Francesco Scacciati

New experiments on the endowment effect

Abstract This paper reports on some new experiments on the so-called endowment effect, i.e. the overevaluation of an asset due to possession of it. If the payoffs are high and fictitious, the effect is very strong. But if the payoffs are (relatively) high and real, the effect seems to fade away. It is argued that the endowment effect may be displaced by rational behaviour if the gains at stake are worthwhile. Two possible explanations of the effect are suggested. The first is at odds with economic rationality, while the second is not. Further experiments are required to resolve the question.

Explaining attitudes towards the euro: Design of a cross-national study

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to provide essential background material relating to the accom-panying papers in this special issue. It presents a brief description of the ‘Psychology of theEuropean Monetary Union’ project. This involved a questionnaire study of attitudes towardsthe euro, which was fielded in each of the 15 member states of the European Union in thesummer of 1997. We describe the development of the common survey instrument, and outlinethe rationale and methods pursued in sampling particular conceptual domains. The paper alsodetails the sampling procedures used in each country, together with the response rates andsample sizes attained. Finally, it o•ers a brief cross-national comparison of overall attitudes tothe euro. O 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.PsycINFO classification: 2229; 3920JEL classification: D63; D84; E52; F33Keywords: Control; Currency; Euro; Expectations; Equity; European union; Economic andmonetary union; Money; National identity; Satisfaction; Values

More Terminological and Methodological Problems in Measuring Happiness, Life Satisfaction and Well-Being: Some First Empirical Results

This chapter presents the results of a field survey on happiness, life satisfaction and well-being in Piedmont (Northern Italy) by means of 1,250 face-to-face interviews financed by the Piedmont Government. In the literature, the terms ‘happiness’, ‘life satisfaction’ and ‘well-being’ are mostly used as synonymous and measured by asking individuals to self-report them, on a verbal or numerical scale. In order to assess if these three terms are synonymous and to measure their level in Piedmont we used three different scales: a verbal scale (7 steps), a unipolar cardinal scale (from 1 to 7) and a bipolar cardinal scale (from −3 to 3). We examine the effects of wording and scales on the main determinants of the three notions. Wording clearly matters: not only each subject (in most cases) self-reports differently her/his own happiness, life satisfaction and well-being, and therefore these three notions may be similar but not equivalent—but also the determinants of the three notions are different. Moreover, the use of different scales leads to different results. However, a clear pattern does not emerge: therefore we cannot state which numerical scale performs better in representing the verbal self-reported valuations. JEL Classifications: B21, B41, C83, D03, J28.