Learning from the behavior of others : conformity, fads, and informational cascades

Learning by observing the past decisions of others can help explain some otherwise puzzling phenomena about human behavior. For example, why do people tend to converge on similar behavior? Why is mass behavior prone to error and fads? The authors argue that the theory of observational learning, and particularly of informational cascades, has much to offer economics, business strategy, political science, and the study of criminal behavior.

[1]  A. Bandura Aggression: a social learning analysis , 1971 .

[2]  Violence as politics : a series of original essays , 1973 .

[3]  W. Landes,et al.  An Economic Study of U.S. Aircraft Hijacking, 1960-1976 , 1977 .

[4]  William M. Landes,et al.  An Economic Study of U. S. Aircraft Hijacking, 1961-1976 , 1978, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[5]  Richard Taylor,et al.  Medicine Out of Control: The Anatomy of a Malignant Technology , 1979 .

[6]  E. Robin Matters of Life & Death: Risks vs. Benefits of Medical Care , 1984 .

[7]  H. Gonzalez Matters of Life and Death: Risks vs. Benefits of Medical Care , 1986, The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

[8]  Richard J. Gilbert,et al.  Investment and Coordination in Oligopolistic Industries , 1987 .

[9]  T. Kuran Sparks and prairie fires: A theory of unanticipated political revolution , 1989 .

[10]  Dan Kovenock,et al.  Asymmetric Information, Information Externalities, and Efficiency: The Case of Oil Exploration , 1989 .

[11]  X. Vives How Fast do Rational Agents Learn , 1993 .

[12]  C. Huff,et al.  Gangs in America , 1990 .

[13]  S. Sheffrin,et al.  Can Brute Deterrence Backfire? Perceptions and Attitudes in Taxpayer Compliance , 1991 .

[14]  I. Welch Sequential Sales, Learning, and Cascades , 1992 .

[15]  A. Banerjee,et al.  A Simple Model of Herd Behavior , 1992 .

[16]  S. Bikhchandani,et al.  You have printed the following article : A Theory of Fads , Fashion , Custom , and Cultural Change as Informational Cascades , 2007 .

[17]  J. Figueira-Mcdonough : Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Neighborhoods , 1992 .

[18]  J. Höglund,et al.  Copying and sexual selection. , 1992, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[19]  Lee In Ho On the Convergence of Informational Cascades , 1993 .

[20]  Charles E. Phelps,et al.  Variations in Medical Practice Use: Causes and Consequences , 1993 .

[21]  Competitive Approaches to Health Care Reform , 1993 .

[22]  S. Lohmann The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91 , 1994, World Politics.

[23]  Douglas Gale,et al.  Information Revelation and Strategic Delay in a Model of Investment , 1994 .

[24]  Andrew Caplin,et al.  Business as Usual, Market Crashes, and Wisdom after the Fact , 1994 .

[25]  E. Glaeser,et al.  Crime and Social Interactions , 1995 .

[26]  Russell J. Lundholm,et al.  Endogenous Timing and the Clustering of Agents' Decisions , 1995, Journal of Political Economy.

[27]  Charles A. Holt,et al.  Classroom Games: Information Cascades , 1996 .

[28]  Lones Smith,et al.  Pathological Outcomes of Observational Learning , 2000 .

[29]  J. Diiulio Help Wanted: Economists, Crime and Public Policy , 1996 .

[30]  D. Kahan Social Influence, Social Meaning, and Deterrence , 1997 .

[31]  Jianbo Zhang Strategic Delay and the Onset of Investment Cascades , 1997 .

[32]  J. Choi Herd Behavior, the "Penguin Effect", and the Suppression of Informational Diffusion: An Analysis of Informational Externalities and Payoff Interdependency , 1997 .

[33]  Charles A. Holt,et al.  Information Cascades in the Laboratory , 1998 .

[34]  N. Khanna Optimal Contracting with Moral Hazard and Cascading , 1998 .

[35]  D. Turcotte,et al.  Self-organized criticality , 1999 .

[36]  D. North Competing Technologies , Increasing Returns , and Lock-In by Historical Events , 1994 .