Cooperation limitations under a one-time threat of expulsion and punishment

We examine the role one-time threats of expulsion and punishment have on voluntary contributions in a public goods game. This paper extends the work of Cinyabuguma, Page, and Putterman (2005), who find that the threat of expulsion in every period raises contributions to near Pareto Optimal levels. In our experiments, participants played in 15-round sessions where they were allowed to vote to remove other subjects only after round 5 and in one design also voted whether to punish the remaining subjects after round 10. We find that the additional threat of punishment not only increased the contributions of participants before the punishment vote, but also resulted in the expulsion of participants who had contributed more than in the no punishment treatment. Efficiency with expulsion is 58.07% without punishment, and 57.13% with punishment, including the cost for voting and punishment. Our findings indicate that the threat of expulsion as a sanctioning mechanism may not be helpful for public good provision unless expulsion can occur in every period, the threat of costly punishment increases contributions with little impact on efficiency, and that standards for inclusion rise when later punishment is available.

Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing: Analysis of Virtual Market Data

We analyze a unique data set from a massively-multiplayer online video game economy called The Kingdom of Loathing to assess the viability of these markets in conducting economic research. The data consist of every transaction in a market with over one million players over three years of real time. We find that 1) the game markets are efficient, 2) the complexity of the product determines information diffusion times, and 3) we can classify which and how players participate in trade.

A note on bilateral trade agreements in the presence of irreversible investment and deferred negotiations

A common result in the trade literature is that a small country will realize gains from a bilateral free trade agreement with a large country. McLaren (1997) casts aspersions on this traditional belief by demonstrating that irreversible investment in the small country, with the possibility of re-negotiation by the large country, can actually make the small country prefer autarky to free trade. In this note, we identify a middle ground where the small country can realize above-autarky utility by only partially specializing (relative to the free-trade level of specialization) in export production this improvement occurs even in the presence of irreversible investment and deferred negotiations.irreversible investment

Does the sex difference in competitiveness decrease in selective sub-populations? A test with intercollegiate distance runners

Sex differences in some preferences and motivations are well established, but it is unclear whether they persist in selective sub-populations, such as expert financial decision makers, top scientists, or elite athletes. We addressed this issue by studying competitiveness in 1,147 varsity intercollegiate distance runners. As expected, across all runners, men reported greater competitiveness with two previously validated instruments, greater competitiveness on a new elite competitiveness scale, and greater training volume, a known correlate of competitiveness. Among faster runners, the sex difference decreased for one measure of competitiveness but did not decrease for the two other competitiveness measures or either measure of training volume. Across NCAA athletic divisions (DI, DII, DIII), the sex difference did not decrease for any competitiveness or training measure. Further analyses showed that these sex differences could not be attributed to women suffering more injuries or facing greater childcare responsibilities. However, women did report greater commitment than men to their academic studies, suggesting a sex difference in priorities. Therefore, policies aiming to provide men and women with equal opportunities to flourish should acknowledge that sex differences in some kinds of preferences and motivation may persist even in selective sub-populations

Exploring the Fundamental Dynamics of Error-Based Motor Learning Using a Stationary Predictive-Saccade Task

The maintenance of movement accuracy uses prior performance errors to correct future motor plans; this motor-learning process ensures that movements remain quick and accurate. The control of predictive saccades, in which anticipatory movements are made to future targets before visual stimulus information becomes available, serves as an ideal paradigm to analyze how the motor system utilizes prior errors to drive movements to a desired goal. Predictive saccades constitute a stationary process (the mean and to a rough approximation the variability of the data do not vary over time, unlike a typical motor adaptation paradigm). This enables us to study inter-trial correlations, both on a trial-by-trial basis and across long blocks of trials. Saccade errors are found to be corrected on a trial-by-trial basis in a direction-specific manner (the next saccade made in the same direction will reflect a correction for errors made on the current saccade). Additionally, there is evidence for a second, modulating process that exhibits long memory. That is, performance information, as measured via inter-trial correlations, is strongly retained across a large number of saccades (about 100 trials). Together, this evidence indicates that the dynamics of motor learning exhibit complexities that must be carefully considered, as they cannot be fully described with current state-space (ARMA) modeling efforts

Education and the Economy: The Challenge for West Michigan

Recent reports in the popular media raise concerns about a supposed “boy crisis” in the United States with regard to educational attainment. These reports cite evidence that females in the United States have caught up and surpassed males in most measures of schooling. Concern over the gender gap in schooling is misplaced, however, as racial differences in educational attainment are much more severe. This paper presents evidence on educational attainment by race and gender, nationally, within the state, and locally

Born at the Wrong Time: Selection Bias in the NHL Draft

Relative age effects (RAEs) occur when those who are relatively older for their age group are more likely to succeed. RAEs occur reliably in some educational and athletic contexts, yet the causal mechanisms remain unclear. Here we provide the first direct test of one mechanism, selection bias, which can be defined as evaluators granting fewer opportunities to relatively younger individuals than is warranted by their latent ability. Because RAEs are well-established in hockey, we analyzed National Hockey League (NHL) drafts from 1980 to 2006. Compared to those born in the first quarter (i.e., January– March), those born in the third and fourth quarters were drafted more than 40 slots later than their productivity warranted, and they were roughly twice as likely to reach career benchmarks, such as 400 games played or 200 points scored. This selection bias in drafting did not decrease over time, apparently continues to occur, and reduces the playing opportunities of relatively younger players. This bias is remarkable because it is exhibited by professional decision makers evaluating adults in a context where RAEs have been widely publicized. Thus, selection bias based on relative age may be pervasive

Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing : Analysis of Virtual Market Data

We analyze a unique data set from a massively-multiplayer online video game economy called The Kingdom of Loathing to assess the viability of these markets in conducting economic research. The data consist of every transaction in a market with over one million players over three years of real time. We find that 1) the game markets are efficient, 2) the complexity of the product determines information diffusion times, and 3) we can classify which and how players participate in trade

An Alternative Valuation Method for Non-Market Production

Current techniques for valuing non-market production provide biased estimates of the value of human time spent outside the market environment. These biased estimates cause problems for applications which need to quantify the economic contribution of unpaid, non-market, and household labor. For example, the legal system measures economic losses to families and households from the injury or death of a member, while policy decision-makers evaluate the impacts of economic growth on consumer welfare. This bias in valuing non-market effort is particularly troublesome for analyzing consumer spending choices, poverty, and the effects of changing labor force participation rates by sex. We present an alternative valuation method which provides more realistic estimates of the productivity and value of effort performed by non-specialists. We estimate the distribution of market wages as a function of experience. Those distributions are then combined with data from time use surveys to value the output of non-specialist, non-market providers. A discussion of existing techniques is included

Bribery and inspection technology

Corruption, Bribery, Inspection technology, e-Government, K42, D73,