Date of Graduation

5-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Economics

Advisor/Mentor

Li, Sherry

Committee Member

Brownback, Andy

Second Committee Member

Gaduh, Arya B.

Keywords

Bias; Economics; Experiments; Group identity; Polling; Risk preference

Abstract

Experiments in economics have been a valuable tool to understand the behavioral implications of incentives on the decision-making process. Particularly, aspects of decision making that cannot be observed in empirical data can be better isolated in an experimental setting such as bias and identity impacts. This dissertation uses three distinct experiments to further the understanding of individual biases, perceptions, and identity and how they impact the way people defer to these internal traits under incentives. This dissertation looks at how well individuals can make inferences about polling data that was collected from individuals susceptible to socially desirable responding. It also explores the identity importance of gender in both a public goods game setting as well as a setting where individuals must make predictions about the risk and time preferences of others.

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