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- All HBS Web
(1,709)
- People (1)
- News (265)
- Research (1,152)
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- Faculty Publications (503)
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- 16 Jun 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Paying Up for Fair Pay: Consumers Prefer Firms with Lower CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
- December 1988
- Article
Ordinal Independence in Non-Linear Utility Theory
By: Jerry R. Green and Bruno Jullien
Individual behavior under uncertainty is characterized using a new axiom, ordinal independence, which is a weakened form of the von Neumann-Morgcnslern independence axiom. It states that if two distributions share a tail in common, then this tail can be modified... View Details
Keywords: Preferences
Green, Jerry R., and Bruno Jullien. "Ordinal Independence in Non-Linear Utility Theory." Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 1, no. 4 (December 1988): 355–387.
- 2011
- Article
A Choice Prediction Competition for Social Preferences in Simple Extensive Form Games: An Introduction
By: Eyal Ert, Ido Erev and Alvin E. Roth
Two independent, but related, choice prediction competitions are organized that focus on behavior in simple two-person extensive form games: one focuses on predicting the choices of the first mover and the other on predicting the choices of the second mover. The... View Details
Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competition; Motivation and Incentives; Game Theory; Fairness
Ert, Eyal, Ido Erev, and Alvin E. Roth. "A Choice Prediction Competition for Social Preferences in Simple Extensive Form Games: An Introduction." Special Issue on Predicting Behavior in Games. Games 2, no. 3 (September 2011): 257–276.
- 2020
- Working Paper
Topic Preference Detection: A Novel Approach to Understand Perspective Taking in Conversation
By: Michael Yeomans and Alison Wood Brooks
Although most humans engage in conversations constantly throughout their lives, conversational mistakes are commonplace— interacting with others is difficult, and conversation re-quires quick, relentless perspective-taking and decision making. For example: during every... View Details
Keywords: Natural Language Processing; Interpersonal Communication; Perspective; Decision Making; Perception
Yeomans, Michael, and Alison Wood Brooks. "Topic Preference Detection: A Novel Approach to Understand Perspective Taking in Conversation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-077, February 2020.
- Article
Heuristics Guide the Implementation of Social Preferences in One-Shot Prisoner's Dilemma Experiments
By: Jillian J. Jordan, Valerio Capraro and David G. Rand
Cooperation in one-shot anonymous interactions is a widely documented aspect of human behavior. Here we shed light on the motivations behind this behavior by experimentally exploring cooperation in a one-shot continuous-strategy Prisoner’s Dilemma (i.e. one-shot... View Details
Jordan, Jillian J., Valerio Capraro, and David G. Rand. "Heuristics Guide the Implementation of Social Preferences in One-Shot Prisoner's Dilemma Experiments." Art. 6790. Scientific Reports 4 (2014).
- Article
Do Citizens’ Preferences Matter? Shaping Legislator Attitudes Towards Peace Agreements
By: Miguel García-Sánchez, Aila M. Matanock and Natalia Garbiras-Díaz
To what extent are legislators, responsible for the implementation of many peace agreements, responsive to citizens’ preferences? Examining the 2016 Colombian peace agreement, we embed an experiment in the 2019 wave of a survey of all the members of Congress. We inform... View Details
Keywords: Legislation; Legislators; Peace Process; Agreements; Govenment; Voters' Interests; Governance; Government and Politics; Voting; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Latin America; Colombia
García-Sánchez, Miguel, Aila M. Matanock, and Natalia Garbiras-Díaz. "Do Citizens’ Preferences Matter? Shaping Legislator Attitudes Towards Peace Agreements." Journal of Conflict Resolution 67, no. 5 (May 2023): 893–922.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Algorithm Appreciation: People Prefer Algorithmic to Human Judgment
By: Jennifer M. Logg, Julia A. Minson and Don A. Moore
Even though computational algorithms often outperform human judgment, received wisdom suggests that people may be skeptical of relying on them (Dawes, 1979). Counter to this notion, results from six experiments show that lay people adhere more to advice when they think... View Details
Keywords: Algorithms; Accuracy; Advice Taking; Forecasting; Theory Of Machine; Mathematical Methods; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Trust
Logg, Jennifer M., Julia A. Minson, and Don A. Moore. "Algorithm Appreciation: People Prefer Algorithmic to Human Judgment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-086, March 2017. (Revised April 2018.)
