Jean Robert Tyran (University of Vienna) 10.11.2022

It is our pleasure to host prof. Jean Robert Tyran (University of Vienna), who will present on Thursday November 10, 2022 at 12:45 in room RB437 about his research on the topic „Self-Signaling in Voting“.

BIO: Jean-Robert Tyran is full professor of public economics at the University of Vienna (currently on leave), director of the Vienna Center for Experimental Economics, and the Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs. He is a research fellow at various institutions (CEPR, London; EPRU, U Copenhagen) and is also part-time Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen. In his research, Jean-Robert Tyran mainly investigates how institutions like markets and democracy are shaped by bounded rationality and social preferences. He established an internet-based platform for running large-scale economic experiments (iLEE), (watch video to see his talk to the Queen of Denmark). Jean-Robert Tyran has published more than 50 papers in refereed journals, including top journals such as American Economic Review, Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, Economic Journal, Journal of the European Economic Association and Science. According to repec, he is one of the top economists in Austria.

ABSTRACT:

This paper presents a two-wave survey experiment on self-image concerns in voting. We elicit votes on a ballot initiative in Switzerland that spurred campaigns involving widely shared normative values. We investigate how messages that change the self-signaling value of a Yes vote affect selection and processing of information, and reported voting behavior. We find that a message enhancing the self-signaling value of a Yes vote is effective: voters agree more with arguments in favor of the initiative, anticipate more frequently voting in favor, and report more frequently having voted in favor of the initiative.