从认知科学到经济学:情绪介入经济决策的内在机理研究

认知科学中情绪研究的兴起和发展改变了人们对情绪介入经济决策的传统认识。文章在梳理认知科学关于情绪介入决策的基础上,从权变的视角分析了情绪介入决策的权变因素,并阐述了认知科学对情绪介入经济决策研究的渗透和影响。文章认为认知科学对经济学的影响表现为:在研究视角上,可以从认知科学的信息加工视角理解情绪介入经济决策的内在机制;在研究层次上,经济决策的研究从行为层进入到认知心理层和脑神经层;在研究方法上,认知科学的行为实验和脑功能成像技术等方法被运用到经济决策的研究中;在研究模型上,经济学家发展了一些基于具体情绪的决策模型。文章在认知科学的基础上构建了经济学情绪—理性互动决策的概念模型。     

Cheating,emotions, and rationality: an experiment on tax evasion

The economics-of-crime approach usually ignores the emotional cost and benefit of cheating. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between emotions, deception, and rational decision-making by means of an experiment on tax evasion. Emotions are measured by skin conductance responses and self-reports. We show that the intensity of anticipated and anticipatory emotions before reporting income positively correlates with both the decision to cheat and the proportion of evaded income. The experienced emotional arousal after an audit increases with the monetary sanctions and the arousal is even stronger when the evader’s picture is publicly displayed. We also find that the risk of a public exposure of deception deters evasion whereas the amount of fines encourages evasion. These results suggest that an audit policy that strengthens the emotional dimension of cheating favors compliance.     

Memory and Anticipation

The introduction of memory imperfections into models of economic decision making creates a natural role for anticipatory emotions. Their combination has striking behavioural implications. The paper first shows that agents can rationally select apparently dominated strategies. We consider Newcomb's Paradox and the Prisoners' Dilemma. We provide a resolution for Newcomb's Paradox and argue it requires the decision maker to ascribe only a tiny weight to anticipatory emotions. For some ranges of parameters, it is possible to obtain cooperation in the Prisoners' Dilemma with probability arbitrarily close to unity. The second half of the paper provides a theory of reminders.     

后悔与非理性决策思维心理误区的研究

后悔是人们最常见的负面情绪之一,但是国内外关于后悔的研究起步较晚。后悔与非理性决策形影相随。人们在决策时常常陷入非理性思维心理误区中,导致后悔情绪的产生。非理性决策思维心理误区主要有：锚定效应、沉没成本效应、思维定势效应、禀赋效应、大众强化效应、认知偏差效应等。“非理性,,是人类的特殊心理现象。研究探讨非理性决策行为,可以规避“人性误区”,作出理性决策。     

Emotional Temperature,Probabilistic Choice and the Optimal Power of Incentives*

From the time of Plato it has been assumed that emotions cloud rational thinking. Fully rational individuals were supposed to be completely free of emotions. Modern psychological research challenged this paradigm. One of the insights of this research is that though emotions indeed interfere with the ability to evaluate the objective consequences of choices, they also allow the decision maker to feel the difference in utility arising from those choices. In this article, I formalise this intuition by introducing the concept of emotional temperature. I show that there exists a positive optimal emotional temperature, which leads to an irreducible probability of suboptimal choice. I apply the model to characterise the optimal contracts under moral hazard, assuming that the emotional temperature of the decision maker increases when the contract provides more powerful incentives. A more general point the article makes is that a mechanism designer needs to be aware that the mechanism will not only affect incentives but also the degree of rationality of the agents.     

为结婚而创业？男女性别比例失衡对创业决策的影响

基于繁殖竞争视角,利用1996-2014年《中国统计年鉴》和2011年《中国家庭金融调查》数据,从宏观和微观层面实证考察男女性别比例失衡与创业决策的关系,并在此基础上,着重研究男女性别比例失衡对四类不同人群创业决策的影响。研究结果表明,男女性别比例失衡与创业决策显著正相关,但它仅与未婚男性人群创业决策显著正相关,而与未婚女性／已婚男性／已婚女性人群创业决策均不相关。结果为人类经济行为和结果提供新见解,证明了某些生物属性可能会对人类经济行为（如创业）产生影响。但是,为解决就业问题和实现经济增长目的,政府不应有意操纵男女性别比例失衡以促使人们选择创业,而应为未婚男性人群制定个性化创业扶植政策等。     

Principles of network development and evolution: an experimental study

This paper reports on an experimental investigation of the evolution of networks and the individual decision-making processes that guide it. Inasmuch as there is no history of experimental work on network formation, part of the paper is devoted to the formulation of problems that can be examined experimentally. The results are that networks, composed of decentralized decision makers, are capable of overcoming complex coordination and learning problems and converge to stationary configurations. While stationarity is frequently observed, such an achievement is not guaranteed, and when it does not occur, significant and persistent inefficiencies can result. The models of equilibration based on the principle of Nash equilibrium are more reliable than models based on the alternative principles of efficiency seeking or focalness of the network configuration. However, individual decision making within networks is not in accordance with the simple decision rule of Nash best response. Instead, we observe complicated strategies that appear to trade short-term profits in order to signal to and teach other agents the strategies required for long-term profit maximization.     

