Why do groups cooperate more than individuals to reduce risks?

Previous research has discovered a curious phenomenon: groups cooperate less than individuals in a deterministic prisoner’s dilemma game, but cooperate more than individuals when uncertainty is introduced into the game. We conducted two studies to examine three possible processes that might drive groups to be more cooperative than individuals in reducing risks: group risk concern, group cooperation expectation, and pressure to conform to social norms. We found that ex post guilt aversion and ex-post blame avoidance cause group members to be more risk concerned than individuals under uncertainty. These concerns drive groups to choose the cooperation (and risk-reduction) strategy more frequently than individuals. Groups also have higher cooperation expectations for their corresponding groups than individuals have for their corresponding individuals. We found no evidence of pressure to conform to social norms driving groups to be more cooperative than individuals.     

The Emergence of Reactive Strategies in Simulated Heterogeneous Populations

The computer simulation study explores the impact of the duration of social impact on the generation and stabilization of cooperative strategies. Rather than seeding the simulations with a finite set of strategies, a continuous distribution of strategies is being defined. Members of heterogeneous populations were characterized by a pair of probabilistic reactive strategies: the probability to respond to cooperation by cooperation and the probability to respond to defection by cooperation. This generalized reactive strategy yields the standard TFT mechanism, the All-Cooperate, All-Defect and Bully strategies as special cases. Pairs of strategies interacted through a Prisoner's Dilemma game and exerted social influence on all other members. Manipulating: (i) the initial distribution of populations' strategies, and (ii) the duration of social influence, we monitored the conditions leading to the emergence and stabilization of cooperative strategies. Results show that: (1) The duration of interactions between pairs of strategies constitutes a crucial factor for the emergence and stabilization of cooperative strategies, (2) Unless sufficient learning intervals are provided, initializing the simulations with cooperative populations does not guarantee that cooperation will sustain.     

The long-term consequences of youth housing for childbearing and higher education

The lack of housing in areas where young adults have greater opportunities to study and get work complicates young adults’ entry into the adulthood. Difficulties in accessing housing may therefore delay childbearing and may negatively have an effect on education opportunities. To increase housing accessibility, some municipalities have earmarked apartments for young adults. These “youth dwellings” are criticized for being small and not necessarily facilitating family formation and fertility, better suiting students’ needs. We have in this paper compared the long-term pattern of childbearing and education for young adults that entered their housing market through small cheap youth housing with those youngsters that received a rental apartment from the ordinary housing stock. To be able to draw the conclusion that differences in fertility and educational pattern between these two groups comes from the different housing situation and not from differences in in preferences when it comes to childbearing or individual prerequisites for higher education, we have used a geocoded data and information on the individual’s family background as well as a matching technique to create a comparison group that are similar to the treatment group in several aspects. The present results indicate that building affordable housing that is small and space efficient is sufficient and positive if the aim is to promote higher education. Affordable housing is on the other hand not enough to promote childbearing, instead, it seems to inhibit childbearing until there is a possibility of moving on in the housing career. Our result also indicates that the next step need not necessarily be homeownership, as earlier research has indicated. Entering the housing market via youth housing and then being able to move on to rental accommodation in the ordinary housing market also seems to have a positive effect on overall childbearing, although moving to cooperative housing or owned housing has an even larger effect.     

Maternal Conflict Behavior Profiles and Child Social Skills

The current study examined associations between mothers’ behavioral profiles during mother‐child conflict interactions and their children's social skills. This person‐centered approach classified 181 mothers according to their levels of emotional responsiveness, intrusiveness, negativity, and engagement facilitation behaviors during an eight‐minute conflict discussion task with their child. Three distinct classes of mothers were identified using latent profile analysis: sensitive/engaged, moderately sensitive/engaged, and insensitive/disengaged. An analysis of covariance indicated that children of mothers in the sensitive/engaged group had significantly higher social skills than children of mothers in the moderately sensitive/engaged and insensitive/disengaged groups. Results suggest that mother‐child conflict interactions may benefit children's social development when mothers facilitate their children's participation in a highly sensitive manner.     

