2018 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics
Lecture & ConfERENCE - May 8-10, 2019
"Household Behavior and the Dynamics of Inequality"
David Kreps
Stanford University
Behavioral economics is generally taken to mean economics in which the behavior of individual agents does not conform to the “standard model” of rational behavior. However, under this banner, one finds a very large number of specific “nonstandard” models of behavior. This very large number prompts a standard criticism of behavioral economics: If any behavior is permissible, any conclusion can be reached.
Using a small handful of examples, the lecture illustrates and fleshes out a test for the value of work in behavioral economics. This test is based on three principles:
- Is the behavior in the model systematic, at least in some important contexts?
- Does positing this behavior lead to economically significant phenomena?
- Either via intuition or, preferably, empirical evidence, does the behavior provide "better" explanations of those significant phenomena, where defining the adjective “better” is the crux of the matter.
Conference
| Thursday, May 9, 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Time | Title |
| 9:15 |
Drew Fudenberg (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Learning-Theoretic Foundations for Equilibrium Refinements |
| 10:45 | Aislinn Bohren (University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University): Learning with a Misspecified View of the World Further readings: Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3. |
| 11:45 | Annie Liang (University of Pennsylvania): Machine Learning and Economic Modeling Further readings: Paper 1, Paper 2 |
| 2:00 | Tilman Bðrgers (University of Michigan): Mechanism Design and Voting Further readings: Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3 |
| 3:00 | Benjamin Brooks (University of Chicago): Optimal Auction Design with Common Values: An Informationally-Robust Approach |
| 4:30 | Andrzej Skrzypacz (Stanford University): Dynamic Trading: Price Inertia and Front-Running |
| Friday, May 10, 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Time | Title |
| 9:15 | Aldo Rustichini (University of Minnesota): The Neural Foundations of Economic and Strategic Choice, and the Role of Memory |
| 10:45 | Faruk Gul (Princeton University): Market Design and Walrasian Equilibrium |
| 11:45 | Gilat Levy (London School of Economics and Political Science): Correlation Neglect Further readings: Paper 1, Paper 2 |
| 2:00 | Gerd Gigerenzer (Max Planck Institute for Human Development): Heuristic Decision Making from a Psychological Perspective Further readings: Paper1, Paper 2 |
| 3:00 | Muhamet Yildiz (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Culture and Communication |
Short Course
A short course for faculty and graduate students on "From Discrete- to Continuous-Time Models in Economics, and Back Again." October 24, 28, 30, November November 4, 6, 11, 13, 2019. View the Course Announcement