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Outputs (57)

The Risk of Gambling Problems in the General Population: A Reconsideration (2019)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Ross, D. (2020). The Risk of Gambling Problems in the General Population: A Reconsideration. Journal of Gambling Studies, 36(3), 1133-1159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-019-09897-2

We examine the manner in which the population prevalence of disordered gambling has usually been estimated, on the basis of surveys that suffer from a potential sample selection bias. General population surveys screen respondents using seemingly inno... Read More about The Risk of Gambling Problems in the General Population: A Reconsideration.

Temporal Stability of Cumulative Prospect Theory (2019)
Book Chapter
Lau, M., Yoo, H., & Zhao, H. Temporal Stability of Cumulative Prospect Theory. In G. Harrison, & D. Ross (Eds.), Models of Risk Preferences: Descriptive and Normative Challenges. Emerald. Manuscript submitted for publication

Risk Attitudes, Sample Selection and Attrition in a Longitudinal Field Experiment (2019)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Yoo, H. (2020). Risk Attitudes, Sample Selection and Attrition in a Longitudinal Field Experiment. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(3), 552-568. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00845

We evaluate the temporal stability of risk preferences using a remarkable data set that combines socio-demographic information from the Danish Civil Registry with information on risk attitudes from a longitudinal field experiment. Our econometric mod... Read More about Risk Attitudes, Sample Selection and Attrition in a Longitudinal Field Experiment.

Multiattribute Utility Theory, Intertemporal Utility and Correlation Aversion (2018)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2018). Multiattribute Utility Theory, Intertemporal Utility and Correlation Aversion. International Economic Review, 59(2), 537-555. https://doi.org/10.1111/iere.12279

Convenient assumptions about qualitative properties of the intertemporal utility function have generated counter-intuitive implications for the relationship between atemporal risk aversion and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution. If the inte... Read More about Multiattribute Utility Theory, Intertemporal Utility and Correlation Aversion.

Asset Integration and Attitudes Toward Risk: Theory and Evidence (2018)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Cox, J. C., Harrison, G. W., Lau, M. I., Rutström, E., & Sadiraj, V. (2018). Asset Integration and Attitudes Toward Risk: Theory and Evidence. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(5), 816-830. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00719

We provide evidence that choices over small stakes bets are consistent with assumptions of some payoff calibration paradoxes. We then exploit the existence of detailed information on individual wealth of our experimental subjects in Denmark, and dire... Read More about Asset Integration and Attitudes Toward Risk: Theory and Evidence.

Small Stakes Risk Aversion in the Laboratory: A Reconsideration (2017)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., Ross, D., & Swarthout, J. (2017). Small Stakes Risk Aversion in the Laboratory: A Reconsideration. Economics Letters, 160, 24-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.08.003

Evidence of risk aversion in laboratory settings over small stakes leads to a priori implausible levels of risk aversion over large stakes under certain assumptions. One core assumption in statements of this calibration puzzle is that small-stakes ri... Read More about Small Stakes Risk Aversion in the Laboratory: A Reconsideration.

Disordered Gambling Prevalence: Methodological Innovations in a General Danish Population Survey (2017)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Jessen, L., Lau, M., & Ross, D. (2018). Disordered Gambling Prevalence: Methodological Innovations in a General Danish Population Survey. Journal of Gambling Studies, 34(1), 225-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9707-1

We study Danish adult gambling behavior with an emphasis on discovering patterns relevant to public health forecasting and economic welfare assessment of policy. Methodological innovations include measurement of formative in addition to reflective co... Read More about Disordered Gambling Prevalence: Methodological Innovations in a General Danish Population Survey.

Information Characteristics and Errors in Expectations: Experimental Evidence (2017)
Journal Article
Antoniou, C., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Read, D. (2017). Information Characteristics and Errors in Expectations: Experimental Evidence. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 52(2), 737-750. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022109017000035

We design an experiment to test the hypothesis that, in violation of Bayes’ rule, some people respond more forcefully to the strength of information than to its weight. We provide incentives to motivate effort, use naturally occurring information, an... Read More about Information Characteristics and Errors in Expectations: Experimental Evidence.

