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Where do Personal Experience and Imitation Drive Choice?

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Author Info
Leonardo Boncinelli ()

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Abstract

This papers investigates the efficiency of aggregate choice in the long run when the individual decision is driven by both personal experience and imitation. Personal experience is represented by choice sets depending upon previous choices. Imitation is modeled first through popularity weighting and then through a network of social influences. Intuition suggests imitation can work as a source of variety, spreading behaviors among which memory can make selection. However inefficiencies will persist in the stochastically stable distribution whenever the length of memory is not sufficiently long to stop inferior behaviors from moving perpetually along periodic cycles of social influences.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Siena in its series Department of Economics University of Siena with number 519.

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Date of creation: Oct 2007
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Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:519

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Related research
Keywords: imitation; personal experience; limited cognitive capabilities;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ellison, Glenn, 2000. "Basins of Attraction, Long-Run Stochastic Stability, and the Speed of Step-by-Step Evolution," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 67(1), pages 17-45, January.
  2. Schlag, Karl H., 1998. "Why Imitate, and If So, How?, : A Boundedly Rational Approach to Multi-armed Bandits," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 130-156, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Leonardo Boncinelli, 2007. "Choice under Markovian Constraints," Department of Economics University of Siena 516, Department of Economics, University of Siena. [Downloadable!]
  4. Fernando Vega-Redondo, 1997. "The Evolution of Walrasian Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(2), pages 375-384, March.
  5. Offerman, Theo & Sonnemans, Joep, 1998. "Learning by experience and learning by imitating successful others," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 559-575, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Young, H Peyton, 1993. "The Evolution of Conventions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(1), pages 57-84, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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