FES International Research Seminar with Professor Armin Falk, University of Bonn, Germany
Armin Falk is also the director of Bonn Laboratory for Experimental Economics and Behavior and Inequality Research Institute (briq). His work appeared in journals such as AER, Econometrica, JPE,QJE, ReSTAT, Restud and Science among many others. His research interests span over Behavioral Economics, Neuroeconomics, Experimental Economics and Labor Economics.
At the FES International Research Seminar professor presented his research "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences".
Abstract:
In my talk I will discuss several papers and findings from my Global Preference Survey project. The results are based on an experimentally validated survey data set of time preference, risk preference, positive and negative reciprocity, altruism, and trust from 80,000 people in 76 countries. At a general level, the data reveal substantial heterogeneity in preferences across countries, but even larger within-country heterogeneity. Across individuals, preferences vary with age, gender, and cognitive ability, yet these relationships appear partly country specific. At the country level, the data reveal correlations between preferences and biogeographic and cultural variables, such as agricultural suitability, language structure, and religion. Variation in preferences is also correlated with economic outcomes and behaviors. More specifically, I will show how time preferences are related to mortality and how they affect comparative development, how the gender gap in preferences is related to GDP and country specific gender equality, what the data tells us about the potential validity threat of using so-called WEIRD samples, and how migration patterns “out of Africa” have left their footprints in today’s distribution of preferences.
The FES International Research Seminar organisers are: Eren Arbatli (Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Department of Theoretical economics FES HSE) and Madina Karamysheva (Ph.D, Assistant Professor of the School of Finance FES HSE)