Scientific Definition
The price at which someone will sell an item systematically exceeds the price they'd pay to buy it.
Plain-English Definition
The price at which someone will sell an item systematically exceeds the price they'd pay to buy it.
Feynman Explanation
Standard theory says these should match. They don't. They never have.
Core Principle
The price at which someone will sell an item systematically exceeds the price they'd pay to buy it.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
The price at which someone will sell an item systematically exceeds the price they'd pay to buy it.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
M&A negotiations, license divestitures, severance and buy-out design.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Standard theory says these should match. They don't. They never have.
Examples
- Foundational evidence for loss aversion in real markets, not just lotteries.
- M&A negotiations, license divestitures, severance and buy-out design.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- If you're the buyer, reframe the seller's reference point before naming a number.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- If you're the buyer, reframe the seller's reference point before naming a number.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Exploiting price differences between markets for risk-free profit.
The study of how real humans actually decide — bounded, social, emotional, and inconsistent.
With clear property rights and low transaction costs, parties negotiate to efficient outcomes.
Specialize in what you give up the least to do.
Complements raise each other's value; substitutes lower it.
Fixed costs don't scale with output; variable costs do.
Innovation destroys old industries and creates new ones.
Each additional unit produces less marginal benefit.
A long-run planner self in conflict with a short-run impulsive self.
Owning something raises its valuation — sellers want more to give it up than buyers will pay to acquire.
Bad money drives out good when both are legally equivalent.
The mythical fully rational, self-interested, utility-maximizing agent neoclassical models assume.