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Social
Psychology and Economics in Environmental Research
(SPEER) |
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FUNDING BODIES The European
Science Foundation (ESF) Environmental Valuation in Europe
(EVE): an EC-funded concerted
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Abstract: The measurement of individual happiness challenges the notion that revealed preferences only reliably reflect individual utility. Reported subjective well-being is a broader concept than traditional decision utility; it also includes concepts like experience and procedural utility. Micro- and macroeconometric happiness functions offer new insights on determinants of life satisfaction. However, one should not leap to the conclusion that happiness should be maximized in the sense of social welfare function maximization. In contrast, happiness research strengthens the validity of an institutional approach such as reflected in the theory of democratic economic policy.
Abstract: Due to its formality and highly analytic thinking, economics is often attributed a leading role among the social sciences and a prominent position as contributor to economic or social issues in the real world. Fact is, however, that the empirical proof for such a claim is either missing or anecdotal. This paper aims to outline the "economics of economics". It surveys and compares approaches of impact measurement such as a production function of economics or the demand and supply of trained economists. It furthermore discriminates between the impact of economic ideas versus that of economists as scientists or politicians.
Abstract: The motivation crowding effect suggests that an external intervention via monetary incentives or punishments may undermine (and under different indentifiable conditions strengthen) intrinsic motivation. As of today, the theoretical possibility of crowding effects is widely accepted among economists. Many of them, however, have been critical about its empirical relevance. This survey shows that such scepticism is unwarranted and that there exists indeed compelling empirical evidence for the existence of crowding out and crowding in. It is based on circumstantial insight, laboratory studies by both psychologists and economists as well as field research by econometric studies. The presented pieces of evidence refer to a wide variety of areas of the economy and society and have been collected for many different countries and periods. Crowding effects thus are an empirically relevant phenomenon, which can, in specific cases, even dominate the traditional relative price effect.
Abstract: In this paper we report on a series of computer simulation experiments on the management of a common resource. We were particularly interested in the effects of uncertainty and satisfaction on the harvesting behaviour of simulated agents. Because the experimental study of the long-term dynamics of resources that are being depleted to a serious extend can hardly be done using real human subjects, we experimented with simulated consumers. These simulated consumers, or 'consumats', have been developed using a multi-theoretical framework integrating various theories that appear to be relevant in understanding consumer behaviour. The consumat is equipped with needs and abilities, and may engage in different cognitive processes, such as deliberating, social comparison, imitation, and repeating previous behaviour. In a first series of experiments we tested these cognitive processes on their functioning. In a later series we experimented with the consumat attributes and the resource characteristics. It was found that an increased uncertainty resulted in an increased 'optimism' of consumats regarding future outcomes, an increased likelihood of imitative behaviour, and a lesser adaptation during resource depletion. These 'process-effects' caused higher uncertainty resulting in higher levels of harvesting, an effect that has been demonstrated previously in experiments with real human subjects. The paper concludes with a discussion on the ecological validity of the simulation results.
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