- 2024
- Working Paper
The Revised-Is-Quality Heuristic: Why Consumers Prefer Products Labeled as Revised
By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Leslie K. John, Ed O’Brien and Michael I. Norton
From downloading never-ending updates to tracking ever-newer releases, consumers
today are surrounded by revised products that purport to have improved upon their predecessors.
Seven experiments examine when and why consumers rely on a “revised-is-quality”... View Details
Keywords: Product Change; Versioning; Expectancy Effects; Heuristics; Intuitive Processing; Product Marketing; Change; Perception; Consumer Behavior
Garcia-Rada, Ximena, Leslie K. John, Ed O’Brien, and Michael I. Norton. "The Revised-Is-Quality Heuristic: Why Consumers Prefer Products Labeled as Revised." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-087, February 2019. (Revised September 2024. Revise and resubmit, Journal of Marketing Research.)
- December 2010
- Article
Social Preferences and Strategic Uncertainty: An Experiment on Markets and Contracts
This paper reports a three-phase experiment on a stylized labor market. In the first two phases, agents face simple games, which we use to estimate subjects' social and reciprocity concerns. In the last phase, four principals compete by offering agents a contract from... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Markets; Contracts; Decisions; Distribution; Labor; Game Theory
Cabrales, Antonio, Raffaele Miniaci, Marco Piovesan, and Giovanni Ponti. "Social Preferences and Strategic Uncertainty: An Experiment on Markets and Contracts." American Economic Review 100, no. 5 (December 2010): 2261–2278.
- 2021
- Working Paper
Most Individuals Prefer to Compromise among Competing Normative Principles of Taxation
By: Itai Sher and Matthew C. Weinzierl
We use a novel survey to gather direct and indirect evidence on how individuals reconcile their simultaneous support for opposing normative principles when forming their policy preferences. Our evidence suggests that, when choosing policy, a minority (approximately... View Details
Sher, Itai, and Matthew C. Weinzierl. "Most Individuals Prefer to Compromise among Competing Normative Principles of Taxation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-013, September 2021.
- November 2024
- Article
Preference Externality Estimators: A Comparison of Border Approaches and IVs
By: Xi Ling, Wesley R. Hartmann and Tomomichi Amano
This paper compares two estimators—the Border Approach and an Instrumental Variable (IV) estimator—using a unified framework where identifying variation arises from “preference externalities,” following the intuition in Waldfogel (2003). We highlight two dimensions in... View Details
Ling, Xi, Wesley R. Hartmann, and Tomomichi Amano. "Preference Externality Estimators: A Comparison of Border Approaches and IVs." Management Science 70, no. 11 (November 2024): 7892–7910.
- 2022
- Working Paper
Between Human Dignity and Security: Identifying Citizen and Elite Preferences and Concerns over Refugee Reception
By: Kristin Fabbe, Eleni Kyrkopoulou and Mara Vidali
Under what conditions do citizens and elites support the creation of migrant and refugee hosting facilities in their area, and what types of facilities do they prefer? What types of concerns underlay these preferences and how do they differ by ideology and elite... View Details
Fabbe, Kristin, Eleni Kyrkopoulou, and Mara Vidali. "Between Human Dignity and Security: Identifying Citizen and Elite Preferences and Concerns over Refugee Reception." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-026, November 2022.
- March 2022
- Article
When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms
By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Anne V. Wilson and Leslie K. John
When trying to make a good impression on consumers through charitable giving, is it better for brands to maximize the overall dollars they donate or how much they give in relative terms; for example, the proportion of profits? Across five studies we show that consumers... View Details
Keywords: Cause-related Marketing; Charitable Donations; Generosity; Altruism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior
Keenan, Elizabeth A., Anne V. Wilson, and Leslie K. John. "When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms." Marketing Letters 33, no. 1 (March 2022): 31–43.
