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In the vast and rich literature on opinion dynamics, the role of preference falsification has generally been dismissed. Following the lead of Timur Kuran, in this paper we present one of the first multi-agent models that explores how opinion dynamics can be affected by the possible divorce between private and public opinions. It is also the first attempt to explore the role of social hierarchies in opinion dynamics conditioned by preference falsification. Our model formalizes heterogeneous evolving agents guided by a cognitively feasible set of heuristics and embedded in a social-rank-dependent structure of interactions. In social-rank-heterophilic encounters where people experience a high pressure of face-to-face interactions, unanimous support for the high social-rank preferred option emerges, while in any other scenario this option gathers majority but not unanimous support. Preference falsification has a crucial role in the emergence of unanimity, but it also creates the conditions for further private opinion actualizations that end up generating a self-sustained and sincere unanimity. When social-rank-homophilic encounters are the rule, or when group dynamics are irrelevant for opinion expression, agents never find incentives to falsify their opinions, therefore generating a social situation that resembles the general idea behind the ethnographic work of James C. Scott: true opinion expression in daily social-rank-homophilic encounters and a persistent opinion falsification in dissimilar social-rank interactions.

The study of public opinion is turning in the last years, the study from the traditional descriptive approach with informative and advising purposes to a new explana-tory and generativist approach. This new perspective has focused on the construction and analysis of mod-els where local, microscopic, interactions generate macroscopic regularities in public opinion. The fertility of this new approach is causing a publication rhythm that can be overwhelming. In this paper, we present an up to date revision of the literature on opinion dynam-ics models. We present the main models and their extensions, and organize the exposition around ten axes that configure the content of each contribution. The paper also offers some reflections on the main chal-lenges for those social scientists that are interested in the dynamics of public opinion El estudio de la opinión pública está girando, en los últimos años, del tradicional enfoque descriptivo con fines informativos y de asesoramiento a un nuevo enfoque explicativo y generativista. Este nuevo enfoque se ha centrado en la construcción y análisis de modelos en los que las interacciones locales, microscópicas, generan las regularidades macroscópicas de la opinión pública. La fertilidad de este nuevo enfoque se está traduciendo en un ritmo de publicaciones que puede llegar a ser abrumador. En este trabajo presentamos una revisión actualizada de la literatura sobre los modelos de dinámicas de la opinión. Se presentan los principales modelos y sus extensiones, organizado la exposición alrededor de diez ejes de debate que configuran el contenido de cada aportación. El artículo ofrece también algunas reflexiones sobre los principales desafíos que tienen ante sí los científicos sociales interesados en el estudio de las dinámicas de la opinión El presente trabajo se ha beneficiado de la concesión de un proyecto del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), en el marco del Plan Nacional de I+D+i (ref. CSO2015-64740-R.), así como de un proyecto de la Escola d’Administració Pública de Catalunya de la Generalitat de Catalunya (ref. 2018 EAPC000014)

In this paper we compare the definitions of social norm proposed by standard Rational Choice Theory, Cristina Bicchieri and Jon Elster. We try to determine how similar or different they are. as long as they present some differences, we try to establish which captures better the very nature of the phenomena that we usually name “social norm” and which provides us with a concept (or concepts) more precise and productive and more easily useable in explicative models. In our opinion, Jon Elster’s classification between moral, quasi-moral and social norms is the more successful in this respect. In spite of the fact that Jon Elster does not plan to use their concepts in formal mathematical models with predictive purposes, there is not anything inherent in them which prevents this use. on the other hand, the precision of these concepts makes them especially useful to be used in social mechanism models which let us propose causal, informative and parsimonious explanations of real concrete cases.En el presente trabajo se comparan las definiciones del concepto de “norma social” ofrecidas por la teoría de la elección racional estándar, cristina Bicchieri y Jon Elster. Se trata de determinar en qué medida son o no asimilables. En la medida en que no lo son, se intenta establecer cuál de las aproximaciones captura mejor la naturaleza del fenómeno al que habitualmente denominamos norma social y cuál de ellas ofrece un concepto (o conceptos) más preciso y más fácil y fructíferamente utilizable en modelos explicativos. Se sostiene que la distinción trazada por Jon Elster entre normas morales, cuasi-morales y sociales tiene más éxito que las otras dos en dicho cometido. Pese a que el autor no prevé el uso de sus conceptos en modelos matemáticos formales con potencial predictivo, no hay nada inherente a los mismos que impida ese uso. Por otra parte, la precisión en la definición de los mismos los convierte en especialmente adecuados para ser utilizados en modelos de mecanismos que permitan ofrecer explicaciones causales parsimoniosas e informativas de los casos concretos.

En el presente trabajo se discute el posible impacto de la introducción de una renta básica de ciudadanía (rb) sobre los incentivos laborales de los individuos, en particular de los segmentos de trabajadores precarios poco cualificados. Se concluye que no cabe esperar que la rb produjese un abandono masivo del trabajo remunerado sino, más bien, un mayor reparto de éste. En el caso concreto de los trabajadores precarios, se argumenta que la rb podría ser un buen instrumento de activación de los mismos, al tiempo que evitaría las conocidas trampas del paro y de la pobreza, mejoraría la inclusión social, y reduciría la precariedad y la polarización social y laboral. This paper discusses the likely impact of the introduction of a Citizens' Basic Income on job incentives, in particular for the case of the more precarious and less skilled workers. The article argues that it is reasonable to expect that basic income would not produce a massive retreat from the labor market but, rather, a higher distribution of job. In the specific case of the more precarious and less skilled workers, the article holds that basic income could be a good tool to activate these workers and at the same time avoid poverty and unemployment traps, improve social inclusion, and reduce and polarize the job and social precariousness.

Prosocial motivations and reciprocity are becoming increasingly important in social-science research. While laboratory experiments have challenged the assumption of universal selfishness, the external validity of these results has not been sufficiently tested in natural settings. In this article we examine the role of prosocial motivations and reciprocity in a Pay What You Want (PWYW) sales strategy, in which consumers voluntarily decide how much to pay for a product or service. This article empirically analyses the only PWYW example in Spain to date: the El trato (‘The deal’) campaign launched by the travel company Atrápalo, which offered different holiday packages under PWYW conditions in July 2009. Our analysis shows that, although the majority of the customers did not behave in a purely self-interested manner, they nonetheless did so in a much higher proportion than observed in similar studies. We present different hypotheses about the mechanisms that may explain these findings. Specifically, we highlight the role of two plausible explanations: the framing of the campaign and the attribution of ‘hidden’ preferences to Atrápalo by its customers, which undermined the interpretation of El trato as a trust game.