Collaborative Research in Experimental Studies of Choice Behavior in the Presence of Incomplete Information

这个项目继续在经济行为的四个重要领域进行一系列有趣的实验：1)消费者在风险固有的替代方案之间的选择，2)竞争企业数量很少时企业的产出决策，3)福利和收入分配，以及4)个人在工作时间和闲暇时间之间做出的劳动力供给决策。第一个问题长期以来一直是经济学家和其他社会科学家关注的话题。特别有趣的是，观察到人类似乎在某些情况下厌恶风险，而在另一些情况下喜欢冒险。例如，在某些经济情况下，人们会规避风险，甚至支付保险费，以避免收入损失。在其他情况下，人们赌博和冒险。这种看似矛盾的现象很难用现有的效用最大化理论来解释。本项目探讨了两种可能的统一理论，即前景理论和预期效用理论，可以将这两种类型的行为结合起来。许多行业都是由极少数公司组成的。汽车工业就是一个例子，一些行业可以通过假设只有两家竞争公司来现实地建模。他们显然不是垄断者，但通过他们的产出决策，他们每个人都可以影响自己产品的最终价格。本研究的第二部分分析了双寡头垄断背景下供给决策和盈利的基本性质。第三个主题的重点是保障收入计划对劳动力供给的影响。过去的研究表明，高水平的非劳动收入确实会抑制人们加入劳动力大军的积极性。然而，这一决策过程的动态还有待探索。该项目分析了所谓的“福利陷阱”假说，考察了偏好的系统性变化与以往不同时期不同水平的非劳动收入之间的关系。还研究了一个经济体中个人收入的分配和收入不平等。最后，这个项目延续了过去关于赚取收入的时间和休闲时间之间选择的研究。实验对象面临不同的工资水平、时间限制和期望收入水平，并以劳动力参与决策作出反应。特别关注的是收入水平高时的劳动力供给决策。这个项目延续了研究者以人类和动物为研究对象的实验。近十年来，他们已经证明，在设计正确的实验中，动物（通常是老鼠和鸽子）会对经济理论预测的激励做出反应。他们还复制了其他研究人员以人类为实验对象的许多实验，并积累了数量惊人的证据，证明基于人类行为的研究结果可以在实验室的动物身上复制。这项研究是与德克萨斯农工大学的雷蒙德·巴塔利奥教授合作完成的。

This project continues a series of fascinating experiments in four important areas of economic behavior: 1) consumer choice between alternatives in which risk is inherent, 2) the output decisions of firms when the number of competing firms is very small, 3) welfare and income distribution, and 4) labor supply decisions made by individuals choosing between work time and leisure. The first is a topic which has occupied the attention of economists and other social scientists for a long time. Of particular interest is the observation that human beings seem to be risk averse in some situations and risk loving in others. For instance, people avoid risk in some economic situations and even pay insurance premiums so as not to incur losses in income. In other situations people gamble and take risks. This seeming paradox is very difficult to explain with existing theories of utility maximization. This project examines two possible unifying theories, namely prospect theory and expected utility theory, which can incorporate both types of behavior. Many industries consist of a very small number of firms. The automobile industry is an example, and some industries can be realistically modeled by assuming only two competing firms. They are clearly not monopolists, but through their output decisions they each can affect the final price of their products. The second part of this research analyzes the fundamental nature of supply decisions and profit making in the context of a duopoly. The focus of the third topic is the effects of guaranteed income programs on labor supply. Past work has indicated that a high level of unearned income does provide a disincentive to participate in the labor force. However, the dynamics of that decision process have yet to be explored. This project analyzes the so called "welfare trap" hypothesis by examining the relationship of systematic shifts in preferences to varying levels of unearned income in previous periods. Also studied is the distribution of earnings and inequality of incomes across individuals in an economy. Finally, this project continues past work on the choice between time spent earning income and time spent in leisure. The experimental subjects face varying wage levels, time constraints, and desired income levels, and respond with labor force participation decisions. Of particular focus are labor supply decisions when the income level is high. This project continues the investigators' experiments using both humans and animals as subjects. For nearly a decade they have shown that in correctly designed experiments, animals (typically rats and pigeons) will respond to incentives as predicted by economic theory. They have also replicated many experiments by other researchers using humans as subjects, and have amassed an astonishing amount of evidence wherein the results of work based on the behavior of humans can be duplicated by animals in the laboratory This research is done in collaboration with Professor Raymond Battalio of Texas A&M University.