Alperen "Alp" Yasar

Table of Contents

About me

I am a Ph.D. student in Economics/Applied Mathematics. I try to model human behavior using analytical and computation tools.

I have created this website using free and open-sourced mdBook. I am pretty sure that any bugs you'll encounter here will be because of my bad implementation. Moreover, I have used Yethiel's guide to implement it in my static page.

Projects

Here, I will publish codes that I used during my studies. I plan to keep them updated and well-documented. I am also open to suggestions.

Agent-based modelling

Agent-based models are being more and more common in various fields. I am using ABMs to predict the emergence of different phenomena, such as discrimination or conspiracy theory groups.

Python

Agent-based models are built through various softwares and programming languages. Netlogo is pretty strong and easy-to-use. However, I prefer to use either Python or Julia for ABMs. I believe that the differences are not extreme if you're not creating very complicated models. My suggestion would be to use what you are already familiar with.

Power struggles and gender discrimination in the workplace

This code is used for the following paper:

Power struggles and gender discrimination in the workplace

In the realm of decision-making and biases, our study delves into the intriguing phenomenon of discrimination that can emerge even when individuals harbor no initial biases towards specific categories. Consider a scenario where a man observes a female driver having an accident—this might trigger confirmation of pre-existing biases about perceived differences in driving skills based on gender. However, intriguingly, when the roles are reversed, and the driver is a man, the observer might not necessarily consider the gender of the driver. This prompts us to explore the following questions:

Key Questions:

How does discrimination manifest itself when individuals lack an initial bias towards specific categories?
What environmental factors contribute to the amplification or mitigation of discrimination?
Agent-based evolutionary game theory allows for dynamic simulations that mirror the complex, evolving nature of social interactions.

Abstract:

This study explores the impact of power struggles on the emergence of gender discrimination within the organizational culture. Utilizing an agent-based model, we simulate power struggles as an asymmetric hawk and dove game where agents may categorize their opponents based on their observable traits to make effective decisions. Our model includes two categories: prestigious education and sex, with prestigious education having higher struggling power. We examine three categorization strategies: fine-grained, regular-grained, and coarse-grained categorization. Our results indicate that fine-grained categorizers gain an advantage when the cost of fighting is low. In contrast, coarse-grained categorizers become more peaceful, leading to an advantage when the cost of fighting is high. Our simulation reveals that although there is no meaningful difference between sexes, different behaviors emerge when fine-categorizing agents dominate.

Available from SocArXiv:

Yasar, Alperen. 2023. “Power Struggles and Gender Discrimination in the Workplace.” SocArXiv. doi:10.31235/osf.io/t4g83. Accessible online

Linda Fallacy

A direct copy from Wikipedia:

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Which is more probable?

Linda is a bank teller.
Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

Check Wikipedia for the correct answer!

CV

Education

PhD Student in Economics in Ca' Foscari University of Venice (2021 - Current)
PhD Student in Applied Mathematics in Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne University (2021 - Current)
Galatasaray University: Master's in Economics (2018-2020)
Galatasaray University: Bachelor's in Business Administration (2011-2018)

Publications

Yasar, Alperen. 2023. “Power Struggles and Gender Discrimination in the Workplace.” SocArXiv. doi:10.31235/osf.io/t4g83. Accessible online

Alperen 'Alp' Yasar