The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life - Softcover

Thaler, Richard H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691019347 ISBN 13: 9780691019345

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1994

Synopsis

In this book, Nobel Prize–winning economist Richard Thaler challenges the received economic wisdom by revealing many of the paradoxes that abound even in the most painstakingly constructed transactions. He presents literate, challenging, and often funny examples of such anomalies as why the winners at auctions are often the real losers--they pay too much and suffer the "winner's curse"--why gamblers bet on long shots at the end of a losing day, why shoppers will save on one appliance only to pass up the identical savings on another, and why sports fans who wouldn't pay more than $200 for a Super Bowl ticket wouldn't sell one they own for less than $400. He also demonstrates that markets do not always operate with the traplike efficiency we impute to them.

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About this title

From the Back Cover:

Richard Thaler challenges the received economic wisdom by revealing many of the paradoxes that abound even in the most painstakingly constructed transactions. He presents literate, challenging, and often funny examples of such anomalies as why the winners at auctions are often the real losers - they pay too much and suffer the "winner's curse" - why gamblers bet on long shots at the end of a losing day, why shoppers will save on one appliance only to pass up the identical savings on another, and why sports fans who wouldn't pay more than $200 for a Super Bowl ticket wouldn't sell one they own for less than $400. He also demonstrates that markets do not always operate with the traplike efficiency we impute to them. Thaler argues that recognizing these sometimes topsy-turvy facts of economic behavior will compel economists, as well as those of us who live by their lights in our jobs and organizations, to adopt a more balanced view of human nature, one reflected in Adam Smith's professed belief that, despite our selfishness, there is something in our nature that prompts us to enjoy, even promote, the happiness of others.

About the Author:

Richard H. Thaler, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in economics, is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0691019347
• ISBN 13: 9780691019345
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240