Behavioral Economics Commons^™

Three Essays In Applied Econometrics: Agricultural And Energy Economics, Kuan-Ming Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation examines three empirical issues in energy and agricultural economics using econometrics models whose titles are: 1) Do Natural Hazards in the Gulf Coast Still Matter for State-Level Natural Gas Prices in the US? Evidence After the Shale Gas Boom; 2) Do Exploitations of Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations Improve Regional Economy in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia? A Synthetic Control Analysis; and 3) How Did Covid-19 Impact US Household Food Spending? An Analysis Six Months In.

The first essay assesses the impact of natural hazards on state-level natural gas prices and evaluates the effects of the shale gas …

Incentives And Economic Decisions: Evidence From Sports Data, Iuliia Chikish

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation presents three essays which demonstrate how sports data can be applied to answer economic questions. Essay 1 explores whether multiple reference points can affect individuals behavior using data from professional figure skating competitions. The second essay examines the role of professional sports facilities and teams in generating local amenities. Using data from eSports tournaments, the third essay aims at understanding whether tournament theory predictions hold in competitions involving mostly mental effort.

The first chapter, ``Incentives and Economic Decisions: Evidence from Sports Data'' studies the effect of multiple reference points on decisions made by professional athletes. Unique design features …

Are Fair Weather Fans Affected By Weather? Rainfall, Habit Formation And Live Game Attendance, Qi Ge, Brad Humphreys, Kun Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We analyze habit formation in sports attendance utilizing rainfall as an unexpected, transitory shock to attendance costs. Using attendance data from Major League Baseball (MLB) and NOAA weather data, we analyze the impact of variation in game day weather conditions on current and future MLB attendance. The empirical strategy permits identification of both the formation and persistence of habit from exogenous weather shocks. Past adverse weather shocks increase future attendance by about 200 fans per game. Our study contributes to the literature developing empirical evidence of habit formation in the field and provides policy implications for optimal ticket pricing strategies.