Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- COVID-19 (3)
- Administrative burden (2)
- Consumption (2)
- Field experiment (2)
- Foreign direct investment (2)
-
- Income poverty (2)
- International trade (2)
- Macroeconomic performance (2)
- Poverty measures (2)
- Poverty rates (2)
- Recessions (2)
- Africa (1)
- Agent-based modeling (1)
- Agricultural exports (1)
- Agriculture (1)
- Air transport (1)
- Ambiguity (1)
- Bank (1)
- Banking Services (1)
- Banks (1)
- Basic Financial Services (1)
- Basic Income (1)
- Behavioral economics (1)
- Behavioral nudges (1)
- Behavioral policy (1)
- Best Practices (1)
- Borrowing (1)
- Bureaucracy (1)
- Cash loans (1)
- Complexity (1)
- Publication Year
Articles 1 - 30 of 156
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Involuntary And Patient-Initiated Delays In Medical Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erin Todd Bronchetti, Ellen B. Magenheim, E. K. Bergmann
Involuntary And Patient-Initiated Delays In Medical Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erin Todd Bronchetti, Ellen B. Magenheim, E. K. Bergmann
Economics Faculty Works
This paper uses data from a new, nationally representative survey to study delays in non–COVID-related medical care among US adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. We expand on prior research by taking a comprehensive look at the many reasons patients may have experienced delays in medical care and by studying the longer-run implications of these delays for patients’ self-reported health, use of telemedicine, feelings of regret, and likelihood of delaying care again in the future. Classifying delays in care broadly as involuntary (those due to availability or “supply-side” constraints) or patient-initiated (those due to patient concerns or “demand-side” constraints), we document …
Bringing “Behavioral” Fully Into Behavioral Public Administration, D. Banko-Ferran, L. Bengali, Syon Bhanot
Bringing “Behavioral” Fully Into Behavioral Public Administration, D. Banko-Ferran, L. Bengali, Syon Bhanot
Economics Faculty Works
Behavioral economics is an increasingly influential field across the social sciences, including public administration. But while some behavioral economics ideas have spread rapidly in public administration research, we argue that a broader range of behavioral economics concepts can and should be applied. We begin by outlining some central models and concepts from behavioral economics to fix ideas, including the rational model and the “behavioral” response. We then discuss how a variety of heretofore underutilized behavioral economics concepts can be applied to a specific area of work in public administration – bureaucratic decision making. Our aim in doing so is two-fold. …
Does Administrative Burden Deter Young People? Evidence From Summer Jobs Programs, Syon Bhanot, S. Heller
Does Administrative Burden Deter Young People? Evidence From Summer Jobs Programs, Syon Bhanot, S. Heller
Economics Faculty Works
Administrative burden reduces the effectiveness of public social programs by deterring take up among adults, but we know little about the role these burdens play in public programs for young people. This paper uses empirical evidence to assess how different barriers shape adolescents’ take-up of summer jobs programs. In a Philadelphia experiment, we find that reminder emails increased application completion by 1.8 percentage points (12.3 percent), with bigger effects from emphasizing short-term monetary gains. In a non-experimental analysis of Philadelphia and Chicago programs, we show that without individualized support during enrollment, disconnected youth are less likely to participate when offered …
Africa’S Development Debts, B. J. Ndulu, Stephen A. O'Connell
Africa’S Development Debts, B. J. Ndulu, Stephen A. O'Connell
Economics Faculty Works
No abstract provided.
Why Is Chester, Pennsylvania, So Poor?, John P. Caskey
Why Is Chester, Pennsylvania, So Poor?, John P. Caskey
Economics Faculty Works
Chester is one of the poorest cities in Pennsylvania. Chester’s poverty is often blamed on a lack of local job opportunities. But a far more important factor is the concentration of the region’s low-cost rental housing in the City. Much of this housing consists of project-based government-subsidized apartments that are restricted to low-income households. In addition, Chester has an abundant supply of antiquated private housing with low rental rates. Low-cost housing is relatively scarce in the county surrounding Chester. Poor households move to Chester, or remain in Chester, because that is where they can afford to live.
