU’s behavioral economics doctoral students also presented at the conference. Topics included:
From September 6 – 7, 2017, Dr. Ragan Petrie presented the keynote address at the fourth Science of Philanthropy Initiative (SPI) Conference at the University of Chicago.
The title of Dr. Petrie’s talk was “Motives and Impediments to Give: Evidence from Field Experiments.” There are many reasons individuals are motivated to give to charity, including a desire to help, a connection to the cause, recognition, and because they were asked. At the same time, individuals may not give due to a lack of interest, not having the time, or the nuisance of finding a cause and making a donation. Drawing on evidence from field experiments on charitable giving, this talk explored various motives and impediments to giving.
Additionally, two TAMU experimental economics PhD students also attended and participated in the conference. Billur Aksoy (fifth-year doctoral student) presented “Donors’ Response to News: When Does Less Information Translate into More Giving?” Mackenzie Alston (fourth-year doctoral student) presented “High-Income Donors’ Preferences for Charitable Giving.”
SPI is a research and outreach project that utilizes rigorous quantitative methods and partnerships with the philanthropic community to explore the motivations behind charitable giving. The overarching goal of SPI is to develop a deeper understanding of the types of social preferences that shape philanthropic giving and to apply this knowledge to both practitioners and policymakers interested in philanthropy and the private provision of public goods.
In July 2017, Ryan Rholes, a third-year doctoral student, attended the 2017 BLEESS Experimental Macroeconomics School hosted at Stony Brook University in New York.
The School is an annual five-day event that focuses on training students and young professors in the field of experimental macroeconomics. A large part of the School is comprised of lectures given throughout the week by noteworthy economists who are currently pushing to expand influence of macroeconomic experiments. Attendees were also split into groups (according to self-reported research interests) and provided with time each day to develop a research idea. The idea was presented on the last day of the workshop.
Congratulations, Ryan!
In August 2017, Billur Aksoy, a fifth-year doctoral student, participated in the “PhD Workshop in Behavioral and Experimental Economics” in Lofoten Islands, Norway. The workshop was organized by the Choice Lab at the Norwegian School of Economics. Open by invitation only, workshop attendees presented and discussed their research with senior researchers and fostered new networks and research collaborations. The workshop was followed by the “68 Degrees North Conference on Behavioral Economics.”
Congratulations, Billur!
In June 2017, Billur Aksoy, a fifth-year experimental economics PhD student, participated in the seventh biennial Social Dilemmas Working Group. The workshop was hosted by the Cleve E. Willis Lab at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Billur presented her research to the group and received invaluable feedback.
The Social Dilemmas Working Group emphasizes using multiple methods (including formal theory; laboratory, field and survey experiments; agent-based modeling; and observational data) and multidisciplinary views. This aids in developing theoretical foundations of behavior in social dilemmas; it also brings together researchers who are interested in human behavior in social dilemmas.
Way to go, Billur!
On Saturday, March 11, 2017, members of Texas A&M University’s experimental economics group attended and participated in the fourth annual Texas Experimental Association Symposium (TExAS) Meeting. This year’s TExAS Meeting was held at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Presenters and topics from Texas A&M included:
Congratulations to all of our presenters!
Ragan Petrie has been awarded the Elton Lewis Faculty Fellowship. The Lewis Fellowship is a competitive award given to a prominent senior scholar in the College, following a nomination and careful review process. The Fellowship provides research support funding.
Congratulations, Ragan!
Doctoral students specializing in experimental economics presented at the 2016 Economic Science Association (ESA) Conference. The conference took place from November 19 – 21 in Washington, D.C.
The TAMU presenters and their talks were:
Doctoral students specializing in experimental economics presented at the 2016 Economic Science Association (ESA) Conference. The ESA Conference took place from November 10 – 12 in Tucson, AZ.