On the absorbability of herd behaviour and informational cascades: an experimental analysis

A theory is said to be fully absorbable whenever its own acceptance by all of the individuals belonging to a certain population does not question its predictive validity. This accounts for strategic equilibria and can be related to the logic underlying convergence of behaviour and intentional herding in sequential games. This paper discusses the absorbability of informational cascades' theory by bounded rational decision-makers and analyses whether providing individuals with theoretic information on informational cascades affects overall probability of herding phenomena to occur as well as whether an incorrect cascade can be reversed because of bounded rational adapting of the theory's prescriptive. --Theory absorption,Herd behaviour,Informational cascades

On the absorbability of the Guessing Game Theory. A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis

Theory absorption, a notion introduced by Morgenstern and Schwödiauer (1972) and further elaborated by Güth and Kliemt (2004), discusses the problem whether a theory can survive its own acceptance. Whereas this holds for strategic equilibria according to the assumptions on which they are based, the problem if theories are absorbable by at most boundedly rational decision makers is hardly discussed. Based on guessing game experiments we discuss the requirements of equilibrium theory absorption and test experimentally the effects of informing none, some or all players about how to derive equilibrium predictions.theory absorption; guessing game; p-beauty contest; individual behaviour; elimination of dominated strategies

ON THE ABSORBABILITY OF HERD BEHAVIOUR AND INFORMATIONAL CASCADES: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

A theory is said to be fully absorbable whenever its own acceptance by all of the individuals belonging to a certain population does not question its predictive validity. This accounts for strategic equilibria and can be related to the logic underlying convergence of behaviour and intentional herding in sequential games. This paper discusses the absorbability of informational cascades’ theory by bounded rational decision-makers and analyses whether providing individuals with theoretic information on informational cascades affects overall probability of herding phenomena to occur as well as whether an incorrect cascade can be reversed because of bounded rational adapting of the theory’s prescriptive.Theory absorption, Herd behaviour, Informational cascades

Holding on for too long? An experimental study on inertia in entrepreneurs’ and non-entrepreneurs’ disinvestment choices

Disinvestment, in the sense of project termination and liquidation of assets including the cession of a venture, is an important realm of entrepreneurial decision-making. This study presents the results of an experimental investigation modeling the choice to disinvest as a dynamic problem of optimal stopping in which the patterns of decisions are analyzed with entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Our experimental results reject the standard net present value approach as an account of observed behavior. Instead, most individuals seem to understand the value of waiting. Their choices are weakly related to the disinvestment triggers derived from a formal optimal stopping benchmark consistent with real options reasoning. We also observe a pronounced ‘psychological inertia’, i.e., most individuals hold on to a losing project for even longer than real options reasoning would predict. The study provides evidence for entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs being quite similar in their behavior.Real-Options, Disinvestment, Exit Behavior, Experimental Economics, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Coordination and allocation on land markets under increasing scale economies and heterogeneous actors - An experimental study

Economies of scale and scope are often not exploited in Western agriculture. A general reason is probably that various types of transaction costs limit coordination among farmers. A more specific explanation is that coordination on land markets or machinery cooperation is difficult to achieve when farmers are heterogeneous as some kind of price differentiation is necessary for a Pareto-superior solution. This paper investigates experimentally such a coordination game with heterogeneous agents using an example inspired by agricultural land markets. The experimental findings suggest that a Pareto-optimal solution may not be found when agents are heterogeneous. The findings provide evidence for market failures and cooperation deficits as reasons for unexploited economies of scale in agriculture. Our findings are consistent with coordination failures that appear to be driven by behavioural factors such as anchoring-and-adjustment, inequity aversion, and a reverse form of winner’s curse.Land Markets, Coordination and Allocation, Experimental Economics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

PROOFS WITHOUT WORDS: dal linguaggio illustrato al registro formale. Una sperimentazione nelle classi di un liceo.

Questa tesi è sul tema delle Proofs Without Words, realizzate con GeoGebra: ho animato alcune delle classiche dimostrazioni senza parole proponendole agli studenti come punto di partenza per la costruzione di un percorso deduttivo da stendere poi per iscritto. Il focus finale della sperimentazione sarà registrare i comportamenti degli allievi quando cercheranno di esprimere e formalizzare discorsivamente quanto fatto. Accanto a questo nucleo primario di ricerca, il lavoro è condito da un’indagine sul rapporto tra il registro formale e quello visuale. Nel primo capitolo introduco e presento le PWWs. Nel secondo capitolo metto le basi teoriche entro cui ho costruito la sperimentazione, e che ne guideranno la lettura e l’analisi dei risultati: la visualizzazione e l’argomentazione in matematica. Nel terzo capitolo espongo le specifiche domande che motivano il lavoro di tesi, descrivo dettagliatamente la costruzione della sperimentazione, la scelta delle dimostrazioni senza parole, le varie modalità con cui le ho animate e le attività proposte in classe agli studenti. Nel quarto capitolo espongo i risultati ottenuti dalla lettura e dall’analisi dei protocolli raccolti nelle classi. In particolare, l’analisi delle dimostrazioni formalizzate stese dagli alunni viene condotta seguendo precisi criteri osservabili, alcuni riguardanti prettamente la forma delle dimostrazioni, altri specifici sul contenuto degli elaborati e altri ancora a metà tra le due tipologie precedenti. Si vuole, infine, indagare quale ruolo svolge il linguaggio utilizzato nelle formalizzazioni, se espliciti un processo deduttivo o assuma un ruolo esclusivamente descrittivo. Nell’ultimo capitolo, infine, traggo alcune conclusioni sul possibile utilizzo delle Proofs Without Words come valido ed efficace (o meno) strumento didattico in un percorso di avvio o consolidamento di un pensiero argomentativo formalizzato e strutturato

PROOFS WITHOUT WORDS: dal linguaggio illustrato al registro formale. Una sperimentazione nelle classi di un liceo.

