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Information Cascades and the dot-com Bubble Burst

The boom and bust dynamics of the economy can be explained by rational human behavior, and it turns out that much of it has to do with information cascades. Web companies took advantage of the low interest rates in 1998–99 to increase their start-up capital amounts. These “dot-com” company’s planned to grow their business by […]

Informed Buyers in the Market for Lemons

Kyungmin Kim’s paper “Information about Sellers’ Past Behavior in the Market for Lemons” examines how a sellers’ past behavior influences the market for lemons theory. He argues that in a market for lemons, i.e. used cars, the buyer faces a risk when he decides what price he is willing to buy the car for. If […]

Website Design as a Consequence of Network Forces

When a new product becomes introduced onto the market, several factor attribute to either it’s successful adaptation or failure. Successful network products realize the world isn’t static, and are constantly working to improve the design and usefulness of their sites, innovating new features and interface to entice users, and evolving to meet new social and […]

You thought they liked you…

This article, linked below, talks about the real differences between social networking and real-world networking.  In the focus of this class, we talked mainly how networks worked, always assuming that each buyer wanted the best thing for themselves, or the seller will not cheat.  In reality, everyone in life is doing everything for an ulterior […]

Group Me with Food!

I can’t post a link because I don’t have one that will work universally, but I just want to talk to you guys about this great new Food Groupme I’ve been added to!  It is called “Free Food at Cornell” and it has over 600 students involved in the chat.  Basically, whenever anyone is hosting […]

Game theory applications in wireless networks: A survey

Game theory applications in wireless networks: A survey Bard Benmamar, Francine Kreif, LLT Laboratory, University of Tlemcen, Algeria LaBRI Laboratory, Bordeaux, University, Talence, Frace Game theory, deals with the interaction between agents with conflicting interests.  Game theory was originally developed to examine problems in the field of economics.  More recently, game theory has been applied […]

Canberra and the tragedy of the commons

Canberra, the capital of Australia, is known as the “garden city.” However, with increasing construction of residential areas and large areas of urban infill, the city is losing its greenery. Canberra has had policies in place that tried to limit the impact buildings could have on a property and allow plants to grow alongside them. […]

Information Asymmetry, Moral Hazard, and Payday Loans

Dobbie’s and Skiba’s paper: “Information Asymmetries in Consumer Credit Markets: Evidence from Payday Lending” uses the following information to describe payday loans. A payday loan is a consumer loan given to people who need money and cannot afford to wait for their next paycheck, and a personal check is used as collateral. They are usually […]

How the internet effects us: “Network Effect” and the wisdom of crowds

“Network Effect” is a project by Jonathan Harris and Greg Hochmuth. It is a website — but the first website I have seen that is dedicated to being a work of art. When accessed, the website invites you to browse it and recommends you wear headphones. It then presents you with a collection of keywords, […]

Voting in the US

In class we have discussed voting theory, learning how the results of several voting systems can be inaccurate and can be influenced by the people controlling the process. In voting systems based on majority rule, in which participants vote only for their top choice, the outcome can be influenced by “strategic agenda-sitting,” (Networks, Crowds, and […]

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