BREW-ESA 2025

Behavioral Research in Economics Workshop, India
Co-organized with the Economic Science Association (ESA)
MDI Gurgaon, India · December 15–17, 2025

Plenary Speakers

Prof. Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch (University of Düsseldorf)

Prof. PJ Healy (Ohio State University)

Hosted by: MDI Gurgaon · Co-organized with: ESA
Day 1 — Monday, December 15, 2025
09:15 – 09:30 Inauguration
09:30 – 10:00 Inaugural Talk by Prof. Arvind Sahay, Director, MDI Gurgaon — “Behavioral Science Applications in Business & Policy: Why It Matters”
10:00 – 11:00 Plenary 1: Prof. Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch (University of Düsseldorf) — “Early Origins of Economic Behavior: Experimental Evidence on Sensitive Periods and the Role of Adversity in the Formation of Children’s Economic Preferences”
11:00 – 11:15 Tea/Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:45 Session 1A: Bargaining & Conflict Resolution [Auditorium]
“Zero-Sum Salience and Inequality Acceptance”
Moumita Deb, Stefan Trautmann, Christoph Vanberg
University of Heidelberg
“On bargaining about axioms”
Robert Veszteg, Noemi Navarro
Waseda University
“Which way to coordinate: An experimental study”
Bradley Ruffle, Todd Kaplan, Richard Li
McMaster University
11:15 – 12:45 Session 1B: Contests [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Lottery Based Auctions”
Jeevant Rampal, Charles Noussair, Rahul Sharma
IIM Ahmedabad
“A Theory of Appeasement”
Swapnendu Banerjee, Soumyarup Saha, Arindam Pal
Jadavpur University
“Battle or Bargain? Experimental evidence on conflict and compromise”
Vasudha Chopra, Saumya Deojain
Plaksha University
12:45 – 02:00 Lunch
02:00 – 04:00 Session 2A: Social Norms & Cooperation [Auditorium]
“Interpreting Intolerance”
Ritwik Banerjee, Lata Gangadharan, Marie Claire Villeval
IIM Bangalore
“Debunking Myths: Ancestral Narratives and Intergroup Cooperation in India”
Alessandro Saia, Ahmed R., Mendola M., Ghidoni R., Piasenti S.
University of Bologna
“Media and Empowerment: Community Radios in India”
Pushkar Maitra, Tom Lane, Rajesh Ramachandran, Smriti Sharma
Monash University
“The Role of Social Norms in Organ Donation Policy: A Theoretical Analysis of Default and Priority Rules”
Diptanu Das
Jadavpur University
02:00 – 04:00 Session 2B: Education [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“When science feels like math: Quantitative questions and the science gender gap”
Divyanshu Jain, Tarun Jain
IIM Ahmedabad
“Peers, Networks, and Performance: Assessing Social Influences on Academic Outcomes in Higher Education”
Anurag Kakkar, Abhradeep Goswami, Prateet Jain, Ujjwal Anurag, Dr. Shailu Singh, Madhavi Moni K
Hansraj College, University of Delhi
“Performance Observability and Private beliefs in Feedback Avoidance Among Students”
Garima Agarwal, Gerhard Riener
Azim Premji University
“Improving Digital Habits Through Education: Experimental Evidence from India”
Mridul Joshi, Jalnidh Kaur, Lena Song
Stanford University
04:00 – 04:15 Tea/Coffee Break
04:15 – 05:45 Session 3A: Experiments [Auditorium]
“Experimental Study of Revenue-Sharing Auctions”
Shivam Baurai, Debasis Mishra, Jeevant Rampal
IIM Ahmedabad
“Beliefs, Overconfidence, Learning and Incentives: Evidence from a Field Experiment”
Ashish Sachdeva, Pranav Jindal
IIM Udaipur
“Social Image Concerns and AI Use: A Lab Experiment”
Deepti Bhatia, Mert Gumren
University of Leicester
04:15 – 05:45 Session 3B: Information & Media [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Strategic News Transmission and Evolving Bias”
