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Memorable abstracts
We explore the effects of listening to the music of AC/DC in a simple bargaining environment.
Here is the paper. The main result is that the songs of one lead singer, but not the other, induce efficient outcomes.
The pointer is thanks to Joshua Gans. Here is Gans's regular blog. Here is his very interesting paper on product tying, co-authored with Dennis Carlton and Michael Waldman. Here is Gans's good micro paper on carbon offsets.
Here is Gans's blog on parenting and game theory.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 20, 2007 at 10:32 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
An interesting idea for a paper, but "It's A Long Way To The Top" is not the best choice of Bon Scott songs, due to the highly unusual bagpipe solo (!). If I had to pick a Bon Scott song that was thematically similar to "Shoot To Thrill," I might consider "What's Next To The Moon" from the "Powerage" album. Alternatively, pick a single song which has been performed live by both singers... "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "The Jack" are both available in live versions by both singers.
And the conclusion that Brian Johnson is better than Bon Scott is, frankly, ridiculous. I don't deny that Johnson might yield higher efficiency ratings, but I would twist the conclusion around: the better singer is more likely to *distract* the listener from the transaction, and hence reduce efficiency.
Posted by: Rich at Aug 20, 2007 10:59:01 AM
I wonder how much (Canadian) taxpayer money went, directly or indirectly, toward underwriting this "research."
Posted by: KipEsquire at Aug 20, 2007 12:47:59 PM
"Induce" is a strong word in this context. I would say "correlated."
Posted by: Michael Parente at Aug 20, 2007 1:10:13 PM
Please. What is a more efficient outcome? If its the outcome that we all wanted as teenagers then Highway to Hell is the song to use. And we all know Scott achieved that effective outcome. I do agree also that the last song to choose would be the only rock n roll song with bagpipes in it. That nasally whine would remind someone of their wife or girlfriend.
Posted by: Michael at Aug 20, 2007 2:01:15 PM
I am thinking about writing a grant proposal on the effects of Pink Floyd on cannabis consumption.
Posted by: Yancey Ward at Aug 20, 2007 2:18:15 PM
Korn's first "hit" featured the bagpipes as well, but o' course it wasn't up the Bon Scott classic, "Sin City" and "Highway to Hell" being right there with "It's a Long Way..." in contraventing my efficiency.
Posted by: Pinko Punko at Aug 20, 2007 5:41:03 PM
Shoot To Thrill is a fabulous song, so Long Way To The Top is not the best option for Bon Scott to go up against that. In a bargaining environment, the obvious choice would be TNT, and Bon Scott is the better frontman.
Posted by: Jimm at Aug 20, 2007 8:44:53 PM
Shoot To Thrill is a fabulous song, so Long Way To The Top is not the best option for Bon Scott to go up against that. In a bargaining environment, the obvious choice would be TNT, and Bon Scott is the better frontman.
Posted by: Jimm at Aug 20, 2007 8:45:07 PM
Shoot To Thrill is a fabulous song, so Long Way To The Top is not the best option for Bon Scott to go up against that. In a bargaining environment, the obvious choice would be TNT, and Bon Scott is the better frontman.
Posted by: Jimm at Aug 20, 2007 8:45:12 PM
Shoot To Thrill is a fabulous song, so Long Way To The Top is not the best option for Bon Scott to go up against that. In a bargaining environment, the obvious choice would be TNT, and Bon Scott is the better frontman.
Posted by: Jimm at Aug 20, 2007 8:45:14 PM
I'd be completely with Rich on this, except for that the bagpipe solo is awesome, and except for that the whole paper is a bit of a pisstake on experimental...if I had to bet, I'd say the confounding of singer and song effects was deliberate...a nice touch, actually.
Posted by: Eric Crampton at Aug 20, 2007 11:18:08 PM
This is stupid, and apparently experimental economists have never heard of de gustibus non disputandum.
Look at the world of classical music and try this same experiment. I'm sure I would be more economically efficient listening to Leopold Mozart than to Stravinsky, due to Stravinsky's dissonance, instrumental timbre combinations, polyrhythms, etc.
But, there's no doubt who the better composer is.
Posted by: SocraticGadfly at Aug 21, 2007 12:25:12 AM
Beavisnomics?
Posted by: Jason Malloy at Aug 21, 2007 4:45:47 AM
anyone check out the efficiency of Jimm in the multiple posting dept? :)
anyway I will have to agree that the singer who will lead to more economic efficiency on the part of the listeners is the worse singer. Anyone who says otherwise is second up against the wall come the revolution, right after the lawyers.
Posted by: bryan at Aug 21, 2007 7:13:16 AM
Yancey Ward writes: "I am thinking about writing a grant proposal on the effects of Pink Floyd on cannabis consumption."
- I think you might be faced with an endogeneity problem
Posted by: Johan Almenberg at Aug 21, 2007 9:36:27 AM
Socratic Gadfly writes: "This is stupid, and apparently experimental economists have never heard of de gustibus non disputandum."
- It is unwise to make inferences about the population of experimental economists based on a sample of one.
Posted by: Johan Almenberg at Aug 21, 2007 9:40:22 AM
Every record Bon Scott touched turned to gold. Think
of them: Dirty Deeds, 74 Jailbreak, High Voltage,
Let There be Rock, Highway to Hell, If You Want Blood...
classics, all. Brian Johnson is one hell of a singer,
but he was only involved with one classic album, THE
album, Back in Black. Bon Scott is the man.
Posted by: TS at Aug 21, 2007 9:58:29 PM
That paper was a joke:
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/there-is-hope-for-economics-the-acdc-paper-was-a-joke/
Posted by: Rick GH at Aug 24, 2007 12:11:17 PM
I repost here from my comment about the paper at http://rocknrolldamnation.wordpress.com/
first off.
It’s been carried out on canuck Uni students in 2007. We can assume this means 18 to 22 years olds born in Canada in the years 1985 - 1989. Avoiding the question “wtf would they know about music” as the study did just imagine what these poor buggers had to listen to in utero from their parents vinyl collection, Bachman Turner Over Drive and Heart and what they had to listen to on the Canadian radio, Bachman Turner Over Drive and Heart . Not quite child abuse but hardly a benign input to a yet to be formed neural pathway.
Secondly:
an australian study, even if based on a similarly deprived cohort, would have a naturally much higher ranking for BOTH Bon AND Long Way TTT.
The study is not replicable here and therfore should not have been published.
Thirdly
Even on its own miserable terms the study is flawed. The “researchers” should have held the song constant. The band and song could be held constant with only the vocalist changing. Then we might be able to look a the results.
Fourthly
Other than an obscure blogger from an Australian backwater, a Mr S Cronin, who on earth creates public policy while listening to ACCADACCA. [saying Pauline Hanson will not impress the examiner]
Fifthly
In further design flaws I wish to point out that no acdc listener would play a wuzzy game involving offering $10 to a person. Get real. At least make it realistic. Say $50 in return for a bottle of Bundy, a baggie or a couple of cones and a few rohyies to recover tomorrow.
And Finally.
Clearly in Negotiations one would start off fwith Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap to establish the value proposition of prior experience doing Dirty Deeds, suggest the possibility of cost savings - Dirt Cheap and then when about to negotiate the price play TNT - to establish tha tthe company really is DY - NAM - MIGHT then to enforce the message JAILBREAK.
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