经营困境、政治关系与银行贷款差异——基于持续经营不确定上市公司的经验证据

笔者以2002年~2005年获得非标审计意见上市公司为样本,以上市公司各年度银行贷款占资产总额比例以及贷款的自然对数作为银行贷款决策的替代变量,考察持续经营存在重大不确定对银行贷款决策的影响。多元回归分析发现,民营上市公司在持续经营不确定情况下,银行贷款决策更加严格,而国有上市公司没有因此受到明显影响,但持续经营不确定的国有上市公司债务违约现象比该类民营上市公司更严重。这说明政治关系、政府干预影响了银行向国有上市公司的贷款决策。     

交易成本视角下开放式创新采纳影响因素研究

借鉴交易成本理论和资源基础理论,分析交易成本对企业开放式创新采纳的影响因素及机理,并检验了企业资源基础在开放式创新决策中的作用。采用问卷调查法对151家企业进行相关数据调查与收集,运用Logistic回归分析技术对数据进行处理分析,研究结果表明：高水平的资产专用性会降低企业作出开放式创新决策的概率,企业感知的环境不确定性对企业开放式创新决策产生正向影响。同时,作为企业资源基础重要组成部分的企业研发能力对企业开放式创新决策的负向影响得到了证实。     

Social Mood and Financial Economics

The general level of optimism/pessimism in society is reflected by the emotions of financial decision-makers. Because these emotions are correlated across economic participants, our hypothesis leads to three important outcomes. First, social mood determines the types of decisions made by consumers, investors, and corporate managers alike. Extremes in social mood are characterized by optimistic (pessimistic) aggregate investment and business activity. Second, due to the efficient and emotional nature of stock transactions, the stock market itself is a direct measure or gauge of social mood. Third, since the tone and character of business activity follows, rather than leads, social mood, stock market trends help forecast future financial and economic activity. Specific predictions about stock market levels and trading volume, market volatility, firm expansion, leverage use, and IPO and M&A activity are also given.     

Economic Evaluation in Health Care: Is It Really Useful or Are We Just Kidding Ourselves?

Despite the growth in published studies year on year, and its adoption as a formal requirement in some jurisdictions, there are still doubts about whether economic evaluation is really useful in health care decision making. This article considers evidence for and against the proposition that economic evaluation is useful. Two decision making contexts are considered: the central level, where a single agency or organisation makes decisions for the whole health care system; and the local level, where decisions are made by various actors within the health care system. Four conditions that seem to foster the use of economic evaluation are identified. It is concluded that economic evaluation is not being used to its full potential, but that ways can be found to increase its use.     

Economics and emotion: Institutions matter

In two different types of institutions, English and Dutch auctions, we collect heart rate data, a proxy for emotion, to test hypotheses based on findings in neural science about the effect of emotion on economic behavior. We first demonstrate that recording heart rates does not distort prices in these auctions. Next we ask if knowledge of the intensity of a participant's emotional state improves our ability to predict price setting behavior beyond predictions of price based on usual economic variables. Our answer is that “institutions matter.” In the Dutch (English) auctions we find (no) evidence that knowledge of emotional intensity affects our ability to predict price setting behavior. We then entertain the proposition that the cardiac system is an information system that processes economic events. We are able to show that this hypothesis is consistent with our observations and furthermore that the processes differ across institutions.     

Multiple Criteria Decision Making: A Case Study of the Columbia River Salmon Recovery Plan

A common problem faced by decision makers is choosing the best alternative from among many. Traditionally, such decisions in the public arena were made using benefit-cost analysis, which involves the conversion of all costs and benefits associated with a project into monetary terms. But public projects often have a variety of economic, ecological, social and political objectives, many of which cannot or perhaps should not be converted to monetary terms. In such projects decisions must be made based on multiple, even conflicting objectives. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods are widely used for such decisions. However, a common disadvantage among many such methods available in the literature is that they require input from a real decision maker. This paper presents the development and application of an expert system based on fuzzy set theory and IF-THEN rules. The system mimics a real decision maker. Along with two conventional MCDM methods the developed expert system was applied on a data set from the Columbia River Basin salmon recovery plan to assess its potential usefulness as a decision-making tool for natural resource projects. The results suggest that the fuzzy expert system is easy to develop and makes better decisions than the other two conventional MCDM methods used.     

