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Introduction

my research, I have discovered that no behavioral experiments related to alcohol and economic decision-making have been conducted in Russia. This paper observes the first try in this field, an experiment attempting to test three sets of embedded hypotheses regarding how alcohol influences our choices.describes a number of problems faced on the way and suggestions to avoid them, as well as several successes which have been attained with this first try in this field of research.though statistical tests proved that not all of the results of this study fulfil the hopes put in them, it definitely may serve as a foundation for anyone who wishes to develop this topic, which is quite significantly important for business-related and interpersonal relationship in other country.experiment was an unusual and pleasant experience for everyone involved, and I hope that this paper will be an interesting and educational read too. Literature review

vast amount of work has been done to determine the way in which alcohol affects our thinking, behavior and decisions. In the early stages prior to writing this paper, many scientific disciplines, e.g. medicine, economics, sociology, psychology investigated into this topic from a 360 degrees perspective.neuro-imaging study by Gilman et. al. covered the topic of risk-taking by alcohol-induced individuals. They found that brain areas responsible for rewarding process become more active under alcohol influence, while areas responsible for feedback and responsiveness, such as reaction to loss, were blunted. The overall conclusion was an increase of risk-taking, especially when the stimulating effect of alcohol on an individual was prevailing over the sedative one. (Gilman et al., 2012) A study following this one broadened the range of research, proving the existence of influence on “brain's dynamic response to task demands and regions thought to govern motor control, motivation, and executive control, such as working memory and attention”. Both of these studies used the intravenous method of alcohol delivery - a technique decided to be left aside for the current research due to possible difficulties with finding participants.(Bjork and Gilman, 2014). I decided not to aim this research at checking the difference in risk-taking, as a vast multitude of works has already observed and tested it. The risk-attitude is assumed to be increasing under alcohol in this work. The notion of two effects of alcohol - sedative and stimulatory - with opposite direction of influence on certain aspects of behavior have been paid additional attention to. During the experiment, effort was made to mitigate the spread of sedative effect - most often associated with relaxation, melancholy and boredom. The tables with participants, who finished their tasks before others and have to wait without any activity were specially attended to by the moderator or his assistant to engage the participants in conversation. Also, an additional game was added in the break period (necessary for alcohol to have its effect), to help the time pass in a more lively way. Overall, the researches above became a foundation, telling that the effect of alcohol on certain brain areas which determine humans cognitive abilities exists, and thus, the effect on behavior is to be expected.accomplishments of works in this field made by economists include testing how General Axiom of Revealed Preferences holds, as well as the independence axiom. They have found no ground for claiming a significant change for subjects under alcohol. No irrational behavior or unresponsiveness to options provided was found even at high doses of alcohol. The findings, on the other hand, included the observation of slowed-down reaction time and worsened coordination, as well as higher risk taking. However, this experiment used volunteers in the bar, with no control over the prior dose taken. (Burghart et al,2014) Nevertheless, their conclusion that the extent to which GARP and independence axiom hold depends on the individual, and not on the degree of intoxication (even for high doses) was considered to be credible enough to not include testing the two axioms into this work.studies were concerned with exactly which dose the participants should be targeted at. A research by a group of scientists concerned with drunk-driving problem proved that the effect on both dispersed and focused attention and visual and motor control appears significantly on 0,05 - 0,07% Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) among the subjects. Another research tested the level of 0,03% BAC, finding that it doesn’t affect functional or rhetorical abilities, but the mechanisms of obtaining and processing of visual information are already impaired. (Allen et al,2008). These results led to believe prior to the experiment that the BAC of 0,05% can already be enough for obtaining significant results, no evidence of a behavioral experiment observing alcohol-induced condition was found among studies conducted in Russia. The problems usually tackled in the works observed mostly address problems caused by excessive alcohol use, connecting alcoholism to various micro- and macro-level phenomenon, as well as observing the nature and effects of continuous alcohol abuse. Several studies connected alcohol consumption with religious confession, while others described how people perceive themselves under alcohol.fact proved to be encouraging, as it confirmed the novelty of the then planned experiment in this field in Russia.the vastest study on this matter has been conducted by a group of Italian researchers in their work “Economic Behavior under Alcohol Influence: An Experiment on Time, Risk, and Social Preferences”. They used placebo to test pharmacological and psychological effects of alcohol on optimism, risk preferences, time preferences and altruism. Their findings regarding risk-taking support absence of change in risk-aversion for male subjects

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