Collaborative Research: Social Identity, Mechanism Design and Equilibrium Selection

该项目通过将对与社会认同相关的心理过程的理解(例如，群体偏见、群体规范)与对经济领域的个人决策的理解(例如，社会偏好、机制设计和均衡选择)结合起来，促进了心理学和经济学领域的知识。到目前为止，社会心理学的研究已经形成了关于社会认同对态度和行为的影响的广泛基础知识；然而，人们对这些过程的经济后果知之甚少。同样，标准经济学理论解释了个人偏好背后的过程，但没有系统的经验基础，将群体认同纳入个人偏好。这个项目借鉴了社会心理学和实验经济学中发展起来的理论和方法，将这两个工作联系起来，并让我们了解社会认同和社会偏好之间的关系。因此，研究结果将扩大我们在这两个研究领域的知识。PIs将首先明确衡量社会认同对社会偏好的影响。根据这项研究的结果，将启动第二个研究流，研究群体认同，特别是共同认同对合同设计和公共产品生产的影响。最后，PI将研究群体认同对均衡选择的影响，这是博弈论中一个重要的悬而未决的问题。更广泛的影响：随着世界变得更加一体化，管理多样性变得越来越重要，需要理解。例如，组织更频繁地遇到整合不同劳动力的问题，以及激励来自不同背景的成员朝着共同目标努力的问题。这项研究的结果可以告诉我们，社会认同在促使个人做出决策以最大化社会福利、将组织目标置于自我利益之上以及做出更多努力的过程中所起的作用。从组织的角度来看，这项研究将提供关于组织是否应该投入资源来在其员工中创建和加强共同身份的见解。

This project advances knowledge in both the fields of psychology and economics by integrating understanding of the psychological processes associated with social identity (e.g. ingroup bias, group norms) with understanding of individual decision-making in the economic domain (e.g. social preferences, mechanism design and equilibrium selection). To date, research in social psychology has developed a broad base of knowledge about the influence of social identity on attitudes and behaviors; however, little is known about the economic consequences of these processes. Similarly, standard economic theories have explicated processes underlying individual preferences but have no systematic empirical foundation which incorporates group identity into individual preferences. This project draws on the theory and methods developed in social psychology and experimental economics to bridge the two bodies of work and inform us of the relationship between social identity and social preferences. Thus, the results of the studies will extend our knowledge in both these fields of study. The PIs will first explicitly measure the effects of social identity on social preferences. Based on the outcome of this research, a second research stream will be initiated examining the effects of group identity and, in particular, a common identity, on contract design and public goods productions. Finally, the PIs will examine the effects of group identity on equilibrium selection, an important unresolved issue in game theory. Broader Impact: As the world becomes more integrated, managing diversitybecomes an increasingly important issue to understand. For instance, organizations are more frequently encountering the issue of integrating a diverse workforce, and motivating members coming different backgrounds to work towards a common goal. The results of the proposed research can inform us about the role of social identity in eliciting decisions from individuals to maximize social-welfare, to prioritize organizational goals above self-interest, and to exert more effort. From the perspective of the organizations, this research will provide insights on whether an organization should invest resources to create and enforce a common identity among its workers.