Distinguished Mason PhD Economics Student

Distinguished Mason PhD Economics Student Image

Xiaofei (Sophia) Pan

 
Xiaofei (Sophia) Pan earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 2006. She then came to Masonto complete her graduate studies and is currently a PhD candidate at the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES).  Along with her studies, Pan works as a research assistant for the Mercatus Center. Pan’s focus is on behavioral and experimental economics, and her research has covered topics including incentives and cooperation, social preferences, gender differences, trust, and group identity.

Pan’s doctoral research has focused on understanding why people make cooperative or trusting decisions and what elements of an economic environment are likely to promote those pro-social behaviors. Pan’s dissertation is titled, “Cooperation Without Sanctions: Theory and Experiments.” Her research has been supported by a doctoral dissertation award from the United States’ National Science Foundation.

Pan has received several honors and is one of two young economists from Mason selected to attend the prestigious Nobel Laureate Meetings in Economic Science held in Lindau, Germany. Pan said the experience “broadened her vision” and gave her the opportunity to introduce her work to others in the field.

Pan works closely with one of Mason’s economics department faculty members, Dr. Daniel Houser. Pan and Houser co-wrote a paper entitled “Competition for Trophies Triggers Male Generosity,” which was published on PLoSOne and has received broad attention from several other online news sites. The paper examines the effects of trophies on male behavior in a competitive environment and demonstrates that these unique, tangible rewards moderate competitiveness and promote pro-social behavior when compared to other, non-displayable rewards.

Another of Pan and Houser’s papers, “Mating Strategies and Gender Differences in Pro-sociality,” appeared in CESifo Economic Studies. Here she compares gender-specific tendencies in regards to pro-social behavior using theories in evolutionary psychology and supporting them with empirical evidence from experimental economics.

Pan says the aim of her research is to promote a greater understanding of trust and the environment in which it is best encouraged. Even when dealing with outsiders or strangers, Pan believes that the answer to pro-social behavior can be found through a culture of cooperation and participation in markets. Houser describes Pan as a promising scholar with “a great degree of academic ability, raw natural talent, energy, and a set of projects that have generated consistent attention.”