Social, Behavioral and Experimental Economics Seminar: David J. Cooper, University of Iowa (U-M Visiting Scholar)
Abstract
David J. Cooper and Tristan Gagnon-Bartsch
The increasingly influential literature on obviously strategy proof mechanisms and related concepts (Li, 2017; Pycia and Troyan, 2023; Nagel and Saitto) relies on behavioral assumptions about what features of a mechanism make it easier for individuals to understand that a strategy is dominant or dominated. The comparison between English and second-price auctions (Kagel, Harstad, and Levin, 1987) is a canonical example where a seemingly inconsequential change in the mechanism has dramatic effect on the ability of subjects to recognize a dominant strategy. We show that minor changes in an English auction affect whether the dominant strategies are obviously dominant, OSS, or simple in the sense of Nagel and Saitto. We experimentally test whether these changes affect observed usage of dominant strategies. Changing whether the dominant strategy is obviously dominant, OSS, or simple in the sense of Nagel and Saitto affects behavior in the predicted direction, but less than the theory would suggest.
About the SBEE Seminar Series
The Social, Behavioral and Experimental Economics seminar series brings together a community of economics scholars from three units at the University of Michigan — the School of Information, the Department of Economics and the Ross Business School — whose research aims to broaden the understanding of the social, economic and political consequences of real-life decisions and behaviors.
Top researchers from around the globe come to Michigan to present their work at the SBEE seminar series, exploring the intersection of economics, psychology, computer science and information science.
The seminar series is organized by U-M faculty members Yan Chen (UMSI), Alain Cohn (UMSI), Erin Krupka (UMSI), Stephen Leider (Ross), Christine Exley (Econ), A. Yesim Orhun (Ross), Tanya Rosenblat (UMSI), Karthik Srinivasan (UMSI) and Basit Zafar (Econ). Todd Stuart and Robin Kocher serve as seminar coordinators.
Featured Speaker
David J. Cooper
University of Iowa (U-M Visiting Scholar)
Dr. Cooper is the Tippie and Rollins Chair in Economics at the University of Iowa and holds a joint appointment at the University of East Anglia as Professor of Economics. Dr. Cooper graduated from Harvard University (A.B., 1988) and Princeton University (PhD, 1993). His research focuses on experimental economics with applications to game theory, the economics of organizations, and entrepreneurship. His work studies decision making by teams, leadership, and coordination within organizations and has appeared in, among other outlets, the American Economic Review, the Journal of the European Economic Association, and Management Science. Dr. Cooper has previously served as editor-in-chief for Experimental Economics and currently serves as an advisory editor for Experimental Economics and Games and Economic Behavior, an associate editor for Management Science, and as co-editor for Economic Theory.
Contact: [email protected]