Questa tesi è sul tema delle Proofs Without Words, realizzate con GeoGebra: ho animato alcune delle classiche dimostrazioni senza parole proponendole agli studenti come punto di partenza per la costruzione di un percorso deduttivo da stendere poi per iscritto. Il focus finale della sperimentazione sarà registrare i comportamenti degli allievi quando cercheranno di esprimere e formalizzare discorsivamente quanto fatto. Accanto a questo nucleo primario di ricerca, il lavoro è condito da un’indagine sul rapporto tra il registro formale e quello visuale. Nel primo capitolo introduco e presento le PWWs. Nel secondo capitolo metto le basi teoriche entro cui ho costruito la sperimentazione, e che ne guideranno la lettura e l’analisi dei risultati: la visualizzazione e l’argomentazione in matematica. Nel terzo capitolo espongo le specifiche domande che motivano il lavoro di tesi, descrivo dettagliatamente la costruzione della sperimentazione, la scelta delle dimostrazioni senza parole, le varie modalità con cui le ho animate e le attività proposte in classe agli studenti. Nel quarto capitolo espongo i risultati ottenuti dalla lettura e dall’analisi dei protocolli raccolti nelle classi. In particolare, l’analisi delle dimostrazioni formalizzate stese dagli alunni viene condotta seguendo precisi criteri osservabili, alcuni riguardanti prettamente la forma delle dimostrazioni, altri specifici sul contenuto degli elaborati e altri ancora a metà tra le due tipologie precedenti. Si vuole, infine, indagare quale ruolo svolge il linguaggio utilizzato nelle formalizzazioni, se espliciti un processo deduttivo o assuma un ruolo esclusivamente descrittivo. Nell’ultimo capitolo, infine, traggo alcune conclusioni sul possibile utilizzo delle Proofs Without Words come valido ed efficace (o meno) strumento didattico in un percorso di avvio o consolidamento di un pensiero argomentativo formalizzato e strutturato

ON THE ABSORBABILITY OF HERD BEHAVIOUR AND INFORMATIONAL CASCADES: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

A theory is said to be fully absorbable whenever its own acceptance by all of the individuals belonging to a certain population does not question its predictive validity. This accounts for strategic equilibria and can be related to the logic underlying convergence of behaviour and intentional herding in sequential games. This paper discusses the absorbability of informational cascades’ theory by bounded rational decision-makers and analyses whether providing individuals with theoretic information on informational cascades affects overall probability of herding phenomena to occur as well as whether an incorrect cascade can be reversed because of bounded rational adapting of the theory’s prescriptive

ON THE ABSORBABILITY OF HERD BEHAVIOUR AND INFORMATIONAL CASCADES: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

A theory is said to be fully absorbable whenever its own acceptance by all of the individuals belonging to a certain population does not question its predictive validity. This accounts for strategic equilibria and can be related to the logic underlying convergence of behaviour and intentional herding in sequential games. This paper discusses the absorbability of informational cascades’ theory by bounded rational decision-makers and analyses whether providing individuals with theoretic information on informational cascades affects overall probability of herding phenomena to occur as well as whether an incorrect cascade can be reversed because of bounded rational adapting of the theory’s prescriptive

Ciprofloxacin carrier systems based on hectorite/halloysite hybrid hydrogels for potential wound healing applications

The design of multifunctional nanomaterials which can help the healing processes of skin, preventing the bacterial infections, is crucial for the development of suitable therapy for the treatment of chronic lesions. The use of clay minerals in wound healing applications is well documented since the prehistoric period and offers several advantages due to their intrinsic properties. Herein, we report the development of ciprofloxacin carrier systems based on hectorite/halloysite (Ht/Hal) hybrid hydrogels for potential wound healing applications. To achieve this objective firstly the ciprofloxacin molecules were loaded onto Hal by a supramolecular and covalent approach. The so obtained fillers were thoroughly investigated by several techniques and at molecular level by means of quantum mechanics calculations along with empirical interatomic potentials. Afterwards the modified Hal were used as filler for Ht hydrogels. The introduction of modified Hal, in hectorite hydrogel, helps the gel formation with an improvement of the rheological properties. The in vitro kinetic release from both the fillers and from the hybrid hydrogels was studied both at skin's pH (5.4) and under neutral conditions (pH 7.4); in addition, the factors controlling the ciprofloxacin release process were determined and discussed. Finally, the in vitro biocompatibility of the Hal fillers was evaluated by means of cytotoxic assays and laser scanning confocal microscopy on normal human dermal fibroblasts.The work was carried out in the frame of the PON “AIM: Attrazione e Mobilità Internazionale” No. 1808223-1 project. Authors are thankful to H.A. Duarte for providing atomic coordinates of halloysite, to the CSIC Computational Center and the University of Granada Computation Center for computation facilities, and the Andalusian project grants RNM-1897 and P18-RT-3786 , and the Spanish MINECO projects , PCIN-2017-098 , FIS2016-77692-C2-2-P and CGL2016-80833-R , for the financial support of this research