Group Problem-Solving Processes: Social Interactions andIndividual Actions

To help consider why some groups solve problems successfully but others do not, this article introduces a framework for analyzing sequences of group members' actions. The dimensions of evaluation of the previous action (supportive, critical, unresponsive), knowledge content (contribution, repetition, null), and invitational form (command, question, statement) organize twenty-seven individual actions, each with specific functions and conditions of use. Evaluations, repetitions and invitational forms link actions together to create coherent social interactions, and thereby serve as possible quantitative measures of collaboration quality. Specific individual action also helps constitute specific social interactions. Six types of social interactions that occur during group problem-solving are organized by problem knowledge distribution (no one knows a problem approach, some know, or everyone knows) and degree of cooperation (independent or cooperative). This framework's mutually exclusive categories and multi-function individual actions allow statistical analyses of many group interactions both in their entirety and infine detail.     

Sequential strategies in dual control problems

Sequential decision problems are studied in which there are two decision-makers, or players, who are trying to control the same stochastic system in order to minimize their own individual expected losses. The standard linear model for the stochastic control process and standard quadratic loss functions are assumed. The players take turns choosing the value of the control variable, and each player has his own sequence of targets and his own loss function. Optimal pure competitive strategies are derived by backward induction, and limiting strategies and equilibria are determined. Myopic strategies are introduced and shown to yield smaller losses for each player than the pure competitive strategies. Coefficients of cooperation are then defined, and various cooperative sequential strategies based on them are shown to be mutually beneficial to both players.     

Spatial externalities and risk in interdependent security games

Individuals regularly invest in self-protection to reduce the risk of an adverse event. The effectiveness of self-protection often depends on the actions of other economic agents and can be modeled as a stochastic coordination game with multiple Pareto-ranked equilibria. We use lab experiments to analyze tacit coordination in stochastic games with two kinds of interdependencies in payoffs: “non-spatial” in which every agent’s action has an impact on the risk faced by every other agent, and “spatial” in which agents only impact the risk faced by their immediate neighbors. We also compare behavior in the stochastic games to deterministic versions of the same games. We find that coordination on the payoff-dominant equilibrium is significantly easier in the deterministic games than in the stochastic games and that spatial interdependencies lead to greater levels of coordination in the deterministic game but not in the stochastic game. The difficulty with coordination observed in the stochastic games has important implications for many real-world examples of interdependent security and also illustrates the importance of not relying on data from deterministic experiments to analyze behavior in settings with risk.     

Adolescents' Judgments of Doubly Deviant Peers: Implications of Intergroup and Intragroup Dynamics for Disloyal and Overweight Group Members

Group membership, loyalty, and weight are highly relevant for adolescent peer evaluations at school. This research tested how in‐group/out‐group membership affected judgments of peers who deviated from social norms for weight and loyalty. Two hundred and forty 11–13‐year‐olds (49 percent female; 94 percent Caucasian) judged two in‐group or out‐group peers: one was normative (loyal and average weight) and the other was non‐normative (i.e., ‘deviant’). The deviant target was overweight, disloyal to their own group (school), or both (‘doubly deviant’). Derogation of overweight relative to average weight peers was greater if they were in‐group rather than out‐group members, revealing a strong ‘black sheep effect’ for overweight peers. Disloyal out‐group deviants were judged favorably, but this effect was eliminated if they were doubly deviant, suggesting that their disloyalty was insufficient to overcome the overweight stigma. Consistent with developmental subjective group dynamics theory, effects of group membership and types of deviance on adolescents’ favorability toward peers were mediated by adolescents’ perceptions of how well the deviant members would ‘fit’ with the in‐group school. Implications for theory and strategies to reduce peer exclusion, particularly weight stigmatization, are considered.     

