Behavioral Economics Commons^™

No Endowment Effect When People Transact Secondhand Goods Over The Internet, Sergio Da Silva, Raul Matsushita, Eliza Silveira

Sergio Da Silva

We set up a field experiment of the endowment effect by considering thrift shops in Facebook chat rooms and college chat rooms dedicated to secondhand goods transactions. Owners of goods held for use are generally expected to show the endowment effect, but here we show these very owners (most of them females) switch to a trader-like behavior when conducting transactions in the thrift shops and, as a result, the endowment effect vanishes.

Handedness And Digit Ratio Predict Overconfidence In Cognitive And Motor Skill Tasks In A Sample Of Preschoolers, Sergio Da Silva, Bruno Moreira, Newton Da Costa Jr

Sergio Da Silva

In a sample of 141 preschoolers, ages 4 to 6, we find children display overconfidence in cognitive and motor skill tasks, a result that replicates that of adults. Both set of findings suggest the bias may not be learned behavior. Moreover, we find right-handed children to display more overconfidence in the cognitive task, whereas low digit-ratio children show more overconfidence in fine and gross motor skill tasks. Handedness polymorphism has been linked to neurological differences, and in literature low digit ratios are commonly associated with high fetal testosterone.

Anchoring Heuristic Messes With Inflation Targeting, Evelin Da Silva, Sergio Da Silva

Sergio Da Silva

Preschoolers And The Endowment Effect, Sergio Da Silva, Bruno Moreira, Newton Da Costa Jr

Sergio Da Silva

We show that preschoolers exhibit the endowment effect as evidenced by experiments where children generally chose to keep their own toys rather than trading them for similar ones. Furthermore, we relate the emergence of this effect to children’s innate psychobiological traits—emotional state, gender, handedness, and digit ratio. The trials were conducted with 141 children across 6 kindergartens. We also found support that children, like adults, exhibit a preference for physical possession as opposed to ownership. As with adults, emotions also seem to matter, as children who were described as quiet and calm were more likely to present the endowment effect. …

Risk Seekers May Be Antisocial After All, Sergio Da Silva, Raul Matsushita, Luiza Ugarte, Mateus De Carvalho

Sergio Da Silva

Undergraduates were given a battery of psychological tests to gauge their degree of antisocial personality traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism and nihilism). The students also responded to questionnaires to assess their attitudes toward risk and intertemporal choice. Biological attributes of the respondents were also collected. We found a correlation between psychopathic, Machiavellian and nihilistic traits in the sample, and also that risk seekers were antisocial. Additionally, we found, on average, that younger subjects presented higher levels of psychopathy; atheists were more Machiavellian; and atheists who were anxious tend to be nihilists. Moreover, boys born from younger mothers were more risk seeking than …

2d:4d Digit Ratio Predicts Delay Of Gratification In Preschoolers, Sergio Da Silva, Bruno Moreira, Newton Da Costa Jr

Sergio Da Silva

We replicate the Stanford marshmallow experiment with a sample of 141 preschoolers and find a correlation between lack of self-control and 2D:4D digit ratio. Children with low 2D:4D digit ratio are less likely to delay gratification. Low 2D:4D digit ratio may indicate high fetal testosterone. If this hypothesis is true, our finding means high fetal testosterone children are less likely to delay gratification.