"Anchoring in Economics: A Meta-Analysis of Studies on Willingness-To-Pay and Willingness-To- Accept." Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2021.
with Z. Maniadis and C. Sedikides
Anchoring is considered one of the most robust psychological phenomena in judgment and decision-making. Earlier studies produced strong and consistent evidence that anchoring is relevant for the elicitation of economic preferences, but subsequent studies found weaker and less consistent effects. We examined the economic significance of numerical anchoring by conducting a meta-analysis of 53 studies. We used the Pearson correlation coefficient between the anchor number and target response (in our case, Willingness-to-Pay and Willingness-to-Accept) as the primary effect size. Both fixed-effects and random effects models pointed to a moderate overall effect, smaller than the effects reported in early studies. Given some well-known limitations of our meta-analytic methodology, these results should be viewed with caution and the effect size as an upper bound. Also, metaregression analysis indicates that non-random anchors and non-laboratory experiments were associated with higher anchoring effects, whereas selling tasks and anchors incompatible with the evaluated item were associated with lower (but often non-significant) anchoring effects. The use of financial incentives did not have a discernible effect.

"Can Biased Polls Distort Electoral Results? Evidence from the Lab." European Journal of Political Economy, 2023.
with A. Boukouras, W. Jennings and Z. Maniadis
We introduce a new methodological approach for studying the effect of biased polls on election outcomes and apply it to a set of new experiments with 375 participants. Voters may observe and learn about the bias by playing multiple voting rounds. While in control conditions, polls are unbiased, in treatment conditions, participants view only poll results where a particular candidate’s vote share is the largest. This candidate is consistently elected more often in the treatments than in the controls, because biased polls robustly distort voters’ expectations about vote shares. This effect holds after eighteen election rounds, out of which the first three are practice rounds, but somewhat more weakly in our main treatment where voters are explicitly informed about the bias.

"The Account of Instability of Risk Preference: Salience Theory versus Cumulative Prospect Theory."
Salience theory is a powerful alternative to prospect theory in accounting for paradoxes of choice under risk. In risk choice settings where the majority of subjects exhibits unstable risk attitudes, we experimentally investigate the descriptive and predictive power of salience theory, and compare it with cumulative prospect theory. We find that both theories unsurprisingly outperform expected utility theory, which does not account for the instability of risk preferences and cumulative prospect theory outperforms salience theory by an insignificant margin. We attribute this small gap to the unsophisticated specification of the salience function and the substantial heterogeneity of the local thinking parameter. Salience theory captures important features of unstable risk preferences, yet further work on the functional representation of the theory is necessary to make it as applicable as cumulative prospect theory.

"Childbearing Age and the Shadow Mommy Effect on Hiring: A Large-Scale Field Experiment."
with K. Li, W. Si and Z. Xu
Gender stereotypes and discrimination within organizations often hinder women's labor market participation, particularly during their childbearing years. To test this hypothesis, we conduct a large-scale field experiment in China to investigate the effect of women's childbearing age on labor market discrimination. We send 35,713 fictitious resumes to real job postings on a major Chinese online recruitment platform for jobs in four leading cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. We submit job applications to organizations in the male-dominated field of information technology, the female-dominated field of accounting, and the mixed-gender field of human resources. Generally, the evidence indicates that women of childbearing age experience statistical discrimination, regardless of their actual motherhood status. However, the shadow mommy effect is heterogeneous across different fields of occupations, firm ownership types, and cities. Our findings indicate that employers' concerns about potential costs arising from gendered parental responsibility disparities are the main mediators of the shadow mommy effect. Nonetheless, fostering inclusivity for women, adopting robust ESG practices, and offering additional childcare support can mitigate this discrimination against women of childbearing age. The results also suggest a negative relationship between labor market discrimination against women of childbearing age and the fertility rate in urban areas. This study provides insights for decision-makers in both public and private organizations, laying the groundwork for potential policy development to address gender inequality in the labor market and related challenges in similar societies.

"Reciprocity in Lying for Others."
with P. Louis, Z. Maniadis and D. Xefteris
In an experimental setup simulating peer-review (i.e. the evaluation of others' performance in work environments), we investigate the impact of reciprocity. Our formal model predicts that in sequential assessment settings, reciprocal behaviour prompts agents to systematically over-report. A series of online experiments substantiate this prediction, revealing that the conduct of first movers diverges markedly from truthful reporting, leaning distinctly towards maximal over-reporting. Notably, this tendency weakens in conditions simulating anonymous/simultaneous interactions, indicating that the structure of peer-reviewing is key to ensuring the integrity of the system.

"Applications of Biometeorological Indices for Environmental-related Health Effects: A Systematic Review." - coding completed
with K. Pantavou, A. Fillon, Z. Maniadis, and G. Nikolopoulos

"Testing the Predictive Power of an Experimental 'Preference-Identification Tool' for Retail Investors' Preferences Over Structured Investment Solutions" - experimental design finished
with N. Hanakai, E. Lykopoulos and D. Sonsino

"Reward vs Punishment in Collective Action: A Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in China’s Pastoral Area" - data analysis in progress
with M. Liu and J. Wang

"How Do Biases in Opinion Polls Affect Elections in Costly Voting Environments?" - experimental design in progress
with A. Boukouras, Z. Maniadis and D. Xefteris