Individual vs. group decision-making: an experiment on dynamic choice under risk and ambiguity

This paper focuses on the comparison of individual and group decision-making, in a stochastic inter-temporal problem in two decision environments, namely risk and ambiguity. Using a consumption/saving laboratory experiment, we investigate behaviour in four treatments: (1) individual choice under risk; (2) group choice under risk; (3) individual choice under ambiguity and (4) group choice under ambiguity. Comparing decisions within and between decision environments, we find an anti-symmetric pattern. While individuals are choosing on average closer to the theoretical optimal predictions, compared to groups in the risk treatments, groups tend to deviate less under ambiguity. Within decision environments, individuals deviate more when they choose under ambiguity, while groups are better planners under ambiguity rather than under risk. Our results extend the often observed pattern of individuals (groups) behaving more optimally under risk (ambiguity), to its dynamic dimension.

     

The curse of hope

In K?szegi and Rabin’s (Q J Econ 1133–1165, 2006, Am Econ Rev 97:1047–1073, 2007) reference-dependent model of preferences, the chance of obtaining a better outcome can reduce an agent’s expected utility through an increase in the stochastic reference point. This means that individuals may prefer stochastically dominated lotteries. In this sense, hope, understood as a small probability of a better outcome, can be a curse. While K?szegi and Rabin focus on a linear specification of the utility function, we show that this effect occurs more broadly. Using fairly plausible assumptions and parameter values, we specify the conditions under which it occurs, as well as the type of lotteries in which this should be expected. We then show that while a simple subjective transformation of probability into weights of the reference point may in some cases mitigate the issue, in others, it can intensify it or even generate new ones. Finally, we extend the model by adding the individual’s current reference point (status quo) to the stochastic reference point. We show that this modification can reconcile K?szegi and Rabin’s model with the apparent empirical infrequency of stochastically dominated choices while maintaining its main qualitative results.     

'My Mom Makes Me So Angry!' Adolescent Perceptions of Mother–Child Interactions as Correlates of Adolescent Emotions

The purpose of the current study was to examine adolescents’ perceptions of mother–child interactions as correlates of adolescents’ positive, negative, and guilt emotions. Two hundred thirty‐four adolescents (M age = 16.39, SD = 1.17) completed measures assessing parenting practices in response to typical mother–child interactions in both positive and negative contexts. Adolescents also reported on the appropriateness of parenting practices, their parents’ intentions, and their own emotional responses. Multiple regression analyses suggested that in positive contexts, parenting practices, appropriateness, and parental intent were related to adolescent emotions; but in negative contexts, only parental appropriateness was related to adolescent emotions. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering aspects of socialization other than parental discipline when studying adolescent emotions, and it highlights the importance of positive socialization contexts.     

Strategic behavior under partial cooperation

We investigate how a group of players might cooperate with each other within the setting of a non-cooperative game. We pursue two notions of partial cooperative equilibria that follow a modification of Nash’s best response rationality rather than a core-like approach. Partial cooperative Nash equilibrium treats non-cooperative players and the coalition of cooperators symmetrically, while the notion of partial cooperative leadership equilibrium assumes that the group of cooperators has a first-mover advantage. We prove existence theorems for both types of equilibria. We look at three well-known applications under partial cooperation. In a game of voluntary provision of a public good we show that our two new equilibrium notions of partial cooperation coincide. In a modified Cournot oligopoly, we identify multiple equilibria of each type and show that a non-cooperator may have a higher payoff than a cooperator. In contrast, under partial cooperation in a symmetric Salop City game, a cooperator enjoys a higher return.     

