Seda Ertac
Seda Ertac

I am a professor of economics at Koc University. In my research, I use lab and field experiments to study questions in the economics of education, gender, preferences, and information, with both adults and children. Another part of my agenda aims at understanding the neural basis of economic behavior. I am currently the PI on an ERC Consolidator Grant (2020-2025), on large-scale interventions on non-cognitive skills and attitudes in the educational environment.

Contact: sertac@ku.edu.tr
Phone:+90(212)338-1880
Koc University
Rumeli Feneri Yolu, Sariyer 34450
Istanbul, Turkey

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit (with Sule Alan and Teodora Boneva), (2019) Quarterly Journal of Economics Paper Online Appendix Media

  • Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention (with Sule Alan), Journal of Political Economy (2018), 126(5), 1865-1911. Paper Online Appendix

  • Understanding Gender Differences in Leadership (with Sule Alan, Elif Kubilay and Gyongyi Loranth) Economic Journal (2020) Paper

  • Strategic Feedback in Teams: Theory and Experimental Evidence (with Mert Gumren and Levent Kockesen), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2019) Paper

  • Gender Stereotypes in the Classroom and Effects on Achievement (with Sule Alan and Ipek Mumcu), Review of Economics and Statistics (2018). Paper

  • Mitigating the Gender Gap in the Willingness to Compete: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with Sule Alan), Journal of the European Economic Association (2018), 17(4), 1147-1185. Paper

  • On the Cultural Basis of Gender Differences in Negotiation (with Steffen Andersen, Uri Gneezy, John A. List, Sandra Maximiano), Experimental Economics (2018), 21 (4), 757-778. Paper

  • Gender, Competitiveness and Socialization at a Young Age: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society (with Steffen Andersen, Sandra Maximiano, Uri Gneezy and John A. List), Review of Economics and Statistics (2013), 95(4), pp. 1438-1443. Paper

  • Deciding to Decide: Gender, Leadership and Risk-Taking in Groups (with Mehmet Y. Gurdal), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2012), 83(1), pp.24-30. Paper

  • Stakes Matter in Ultimatum Games (with Steffen Andersen, Uri Gneezy, Moshe Hoffman and John A. List), American Economic Review (2011), 101, pp. 3427-3439. Paper

  • Does Self-Relevance Affect Information Processing? Experimental Evidence on the Response to Performance and Non-Performance Feedback, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2011), 80(3), pp. 532-545. Paper

Publications

  1. Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit (with Sule Alan and Teodora Boneva), (2019) Quarterly Journal of Economics Paper Online Appendix Media

  2. Does a Forward-Looking Perspective Affect Self-Control and the Demand for Commitment? Results from an Educational Intervention Economic Inquiry (with Sule Alan and Inci Gumus) (2021) Paper

  3. Understanding Gender Differences in Leadership (with Sule Alan, Elif Kubilay and Gyongyi Loranth) Economic Journal (2020) Paper

  4. Demand for Autonomy and Desire to Avoid Responsibility in Risky Environments: Experimental Evidence (with Mert Gumren and Mehmet Y. Gurdal) Journal of Economic Psychology (2019) Paper

  5. Strategic Feedback in Teams: Theory and Experimental Evidence (with Mert Gumren and Levent Kockesen), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2019) Paper

  6. Cheating and Incentives in a Performance Context: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Children (with Sule Alan and Mert Gumren), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2019) Paper

  7. Preference Communication and Leadership in Group Decision-Making (with Mehmet Y. Gurdal), Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2019) Paper

  8. Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention (with Sule Alan), Journal of Political Economy (2018), 126(5), 1865-1911. Paper Online Appendix

  9. Gender Stereotypes in the Classroom and Effects on Achievement (with Sule Alan and Ipek Mumcu), Review of Economics and Statistics (2018). Paper

  10. Mitigating the Gender Gap in the Willingness to Compete: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with Sule Alan), Journal of the European Economic Association (2018), 17(4), 1147-1185. Paper

