Chris Starmer
Biographic Data
| ID | 919529 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Chris Starmer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Chris |
| FAMILY NAME | Starmer |
| SIGNATURE | STARMER C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nottingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7705-0127 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 104 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Brief Commentary: An Independent Replication Study of the Mere Urgency Effect
We report an extensive, independent replication study (n=2,374) of the Mere Urgency Effect (MUE) (Zhu et al. 2018). The MUE is a surprising tendency for individuals to be lured into sub-optimal time allocation by the framing of a dominated option that makes it appear ‘urgent’. This effect arises even though the apparent urgency is illusory. We replicate the MUE in a base design closely following the procedures of Zhu et al. (2018) but with new pa…
Measuring Group Cohesion to Reveal the Power of Social Relationships in Team Production
We introduce group cohesion to study the economic relevance of social relationships in team production. We operationalize measurement of group cohesion, adapting the “oneness scale” from psychology. A series of experiments, including a preregistered replication, reveals strong, positive associations between group cohesion and performance assessed in weak-link coordination games, with high-cohesion groups being likely to achieve superior equilibri…
Promoting voter registration: The effects of low-cost interventions on behaviour and norms
We report two studies investigating whether, and if so how, different low-cost interventions affect voter registration rates. Low-cost message-based interventions are increasingly used to promote target behaviours. While growing evidence shows that such ‘nudges’ often significantly impact behaviour, understanding of why interventions work or fail in particular contexts remains underdeveloped. In a natural field experiment conducted before the 201…
On the priming of risk preferences: The role of fear and general affect
Priming is an established tool in psychology for investigating aspects of cognitive processes underlying decision making and is increasingly applied in economics. We report a systematic attempt to test the reproducibility and generalisability of priming effects on risk attitudes in a more diverse population than professionals and students, when priming using either a positive or a negative experience. We further test fear as the causal mechanism …
People prefer coordinated punishment in cooperative interactions
Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale
Understanding the nature and influence of social relationships is of increasing interest to behavioral economists, and behavioral scientists more generally. In turn, this creates a need for tractable, and reliable, tools for measuring fundamental aspects of social relationships. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' (IOS) Scale, a handy pictorial tool for measuring the subjectively perceived closeness o…
Preference reversals and disparities between willingness to pay and willingness to accept in repeated markets
Explaining Focal Points: Cognitive Hierarchy Theory versus Team Reasoning
This article reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players' pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players' using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments…
The affect heuristic and the attractiveness of simple gambles
Prior studies have observed that the attractiveness of playing a simple gamble (7/36 to win $9; otherwise win nothing) is greatly enhanced by introducing a small loss (7/36 win $9; otherwise lose 5¢). The present studies tested and confirmed an explanation of this finding based on the concept of evaluability and the affect heuristic. Evaluators of the “no‐loss” gamble lack a precise feeling for how good $9 is, hence give it little weight in their…
Testing Explanations of Preference Reversal
We present a new experimental investigation of preference reversal. Although economists and psychologists have suggested a variety of accounts for this phenomenon, the existing data do not adequately discriminate between them. Relative to previous studies, our design offers enhanced control for economic explanations and new tests of psychological hypotheses. We find a pattern of preference reversals that is inconsistent with all of the best‐known…
Do Anomalies Disappear in Repeated Markets
There is some evidence that, as individuals participate in repeated markets, "anomalies" tend to disappear. One interpretation is that individuals — particularly marginal traders — are learning to act on underlying preferences which satisfy standard assumptions. An alternative interpretation, the "shaping" hypothesis, is that individuals" preferences are adjusting in response to cues given by market prices. The paper reports an experiment designe…
Developments in Non-Expected Utility Theory: The Hunt for a Descriptive Theory of Choice under Risk
This article reviews recent developments in the economic theory of individual decision making under risk. Since the 1950s it has been known that individual choices violate the standard model of expected utility in predictable ways. Considerable research effort has now been devoted to the project of developing a superior descriptive model. Following an overview of non-expected utility theories which distinguishes between “conventional” and “non-co…
Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering
Journal Article Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering? Get access Chris Starmer Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 109, Issue 453, 1 February 1999, Pages 5–15, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00398 Published: 25 December 2001
Experimental economics and deception: A comment
Testing Alternative Explanations of Cyclical Choices
In two previously reported experiments, Loomes, Starmer and Sugden have found that choices are systematically non‐transitive, following a pattern of ‘cycling asymmetry’ predicted by regret theory. However, there are other potential explanations for these observations. This paper reports four experiments designed to discriminate between alternative explanations. There are three main findings. First, when the original experiments are replicated, th…
Dynamic Choice and the Common Ratio Effect: An Experimental Investigation
The common ratio effect is a well‐attested violation of expected utility theory. This paper uses four principles of dynamic choice to characterise alternative theoretical strategies for explaining the effect. It reports an experiment which tests these principles and, by implication, several well‐known accounts of the common ratio effect. Unlike previous work, the experimental design uses real financial incentives without presupposing any dynamic …
Does Part-Whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Does Part–whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Experimental Methods: A Primer for Economists
Introduction 2. Principles of economics 3. Experimental design 4. Human subjects 5. Laboratory facilities 6. Conducting an experiment 7. Data analysis 8. Reporting your results 9. The emergence of experimental economics Appendices Glossary References Index
The psychology of uncertainty in economic theory: A critical appraisal and a fresh approach
Experimental testing of theories of choice under uncertainty has revealed a range of phenomena which, as yet, no single theory can accommodate. This article attempts to trace the apparent difficulty in developing a general descriptive model to a common misperception about the nature of choice under uncertainty: that individuals act as if guided by some underlying preferece function. An alternative approach is proposed which draws on the theory of…
Are Preferences Monotonic? Testing Some Predictions of Regret Theory
In this paper, the authors demonstrate that the assumption of "regret aversion, " which has been invoked in regret theory to explain several well-documented violations of expected utility theory, also implies the existence of strict preferences between some stochastically equivalent actions and implies certain systematic violations of monotonicity. The authors report an experimental test of these predictions. They find that, while choices between…
Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice
Journal Article Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice? Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Chris Starmer, Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this aut…
Explaining Focal Points: Cognitive Hierarchy Theory versus Team Reasoning
This article reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players' pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players' using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments…
Does Part–whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice
Journal Article Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice? Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Chris Starmer, Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this aut…
Do Anomalies Disappear in Repeated Markets
There is some evidence that, as individuals participate in repeated markets, "anomalies" tend to disappear. One interpretation is that individuals — particularly marginal traders — are learning to act on underlying preferences which satisfy standard assumptions. An alternative interpretation, the "shaping" hypothesis, is that individuals" preferences are adjusting in response to cues given by market prices. The paper reports an experiment designe…
The affect heuristic and the attractiveness of simple gambles
Prior studies have observed that the attractiveness of playing a simple gamble (7/36 to win $9; otherwise win nothing) is greatly enhanced by introducing a small loss (7/36 win $9; otherwise lose 5¢). The present studies tested and confirmed an explanation of this finding based on the concept of evaluability and the affect heuristic. Evaluators of the “no‐loss” gamble lack a precise feeling for how good $9 is, hence give it little weight in their…
Testing Explanations of Preference Reversal
We present a new experimental investigation of preference reversal. Although economists and psychologists have suggested a variety of accounts for this phenomenon, the existing data do not adequately discriminate between them. Relative to previous studies, our design offers enhanced control for economic explanations and new tests of psychological hypotheses. We find a pattern of preference reversals that is inconsistent with all of the best‐known…
Dynamic Choice and the Common Ratio Effect: An Experimental Investigation
The common ratio effect is a well‐attested violation of expected utility theory. This paper uses four principles of dynamic choice to characterise alternative theoretical strategies for explaining the effect. It reports an experiment which tests these principles and, by implication, several well‐known accounts of the common ratio effect. Unlike previous work, the experimental design uses real financial incentives without presupposing any dynamic …
Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering
Journal Article Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering? Get access Chris Starmer Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 109, Issue 453, 1 February 1999, Pages 5–15, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00398 Published: 25 December 2001