岭南文化与新岭南文化特点认知研究--基于广东新移民与本地居民的调查分析

本研究以2213名广东居民(广东新移民1261人、广东本地人952人)为研究对象,采用自编《岭南文化与新岭南文化特点认知问卷》对广东居民的岭南文化与新岭南文化特点状况进行问卷调查,结果发现：一是总的来看,大部分广东居民(包括广东新移民和本地居民)对岭南文化与新岭南文化特点认知程度处于“不确定”与“赞同”水平之间;二是广东本地人在岭南文化与新岭南文化特点认知维度上得分均高于广东新移民;三是居住年限在11年及以上的广东新移民在岭南文化与新岭南文化特点认知维度上得分均高于居住年限1-5年、6-10年的广东新移民;四是岭南文化特点维度与现代意识与全球意识、广东新人文精神两个维度存在中度的正相关关系。     

Optimization implementation of solution concepts for cooperative games with stochastic payoffs

Theory and Decision - In this paper, we study solution concepts for cooperative games with stochastic payoffs. we define four kinds of solution concepts, namely the most coalitional (marginal)...     

Developing a collaborative methodology for research with community groups

This ‘short communication’ considers four different methodological approaches for ethnographic research projects that engage community groups when the research topic is contested amongst group members. I locate my comments in the context of a proposed project on concepts of gender in the ‘mythopoetic’ men's movement, and on feminist responses to these concepts; however, many of the points raised are applicable to a range of community projects. I discuss benefits and drawbacks of the following candidate methodologies: participant-observation (in this case, with a male partner researcher who is an ‘insider’); participatory-action research; reflexive ethnographic interviewing; and a collaborative documentary that incorporates aspects of video ethnography. A key consideration throughout is the positioning of the researcher and participants. I make a case for the uniquely collaborative potential of video when quite diverse perspectives are part and parcel of a proposed research agenda.     

Monetary policy,trade-offs and the transmission of UK Monetary Policy

We provide a new method to model changes in monetary policy of the Bank of England (BoE) as well as the impact of these changes on UK economy. This is important as central bankers have widened the range of instruments in their monetary policy toolbox. Specifically, we estimate a proxy for the monetary policy stance and then analyse a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive with stochastic volatility model to explain the BoE’s trade-offs when making policy decisions and as well as to demonstrate dynamic impacts of monetary policy on inflation and economic growth. The empirical results show that our estimated monetary policy proxy is better at capturing the BoE’s policy when the interest rate lower bound becomes binding.     

Stochastic superiority

This paper introduces a definition of stochastic superiority. One random variable is stochastically superior to another whenever it stochastically dominates the other after the risk in each random variable has been optimally reduced. Stochastic superiority is implied by stochastic dominance, but the reverse is not true. Stochastic superiority allows more pairs of random alternatives to be ranked, and efficient sets to be smaller. A very strong sufficient condition for stochastic superiority is demonstrated to also be necessary when preferences are risk averse. This condition provides a relatively easy way to conduct stochastic superiority tests. As an alternative to “almost stochastic dominance,” stochastic superiority also provides a natural solution to the “left tail problem” that arises often when comparing random alternatives.

     

Goals as reference points in marathon running: A novel test of reference dependence

In a large-scale field study of marathon runners, we test whether goals act as reference points in shaping the valuation of outcomes. Theories of reference-dependent preferences, such as Prospect Theory, imply that outcomes that are just below or just above a reference point are evaluated differently. Consistent with the Prospect Theory value function, we find that satisfaction as a function of relative performance (the difference between a runner’s finishing time goal and her actual finishing time) exhibits loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity in both predictions of and actual experienced satisfaction. However, in contrast to Prospect Theory, we observe that loss aversion is partially driven by a discontinuity or jump at the reference point. In addition, we find that a runner’s time goal as well as their previous marathon times simultaneously impact runner satisfaction, providing support for the impact of multiple reference points on satisfaction.     

Individual and group decision making under risk: An experimental study of Bayesian updating and violations of first-order stochastic dominance

This paper reports the results of experiments designed to test whether individuals and groups abide by monotonicity with respect to first-order stochastic dominance and Bayesian updating when making decisions under risk. The results indicate a significant number of violations of both principles. The violation rate when groups make decisions is substantially lower, and decreasing with group size, suggesting that social interaction improves the decision-making process. Greater transparency of the decision task reduces the violation rate, suggesting that these violations are due to judgment errors rather than the preference structure. In one treatment, however, less complex decisions result in a higher error rates.