Risk attitudes, sample selection and attrition in a longitudinal field experiment (2017)
Working Paper
Harrison, G. W., Lau, M., & Yoo, H. I. (2017). Risk attitudes, sample selection and attrition in a longitudinal field experiment

Longitudinal experiments allow one to evaluate the temporal stability of latent preferences, but raise concerns about sample selection and attrition that may confound inferences about temporal stability. We evaluate the hypothesis of temporal stabili... Read More about Risk attitudes, sample selection and attrition in a longitudinal field experiment.

Subjective Belief Distributions and the Characterization of Economic Literacy (2015)
Journal Article
Girolamo, A., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Swarthout, J. (2015). Subjective Belief Distributions and the Characterization of Economic Literacy. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 59, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2015.08.004

We characterize the literacy of an individual in a domain by their elicited subjective belief distribution over the possible responses to a question posed in that domain. By eliciting the distribution, rather than just the answers to true/false or mu... Read More about Subjective Belief Distributions and the Characterization of Economic Literacy.

Subjective bayesian beliefs (2015)
Journal Article
Antoniou, C., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Read, D. (2015). Subjective bayesian beliefs. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 50(1), 35-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11166-015-9208-5

A large literature suggests that many individuals do not apply Bayes’ Rule when making decisions that depend on them correctly pooling prior information and sample data. We replicate and extend a classic experimental study of Bayesian updating from p... Read More about Subjective bayesian beliefs.

Risk and Time Preferences of Entrepreneurs (2014)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Di Girolamo, A., Harrison, G., & Lau, M. (2014). Risk and Time Preferences of Entrepreneurs. Theory and Decision, 77(3), 341-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-014-9446-z

To understand how small business entrepreneurs respond to government policy one has to know their risk and time preferences. Are they risk averse, or have high discount rates, such that they are hard to motivate? We have conducted a set of field expe... Read More about Risk and Time Preferences of Entrepreneurs.

Preface (2014)
Journal Article
Lau, M., Neugebauer, T., & Schmidt, U. (2014). Preface. Theory and Decision, 77(3), 287-290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-014-9459-7

John Dennis Hey was born on 26 September 1944 and is a Professor of Economics and Statistics and Director of the Centre for Experimental Economics (EXEC) at the University of York . Between 1997 and 2011, he held a dual appointment as Professore Ordi... Read More about Preface.

Discounting Behavior: A Reconsideration (2014)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2014). Discounting Behavior: A Reconsideration. European Economic Review, 71, 15-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.06.009

We re-evaluate the theory, experimental design and econometrics behind claims that individuals exhibit non-constant discounting behavior. Theory points to the importance of controlling for the non-linearity of the utility function of individuals, sin... Read More about Discounting Behavior: A Reconsideration.

Discounting Behaviour and the Magnitude Effect: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Denmark (2013)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2013). Discounting Behaviour and the Magnitude Effect: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Denmark. Economica, 80(320), 670-697. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12028

We evaluate the claim that individuals exhibit a magnitude effect in their discounting behaviour, where higher discount rates are inferred from choices made with lower principals, all else being equal. If the magnitude effect is quantitatively signif... Read More about Discounting Behaviour and the Magnitude Effect: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Denmark.

Willingness to pay for insurance in Denmark (2013)
Journal Article
Hansen, J., Jacobsen, R., & Lau, M. (2016). Willingness to pay for insurance in Denmark. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 83(1), 49-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6975.2013.12011.x

We estimate how much Danish households are willing to pay for auto, home, and house insurance. We use a unique combination of claims data from a large Danish insurance company, measures of individual risk attitudes and discount rates from a field exp... Read More about Willingness to pay for insurance in Denmark.

