Applying Fair Reward Divisions to Collaborative Work

Collaborative crowdsourcing tasks allow workers to solve more difficult problems than they could alone, but motivating workers in these tasks is complex. In this thesis, we study how to use payments to motivate groups of crowd workers. We leverage concepts from equity theory and cooperative game theory to understand the connection between fair payments and motivation. Based on findings from a systematic literature review, we identify how the implications of equity theory relate to the Mechanical Turk ecosystem. Then, we use a realistic audio transcription task to evaluate how theoretically fair payments affect crowd workers. Further, we carry out two experiments to find how people’s perceptions of fair rewards differ from cooperative game theory’s fairness axioms. Our findings have important implications for designing collaborative work and directing future research on perceptions of fairness

Game theory

game theory

Hide, Not Seek: Perceived Fairness in Envy-Free Allocations of Indivisible Goods

Fair division provides a rich computational and mathematical framework for the allocation of indivisible goods, which has given rise to numerous fairness concepts and their relaxations. In recent years, much attention has been given to theoretical and computational aspects of various fairness concepts. Nonetheless, the choice of which fairness concept is in practice perceived to be fairer by individuals is not well understood. We consider two conceptually different relaxations of envy-freeness and investigate how individuals perceive the induced allocations as fair. In particular, we examine a well-studied relaxation of envy-freeness up to one good (EF1) which is based on counterfactual thinking that any pairwise envy can be eliminated by the hypothetical removal of a single good from the envied agent's bundle. In contrast, a recently proposed epistemic notion, namely envy-freeness up to $k$ hidden goods (HEF-$k$), provides a relaxation by hiding information about a small subset of $k$ goods. Through various crowdsourcing experiments, we empirically demonstrate that allocations achieved by withholding information are perceived to be fairer compared to two variants of EF1.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure

Experimental economics: Methods, problems and promise

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the growing importance of experimentation in economic analysis. We present a variety of economic issues that have been explored with laboratory techniques. We also address some common objections to experimentation, as well as some of the principal lessons that have been learned.

What's a face worth: Noneconomic factors in game playing

Where behavior defies economic analysis, one explanation is that individuals consider more than the immediate payoff. We present evidence that noneconomic factors influence behavior. Attractiveness influences offers in the Ultimatum and Dictator Games. Facial resemblance, a cue of relatedness, increases trusting in a two-node trust game. Only by considering the range of possible influences will game-playing behavior be explained

Learning to be sociable: the evolution of homo economicus

“This is a pre-print of an article published in American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 67 (2), pp 265 - 286". Author's draftThis article studies the evolution of the economic man (Homo economicus) from its original conception until the current day. By analyzing the discourse of economic articles, we provide a chronological account of the economic man's intellectual and philosophical development as it evolved from what we term the philosophical age to the neoclassical age and finally to the strategic age. The article then shows how the economic man in the strategic age is slowly finding convergence with the sociological man (Homo sociologicus). A reconciliation of the two sapiens is difficult. However, recent papers on behavioral and experimental economics provide insights into a possible reconciliation. Our study argues that the purpose of the sociological man is to identify who he is, how he interacts with people within a society, and the antecedents to such behaviors. Homo economicus, however, has no overarching philosophical assumptions on what he values. The objectives of each discipline are different and, once one is mapped onto the other, it is unclear if there is truly any tension between them

Cost Allocation: Methods, Principles, Applications

This book provides a theoretical framework for systematically evaluating the "pros" and "cons" of various methods. It also includes a series of case studies in cost allocation to give a sense of the real problems encountered in implementation. Among the examples treated are telecommunications pricing, multipurpose reservoir charges, and airport landing fees. Finally several articles address the broader fairness issues inherent in the pricing of public services. The history of the notion of the "just price" from medieval to modern times is discussed, together with observations on what principles seem to guide decisions in telecommunications rate cases in the United States. The connections between cost allocation, efficiency, and entry in the telecommunications market are also examined in two different contexts: the U.S. and France. The overall aim of the book is to provide theoretical foundations for using specific methods, to examine the distributional and fairness issues involved in cost allocation, and to give a sense of the practical problems encountered in implementation. The book will appeal to practitioners interested in what allocation methods are available, and to theorists concerned with their axiomatic foundations

