Seminars topic: Cooperation among humans is essential to our success as a species, yet it is often difficult to sustain in choice-based settings involving self-interested individuals. This study proposes and tests a new mechanism that promotes socially efficient behavior even when individual strategic incentives discourage cooperation, as illustrated by the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma game. The belief-free mechanism enables individuals to voluntarily make a self-commitment regarding their future behavior, maximizing social welfare in equilibrium. Experimental evidence shows that the mechanism is highly effective, generating significantly higher average cooperation rates over time. Because it is simple to implement, the mechanism offers a practical approach to encouraging cooperative behavior without relying on heavy-handed institutional enforcement.

Scholars Background: Jaimie Wei-Hung Lien is a Distinguished Professor at Shandong University, a recipient of the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Excellent Young Scholar award, and a former professor at the University of Taiwan. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, and her M.A. from the University of Rochester. She has served as an associate editor and editorial board member for leading international journals such as the North American Journal of Economics and Finance. Her research covers behavioral economics, experimental economics, applied microeconomics, cooperation and conflict, political economy, and representative-agent models. Professor Lien has led multiple major research projects and received several prestigious awards, including the “China Information Economics” Young Scholar Award and the “China Economics Annual Conference Outstanding Paper Award.”

Time and Location: 09:30–10:30, November 20, 2025, Room A523, School of Management

Language: EN & CN

Host: Prof. Fadong Chen