IFREE-Sponsored Lecture Series at ESI

Anya Savikhin, Ph.D.
Mar. 25th, 2011

"Experimental Economics and Practical Applications"

"In my research, I use laboratory and field experiments to understand human behavior under uncertainty. More importantly, my studies allow me to develop practical solutions and tools to help individuals make decisions that are more in line with rational choice, and to prescribe best mechanisms for moving choices closer to the socially optimal outcome.

For example, I have a line of research that involves the design of usable and effective interactive visual analytic tools that help individuals make economic decisions (funded by NSF and SSA). These tools are tested using laboratory experiments. In one such study, laboratory subjects made a series of hypothetical investment decisions using real money with and without the tool, and we found that the tool improved exploration of the data, final choice, and confidence level. I am currently conducting a large-scale field experiment on the impact of incentives and educational messages on child food choice and habit formation, in order to suggest best policies for improving child food choice (funded by the Greater Chicago Food Depository). I am also interested in the development of preferences, and am at the moment conducting several artefactual field experiments at the Griffin Early Childhood Center.

Projects that I have already completed involve several laboratory experiments on social preferences and efficient reputation systems when heterogeneous goods are available for trade (funded by IFREE and nanoHUB.org). While my research interests are varied, I believe that my overall goal is to use the methodology of experimental economics to provide new insights on behavior."

Bio:
Anya Savikhin is a Griffin Scholar at the University of Chicago Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. Savikhin’s research involves using the experimental methodology to discover scalable incentive mechanisms and systems that encourage socially optimal behavior. Together with John List, Savikhin is currently working on a series of experiments with school-age children on discovering the development of preferences and a large-scale field experiment on the impact of incentives and educational messages on child food choice.

Savikhin is also working on a set of theoretically grounded and experimentally tested visual analytic tools to assist individuals with financial and economic decision making, through grants from the NSF, SSA/FLC/FLRC. Savikhin also collaborates with the nanoHUB.org at Purdue University on field and lab experiments aimed at discovering how to increase contributions to online communities. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2010.

Abstract:
Savikhin presented a series of artefactual field experiments on the development of preferences in school-age children. The first experiment (paper together with John List) aims at disentangling warm glow and pure altruism motivations for giving. 122 children ages 3-5 participated in a sequence of modified dictator games matched with anonymous students or ‘teddy bears’ from the other class using marshmallows as a resource. Our results provide evidence for the fundamental nature of pure altruism, and suggest that the warm glow effect observed in experiments with adults in related work may develop over time. The second experiment (paper together with John List and Jim Andreoni) presents a new methodology for eliciting time, risk and pro-social preferences among preschool-age children.

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