The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #117973   Message #2546626
Posted By: GUEST,heric
22-Jan-09 - 09:44 PM
Thread Name: BS: Brits on Titanic die of niceness
Subject: RE: BS: Brits on Titanic die of niceness
The abstract of the article in question says thisL

Abstract:      
This paper explores the determinants of survival in a life-and-death situation created by an external and unpredictable shock. We are interested in seeing whether pro-social behaviour matters in such extreme situations. We therefore focus on the sinking of the RMS Titanic as a quasi-natural experiment to provide behavioural evidence that is rare in such a controlled and life threatening event. The empirical results support that social norms such as "women and children first" survive in such an environment. We also observe that women of reproductive age have a higher probability of surviving among women. On the other hand, we observe that crew members used their information advantage and their better access to resources (e.g. lifeboats) to generate a higher probability of surviving. The paper also finds that passenger class, fitness, group size, and cultural background matter.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1284967#