scholarly journals When Linda meets Preeti: The Validation of Behavioral Biases in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Calbraith Owsley

This paper presents results from an experiment testing 10 of the core biases from the behavioral economics literature amongst two distinct ‘non-WEIRD’ (Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic) population groups: low-income Indians, and university students from an elite Indian university. The study tests for both the existence of the ‘behavioral bias’ for each measure with our ‘non-WEIRD’ sample and tests for heterogeneity across the socioeconomically distinct sub-samples. We find that both sub-samples display significant 'bias' in the majority of tests and across different categories of bias, suggesting that behavioral biases are not peculiar to Western samples. We further find that the patterns of bias are the same for each sub-sample for most measures, but that there are notable exceptions for a small subset of measures. In most of these cases, the student sample, closer to typical samples for this type of research, shows stronger bias than the low-income sample.

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (183) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatice Demirbaş ◽  
İnci Özgür İlhan ◽  
Fatma Yıldırım ◽  
Yıldırım Beyatlı Doğan

Author(s):  
Beth Reingold

Chapter 5 explores the concept of intersectional policymaking further by examining closely the content of legislation sponsored by a small subset of Democratic state legislators serving majority-minority constituencies in California, New Jersey, and Texas in 1997 and 2005. What might intersectional policymaking look like and who practices it? The analysis uncovers a wide variety of intersectional proposals, spanning multiple policy arenas and addressing many different problems arising from multiple, intersecting forms of inequality and marginalization. Particularly notable are measures concerning the health and welfare of women of color, immigrants, and others often disproportionately located within low-income communities, as well as criminal justice measures taking on issues of over-policing and mass incarceration that disproportionately affect men and boys of color in similar low-income, urban communities. Most lawmakers in this subsample sponsor at least one intersectional bill, but women of color stand out as the most reliable practitioners of intersectional advocacy.


Author(s):  
Mikaël Cozic

Although there are no doubts regarding the impact of economics in society and politics, doubts regarding its epistemological status endure. Does economics provide us with bona fide empirical theories? Are its mathematical models on a par with those of the hard sciences, or is its scientific character exaggerated? This chapter focuses on the key problem of the philosophy of economics: the reconciliation of its claim to empirical significance with what often appears as a non-empirical methodology, favoring deduction from a priori principles and showing little sensitivity to refutation by observation and experiment. Several attempts at answering this problem are considered, both in the Millian tradition and following neo-positivist approaches. Finally, the empirical status of the discipline is put in perspective with its recent extension to new fields of inquiry, such as behavioral economics and neuroeconomics, where experiments seem to be part of the core methodology.


1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arieh Goldman

The study investigates whether lower income consumers show a greater tendency to confine their furniture and ladies’ shoes purchases to a subset of the retailing system. The Herfindahl index of concentration is the main tool used to measure confinement. The study finds that the lower income consumers do not confine their purchases to a small subset nor are their purchases restricted to the smaller and lower quality stores.


Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (14) ◽  
pp. 2863-2879 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Prada

The studentification of neighbourhoods in university towns is a topic addressed in several studies, together with its varied effects. However, there are no contributions to this issue from the Latin American sphere, where the increase in the student population in recent decades constitutes one of the main sociodemographic changes of the region. This article analyses and interprets the changes produced in a marginal area, the neighbourhood of Agüita de la Perdiz (Concepción, Chile), as a consequence of the arrival of university students. From the application of a methodology that combines the use of quantitative and qualitative data, results obtained confirm the existence of some transformations similar to other case studies, together with other particular ones, explainable by the socially peripheral character and the informal origin of the neighbourhood analysed. Likewise, the quality of the Chilean university system would suppose segregation between students with more or less resources at the time for looking at lodging, so the profile of the students who stay in the neighbourhood is well defined. The conclusions indicate an emerging type of gentrification whose trigger was the arrival of students; an improving of the image of the neighbourhood is also observed in parallel to a deterioration of neighbourhood links. The study of this case contributes with new elements on the varied and dynamic effects of studentification in ‘peripheral’ urban contexts.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 2463-2483 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Bowman ◽  
Robert D. McCuaig

ABSTRACT 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clone library analysis was conducted to assess prokaryotic diversity and community structural changes within a surficial sediment core obtained from an Antarctic continental shelf area (depth, 761 m) within the Mertz Glacier Polynya (MGP) region. Libraries were created from three separate horizons of the core (0- to 0.4-cm, 1.5- to 2.5-cm, and 20- to 21-cm depth positions). The results indicated that at the oxic sediment surface (depth, 0 to 0.4 cm) the microbial community appeared to be dominated by a small subset of potentially r-strategist (fast-growing, opportunistic) species, resulting in a lower-than-expected species richness of 442 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). At a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 cm, the species richness (1,128 OTUs) was much higher, with the community dominated by numerous gamma and delta proteobacterial phylotypes. At a depth of 20 to 21 cm, a clear decline in species richness (541 OTUs) occurred, accompanied by a larger number of more phylogenetically divergent phylotypes and a decline in the predominance of Proteobacteria. Based on rRNA and clonal abundance as well as sequence comparisons, syntrophic cycling of oxidized and reduced sulfur compounds appeared to be the dominant process in surficial MGP sediment, as phylotype groups putatively linked to these processes made up a large proportion of clones throughout the core. Between 18 and 65% of 16S rDNA phylotypes detected in a wide range of coastal and open ocean sediments possessed high levels of sequence similarity (>95%) with the MGP sediment phylotypes, indicating that many sediment prokaryote phylotype groups defined in this study are ubiquitous in marine sediment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura S. Abrams ◽  
Laura Curran

Low-income mothers in the U.S. are more likely to experience postpartum depression (PPD) and less likely to seek treatment than their middle-class counterparts. Despite this knowledge, prior research has not provided an in-depth understanding of PPD symptoms as they are experienced by low-income mothers. Through in-depth interviews, this study investigated low-income mothers' ( n = 19) experiences and explanatory frameworks for their PPD symptoms. Grounded theory analysis uncovered five main categories that linked the participants' PPD symptoms to their lived experiences of mothering in poverty, including: (1) ambivalence, (2) caregiving overload, (3) juggling, (4) mothering alone, and (5) real-life worry. The analysis further located the core experience of PPD for low-income mothers as “feeling overwhelmed” due to mothering in materially and socially stressful conditions. These findings challenge the prevailing biomedical discourse surrounding PPD and situate mothers' symptoms in the context of the material hardships associated with living in poverty.


2019 ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
McCall Pitcher Hopkin

Each year, the federal government offers billions of dollars in need-based grant aid and loan subsidies to low-income college students. Concern is growing, however, around several system-wide problems that persist despite these federal investments: that many low-income students either 1) fail to take advantage of available aid; 2) are accepted to college but do not enroll; or 3) enroll but end up dropping out before graduating. While each of these decisions is informed by many factors, economists have identified program complexity and student behavioral bias as key variables—in other words, real humans do not always make the rational financial calculations policymakers expect of them when designing aid programs. This article reviews existing research on behavioral economics and student financial aid, examines access and completion barriers through a behavioral lens, and evaluates policy vehicles aimed to reverse students’ behavioral biases.


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