Daniel J. Benjamin CESR and Economics Department, USC

Genoeconomics: An Emerging Multidisciplinary Field

25 June 2015 � Frontiers of Behavioral Economics

Main Collaborators Jonathan Beauchamp (Harvard University) David Cesarini (New York University) Tõnu Esko (Broad Institute) Magnus Johanesson (Stockholm School of Economics) Philipp Koellinger (University of Amsterdam) David Laibson (Harvard University) James Lee (University of Minnesota) Aysu Okbay (Rotterdam University) Niels Rietveld (Rotterdam University) Patrick Turley (Harvard University) Peter Visscher (University of Queensland) We gratefully acknowledge NIH’s NIA and OBSSR, NSF, the Ragnar

Söderberg Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council for financial support!

Some Promises for Social Science

1.  Biological mechanisms for behavior §  Complementary with neuroeconomics.

2.  Non-genetic empirical work

3.  Studying gene-environment interactions and targeting interventions §  E.g., older individuals with at-risk cognitive health.

Pooled estimates (11 SNPs + APOE)

A Problem in Social-Science Genetics

Source: Visscher et al. (2012, American Journal of Human Genetics).

The Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (ssgac.org) • Co-directors: David Cesarini (NYU), Phil

Koellinger (Amsterdam), and me. • Formed in February, 2011. • Leverages expertise across: genetics,

epidemiology, statistics, bioinformatics, economics, psychology, sociology, ethics.

• Pools genetic-association results across many datasets.

• Currently, 72 participating datasets.

SSGAC Projects • Ongoing:

–  Educational attainment 2.0 (N ≈ 300,000) –  Subjective well-being (N ≈ 250,000) –  Fertility (N ≈ 200,000)

• Possibly near future: – Risk attitudes – Trust – Altruism – Optimism – Creativity