Nicolaas Vriend

Profile

Research keywords: Microeconomics, Behavioural and Experimental Economics.

Nick Vriend is Professor of Microeconomics at Queen Mary and currently the Deputy Head of School.

Nick's research field is microeconomics (microeconomic and game theory) with a main research interest economic dynamics, in particular the dynamics of interactive social processes involving (boundedly) rational, learning agents. In relation to this, his main research methods, besides verbal and mathematical analysis, are experimental economics and Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE). He has worked on models of price dispersion and consumer loyalty and of the phenomenon of information-contagion, and he has investigated a range of learning theories both in theory and in experimental setups (including various oligopolistic markets, a location game, and ultimatum games). Nick has been working recently in particular on coordination problems. He studied experimentally the role of non-equilibrium focal points and the role of smiles, winks, and handshakes as coordination devices, as well as the roles of punishment and social identity. He has also been working on models of categorization in individual decision problems and in coordination games, and on models of segregation, as well as on the topic of electoral competition.

Nick's undergraduate studies in Economics were at the University of Amsterdam, and he received his PhD from the European University Institute in Florence (Italy).

Research

Research Interests:

• Microeconomics (microeconomic and game theory)
• Economic dynamics - the dynamics of interactive social processes involving (boundedly) rational, learning agents.

Publications

• Qi, T., Xu, B., Wu, J., Vriend, N.J. (2022) "On the Stochasticity of Ultimatum Games", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
• Daskalova V., Vriend N.J. (2021) "Learning Frames", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
• Daskalova V., Vriend N.J. (2020) "Categorization and Coordination", European Economic Review.
• Hanaki N., Tanimura E., Vriend N.J. (2017) "The Principle of Minimum Differentiation revisited: Return of the median voter", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
• Drouvelis M., Saporiti A., Vriend N.J. (2014) "Political Motivations and Electoral Competition: Equilibrium Analysis and Experimental Evidence", Games and Economic Behavior, 83, 86-115.
• Bosch-Domènech A., Vriend N.J. (2013) "On the Role of Non-equilibrium Focal Points as Coordination Devices", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 94, 52-67.
• Manzini P., Sadrieh A., Vriend N.J. (2009) "On Smiles, Winks, and Handshakes as Coordination Devices", Economic Journal, 119, 826-854.
• Bosch-Domènech A., Vriend N.J. (2008) "The Classical Experiments on Cournot Oligopoly", In C.R. Plott & V.L. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of Experimental Economics Results, Volume 1. (pp. 146-152).
• Fagiolo G., Valente M., Vriend N.J. (2009) "Dynamic Models of Segregation in Small-World Networks", In: A. Naimzada, S.Stefani & A. Torriero (Eds.), Networks, Topology and Dynamics, Theory and Applications to Economics and Social Systems (Lecture Notes in Economic and Mathematical Systems 613). (pp. 111-126).
• Roman P., Vriend N.J. (2007) "Schelling's Spatial Proximity Model of Segregation Revisited". Journal of Public Economics, 91, 1-24.