@techreport{BartkeBosworthSnoweretal., type = {Working Paper}, author = {Bartke, Simon and Bosworth, Steven J. and Snower, Dennis and Chierchia, Gabriele}, title = {The Influence of Induced Care and Anger Motives on Behavior, Beliefs and Perceptions in a Public Goods Game}, pages = {35}, abstract = {This study analyzes the stability of preferences through the lens of psychological motives. We report the results of a public goods experiment in which subjects were induced with the motives of Care and Anger through autobiographical recall. Subjects' preferences, beliefs, and perceptions under each motive are compared with those of subjects experiencing a neutral autobiographical recall condition. We find that Care elicits significantly higher contributions than Anger, with Control treatment contributions in between. This is primarily driven by changes in conditional contribution schedules (measuring preferences) across treatments, though higher beliefs explain part of the effect that Care has on giving. These results are robust to checking for comprehension of the game's incentives. We also observe concomitant differences in attention to own and other's payoffs (using mouse tracking) as well as perceptions of the game's incentive structure (harmony) - particularly for subjects motivated by Anger. We interpret our findings as suggesting that people have access to multiple preferences that depend on how they perceive the decision context.}, language = {en} } @techreport{SnowerBosworth, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Snower, Dennis and Bosworth, Steven J.}, title = {Identity-Driven Cooperation versus Competition}, pages = {8}, abstract = {This paper seeks to extend the domain of identity economics by exploring motivational foundations of in-group cooperation and out-group competition. On this basis, we explore the reflexive interaction between individual economic decisions and social identities in response to technological change in market economies. Our analysis explores how technological change falling on marketable goods and services, rather than non-market caring relationships, leads to a restructuring of identities, which increases the scope of individualism and promotes positional competition at the expense of caring activities. Since positional competition generates negative externalities while caring activities create positive ones, these developments have important welfare implications}, language = {en} } @techreport{FleurbaeyKanburSnower, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Fleurbaey, Marc and Kanbur, Ravi and Snower, Dennis}, title = {Efficiency and Equity in a Society-Economy Integrated Model}, edition = {CESifo Working Paper No. 9259}, pages = {56}, abstract = {A model that only focuses on economics relations, and in which efficiency and equity are defined in terms of resource allocation may miss an important part of the picture. We propose an integrated model that embeds economic activities in a larger game of social interactions, and define comprehensive notions of efficiency and equity. Social interactions provide additional sources of inefficiencies and inequalities, including through the mere lack of coordination between the regulation mechanisms of the economics sphere and the social sphere. Remedies may require more than market solutions and redistribution of resources. In particular, social norms are likely to play an important role.}, language = {en} } @techreport{LimadeMirandaSnower, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Lima de Miranda, Katharina and Snower, Dennis}, title = {The Societal Responses to COVID-19: Evidence from the G7 Countries}, pages = {29}, abstract = {This paper provides a new picture of how countries have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the effects of the pandemic in terms of normative foundations for societal wellbeing. Social prosperity depends primarily on the functioning of four domains: the economy, the state, civil society and the environment. We use the Recoupling Dashboard—composed of four main indexes: Solidarity (S), Agency (A), GDP (material Gain, G) and Environmental sustainability (E) —to uncover the divergent experiences of countries in 2020. This paper focuses on the G7 countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—as the first step towards a wider appraisal. In all countries under review we see a sharp drop in GDP due to the pandemic and a corresponding drop in CO2 emissions. The uniformity of response in the economic and environmental domains stands in sharp contrast to the diversity of social responses to the challenge of cooperation that the coronavirus posed. The only clear pattern that emerges from cross-country comparisons is that Inward Solidarity, important for social cohesion in close social networks, and Outward Solidarity, important for the will to cooperate with other nations and cultures, have drifted apart in all G7 countries except Japan. Otherwise the movements in solidarity are highly idiosyncratic. In addition, the responses of Agency to the pandemic are diverse and are not noticeably correlated with the changes in Solidarity. The discrepancies in the social responses to the pandemic may be expected to have potentially important implications for how these countries fare during the pandemic and how well they come out of this crisis.}, language = {en} } @techreport{Snower, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Snower, Dennis}, title = {Capitalism Recoupled}, edition = {Centre for Economic Policy Research DP16302}, abstract = {This paper examines major forces that have decoupled economic and business prosperity from social prosperity and explores how recoupling can be promoted. Economists have specified well-known conditions under which free market enterprise with shareholder value maximization is efficient. These conditions are systematically violated by three forces {\^a}?? globalization, technological advance and financialization (GTF) {\^a}?? that have weakened the connections between economies and societies over the past four decades. Consequently, the recoupling process requires abandoning the default premise of economic decision making that social progress follows financial performance. For business, it calls for a move from shareholder to stakeholder value. For government, it calls for setting legal obligations, targets and incentives to ensure that stakeholder value is compatible with a rigorously defined concept of "societal and planetary value.}, language = {en} } @techreport{SnowerTwomey, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Snower, Dennis and Twomey, Paul}, title = {Humanistic Digital Governance}, edition = {Centre for Economic Policy Research DP15634}, abstract = {We identify an important feature of current digital governance systems: "third-party funded digital barter": consumers of digital services get many digital services for free (or underpriced) and in return have personal information about themselves collected for free. In addition, the digital consumers receive advertising and other forms of influence from the third parties that fund the digital services. The interests of the third-party funders are not well-aligned with the interests of the digital consumers. This fundamental flaw of current digital governance systems is responsible for an array of serious problems, including inequities, inefficiencies, manipulation of digital consumers, as well as dangers to social cohesion and democracy. We present four policy guidelines that aim to correct this flaw by shifting control of personal data from the data aggregators and their third-party funders to the digital consumers. The proposals cover "official data" that require official authentication, "privy data" that is either generated by the data subjects about themselves or by a second parties, and "collective data." The proposals put each of these data types under the individual or collective control of the data subjects. There are also proposals to mitigate asymmetries of information and market power.}, language = {en} } @techreport{Snower, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Snower, Dennis}, title = {The socioeconomics of pandemics policy}, edition = {GLOBAL ECONOMY \& DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER 138 | April 2020}, pages = {21}, abstract = {In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have provided a massive fiscal and monetary stimulus. While this policy is welcome in the short run, it does not address the underlying problem in the medium and long run. The reason is that the pandemic has not given rise to a generalized shortfall in aggregate demand. Rather, it has generated a Great Economic Mismatch, characterized by deficient demand for things requiring close physical interactions among people and deficient supply of things compatible with social distancing, where appropriate. Expansive macroeconomic policy can stimulate aggregate demand, but when social distancing is enforced, it will not stimulate production and consumption whenever this demand is satisfied through physically interactive activities. To overcome the Great Economic Mismatch, "readaptation policies" are called for. In the medium run, these policies promote a redirection of resources to activities compatible with social distancing; in the long run, these policies make economies more resilient to unforeseen shocks that generate a Great Economic Mismatch. Once the pandemic is over, a more profound rethinking of decisionmaking—in public policy, business and civil society—is called for. First, decisionmakers will need to supplement the current focus on economic efficiency with greater emphasis on economic resilience. Second, economic policies and business strategies will need to focus less on incentives for selfish individuals and more on the mobilization of people's prosocial motives. Finally, to encourage people around the world to cooperate globally in tackling global problems, policymakers at local, national and global levels will need to encourage people around the world to cooperate globally in tackling global problems, with the aid of two powerful tools that humans throughout history have used to coordinate their efforts: identity-shaping narratives and institutions of multi-level governance.}, language = {en} }