Dual criteria decisions (2013)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2014). Dual criteria decisions. Journal of Economic Psychology, 41, 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2013.02.006

The most popular models of decision making use a single criterion to evaluate projects or lotteries. However, decision makers may actually consider multiple criteria when evaluating projects. We consider a dual criteria model from psychology. This mo... Read More about Dual criteria decisions.

Asset integration and attitudes to risk : theory and evidence (2011)
Working Paper
Andersen, S., Cox, J., Harrison, G., Lau, M., Rutstroem, E., & Sadiraj, V. (2011). Asset integration and attitudes to risk : theory and evidence

Measures of risk attitudes derived from experiments are often questioned because they are based on small stakes bets and do not account for the extent to which the decision-maker integrates the prizes of the experimental tasks with personal wealth. W... Read More about Asset integration and attitudes to risk : theory and evidence.

Non-linear mixed logit (2011)
Working Paper
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutstroem, E. (2011). Non-linear mixed logit

We develop an extension of the familiar linear mixed logit model to allowfor the direct estimation of parametric non-linear functions defined over structuralparameters. Classic applications include the estimation of coefficients of utilityfunctions t... Read More about Non-linear mixed logit.

Individual Discount Rates and Smoking: Evidence From a Field Experiment in Denmark (2010)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2010). Individual Discount Rates and Smoking: Evidence From a Field Experiment in Denmark. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(5), 708-717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.06.006

We elicit measures of individual discount rates from a representative sample of the Danish population and test two substantive hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that smokers have higher individual discount rates than non-smokers. The second hypothe... Read More about Individual Discount Rates and Smoking: Evidence From a Field Experiment in Denmark.

Behavioral Econometrics for Psychologists (2010)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2010). Behavioral Econometrics for Psychologists. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31(4), 553-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.03.017

We make the case that psychologists should make wider use of econometric methods for the estimation of structural models. These methods involve the development of maximum likelihood estimates of models, where the likelihood function is tailored to th... Read More about Behavioral Econometrics for Psychologists.

Preference Heterogeneity in Experiments: Comparing the Field and Lab (2010)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2010). Preference Heterogeneity in Experiments: Comparing the Field and Lab. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 73(2), 209-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2009.09.006

Do laboratory experiments provide a reliable basis for measuring field preferences? Economists recognize that preferences can differ across individuals, but only a few attempts have been made to elicit individual preferences for representative sample... Read More about Preference Heterogeneity in Experiments: Comparing the Field and Lab.

Risk Attitudes, Randomization to Treatment, and self-selection into Experiments (2009)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2009). Risk Attitudes, Randomization to Treatment, and self-selection into Experiments. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 70(3), 498-507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2008.02.011

Randomization to treatment is fundamental to statistical control in the design of experiments. However randomization implies some uncertainty about treatment condition, and individuals differ in their preferences towards taking on risk. Since human s... Read More about Risk Attitudes, Randomization to Treatment, and self-selection into Experiments.

Risk Aversion in Game Shows. (2008)
Book Chapter
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutström, E. (2008). Risk Aversion in Game Shows. In E. Cox, & G. Harrison (Eds.), Risk Aversion in Experiments. (Research In Experimental Economics.). Emerald

Lost in state space: are preferences stable? (2008)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Lau, M., Harrison, G., & Rutstrom, E. (2008). Lost in state space: are preferences stable?. International Economic Review, 49(3), 1091-1112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00507.x

We use field experiments to examine the temporal stability of risk preferences. Over a 17-month period, we elicited risk preferences from subjects chosen to be representative of the adult Danish population. During this period we revisited many of the... Read More about Lost in state space: are preferences stable?.