Isolating The Effect Of Injunctive Norms On Conservation Behavior: New Evidence From A Field Experiment In California, Syon Bhanot
Isolating The Effect Of Injunctive Norms On Conservation Behavior: New Evidence From A Field Experiment In California, Syon Bhanot
Economics Faculty Works
Social norms messaging campaigns are increasingly used to influence human behavior, with social science research generally finding that they have modest but meaningful effects. One aspect of these campaigns in practice has been the inclusion of injunctive norms messaging, designed to convey a social judgment about one’s behavior (often in the form of encouraging or discouraging language, or a visual smiley or frowny face). While some prominent research has provided support for the use of such messaging as a tool for positive behavior change, causal evidence on the effect of injunctive norms messaging as a motivator (as opposed to just …
Good For You Or Good For Us? A Field Experiment On Motivating Citizen Behavior Change, Syon Bhanot
Good For You Or Good For Us? A Field Experiment On Motivating Citizen Behavior Change, Syon Bhanot
Economics Faculty Works
In recent years, public sector agencies have increasingly been moving citizen services online to reduce administrative burdens for citizens and costs for governments. However, motivating citizens to make the transition to online services can be difficult. In this paper, I report on a randomized control trial with the Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections Department, testing a letter intervention with 11,579 rental license holders designed to encourage them to register for an account and renew online. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group that did not receive a letter or one of three treatment groups: 1) Standard (a simple reminder …
Emotions And Decisions In The Real World: What Can We Learn From Quasi-Field Experiments?, Syon Bhanot, D. Chang, J. L. Cunningham, M. Ranson
Emotions And Decisions In The Real World: What Can We Learn From Quasi-Field Experiments?, Syon Bhanot, D. Chang, J. L. Cunningham, M. Ranson
Economics Faculty Works
Researchers in the social sciences have increasingly studied how emotions influence decision-making. We argue that research on emotions arising naturally in real-world environments is critical for the generalizability of insights in this domain, and therefore to the development of this field. Given this, we argue for the increased use of the “quasi-field experiment” methodology, in which participants make decisions or complete tasks after as-if-random real-world events determine their emotional state. We begin by providing the first critical review of this emerging literature, which shows that real-world events provide emotional shocks that are at least as strong as what can ethically …
The Effects Of Medicare Payment Changes On Nursing Home Staffing, Daifeng He, P. Mchenry, J. M. Mellor
The Effects Of Medicare Payment Changes On Nursing Home Staffing, Daifeng He, P. Mchenry, J. M. Mellor
Economics Faculty Works
In light of persistent shortcomings in nursing home care quality and evidence that lower nurse staffing levels could be harmful to residents, we examine whether staffing levels are affected by changes in Medicare reimbursement rates. We exploit a 2006 change in Medicare’s methodology for adjusting provider payments for geographic differences in costs, a change that generated plausibly exogenous variation in nursing facility reimbursement rates. Our method compares facilities with higher and lower shares of Medicare resident days, which were differentially exposed to the payment changes we examine. Using panel data on US nursing homes from 2003 through 2009, we find …
Simulating Covid-19 In A University Environment, P. T. Gressman, Jennifer R. Peck
Simulating Covid-19 In A University Environment, P. T. Gressman, Jennifer R. Peck
Economics Faculty Works
Residential colleges and universities face unique challenges in providing in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrators are currently faced with decisions about whether to open during the pandemic and what modifications of their normal operations might be necessary to protect students, faculty and staff. There is little information, however, on what measures are likely to be most effective and whether existing interventions could contain the spread of an outbreak on campus. We develop a full-scale stochastic agent-based model to determine whether in-person instruction could safely continue during the pandemic and evaluate the necessity of various interventions. Simulation results indicate that …
Local Food Prices And The Purchasing Power Of Snap Benefits, G. Christensen, Erin Todd Bronchetti
Local Food Prices And The Purchasing Power Of Snap Benefits, G. Christensen, Erin Todd Bronchetti
Economics Faculty Works
While the nominal value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is fixed across states (except for Hawaii and Alaska), variation in food prices across the U.S. is dramatic. We provide new evidence describing geographic variation in the purchasing power of SNAP benefits, measured by the extent to which SNAP-recipient households are able to afford the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food plan on which legislated SNAP benefit levels are based. For more than one-quarter of SNAP households, SNAP benefits are too low to cover the cost of the TFP at the primary stores where …
