Research Papers

• Happiness and Productivity in the Workplace, December 2023, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, with Mahnaz Nazneen. 

• When Fairness is Not Enough: The Disproportionate Contributions of the Poor in a Collective Action Problem, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 152(11): 3229–3242, November 2023, with Eugene Malthouse, Charlie Pilgrim and Thomas Hills.

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Old version available as IZA DP 16179.

  • Non-technical summary here.

• Mindfulness Reduces Information Avoidance,  Economics Letters, 224: 110997, February 2023, with Elliot Ash, Anthony Tuckwell and Shi Zhuo.

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Older version available as UZH Center for Law & Economics WP 13.

• Satisfaction and the Potentially Misleading Power of Counter-factual Reasoning: a Field Study set before, during and after the COVID-19 Lockdown, Warwick Economic Research Papers 1443, December 2022, with Thomas Martin.

• A Field Study of Donor Behaviour in the Iranian Kidney Market, IZA DP 15806, December 2022, with Ali Moghaddasi Kelishomi. Revise and resubmit at the European Economic Review.

  • Older version available as CAGE WP 592.

• Small Talk and Theory of Mind in Strategic Decision-Making, PLOS ONE, September 2022, with Neha Bose.

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • The paper has received lots of media attention including the front page of the Guardian, and interviews for the Observer, Times and Euronews. There is also a "Naked Scientist" podcast for BBC Radio 5 Live.

  • AEA RCT Registry entry and Seminar slides.

  • Old WP version: CAGE WP 409.

• The Meritocratic Illusion: Inequality and the Cognitive Basis for Redistribution, December 2022, with Arthur Blouin, Anandi Mani and Sharun Mukand.

• The Relationship between Cognitive Ability and Risk Preferences in a Developing Nation: Findings from the Field, Economics Letters,  216: 110576, July 2022, with Ali Moghaddasi Kelishomi.

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Old WP version: IZA DP 15266.

• Measuring National Mood with Music: Using Machine Learning to Construct a Measure of National Valence from Audio Data, Behavior Research Methods, February 2022, with Emmanouil Benetos, Alessandro Ragano and Anthony Tuckwell.

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Old WP version: Measuring National Life Satisfaction with Music, IZA DP 14258. 

  • Data files and code for replication (GitHub).

• Ingroup Bias with Multiple Identities: The Case of Religion and Attitudes Towards Government Size, IZA DP 14714, September 2021, with Jonathan Yeo and Shi Zhuo.

• How Susceptible are you to the Sunk Cost Fallacy? Harvard Business Review, July 15 2021, with David Ronayne & Anthony Tuckwell.

• Evaluating the Sunk Cost Effect, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 186: 318-327, June 2021, with David Ronayne & Anthony Tuckwell. 

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Older versions available as accepted version, CAGE WP 475 and  IZA DP 14257.

  • Data files and code for replication & AEA RCT Registry entry. 

• The Effect of Self-Awareness and Competition on Dishonesty, IZA DP 14256, April 2021, with Ceren Bengu Cibik. Older version available as Warwick Economics Research Papers 1307. 

  • Wave 2 AEA RCT Registry entry & Wave 1 AEA RCT Registry entry. 

• Cultural Identity and Social Capital in Italy, IZA DP 13783, October 2020, with Michela Redoano, Federica Liberini, Ben Lockwood, Emanuele Bracco & Francesco Porcelli. AEA RCT Registry entry.

• The Effects of Social Capital on Government Performance and Turnover: Theory and Evidence from Italian Municipalities, Warwick Economics Research Papers 1284, July 2020, with Ben Lockwood, Francesco Porcelli, Michela Redoano, Emanuele Bracco & Federica Liberini.

• Climate Change and Diet, IZA Discussion Paper No. 13426, June 2020, with Neha Bose and Thomas Hills. Revise and resubmit at PLOS ONE.

  • Data files and code for replication & AEA RCT Registry entry (Wave 1 & Wave 2).

• Happiness, Cooperation and Language, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 168: 209-228, December 2019, with Eugenio Proto & Mahnaz Nazneen. Final published version (Science Direct).

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • Seminar slides from the European Economic Association annual conference in Cologne, August 2018.

  • An earlier version is available as The Effect of Positive Mood on Cooperation in Repeated Interaction, CAGE Working Paper No. 347, 2017.

  • Data files and code for replication (GitHub).

• Historical Analysis of National Subjective Wellbeing using Millions of Digitized Books, Nature: Human Behaviour,  3(12) : 1271-1275, October 2019, with Thomas Hills, Eugenio Proto and Chanuki Seresinhe. Final published version (Nature). 

  • Seminar slides from the Econometric Society European Meeting in Cologne, August 2018.

  • The media reaction to this paper has been considerable: over 150 newspaper articles across the globe (including the front page of the Times), coverage by dozens of TV and radio shows. To hear me talk about the research on BBC Radio 4 go here. For a long-running list of all the media attention go here.

  • Data files and code for replication (GitHub). The online appendix is attached to the end of the file above and is also available here.

• Ignoring Good Advice, CAGE Working Paper No. 359, September 2019, with David Ronayne. AEA RCT Registry entry.

  • This paper also appears in the Nuffield College Economics working paper series (2018-WP01), the Warwick Economics Department research paper series (1150) and the Warwick CRETA discussion paper series (#38).

