**THE 12th GLOBAL ISSUES COLLOQUIUM **

Institute for International Trade and Cooperation would like to invite you to our twelfth faculty colloquium

Monday, October 28, 2013

5:00pm-6:30pm (Dinner will be provided)

#1401 Seminar Room, International Education Building

“Altruism and Reciprocity:

Evidence and Implication"

Presenter: Jung Kyoo Choi

(Professor at School of Economics and Trade, Kyungpook National University)

Jung-Kyoo Choi is an economist who specializes in evolutionary game theory, computational modeling and experimental economics. He has been working on the evolutionary dynamics and agent-based modeling that focus on the evolution of altruistic cooperation, the coevolution of individual preferences and institutions, and the coevolution of technology and institution. He has been conducting experimental research to study individuals' behaviors/preferences and their economic performance. His work has been published in journals such as Science, PNAS, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Journal of Economic Psychology. He graduated from Seoul National University and did his PhD in economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is a professor in School of Economics and Trade, Kyungpook National University.

Abstract

Modern economic theory developed under the assumption that people are exclusively motivated by their material self-interest. However, empirical evidence has brought this assumption under question. Recent experimental studies have shown that a substantial number of people exhibit social preferences. In laboratory settings, subjects appeared to care positively or negatively for the material payoffs of others. They are willing to bear costs to confer benefits to others; and they behave in reciprocal manner in a sense that they are willing to sacrifice to punish norm-violators and to reward those who are cooperative and nice. In this lecture, I will present some evidence of people’s altruistic and reciprocal behavior. And I will identify where and when social preferences matter. In this regard, I will discuss the implication of these findings, and the possibility that people’s social preferences could play a role in building social capital.