Myriam Hadnes - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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Papers by Myriam Hadnes

I may not have been able to complete this thesis without help from many great people. I am gratef... more I may not have been able to complete this thesis without help from many great people. I am grateful for everyone who helped me in this work. I am lucky being surrounded by these helpful professionals. Special thanks to chief supervisor Dr Marcus Wilson, I am glad being his student. He is always available, is friendly and helps me. I would like to thank Associate Professor Alistair Steyn-Ross for supervising and solving my personal issues.

We study the impact of social identity on risk sharing behavior in an ethnically diverse society ... more We study the impact of social identity on risk sharing behavior in an ethnically diverse society in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. We ran Solidarity Games with 285 male household heads from two distinct ethnic groups. We varied participants' social identity by altering the ethnic composition in the risk-sharing group of three. Our main strategy is to influence identity induced solidarity towards the unlucky coplayer by manipulating the identity of the non-affected third player. Our results are consistent with social identity theory, predicting that identity is endogenous to group composition. We partially confirm existing evidence on in-group favoritism, once identity becomes salient. Additionally, we find that those subjects that constitute the minority in the risk-sharing group show adaptive behavior by imitating the perceived norm of the dominant ethnic group. These results suggest that identity is context specific. Particularly, the rather disadvantaged group in the heter...

The Gods are Watching

Journal For the Scientific Study of Religion, Dec 4, 2012

We propose a theory that explains why rational agents start to believe in a causal relationship b... more We propose a theory that explains why rational agents start to believe in a causal relationship between unrelated events. Agents send and collect messages through a communication network. If they are convinced of a relationship between two events, they send messages confirming their belief with higher probability than messages contradicting it. The network aggregates this communication bias over individuals. Therefore, agents may find a strong relationship between unrelated events even if the communication bias is very small. We apply this model to an informal economy where the fear of punishment by supernatural forces prevents agents from cheating others. --

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2012

Traditional beliefs play an important role in many Sub-Saharan African village societies. These b... more Traditional beliefs play an important role in many Sub-Saharan African village societies. These beliefs imply immediate punishment for any breach of the moral code, and the possibility to influence an individual's life by the use of magic. We analyze the economic impact of traditional beliefs on behavior by conducting an experiment with microentrepreneurs in the environs of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). The salience of traditional beliefs is randomly varied through semistructured interviews. We find that priming traditional beliefs substantially increases prosocial behavior in the Trust Game. This effect is independent of age, gender, religious affiliation, or wealth.

The Fetters of the SIB: An Experimental Study in Burkina Faso

SSRN Electronic Journal