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The Winner's Curse

Behavioral Economics Anomalies Then and Now
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Brief Description
Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and rising star economist Alex Imas explore behavioural economics in this fully updated edition of the seminal work The Winner's Curse. Why do people cooperate with one another when they have no (selfish) motivation to do so? Why do we hold... Read More
Format: Hardback
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Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and rising star economist Alex Imas explore behavioural economics in this fully updated edition of the seminal work The Winner's Curse.

Why do people cooperate with one another when they have no (selfish) motivation to do so? Why do we hold onto possessions of little value? And why is the winner of an auction so often disappointed?

In the original 1992 version of The Winner's Curse, Richard Thaler introduced readers to behavioural economics, challenging the notion of traditional economics that people are selfish, rational optimisers and behave accordingly every time. Three decades later, Thaler has teamed up with economist Alex Imas to provide fresh insights in this fully updated edition. They revisit Thaler's original columns on economic anomalies, some written with collaborators like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, and explore how these anomalies hold up today.

Many anomalies remain, whether in households saving for retirement (or not), professional golfers putting for millions of dollars, or shoppers at large retail chains. In this era of meme stocks and Dogecoin, it is hard to defend the view that financial markets are highly efficient. The good news, however, is that they have gotten funnier.

With both readability and rigour, The Winner's Curse is approachable for anyone with even a cursory understanding of economics, without oversimplifying so that experts cannot read it without cringing. In the final chapter, the authors reflect on the field's progress and future. Thaler and Imas offer an updated classic even more relevant today to understand the true nature of decision-making in today's economy.

The website www.thewinnerscurse.org provides a wealth of additional resources to accompany the book.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241789681

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 21 October 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Allen Lane

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 163.0mm

Height: 241.0mm

Weight: 566g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Richard H. Thaler (Author) Richard H. Thaler received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He is a distinguished service professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. He is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Nudge- Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Cass Sunstein) and the author of Misbehaving- The Making of Behavioral Economics. Alex O. Imas (Author) Alex O. Imas is Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago School's Booth School of Business. He is the recipient of the 2023 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Review of Financial Studies Rising Scholar Award, the New Investigator Award from the Behavioral Science and Policy Association, the Hillel Einhorn New Investigator Award from the Society of Judgment and Decision Making, the Distinguished CESifo Affiliate Award, and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Behavioral Economics at Carnegie Mellon University.

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  • The Winner's Curse
    Pre-order
    The Winner's Curse
    Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and rising star economist Alex Imas explore behavioural economics in this fully updated edition of the seminal work The Winner's Curse. Why do people cooperate with one another when they have no (selfish) motivation to do so? Why do we hold onto possessions of little value? And why is the winner of an auction so...
    Paperback
    $3700
    Pre-order
    Out 3 Nov 2026

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  • The Winner's Curse
    Pre-order
    The Winner's Curse
    Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and rising star economist Alex Imas explore behavioural economics in this fully updated edition of the seminal work The Winner's Curse. Why do people cooperate with one another when they have no (selfish) motivation to do so? Why do we hold onto possessions of little value? And why is the winner of an auction so...
    Paperback
    $3700
    Pre-order
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