• On the Motivations for the Dual-Use of Electronic and Traditional Cigarettes, Applied Economics Letters, Volume 25, Issue 12: Pages 830-834, 2018, with David Ronayne. Final Published Version (Taylor & Francis).

  • Data, do & m files and Supplementary Material.

• Biased Beliefs and Imperfect Information, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Volume 136: Pages 186-202, 2017, with Eugenio Proto. Final Published Version (Science Direct).

  • This article is freely available via open access via the link above.

  • For media reactions see here.

  • Correction to a quote in footnote 9.

• Laboratory Evidence for Emotional Externalities: An Essay in Honor of EJ Mishan, Singapore Economic Review, Volume 61, Issue 3 (Special Issue in honour of EJ Mishan), 2016, with Eugenio Proto, Andrew Oswald and Alex Dobson. Final Published Version (World Scientific).

  • This is a revised version of Priming and the Reliability of Subjective Well-being Measures, Warwick Economic Research Papers No. 935.

• When Herding and Contrarianism Foster Market Efficiency: A Financial Trading Experiment, CRETA Discussion Paper 17, 2016, with Andreas Park.

• Happiness and Productivity, Journal of Labor Economics, Volume 33, Issue 4: Pages: 789-822, 2015 (lead article), with Andrew Oswald and Eugenio Proto. Online Abstract (IZA) and Seminar Slides. Final Published Version (University of Chicago).

  • Press Release. The paper has now had over 250 media reactions and over 1400 cites on Google Scholar. For older ones see here, for more recent reactions see here.

• E-Cigarettes: The Extent and Impact of Dual Use, Warwick Economic Research Papers No. 1064, 2015, with Chris Doyle and David Ronayne.

  • Press Release. Articles in The Conversation and The Independent.

• How Should Peer Review Panels Behave? Economic Journal, Volume 123, Issue 570: Pages 255-278, 2013, with Andrew Oswald. Final Published Version (Wiley).

  • Non-technical summaries are available in VoxEU, the Times Higher, and the LSE Impact Blog.

• Herding, Contrarianism and Delay in Financial Market Trading, European Economic Review, Volume 56: Pages 1020-1037, 2012, with Andreas Park. Online Abstract (EconPapers), Conference Slides and Seminar Slides. Final Published Version (Science Direct).

  • Supplementary Appendix.

• The Optimal Choice of Pre-launch Reviewer, Journal of Economic Theory, Volume 147, Issue 3: Pages 1247-1260, 2012, with David Gill. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Seminar Slides. Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

• Are Happiness and Productivity Lower among University Students with Newly-Divorced Parents? Experimental Economics, Volume 15, Issue 1: Pages 1-23, 2012 (lead article), with Andrew Oswald and Eugenio Proto. Final Published Version (Springer).

  • Press Release. For media reactions see here.

• Learning to Play 3x3 Games: Neural Networks as Bounded-Rational Players, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Volume 69, Issue 1: Pages 27-38, 2009, with Daniel J. Zizzo. Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

  • Technical Appendix.

  • Cited in the article are two earlier working papers: Strategy Learning in 3x3 Games by Neural Networks (Cambridge Working Papers in Economics) and Bounded-Rational Behavior by Neural Networks in Normal Form Games (Nuffield College Discussion Papers in Economics).

• Sequential Decisions with Tests, Games and Economic Behavior, Volume 63, Issue 2: Pages 663-678, 2008, with David Gill. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

• Social Network Theory, Broadband and the Future of the World Wide Web, Telecommunications Policy, Volume 32, Issue 1 (Special Issue on Competition and Interconnection on the Internet): pages 62-88, 2008. Online Abstract and Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

• Neural Networks and Bounded Rationality, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Volume 375, Issue 2: Article 33, 2007, with Daniel J. Zizzo. Online Abstract and Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

• A Power Law Distribution for Tenure Lengths of Sports Managers, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Volume 370, Issue 2: Article 44, 2006, with Toke Aidt, Bernard Leong and William Saslaw. Online Abstract, Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).

  • Press Release. For media reactions see here.

• Using Neural Networks to Model Bounded Rationality in Interactive Decision-Making, in: Daniel J. Zizzo (Ed.) Transfer of Knowledge in Economic Decision-Making, Palgrave Macmillan, 128-147, 2005.

  • Previously published in the Greek Economic Review, Volume 22, Issue 2 (Special Issue on Transfer of Knowledge in Economic Decision-Making): pages 113-132, 2003. Online Abstract (EconPapers).

• Sequential Decision Making and Asymmetric Equilibria: An Application to Takeovers, The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, Volume 4 (Topics), Issue 1: Article 11, 2004, with David Gill. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Final Published Version (BEPress).

• The Right Choice at the Right Time: A Herding Experiment in Endogenous Time, Experimental Economics, Volume 6, Issue 2: Pages 159-180, 2003. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Final Published Version (Springerlink).

• Irreversible Investment and the Value of Information Gathering, Economics Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 21: Pages 1-12, 2003. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Final Published Version (Vanderbilt).

• Optimizing Information in the Herd: Guinea Pigs, Profits and Welfare, Games and Economic Behavior, Volume 39, Issue 1: pages 137-166, 2002. Online Abstract (EconPapers) and Final Published Version (ScienceDirect).