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Survivor: Three Principles of Economics Lessons as Taught by a Reality Television Show

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  • Karlan, Dean

Abstract

The reality television show Survivor has been a ratings success on CBS for over 16 years. In the show, 16 strangers are marooned in a remote location, required to compete in physical and mental challenges, and periodically vote to eliminate players from the game. The last person remaining wins one million dollars. I use this popular television show to demonstrate three important lessons from principles of microeconomics: (a) for individual decision-making, concepts like pride and honor may belong in the utility function, alongside more classical components such as consumption of goods and services, (b) thinking through how others will respond to your action is critical for good economic and strategic thinking, and (c) repeated interaction can help collusive behavior hold.

Suggested Citation

  • Karlan, Dean, 2017. "Survivor: Three Principles of Economics Lessons as Taught by a Reality Television Show," CEPR Discussion Papers 12015, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12015
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    Cited by:

    1. Zachary Smith & Patrick R. Murphy & Stephen L. Baglione & Passard C. Dean, 2022. "The Battle for Space Supremacy... an Application of Pricing and Market Structure," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 7(1), pages 35-73, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Survivor; Preferences; Behavioral economics; Game theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory

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