Testing Alternative Explanations of Cyclical Choices
In two previously reported experiments, Loomes, Starmer and Sugden have found that choices are systematically non‐transitive, following a pattern of ‘cycling asymmetry’ predicted by regret theory. However, there are other potential explanations for these observations. This paper reports four experiments designed to discriminate between alternative explanations. There are three main findings. First, when the original experiments are replicated, th…
Are Preferences Monotonic? Testing Some Predictions of Regret Theory
In this paper, the authors demonstrate that the assumption of "regret aversion, " which has been invoked in regret theory to explain several well-documented violations of expected utility theory, also implies the existence of strict preferences between some stochastically equivalent actions and implies certain systematic violations of monotonicity. The authors report an experimental test of these predictions. They find that, while choices between…
Preference reversals and disparities between willingness to pay and willingness to accept in repeated markets
Experimental economics and deception: A comment
Promoting voter registration: The effects of low-cost interventions on behaviour and norms
We report two studies investigating whether, and if so how, different low-cost interventions affect voter registration rates. Low-cost message-based interventions are increasingly used to promote target behaviours. While growing evidence shows that such ‘nudges’ often significantly impact behaviour, understanding of why interventions work or fail in particular contexts remains underdeveloped. In a natural field experiment conducted before the 201…
On the priming of risk preferences: The role of fear and general affect
Priming is an established tool in psychology for investigating aspects of cognitive processes underlying decision making and is increasingly applied in economics. We report a systematic attempt to test the reproducibility and generalisability of priming effects on risk attitudes in a more diverse population than professionals and students, when priming using either a positive or a negative experience. We further test fear as the causal mechanism …
The psychology of uncertainty in economic theory: A critical appraisal and a fresh approach
Experimental testing of theories of choice under uncertainty has revealed a range of phenomena which, as yet, no single theory can accommodate. This article attempts to trace the apparent difficulty in developing a general descriptive model to a common misperception about the nature of choice under uncertainty: that individuals act as if guided by some underlying preferece function. An alternative approach is proposed which draws on the theory of…
Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice
Journal Article Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice? Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Chris Starmer, Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this aut…
Are Preferences Monotonic? Testing Some Predictions of Regret Theory
In this paper, the authors demonstrate that the assumption of "regret aversion, " which has been invoked in regret theory to explain several well-documented violations of expected utility theory, also implies the existence of strict preferences between some stochastically equivalent actions and implies certain systematic violations of monotonicity. The authors report an experimental test of these predictions. They find that, while choices between…
The psychology of uncertainty in economic theory: A critical appraisal and a fresh approach
Experimental testing of theories of choice under uncertainty has revealed a range of phenomena which, as yet, no single theory can accommodate. This article attempts to trace the apparent difficulty in developing a general descriptive model to a common misperception about the nature of choice under uncertainty: that individuals act as if guided by some underlying preferece function. An alternative approach is proposed which draws on the theory of…
Experimental Methods: A Primer for Economists
Introduction 2. Principles of economics 3. Experimental design 4. Human subjects 5. Laboratory facilities 6. Conducting an experiment 7. Data analysis 8. Reporting your results 9. The emergence of experimental economics Appendices Glossary References Index
Does Part-Whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Does Part–whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Experimental economics and deception: A comment
Testing Alternative Explanations of Cyclical Choices
In two previously reported experiments, Loomes, Starmer and Sugden have found that choices are systematically non‐transitive, following a pattern of ‘cycling asymmetry’ predicted by regret theory. However, there are other potential explanations for these observations. This paper reports four experiments designed to discriminate between alternative explanations. There are three main findings. First, when the original experiments are replicated, th…
Dynamic Choice and the Common Ratio Effect: An Experimental Investigation
The common ratio effect is a well‐attested violation of expected utility theory. This paper uses four principles of dynamic choice to characterise alternative theoretical strategies for explaining the effect. It reports an experiment which tests these principles and, by implication, several well‐known accounts of the common ratio effect. Unlike previous work, the experimental design uses real financial incentives without presupposing any dynamic …
Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering
Journal Article Experimental Economics: Hard Science Or Wasteful Tinkering? Get access Chris Starmer Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 109, Issue 453, 1 February 1999, Pages 5–15, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00398 Published: 25 December 2001
Developments in Non-Expected Utility Theory: The Hunt for a Descriptive Theory of Choice under Risk
This article reviews recent developments in the economic theory of individual decision making under risk. Since the 1950s it has been known that individual choices violate the standard model of expected utility in predictable ways. Considerable research effort has now been devoted to the project of developing a superior descriptive model. Following an overview of non-expected utility theories which distinguishes between “conventional” and “non-co…
Do Anomalies Disappear in Repeated Markets
There is some evidence that, as individuals participate in repeated markets, "anomalies" tend to disappear. One interpretation is that individuals — particularly marginal traders — are learning to act on underlying preferences which satisfy standard assumptions. An alternative interpretation, the "shaping" hypothesis, is that individuals" preferences are adjusting in response to cues given by market prices. The paper reports an experiment designe…
Testing Explanations of Preference Reversal
We present a new experimental investigation of preference reversal. Although economists and psychologists have suggested a variety of accounts for this phenomenon, the existing data do not adequately discriminate between them. Relative to previous studies, our design offers enhanced control for economic explanations and new tests of psychological hypotheses. We find a pattern of preference reversals that is inconsistent with all of the best‐known…
The affect heuristic and the attractiveness of simple gambles
Prior studies have observed that the attractiveness of playing a simple gamble (7/36 to win $9; otherwise win nothing) is greatly enhanced by introducing a small loss (7/36 win $9; otherwise lose 5¢). The present studies tested and confirmed an explanation of this finding based on the concept of evaluability and the affect heuristic. Evaluators of the “no‐loss” gamble lack a precise feeling for how good $9 is, hence give it little weight in their…
Preference reversals and disparities between willingness to pay and willingness to accept in repeated markets
Explaining Focal Points: Cognitive Hierarchy Theory versus Team Reasoning
This article reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players' pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players' using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments…
Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale
Understanding the nature and influence of social relationships is of increasing interest to behavioral economists, and behavioral scientists more generally. In turn, this creates a need for tractable, and reliable, tools for measuring fundamental aspects of social relationships. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' (IOS) Scale, a handy pictorial tool for measuring the subjectively perceived closeness o…
Promoting voter registration: The effects of low-cost interventions on behaviour and norms
We report two studies investigating whether, and if so how, different low-cost interventions affect voter registration rates. Low-cost message-based interventions are increasingly used to promote target behaviours. While growing evidence shows that such ‘nudges’ often significantly impact behaviour, understanding of why interventions work or fail in particular contexts remains underdeveloped. In a natural field experiment conducted before the 201…
On the priming of risk preferences: The role of fear and general affect
Priming is an established tool in psychology for investigating aspects of cognitive processes underlying decision making and is increasingly applied in economics. We report a systematic attempt to test the reproducibility and generalisability of priming effects on risk attitudes in a more diverse population than professionals and students, when priming using either a positive or a negative experience. We further test fear as the causal mechanism …
People prefer coordinated punishment in cooperative interactions
Measuring Group Cohesion to Reveal the Power of Social Relationships in Team Production
We introduce group cohesion to study the economic relevance of social relationships in team production. We operationalize measurement of group cohesion, adapting the “oneness scale” from psychology. A series of experiments, including a preregistered replication, reveals strong, positive associations between group cohesion and performance assessed in weak-link coordination games, with high-cohesion groups being likely to achieve superior equilibri…
Brief Commentary: An Independent Replication Study of the Mere Urgency Effect
We report an extensive, independent replication study (n=2,374) of the Mere Urgency Effect (MUE) (Zhu et al. 2018). The MUE is a surprising tendency for individuals to be lured into sub-optimal time allocation by the framing of a dominated option that makes it appear ‘urgent’. This effect arises even though the apparent urgency is illusory. We replicate the MUE in a base design closely following the procedures of Zhu et al. (2018) but with new pa…
Economics (18 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (15 works) · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies (12 works) · Microeconomics (11 works) · Economic and Environmental Valuation (10 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Econometrics (8 works) · Positive economics (6 works)