Experimental and Behavioural Economics
Experimental and Behavioural Economics
The Experimental and Behavioural Economics Research Group (EBERG) draws its membership from economists based at the Economics Department at Warwick who work in the fields of Experimental Economics, Behavioural Economics and/or Subjective Wellbeing (“Happiness Economics”). Experimental methods are used in many fields of economics, including behavioural economics, public economics, labour economics, political economy, game theory, and financial economics. Behavioural economics is an attempt to understand decision-making in the context of the many psychological, cognitive and emotional factors that influence behaviour. Behavioural economists typically build on traditional economic models with insights from psychology or neuroscience. Since behavioural economics concerns the underlying motivations for behaviour it can be hard (though not impossible) to find data to support or develop behavioural theories without the use of experimental methods which explains the close relationship between the two fields.
Experimental and behavioural research are fundamentally interdisciplinary and this is reflected in the fact that the group is linked to other similar groups across the University of Warwick and beyond. DR@W is the overarching interdisciplinary group of all behavioural scientists in Warwick which, together with EBERG, also takes members from the Behavioural Science Group at Warwick Business School and behavioural and experimental psychologists based in the Psychology Department, and hosts a weekly seminar, the DR@W Forum. Many members of EBERG are also affiliated with Bridges, an interdisciplinary centre that includes behavioural and experimental work in its remit that also hosts regular seminars and workshops. Behaviour, Brain and Society is one of the University of Warwick’s global research priorities (GRPs) and the co-ordinator of EBERG sits on the board of the GRP. Several group members are actively involved in the ESRC CAGE centre. Theme 3 of CAGE is led by the co-ordinator of EBERG and has a special focus on subjective wellbeing.
People
Academics
Academics associated with the Reseach Group Name research group are:
Events
DR@W Forum: Tim Rakow (KCL)
Building on research exploring repeated risky choice and strategic decisions, we tested what constitutes a sufficiently satisfactory outcome to prompt people to repeat their actions. Our programmatic investigation (total N > 1400) examined incentivised choices between pairs of binary-outcome options, with immediate feedback for obtained and forgone outcomes. Across experiments, we varied the payoff structure for the possible outcomes. Within experiments, we manipulated the probabilities associated with each outcome, either across choice tasks (Experiments 1-3) or unannounced within a task (Experiments 4-6). We compared the roles of disappointment (receiving the lower outcome from an option), regret (receiving a lower outcome than the forgone payoff), and the relative average value of the options, as drivers of choice. Across all experiments and most tasks and conditions, implied regret exerted a stronger influence on subsequent choices than implied disappointment, the ratio of options’ average values, or the absolute magnitude of losses or gains. Our findings illustrate how responding to regret can help people choose well, and suggest how descriptive decision models might be improved.