- October 2010
- Article
Preferring Balanced vs. Advantageous Peace Agreements: A Study of Israeli Attitudes Towards a Two-State Solution
By: Deepak Malhotra and Jeremy Ginges
The paper extends research on fixed-pie perceptions by suggesting that disputants may prefer proposals that are perceived to be equally attractive to both parties (i.e., balanced) rather than one-sided, because balanced agreements are seen as more likely to be... View Details
Keywords: Fixed Pie; Balance; Peace; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Conflict and Resolution; Government and Politics; Balance and Stability; Forecasting and Prediction; Attitudes; Israel; Palestinian state
Malhotra, Deepak, and Jeremy Ginges. "Preferring Balanced vs. Advantageous Peace Agreements: A Study of Israeli Attitudes Towards a Two-State Solution." Judgment and Decision Making 5, no. 6 (October 2010): 420–427.
- March 2019
- Article
Consuming Together (versus Separately) Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Lalin Anik and Dan Ariely
Across three studies, we investigate how consumers in romantic relationships make decisions when choosing an item to share with their partner. We show that consumers will forgo their preferred alternative for an option that is more aligned with the preferences of their... View Details
Keywords: Shared Consumption; Close Relationships; Conflicting Preferences; Spending; Decision Making; Relationships; Motivation and Incentives
Garcia-Rada, Ximena, Lalin Anik, and Dan Ariely. "Consuming Together (versus Separately) Makes the Heart Grow Fonder." Marketing Letters 30, no. 1 (March 2019): 27–43.
- Research Summary
Overview
Professor MacKay combines theory and measurement to deliver new insights about price competition and consumer preferences. In current and published papers, his research addresses how strategic pricing decisions may be influenced by algorithms, long-term contracts,... View Details
- Article
Testing Substitutability
By: John William Hatfield, Nicole Immorlica and Scott Duke Kominers
We provide an algorithm for testing the substitutability of a length-N preference relation over a set of contracts X in time O(|X|3⋅N3). Access to the preference relation is essential for this result: We show that a substitutability-testing algorithm with access only... View Details
Keywords: Substitutability; Matching; Communication Complexity; Preference Elicitation; Marketplace Matching; Communication; Mathematical Methods; Economics
Hatfield, John William, Nicole Immorlica, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Testing Substitutability." Games and Economic Behavior 75, no. 2 (July 2012): 639–645.
- July 2019
- Article
I Know Why You Voted for Trump: (Over)inferring Motives Based on Choice
By: Kate Barasz, Tami Kim and Ioannis Evangelidis
People often speculate about why others make the choices they do. This paper investigates how such inferences are formed as a function of what is chosen. Specifically, when observers encounter someone else's choice (e.g., of political candidate), they use the chosen... View Details
Keywords: Self-other Difference; Social Perception; Inference-making; Preferences; Consumer Behavior; Prediction; Prediction Error; Decision Choices and Conditions; Perception; Behavior; Forecasting and Prediction
Barasz, Kate, Tami Kim, and Ioannis Evangelidis. "I Know Why You Voted for Trump: (Over)inferring Motives Based on Choice." Special Issue on The Cognitive Science of Political Thought. Cognition 188 (July 2019): 85–97.
- 2021
- Working Paper
Time Dependence and Preference: Implications for Compensation Structure and Shift Scheduling
By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park
This study jointly examines agents’ time dependence—period effects within instantaneous utility—and time preference—behavior on discounting future utility. The study considers the start- and end-of-period effects for time dependence and exponential and hyperbolic... View Details
Keywords: Time Preferences; Present Bias; Hyperbolic Discounting; Compensation; Dynamic Structural Models; Identification; Time Management; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Performance; Compensation and Benefits
Chung, Doug J., Byungyeon Kim, and Byoung G. Park. "Time Dependence and Preference: Implications for Compensation Structure and Shift Scheduling." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-121, April 2021.
- 2022
- Chapter
Prioritarianism and Optimal Taxation
By: Matti Tuomala and Matthew Weinzierl
Prioritarianism has been at the center of the formal approach to optimal tax theory since its modern starting point in Mirrlees (1971), but most theorists’ use of it is motivated by tractability rather than explicit normative reasoning. We characterize analytically and... View Details
Keywords: Prioritarianism; Optimal Taxation; Utilitarianism; Redistribution; Inverse-optimum; Taxation; Theory; Policy
Tuomala, Matti, and Matthew Weinzierl. "Prioritarianism and Optimal Taxation." In Prioritarianism in Practice, edited by Matthew Adler and Ole Norheim. Cambridge University Press, 2022. (Also published in HBR Insights, December 2020.)