Rishab Lodh, Oindrila Dey
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata
“Does social media influence self-reported preference for populism? Empirical evidence from India”
Soumita Ganguly
IIT Bombay
“Persuasion through content design”
Srijita Ghosh, Ayush Pant
Ashoka University
06:00 onwards Networking Events
Day 2 — Tuesday, December 16, 2025
09:30 – 10:30 Plenary 2: Prof. PJ Healy (Ohio State University) — “Belief Elicitation: Theory & Experiments”
10:30 – 10:45 Tea/Coffee Break
10:45 – 12:45 Session 4A: Labour Markets & Employment [Auditorium]
“Employer Quality and Information Frictions in Spot Labor Markets: Evidence from India”
Vrinda Kapoor
Cornell University
“Merit and Job Allocation”
Puja Bhattacharya, Jeevant Rampal
University of Arkansas
“(En)Gendering Marital Status in Indian Job Market: A Web-Based Field Experimental Study”
Abu Afzal Tauheed
Masaryk University
“‘Culture Fit’ or ‘Culture Filter’? The Role of Subjective Signals in Hiring Decisions”
Shubham Ojha, Somdeep Chatterjee, Shreya Mishra
IIM Calcutta
10:45 – 12:45 Session 4B: Development & Financial Inclusion [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Moving Beliefs via Informal Networks: Field Experiment in Jharkhand India on Financial Product Uptake”
Vidhi Shah, Jeevant Rampal, Anindya Chakrabarti
USC Marshall
“The Missing Skyline: Causal Evidence on Upzoning from India’s National Capital”
Sankalp Sharma
University of Southern California
“Saving for a Rainy Day: Nudging Women Working in Informal Sector to Save More”
Eva Maitreyee, Vanita Singh
MDI Gurgaon
“Leisure today or tomorrow? The wealth effect on time preference for leisure”
Sana Rajar
IIT Bombay
12:45 – 02:00 Lunch
02:00 – 03:30 Session 5A: Health Economics & Healthcare [Auditorium]
“Is there a Premium for Perceived Confidence? Evidence from Medical Consultants”
Lata Gangadharan, Nisvan Erkal, Sameen Kausar, Boon Han Koh, Zainab Najim, Matthew Roe
Monash University
“Navigating Complexity: Decision Making and Satisficing in the Medical Profession”
Khushboo, Shalini Singh
Research Scholar
“The Economics of Choosing Traditional Medicine: Theory and Evidence from India”
Zincy Wei
Northwestern University
02:00 – 03:30 Session 5B: Behavioral Economics & Policy [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Bureaucrat Assignment Mechanisms: Theory and Evidence”
Shantanu Khanna, Vinay Jha, Jeevant Rampal
Northeastern University
“Do Donors to Charity Really Not Care About Effectiveness?”
Neha Agarwal, Stephen Knowles
University of Otago
“Dishonesty in Complex Environments: Deliberate Lies, Shortcuts, or Accidental Mistakes?”
Sven A. Simon, Pascal Nieder
Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance
03:30 – 03:45 Tea/Coffee Break
03:45 – 05:15 Session 6A: Biases & Stereotypes [Auditorium]
“Unpacking the Description-Experience Gap: Can We Identify its Causes?”
Rumen Kerekov
Bratislava University of Economics and Business
“Skin Colour Stereotypes, Emotional Affect and Economic Decision-Making”
Nishat Anjum, Sujoy Chakravarty
Jawaharlal Nehru University
03:45 – 05:15 Session 6B: Health Behaviors & Interventions [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Parental Misperceptions on Child Nutrition in India”
Sneha Nimmagadda
University of Southern California
“Women, Tobacco and Autonomy: A Costly Affair”
Archana Singh
Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial PG College, Barabanki
“EnergyBot: Behavioral Interventions for Peak Demand Reduction”
Anirudh Tagat, Saksham Singh, Deepansh Jagga, Yiwei Zhang
Monk Prayogshala
