David Gal
David Gal is Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.{{Cite news|url=http://business.uic.edu/faculty/david-gal|title=David Gal|date=2015-08-13|work=UIC Business - University of Illinois at Chicago|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}} He is best known for his critiques of behavioral economics,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/opinion/sunday/behavioral-economics.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Why Is Behavioral Economics So Popular?|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}} and in particular his critique of the behavioral economics concept of loss aversion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-08-09/a-challenge-to-the-biggest-idea-in-behavioral-finance|title=A Challenge to the Biggest Idea in Behavioral Finance|last=Ritholtz|first=Barry|date=August 9, 2018|website=Bloomberg|access-date=November 13, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-the-most-important-idea-in-behavioral-decision-making-is-a-fallacy/|title=Why the Most Important Idea in Behavioral Decision-Making Is a Fallacy|last=Gal|first=David|work=Scientific American Blog Network|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-loss-aversion-and-is-it-real-101389|title=Explainer: what is loss aversion and is it real?|last=Markey-Towler|first=Brendan|work=The Conversation|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.kitces.com/blog/loss-aversion-pain-loom-larger-than-gain-gal-rucker-journal-psychology/|title=Do Losses Truly Hurt More Than Gains Feel Good?|date=2018-01-24|work=Nerd's Eye View {{!}} Kitces.com|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.professionalplanner.com.au/2018/02/paper-challenges-widely-accepted-loss-aversion-theory/|title=Academics dispute challenge to loss-aversion theory {{!}} Professional Planner|date=2018-02-06|work=Professional Planner|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en-US}}
Academic career
Gal received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2007. He joined the faculty of The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University where he remained until 2014, at which time he joined the faculty of The University of Illinois at Chicago.{{Cite news|url=http://business.uic.edu/faculty/david-gal|title=David Gal|date=2015-08-13|work=UIC Business - University of Illinois at Chicago|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}
His research has been published in Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Judgment and Decision Making, Psychological Science, Management Science, and Journal of the American Statistical Association.{{Cite news|url=http://business.uic.edu/faculty/david-gal|title=David Gal|date=2015-08-13|work=UIC Business - University of Illinois at Chicago|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}} It has been featured in the New York Times,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/opinion/07brooks.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Social Science Palooza|last=Brooks|first=David|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}} Wall Street Journal,{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904875404576528453871926940|title=Week in Ideas: Christopher Shea|work=WSJ|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en-US}} The Toronto Star,{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2010/07/12/concerned_with_looking_tough_men_opt_for_macho_grub.html|title=Concerned with looking tough, men opt for macho grub {{!}} The Star|work=thestar.com|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}} Time,{{Cite news|url=https://business.time.com/2012/08/16/the-verdict-is-in-tackle-smaller-debts-first/|title=The Verdict Is In: Tackle Smaller Debts First|last=White|first=Martha C.|work=Time|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X}} Harvard Business Review,{{Cite news|url=https://hbr.org/daily-stat/2013/05/you-experience-a-silent-rage-a.html|title=You Experience a Silent Rage After Exerting Self-Control|date=2013-05-21|work=Harvard Business Review|access-date=2018-11-13}} and The Globe and Mail{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/dumb-blond-ad-an-unlikely-alliance-and-bias/article4327318/|title=Dumb, blond ad; An unlikely alliance; and bias|access-date=2018-11-13}}, among other outlets.
He was named a Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar in 2013 and a Marketing Science Institute Scholar in 2018.{{Cite news|url=http://business.uic.edu/faculty/david-gal|title=David Gal|date=2015-08-13|work=UIC Business - University of Illinois at Chicago|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}
Critique of Loss Aversion and Behavioral Economics
Loss aversion is the principle that losses loom larger than gains.{{Cite journal|last1=Kahneman|first1=Daniel|last2=Tversky|first2=Amos|date=1979|title=Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk|journal=Econometrica|volume=47|issue=2|pages=263–291|doi=10.2307/1914185|jstor=1914185|citeseerx=10.1.1.407.1910}} It was introduced by the economics Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in a 1979 paper that is the most cited in economics and third most cited in psychology.{{Cite news |last=Simonsohn |first=Uri |author-link=Uri Simonsohn |date=2014-02-10 |title=[15] Citing Prospect Theory |language=en-US |work=Data Colada |url=http://datacolada.org/15 |access-date=2018-11-13}}
Gal has argued that loss aversion is not supported by the evidence and that most phenomena attributed to loss aversion have alternative explanations that are more consistent with the evidence. In particular, Gal has cited psychological inertia as an explanation for the endowment effect and status quo bias.{{Cite web|url=http://journal.sjdm.org/jdm06002.pdf|title=A Psychological Law of Inertia and the Illusion of Loss Aversion|last=Gal|first=David|date=July 2006|website=SJDM.ORG|access-date=November 13, 2018}}{{Cite journal|last1=Gal|first1=David|last2=Rucker|first2=Derek D.|date=2018-04-20|title=The Loss of Loss Aversion: Will It Loom Larger Than Its Gain?|journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology|language=en|volume=28|issue=3|pages=497–516|doi=10.1002/jcpy.1047|s2cid=148956334|issn=1057-7408|doi-access=free}}
In addition to his specific critique of loss aversion, Gal has argued that behavioral economics more broadly has been too concerned with understanding how behavior deviates from standard economic models rather than with understanding why people behave the way they do. Understanding why behavior occurs is necessary for the creation of generalizable knowledge, the goal of science. He has referred to behavioral economics as a triumph of marketing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/opinion/sunday/behavioral-economics.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Why Is Behavioral Economics So Popular?|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}
References
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Category:University of Illinois faculty
Category:Stanford University alumni