Neuroeconomics: Decision-Making through a Neuroeconomic Perspective

Αυτό το δοκίμιο είναι μια εισαγωγή στο διεπιστημονικό πεδίο της νευροοικονομικής. Πρώτον, παρέχουμε μια επισκόπηση των υφιστάμενων θεωριών στα νεοκλασικά οικονομικά και τη γνωστική νευροεπιστήμη, που συνέβαλαν στη δημιουργία των νευροοικονομικών. Ακολούθως, εξετάζουμε συνοπτικά και κριτικά τα σημεία συνάντησης της οικονομίας, της ψυχολογίας και της νευροεπιστήμης που παραμένουν σημαντικά για την εξέλιξη της οικονομικής σκέψης. Εξετάζονται οι έννοιες του homo economicus, της οριοθετημένης λογικής, του satisficing, των γνωσιακών προκαταλήψεων και ευρετικών. Στη συνέχεια παρουσιάζεται η μετάβαση από την οικονομία στην νευροοικονομία. Τα εργαλεία και οι μέθοδοι μέσω των οποίων η νευροεπιστήμη μπορεί να βοηθήσει στη δημιουργία νέων βελτιωμένων μοντέλων παρατίθενται. Η νευροεπιστήμη συνδυάζει τα πεδία της νευροεπιστήμης, της ψυχολογίας και της οικονομίας με στόχο να κατανοήσει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο γίνονται όλες οι οικονομικές και επενδυτικές αποφάσεις. Συγκεκριμένα, ο στόχος είναι να συλληφθούν όλες οι χημικές αντιδράσεις και οι βιολογικές διεργασίες που λαμβάνουν χώρα στον εγκέφαλο ενός ατόμου και σχετίζονται με μια οικονομική απόφαση. Το παρόν έγγραφο παρουσιάζει μια ανασκόπηση της σύγχρονης λογοτεχνίας σχετικά με την επίδραση της ανθρώπινης ψυχοφυσιολογίας στη λήψη αποφάσεων, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τις εκκρίσεις του νευρικού συστήματος (ντοπαμίνη, οξυτοκίνη και σεροτονίνη), πιθανές αλλοιώσεις του εγκεφάλου, κοινωνικές αλληλεπιδράσεις και συναισθήματα των ανθρώπων. Η νευροοικονομία και τα διάφορα πειράματα που έχουν διενεργήσει οι επιστήμονες των νευροοικονομικών μας επιτρέπουν να παρακολουθούμε τη δραστηριότητα των νευρώνων σε πραγματικό χρόνο, να παρατηρούμε πώς αυτή η δραστηριότητα εξαρτάται από το οικονομικό περιβάλλον και να κάνουμε υποθέσεις, οι οποίες είτε επιβεβαιώνονται είτε απορρίπτονται, για το πώς ο ανθρώπινος νους λαμβάνει οικονομικές αποφάσεις. Οι αντίθετες απόψεις για τη συμβολή της νευροοικονομικής στη δημιουργία συμπεριφορικών μοντέλων παρατίθενται στη συνέχεια. Τέλος, παρουσιάζουμε μια κριτική επισκόπηση των νευροοικονομικών.This essay is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of neuroeconomics. Firstly, we provide an overview of the existing theories in neoclassic economics and cognitive neuroscience, which contributed to the creation of neuroeconomics. We thus examine briefly and critically the meeting points of economics, psychology and neuroscience that remain important for the evolution of economic thought. The concepts of homo economicus, bounded rationality, satisficing, cognitive biases and heuristics are analyzed. Subsequently, the transition from economics to neuroeconomics is presented. The tools and methods through which neuroscience can help create new improved models are listed. Neuroscience combines the fields of neuroscience, psychology and economics with the aim of understanding the way all economic and investment decisions are made. Specifically, the goal is to capture all the chemical reactions and biological processes that take place in a person's brain that are related to an economic decision. Thu, this paper presents a review of modern literature on the effect of human psychophysiology on decision making, taking into account the excretions of the nervous system (dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin), possible brain lesions, social interactions and emotions of human beings. Neuroeconomics and the various experiments that neuroeconomists have conducted enable us to monitor the activity of neurons in real time, observe how this activity depends on the economic environment, and make assumptions, whether confirmed or rejected, about how the human mind receives financial decisions. The opposing views towards the contribution of neuroeconomics in the creation of behavioral models are then listed. Finally, we present a critical review of neuroeconomics