Eliciting risk and time preferences (2008)
Journal Article
Andersen, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutstrom, E. (2008). Eliciting risk and time preferences. Econometrica, 76(3), 583-618. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0262.2008.00848.x

We design experiments to jointly elicit risk and time preferences for the adult Danish population. Since subjects are generally risk averse, we find that joint elicitation provides estimates of discount rates that are significantly lower than those f... Read More about Eliciting risk and time preferences.

Estimating risk attitudes in Denmark: A Field Experiment (2007)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutstrom, E. (2007). Estimating risk attitudes in Denmark: A Field Experiment. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 109(2), 341-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2007.00496.x

We estimate individual risk attitudes using controlled experiments in the field in Denmark. The experiments were carried out across Denmark using a representative sample of 253 people between 19 and 75 years of age. Risk attitudes are estimated for v... Read More about Estimating risk attitudes in Denmark: A Field Experiment.

Valuation using multiple price list formats (2007)
Journal Article
Anderson, S., Harrison, G., Lau, M., & Rutstrom, E. (2007). Valuation using multiple price list formats. Applied Economics, 39(6), 675-682. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840500462046

We examine the properties of a popular method for elicitation of valuations from experimental subjects, the multiple price list format. The main advantages of this format are that it is relatively transparent to subjects and provides simple incentive... Read More about Valuation using multiple price list formats.

Social Security Incentives and Human Capital Investment (2006)
Journal Article
Lau, M., & Poutvaara, P. (2006). Social Security Incentives and Human Capital Investment. Finnish economic papers, 19(1), 16-24

While the effect of social security systems on retirement decisions has received much attention, there are no analytical results on the impact of these systems on individual incentives to invest in human capital. We integrate human capital investment... Read More about Social Security Incentives and Human Capital Investment.

Is the evidence for hyperbolic discounting in humans just an experimental artifact? (2005)
Journal Article
Harrison, G., & Lau, M. (2005). Is the evidence for hyperbolic discounting in humans just an experimental artifact?. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(5), 657-657. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x05290118

We question the behavioral premise underlying Ainslie's claims about hyperbolic discounting theory. The alleged evidence for humans can be easily explained as an artefact of experimental procedures that do not control for the credibility of payment o... Read More about Is the evidence for hyperbolic discounting in humans just an experimental artifact?.

Dynamic costs of the draft (2004)
Journal Article
Lau, M., Poutvaara, P., & Wagener, A. (2004). Dynamic costs of the draft. German Economic Review, 5(4), 381-406. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-6485.2004.00114.x

We propose a dynamic general-equilibrium model with human capital accumulation to evaluate the economic consequences of compulsory services (such as military draft or social work). Our analysis identifies a so far ignored dynamic cost arising from di... Read More about Dynamic costs of the draft.

Policy Reform Without Tears. (2002)
Book Chapter
Harrison, G., Jensen, J., Lau, M., & Rutherford, T. (2002). Policy Reform Without Tears. In A. Fossati, & W. Wiegaard (Eds.), Policy Evaluation with Computable General Equilibrium Models (20-38). Routledge

Approximating infinite-horizon models in a complementarity format: A primer in dynamic general equilibrium analysis. (2002)
Journal Article
Lau, M., Pahlke, A., & Rutherford, T. (2002). Approximating infinite-horizon models in a complementarity format: A primer in dynamic general equilibrium analysis. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 26(4), 577-609. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-1889%2800%2900071-3

We demonstrate the advantages of the complementarity formulation for approximating infinite-horizon equilibria in neoclassical growth models as compared with techniques originally developed for optimal planning models. The complementarity approach do... Read More about Approximating infinite-horizon models in a complementarity format: A primer in dynamic general equilibrium analysis..

Assessing Tax Reforms When Human Capital is Endogenous. (2000)
Book Chapter
Lau, M. (2000). Assessing Tax Reforms When Human Capital is Endogenous. In G. Harrison, S. Jensen, L. Pedersen, & T. Rutherford (Eds.), Using Dynamic General Equilibrium Models for Policy Analysis (203-223). North-Holland