城市既有居住建筑绿色改造决策权配置研究

城市既有居住建筑绿色改造决策过程复杂烦琐、难度较大,明晰决策主体构成、合理配置决策权是实现决策有效性的关键着力点。利用2-模网络分析方法,从整体视角分析主要利益相关者对绿色改造项目的影响力,进而明确决策主体结构化组成;然后基于局部视角,以决策主体为权利载体实现决策权可视化,探明决策权在不同阶段、不同主体下的特征演变规律,提出决策权配置新思路。研究表明:社区自治组织、改造区域业主及政府部门构成决策核心主体;随着决策过程的推进,控制决策权由核心主体向决策参与主体发生动态转移和分散,从而使决策过程趋向民主、客观及合理化。基于上述研究结果,构建决策权配置框架,并提出针对性建议及措施以保证决策权有效实现。     

My money or yours: house money payment effects

This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to study how subjects’ decision making may be affected by the timing of participation payments (or show-up fees). The experiment follows Davis et al. (J. Econ. 30:69–95, 2004) where subjects were asked to make a sequential purchase decision and were given the opportunity to purchase information about the value of a good prior to a decision to purchase the good itself. There, subjects purchased information less often than expected which was interpreted as risk-seeking behavior. Here, we test a payment hypothesis by varying the timing of the participation payment. Payment of a show-up fee before the decision-making stages of the experiment increases information purchase, which we interpret as an increase in risk-averse behavior.     

情绪劳动研究的进展与展望

随着服务型社会的到来,雇员应当致力于其工作场所的情绪管理,以符合顾客及机构的期望,这就是所谓的情绪劳动。情绪劳动所关注的是内部调节过程,其目的是为了表达与工作要求相符合的、适当的情感。情绪劳动是影响工作表现及机构目标的一个重要因素,它是工作表现、工作满意度和精神疲劳的一个有力的预测因素。文章对这一研究领域的重要研究成果进行了回顾,详细阐述了情绪劳动的定义、结构、策略、测量方法、前提条件、效果及可能的媒介。本文在综合评述的基础上指出了目前研究的不足之处以及未来的研究方向。     

A theorist's view of experiments

The paper springs from a position that economic theory is an abstract investigation of the concepts and considerations involved in real life economic decision making rather than a tool for predicting or describing real behavior. It is argued that when experimental economics is motivated by theory, it should not look to verify the predictions of theory but instead should focus on verifying that the considerations contained in the economic model are sound and in common use. It is argued that when theory is motivated by experiments, the theorist should not be hasty in adopting new functional forms but should try to identify the basic psychological themes which are revealed exposed by the experiment. Finally, some critical comments on the methodology of experimental economics are presented.     

Current validity of the Delphi method in social sciences

The Delphi method is a popular technique for forecasting and an aid in decision-making based on the opinions of experts, which has been in existence for over half a century. This work evaluates its methodology and reviews its validity in the present day, especially in the area of Social Sciences. Three recent applications in this field are also explained, professional in nature, which have some characteristics that are not frequent with respect to other Delphi studies published. The main aim of two of these studies was to provide input for economic or statistical quantitative models, using the judgement of expert groups, while the third study aimed to analyse a complex social reality by means of a Policy Delphi in order to obtain reliable information before taking a policy decision. These applications highlight how this technique may be adapted to different social realities and requirements, making a positive contribution to social progress, provided it is applied with the necessary methodological rigour and with a good knowledge of the social medium in which it is being applied. Finally, there is an explanation of a number of lessons learned from the theory and aforementioned experiences, which may contribute to the successful outcome of a Delphi exercise.     

Who follows the crowd—Groups or individuals?

In games of social learning individuals tend to give too much weight to their own private information relative to the information that is conveyed by the choices of others (Weizsäcker, 2010). In this paper we investigate differences between individuals and small groups as decision makers in information cascade situations. In line with results from social psychology as well as results on Bayesian decision making (Charness et al., 2006) we find that groups behave more rationally than individuals. Groups, in particular, are able to abandon their own private signals more often than individuals when it is rational to do so. Our results indicate that the intellective part of the decision task contributes slightly more to the superior performance of groups than the judgmental part. Our findings have potential implications for the design of decision making processes in organisations, finance and other economic settings.