  11. On the Cultural Basis of Gender Differences in Negotiation (with Steffen Andersen, Uri Gneezy, John A. List, Sandra Maximiano), Experimental Economics (2018), 21 (4), 757-778. Paper

  12. Transmission of Risk Preferences from Mothers to Daughters (with Sule Alan, Nazli Baydar, Teodora Boneva, and Thomas F. Crossley), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2017) 134, 60-77. Paper

  13. The Role of Verifiability and Privacy in the Strategic Provision of Performance Feedback: Theory and Experiments (with Levent Kockesen and Duygu Ozdemir), Games and Economic Behavior (2016) 100, 24-45. Paper

  14. Experienced traders modulate anterior insula to reduce the endowment effect (with Lester Tong, Kentaro Asai, Karen J. Ye, John A. List, Howard C. Nusbaum, and Ali Hortacsu) Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences (2016), 113(33), 9238–9243. Paper

  15. Patience, Self-Control and the Demand for Commitment: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment (with Sule Alan) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2015), 115, pp. 111–122. Paper

  16. Gender, Competitiveness and Socialization at a Young Age: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society (with Steffen Andersen, Sandra Maximiano, Uri Gneezy and John A. List), Review of Economics and Statistics (2013), 95(4), pp. 1438-1443. Paper

  17. Deciding to Decide: Gender, Leadership and Risk-Taking in Groups (with Mehmet Y. Gurdal), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2012), 83(1), pp.24-30. Paper

  18. Stakes Matter in Ultimatum Games (with Steffen Andersen, Uri Gneezy, Moshe Hoffman and John A. List), American Economic Review (2011), 101, pp. 3427-3439. Paper

  19. Does Self-Relevance Affect Information Processing? Experimental Evidence on the Response to Performance and Non-Performance Feedback, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2011), 80(3), pp. 532-545. Paper

  20. Entry into Auctions: An Experimental Study (with Ali Hortacsu and James Roberts), International Journal of Industrial Organization (2011), 29(2), pp 168-178. Paper

  21. Mental Attributes and Temporal Brain Dynamics during Bargaining: EEG Source Localization and Neuroinformatic Mapping (with Burak Guclu, Ali Hortacsu, and John A. List) Social Neuroscience (2012), 7(2), pp. 159-177. Paper

  22. Determinants of Private Savings Behavior in Turkey, Applied Economics (2003), 35(12), pp.1405-1416 (joint with K. Metin-Ozcan and A. Gunay) Paper

Working Papers

  1. An Empirical Study of Sequential Offer Bargaining During the Festival of Sacrifice (with Burak Dindaroglu)

  2. The Impact of Covid-19 on the Willingness to Work in Teams (with Sunduz Divle and Mert Gümren) Paper

  3. Grit and Academic Resilience During the Covid-19 Pandemic (with Daniel L. Chen, Theodoros Evgeniou, Xin Miao, Ali Nadaf and Emrah Yilmaz ), INSEAD Working Paper Paper

  4. Belief in Hard Work and Altruism: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with Sule Alan) Paper

  5. z-Tree in VLab: A Method for Running Online Economic Experiments (with Ergün Kotan) Paper

  6. Personality, Group Decision-Making and Leadership (with Mehmet Y. Gurdal), ERF Working Paper No. 1227 Paper

  7. The Effect of Information on Gender Differences in Competitiveness: Experimental Evidence (with Balazs Szentes), ERF Working Paper No. 1104. Paper

  8. Social Comparisons and Optimal Information Revelation: Theory and Experiments Paper

Book Chapter

  1. The Formation and Malleability of Preferences and Noncognitive Skills (2020). In: Zimmermann K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham.

  2. Experimental Economics (2010), in Free, R. (Ed.) 21st Century Economics: A Reference Handbook, SAGE Publishers, Thousand Oaks, California (with Sandra Maximiano).

Work in Progress

  1. An Economic Approach to Curiosity: Measurement and Correlates (with Sule Alan)

  2. The Effects of Exposure to Competition and Performance Feedback on Gender Differences in Competitiveness (with Sandra Maximiano)