Indignation and the Evolution of Cooperation Norms
Xueheng Li. Games and Economic Behavior, 155, 228–249.
Psychological games, cooperation norms, mobility, and stochastic stability.
Associate Professor, Lingnan College
Sun Yat-sen University
Economics · Game Theory · Networks
Xueheng Li 李学恒
Associate Professor of Economics
Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University
Microeconomics and Digital Economy Research Division · Guangzhou, China
I am an applied microeconomic theorist working on social and economic networks, behavioral game theory, and applied microeconomic theory. My research uses formal models, evolutionary dynamics, and experiments to study strategic interaction, cooperation, social norms, and network design. I am also interested in how AI technologies reshape decision-making and organizational forms. I received my PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham in 2018.
Research
Research interests
- Social and economic networks
- Behavioral and psychological game theory
- Applied microeconomic theory
- Evolutionary dynamics and stochastic stability
- Behavioral and experimental economics
- AI, decision-making, and organizational forms
Current themes
I study how beliefs, emotions, social comparison, and network structure affect equilibrium behavior and long-run outcomes. Current projects examine cooperation norms, network design, influencer markets, overconfidence, imitation dynamics, and how AI changes decision-making and organizational forms.
Publications
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2026
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2025
Decomposability and the Social Comparison Trap
Zhiwei Cui, Xueheng Li, and Boyu Zhang. Journal of Mathematical Economics, 120, 103169.
A tractable model of social comparison preferences and decomposable games.
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2024
There’s No Going Back? The Influence of Prior Entrepreneurial Experience Timing on Voluntary Turnover in Post-entrepreneurship Wage Employment
Siran Zhan, Liwen Zhang, Xueheng Li, and Yu Wu. Personnel Psychology, 77(1), 131–164.
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2023
Designing Weighted and Directed Networks under Complementarities
Xueheng Li. Games and Economic Behavior, 140, 556–574.
Optimal weighted and directed complementarity networks and generalized nested split graphs.
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2021
Do Descriptive Social Norms Drive Peer Punishment? Conditional Punishment Strategies and Their Impact on Cooperation
Xueheng Li, Lucas Molleman, and Dennie van Dolder. Evolution and Human Behavior, 42(5), 469–479.
Working papers
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The Structure and Gender Differences in Overconfidence
Xueheng Li, Jiayi Liang, Xiaomeng Zhang, Shan Jin, and Wei Wang.
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Yanlin Chen, Xueheng Li, and Tianle Song.
Work in progress
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Moral Narratives Need Norms
Despoina Alempaki, Valeria Burdea, and Xueheng Li.
Six preregistered experiments with more than 9,000 participants study how moral narratives interact with norms against lying.
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Imitation and Single-Deviant Comparison Graphs
Zhiwei Cui and Xueheng Li.
Experience
Academic appointments
Associate Professor
Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen UniversityAssistant Professor
Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen UniversityAssistant Professor
Nanjing Audit University
Education
PhD in Economics
University of NottinghamMSc in Behavioural Economics
University of NottinghamBachelor of Management
Jinan University
Academic roles
- Academic Director, Lingnan College AI Transformation Project
- Deputy Director, Greater Bay Area Laboratory for Digital Economy and Data Science
- Young Council Member, Game Theory Branch of the Operations Research Society of China, 2025–2029
Funding and recognition
- Principal Investigator, NSFC Young Scientists Fund, 2023–2025
- Sun Yat-sen University “Hundred Talents Program” Young Scholar
Teaching & Public Scholarship
Open teaching materials and public-facing writing on economics and AI-enabled research.
- Economics and Finance AI Agent DesignOpen teaching resource
- MicroeconomicsCourse notes and explanations
- ZhihuEconomics and AI writing
- GitHubCode and teaching projects
- AI and EconomicsWeChat public account