BIOLOGY, CULTURE, AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR

Abstract

THIS THESIS CONSISTS OF THREE STUDIES. THE FIRST STUDY SHOWS HOW THE DOPAMINE D4 RECEPTOR (DRD4) GENE IS LINKED TO THE CURVATURE OF UTILITY FUNCTION IN CLASSIC ECONOMIC MODELS, AND THUS INDIVIDUAL RISK ATTITUDE; THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO DEMONSTRATE THIS ASSOCIATION AMONG HAN CHINESE POPULATION. THE SECOND STUDY EXAMINES HOW THIS GENE INTERACTS WITH RELIGION TO SHAPE ALTRUISTIC BEHAVIOR, SUGGESTING AN IMPORTANT ROLE OF GENE-CULTURE COEVOLUTION IN SELECTING FOR PROSOCIAL HUMAN TRAITS, AND ALSO SUPPORTING THE DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY HYPOTHESIS OF THE DRD4 GENE. FINALLY, THE THIRD STUDY COMPARES INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIVENESS IN LOSS-FRAME VERSUS GAIN-FRAME CONTEXT USING INCENTIVIZED LAB EXPERIMENTS. THIS STUDY SHOWS HOW COMPETITIVENESS IS DISTINGUISHABLY AFFECTED BY INEQUITY AVERSION AND RISK ATTITUDE UNDER THE TWO FRAMES: WHEREAS INEQUITY AVERSION AND RISK AVERSION OVER GAINS BOTH RELATE TO LOWER COMPETITIVENESS IN THE GAIN DOMAIN, RISK AVERSION OVER LOSSES IS LINKED TO HIGHER COMPETIT