How You Can Work To Increase The Presence And Improve The Experience Of Black, Latinx, And Native American People In The Economics Profession, Amanda Bayer, G. A. Hoover, E. Washington
How You Can Work To Increase The Presence And Improve The Experience Of Black, Latinx, And Native American People In The Economics Profession, Amanda Bayer, G. A. Hoover, E. Washington
Economics Faculty Works
Recently in economics there has been discussion of how to increase diversity in the profession and how to improve the work life of diverse peoples. We conducted surveys and interviews with Black, Latinx and Native American people. These groups have long been underrepresented in the economics profession. Participants were at various stages along the economics career trajectory, or on the trajectory no longer, and used their lived experience to reflect on what helps and hurts underrepresented minorities in economics. We heard a few consistent themes: bias, hostile climate, and the lack of information and good mentoring among them. Respondents' insights …
Partisan Polarization And Resistance To Elite Messages: Results From Survey Experiments On Social Distancing, Syon Bhanot, D. J. Hopkins
Partisan Polarization And Resistance To Elite Messages: Results From Survey Experiments On Social Distancing, Syon Bhanot, D. J. Hopkins
Economics Faculty Works
COVID-19 compelled government officials in the U.S. and elsewhere to institute social distancing policies, shuttering much of the economy. At a time of low trust and high polarization, Americans may only support such disruptive policies when recommended by same-party politicians. A related concern is that some may resist advice from “elite” sources such as government officials or public health experts. We test these possibilities using novel data from two online surveys with embedded experiments conducted with approximately 2,000 Pennsylvania residents each, in spring 2020 (Study 1 in April and Study 2 in May-June). We uncover partisan differences in views on …
Diagnosing The Learning Environment For Diverse Students In Introductory Economics: An Analysis Of Relevance, Belonging, And Growth Mindsets, Amanda Bayer, Syon Bhanot, Erin Todd Bronchetti, Stephen A. O'Connell
Diagnosing The Learning Environment For Diverse Students In Introductory Economics: An Analysis Of Relevance, Belonging, And Growth Mindsets, Amanda Bayer, Syon Bhanot, Erin Todd Bronchetti, Stephen A. O'Connell
Economics Faculty Works
Using administrative and survey data, we diagnose the learning environment in an introductory economics course. Relative to men from overrepresented groups, women and underrepresented minority students finish the course reporting significantly lower measures of relevance, belonging, and growth mindsets, factors related to college success. For example, they are less likely to agree that their professor used relatable examples, more likely to report feeling different than the typical economics major, and less likely to report believing they could learn the material. We also describe a new, low-cost initiative expanding the role of undergraduate teaching assistants to promote a more inclusive environment.
Digital Health Support In Treatment For Tuberculosis, E. Yoeli, J. Rathauser, Syon Bhanot, M. K. Kimenye, E. Masini, P. Owiti, D. Rand
Digital Health Support In Treatment For Tuberculosis, E. Yoeli, J. Rathauser, Syon Bhanot, M. K. Kimenye, E. Masini, P. Owiti, D. Rand
Economics Faculty Works
No abstract provided.
Structural Vars And The Monetary Transmission Mechanism In Low-Income African Countries, B. G. Li, C. Adam, A. Berg, P. Montiel, Stephen A. O'Connell
Structural Vars And The Monetary Transmission Mechanism In Low-Income African Countries, B. G. Li, C. Adam, A. Berg, P. Montiel, Stephen A. O'Connell
Economics Faculty Works
Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) methods suggest the monetary transmission mechanism may be weak and unreliable in many low-income African countries. But are structural VARs identified via short-run restrictions capable of detecting a transmission mechanism when one exists, under research conditions typical of low-income countries (LICs)? Using a small DSGE as our data-generating process, we assess the impact on VAR-based inference of short data samples, measurement error, high-frequency supply shocks, and other features of the LIC environment. The impact of these features on finite-sample bias appears to be relatively modest when identification is valid—a strong caveat, especially in LICs. Nonetheless many …
Does Simple Information Provision Lead To More Diverse Classrooms? Evidence From A Field Experiment On Undergraduate Economics, Amanda Bayer, Syon Bhanot, F. Lozano
Does Simple Information Provision Lead To More Diverse Classrooms? Evidence From A Field Experiment On Undergraduate Economics, Amanda Bayer, Syon Bhanot, F. Lozano
Economics Faculty Works
This paper reports the results of a field experiment involving 2,710 students across nine US colleges, in which faculty provided incoming women and URM students with information about economics. We randomly assign students to one of three conditions: a control (no email messaging), a Welcome treatment (two emails encouraging students to consider enrolling in economics courses), and a Welcome+Info treatment (which added information showcasing the diversity of research and researchers within economics). The Welcome+Info treatment increases the likelihood of completing an economics course in the first semester of college by 3.0 percentage points, nearly 20 percent of the base rate.
