Jun Hyun Ji | Economics
Jun Hyun Ji

Jun Hyun Ji

CV juj25@pitt.edu

My name is Jun Hyun, a 4th-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in microeconomic theory.

How to pronounce my first name: Joon-hyeon

Research Interest

Microeconomic theory

Working Paper

A Representation of Preference over Preferences and the Act of Choosing

February 2025

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My wife is upset about the undone dishes.
I ask, “Why didn’t you just tell me to do it?”
She says, “Because you should want to do it.”

This paper studies how individuals value the act of choosing itself by using the concept preference over preferences. The agent in my model has no preference over outcomes. Instead, she prefers some preference relation if she prefers behaving as if she holds that preference (e.g., preferring \(x\) to \(y\) is preferred to preferring \(y\) to \(x\) if she values the act of willingly giving up \(y\) for \(x\) more than giving up \(x\) for \(y\)). I propose axioms that yield a unique representation identifying (i) the individual’s ideal preference over outcomes, and (ii) a choice rule that selects a reference option against which the act of choosing from each menu is assessed. This choice rule captures the individual’s paternalistic attitude toward willful choices (manifested as guilt, pride, the value of freedom, or the fear of the act of making mistakes) which is inherently menu-dependent. Consequently, the best act of choosing may only be possible when the best outcome is removed from the menu. Without relying on menu choices or econometric models of welfare measures, I provide a revealed-preference approach to testing my model even when the agent cares about outcomes. I also discuss welfare implications.

Work in progress

Timing Decision in Model-based Persuasion

December 2024

SLIDES

Teaching

Instructor

Game Theory Principles Summer 2024

Teaching Assistant (delivered class)

Introduction to Microeconomic Theory 2023-24

(Ph.D.) Mathematical Methods of Economic Analysis 2023

(Ph.D.) Microeconomic Theory I 2022

Prior to Ph.D. program

Two Bidder Procurement Auction with Asymmetric Post-auction Bankruptcy Risk

2019

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