05:15 – 05:30 Tea/Coffee Break
05:30 – 06:30 Mentorship Session: “Behavioral/Experimental Economics in the Age of AI” — Marie Claire Villeval & PJ Healy
07:30 onwards Conference Dinner
Day 3 — Wednesday, December 17, 2025
09:30 – 11:00 Session 7A: Cooperation & Public Goods [Auditorium]
“Cooperation under Escalating Risk: Evidence from a Dynamic Public Goods Experiment”
Richie Dilip Kurian, Friederike Mengel, Dennie van Dolder
University of Essex
“Punishment with Imperfect Monitoring reduces Cooperation and Amplifies Inequality in a Dynamic Public Goods Game”
Sanket Sen, Ananish Chaudhuri
University of Auckland
“Solving normative conflicts in collective action by promoting redistribution”
Marie Claire Villeval, Lata Gangadharan, Jona Krutaj
GATE (CNRS)
09:30 – 11:00 Session 7B: Environmental Behavior & Sustainability [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Knowledge or Peers? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Pro-Environmental Behavior”
Raisa Sherif, Esther Blanco
Max Planck Society
“Behavioral and welfare effects of reminding household to sort waste: a field experiment in India”
Shivani Wadehra, Zihan Nie
“(Un-)scientifically Spun: Narratives, Belief Updating, and Pro-Environmental Behavior”
Anwesha Banerjee, Katharina Momsen
Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research
11:00 – 11:15 Tea/Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:45 Session 8A: Gender & Household Economics [Auditorium]
“Household Bargaining Difference in Matrilineal, Patrilineal & Bilineal Societies: Evidence from Lab-in-the-Field Experiment”
Shagata Mukherjee, Mongoljin Batsaikhan
Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University
“Intra-Household Resource allocation and Social Structure: A non-cooperative analysis”
Anindita Sen, Bitan Biswas
University of Calcutta
“Gender Similarities in Self-Promotion: The Role of Stereotypes”
Kalyani Chaudhuri
Ashoka University
11:15 – 12:45 Session 8B: Attribution, Culture & Academic Careers [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Asymmetries in Attribution of Success and Failure”
Ruchi Avtar
New York University
“The Cultural Premium: How Cultural Distance, Economic Contributions and Value Alignment Shape Immigration Attitudes”
Priyama Majumdar
University of Warwick
“Attribution bias by Gender”
Karmini Sharma, Lily Liu, James Fenske
Imperial College London
12:45 – 02:00 Lunch
02:00 – 03:30 Session 9A: Gender, Violence & Social Norms [Auditorium]
“Determinants of FIR and NC Filing Among Survivors of Violence at One Stop Centres in India”
Navya Srivastava, Aarushi Kalra, Mahima Vasisth
National Council of Applied Economic Research
“Pastoralism and the Ancestral Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence”
Shaurya Saxena
IIM Ahmedabad
“The Leaky Pipeline: When Career Expectations Meet Social Norms”
Ankush Asri
Chr. Michelsen Institute
02:00 – 03:30 Session 9B: Research Methodology & Meta-Science [Chanakya Bldg, Room 1]
“Effect size, Experimenter Demand and Inference”
Priyoma Mustafi, K. Pun Winichakul, Guillermo Lezama, Marissa Lepper, Alistair Wilson, David Danz, Lise Vesterlund
Ahmedabad University
“Pathways from Registration to Publication: Evidence from the AEA RCT Registry”
Viola Asri, Jessica Leight, Taisuke Imai
Chr. Michelsen Institute
“Coauthorship Strategies and Gender Bias”
Puneet Arora, Ishita Tripathi, Khushi Trivedi
MDI Gurgaon
03:30 – 03:45 Tea/Coffee Break
03:45 – 04:30 Vote of Thanks and Closing
BREW-ESA 2025 · Co-organized with ESA · Hosted by MDI Gurgaon
https://sites.google.com/view/brewindia/