Consumer Response To Composite Ratings Of Nursing Home Quality, M. C. Perraillon, R. T. Konetzka, Daifeng He, R. M. Werner
Consumer Response To Composite Ratings Of Nursing Home Quality, M. C. Perraillon, R. T. Konetzka, Daifeng He, R. M. Werner
Economics Faculty Works
Health-care report cards are intended to address information asymmetries and enable consumers to choose providers of better quality. However, the form of the information may matter to consumers. Nursing Home Compare, a website that publishes report cards for nursing homes, went from publishing a large set of indicators to a composite rating in which nursing homes are assigned one to five stars. We evaluate whether the simplified ratings motivated consumers to choose better-rated nursing homes. We use a regression discontinuity design to estimate changes in new admissions six months after the publication of the ratings. Our main results show that …
Workfare, Wellbeing And Consumption: Evidence From A Field Experiment With Kenya’S Urban Poor, Syon Bhanot, J. Han, C. Jang
Workfare, Wellbeing And Consumption: Evidence From A Field Experiment With Kenya’S Urban Poor, Syon Bhanot, J. Han, C. Jang
Economics Faculty Works
Restrictions like work requirements and constraints on voucher transfers are often used in social welfare systems, but little empirical evidence exists on their impact on wellbeing. We conducted a 10-day randomized experiment with 432 individuals living below the poverty line in the Kawangware settlement of Nairobi, Kenya, testing two elements of social welfare design: workfare versus welfare and restricted versus unrestricted vouchers. Participants were randomly assigned to a “Work” condition, involving daily work for unrestricted vouchers, or one of two “Wait” conditions, involving daily waiting for vouchers that were either unrestricted or partially restricted to staple foods. We find that …
Poverty: A Very Short Introduction, Philip N. Jefferson
Poverty: A Very Short Introduction, Philip N. Jefferson
Economics Faculty Works
No one wants to live in poverty. Few people would want others to do so. Yet, we find ourselves in a situation where millions of people worldwide live in poverty. According to the World Bank in 2010, 1.2 billion people lived below the extreme poverty line with an income of US $1.25 or less a day and 2.4 billion lived on less than US $2 a day. Why is that? What has been done about it in the past? And what is being done about it now? In this Very Short Introduction Philip N. Jefferson explores how the answers to …
Foreword: Why Measurement Of Costs And Benefits Matters For The Sdg Campaign, S. Dercon, Stephen A. O'Connell
Foreword: Why Measurement Of Costs And Benefits Matters For The Sdg Campaign, S. Dercon, Stephen A. O'Connell
Economics Faculty Works
No abstract provided.
Lowering Consumer Search Costs Can Lead To Higher Prices, M. Nishida, Marc Remer
Lowering Consumer Search Costs Can Lead To Higher Prices, M. Nishida, Marc Remer
Economics Faculty Works
We demonstrate that regulations that lower consumer search costs and make them less heterogeneous across consumers can lead to higher prices charged by firms. We estimate the distribution of consumer search costs for 366 isolated retail gasoline markets, and find that reducing the mean and standard deviation by 20% and 48%, respectively, leads to price increases in 32% of markets and an average price increase of 5.2 cents per gallon across all markets. Thus, price transparency regulation that results in higher prices may not stem from collusion, but from an equilibrium with less consumer search.
Putting Social Rewards And Identity Salience To The Test: Evidence From A Field Experiment On Teachers In Philadelphia, Syon Bhanot, G. Kraft-Todd, D. Rand, E. Yoeli
Putting Social Rewards And Identity Salience To The Test: Evidence From A Field Experiment On Teachers In Philadelphia, Syon Bhanot, G. Kraft-Todd, D. Rand, E. Yoeli
Economics Faculty Works
We partnered with the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to run a randomized experiment testing interventions to increase teacher participation in an annual feedback survey, an uncompensated task that requires a teacher’s time but helps the educational system overall. Our experiment varied the nature of the incentive scheme used, and the associated messaging. In the experiment, all 8,062 active teachers in the SDP were randomly assigned to receive one of four emails using a 2x2 experimental design; specifically, teachers received a lottery-based financial incentive to complete the survey that was either "personal" (a chance to win one of fifteen $100 …
Implications Of Food Subsistence For Monetary Policy And Inflation, R. Portillo, L.-F. Zanna, Stephen A. O'Connell, R. Peck
Implications Of Food Subsistence For Monetary Policy And Inflation, R. Portillo, L.-F. Zanna, Stephen A. O'Connell, R. Peck
Economics Faculty Works
No abstract provided.
Review Of "Loan Sharks: The Birth Of Predatory Lending" By C. R. Geisst, John P. Caskey
Review Of "Loan Sharks: The Birth Of Predatory Lending" By C. R. Geisst, John P. Caskey
Economics Faculty Works
No abstract provided.
Cheap Promises: Evidence From Loan Repayment Pledges In An Online Experiment, Syon Bhanot
Cheap Promises: Evidence From Loan Repayment Pledges In An Online Experiment, Syon Bhanot
Economics Faculty Works
Across domains, people struggle to follow through on their commitments. This can happen for many reasons, including dishonesty, forgetfulness, or insufficient intrinsic motivation. Social scientists have explored the reasons for persistent failures to follow through, suggesting that eliciting explicit promises can be an effective way to motivate action. This paper presents a field experiment that tests the effect of explicit promises, in the form of “honor pledges,” on loan repayment rates. The experiment was conducted with LendUp, an online lender, and targeted 4,883 first-time borrowers with the firm. Individuals were randomized into four groups, with the following experimental treatments: 1) …
Learning Outcomes For Economists, S. Allgood, Amanda Bayer
Learning Outcomes For Economists, S. Allgood, Amanda Bayer
Economics Faculty Works
Articulating thoughtful learning outcome statements for courses and majors improves teaching and learning and satisfies accreditation requirements. After reading this paper, economists will be able to construct learning outcome statements that guide and enhance teaching and learning in their courses and programs. We present a framework for developing learning outcomes based on a set of five fundamental competencies in economics. We then provide another public good, offering a complete set of learning outcomes for an introductory microeconomics course, which instructors can include in their syllabi. For additional guidance, we construct examples of lesson-specific learning outcomes as well.
Upward Pricing Pressure As A Predictor Of Merger Price Effects, N. H. Miller, Marc Remer, C. Ryan, G. Sheu
Upward Pricing Pressure As A Predictor Of Merger Price Effects, N. H. Miller, Marc Remer, C. Ryan, G. Sheu
Economics Faculty Works
We use Monte Carlo experiments to evaluate whether “upward pricing pressure” (UPP) accurately predicts the price effects of mergers, motivated by the observation that UPP is a restricted form of the first order approximation derived in Jaffe and Weyl (2013). Results indicate that UPP is quite accurate with standard log-concave demand systems, but understates price effects if demand exhibits greater convexity. Prediction error does not systematically exceed that of misspecified simulation models, nor is it much greater than that of correctly-specified models simulated with imprecise demand elasticities. The results also support that UPP provides accurate screens for anticompetitive mergers.
Can Hiring Quotas Work? The Effect Of The Nitaqat Program On The Saudi Private Sector, Jennifer R. Peck
Can Hiring Quotas Work? The Effect Of The Nitaqat Program On The Saudi Private Sector, Jennifer R. Peck
Economics Faculty Works
This paper studies the effects of quota-based labor regulations on firms in the context of Saudi Arabia's Nitaqat program, which imposed quotas for Saudi hiring at private firms. I use a comprehensive firm-level administrative dataset and exploit kinks in hiring incentives generated by the quotas to estimate the effects of this policy. I find that the program increased native employment at substantial cost to firms, as demonstrated by increasing exit rates and decreasing total employment at surviving firms. Firms without any Saudi employees at the onset of the program appear to bear most of these costs.
Occupational Choices Of The Elderly, Frederic L. Pryor
Occupational Choices Of The Elderly, Frederic L. Pryor
Economics Faculty Works
This article compares the separate occupational distributions of U.S. male and female workers who are 45 to 65 with those over 65 (the “elderly”) to test a series of simple conjectures about the different occupational structures of the two age groups. The conjectures relate to strength and educational requirements of the work, scheduling flexibility, the availability of part-time work, and mastery of new technology.