Behavioral Economics Commons^™

Exploring Self-Sufficiency And Economic Behavior In Economic Education Students, Rizza Megasari, Sheerad Sahid

International Conference on Business and Management Research (ICBMR)

This study investigates the self-sufficiency and economic behaviors of economics education students, focusing on how independent living shapes their financial management, consumption habits, and overall approach to life. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, using a question list informed by literature on 21st-century skills, sustainable development, and self-sufficiency. The interview explored the student's understanding and practice of self-sufficiency, examining their experiences with financial management (budgeting, saving, spending), living arrangements (boarding house choices, facilities, and habits), consumption patterns (food, clothing, transportation), and engagement in self-reliant activities (cooking, minor repairs). The study highlights the interplay between economic knowledge, personal values, and practical …

Trading Volume And Forecast Accuracy In Kalshi Prediction Markets, Nicholas Smole

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the accuracy of Kalshi prediction markets and how different measures of trading volume shape their calibration and predictive power. Expanding upon previous models, use nonparametric calibration curves, pseudo-likelihood regressions, and Brier-score regressions on a large panel of Kalshi contracts to compare the effects of ex-post total volume and cumulative trading volume on market accuracy. Markets are typically well-calibrated near expiration; however, at longer horizons, low-volume markets exhibit substantially more miscalibration. Holding time to expiration fixed, greater cumulative volume is associated with higher accuracy. In comparison, higher ex-post total volume is associated with lower accuracy, highlighting the importance …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Essays In Applied Microeconomics, William Cunningham

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to three interconnected areas of economic research: microeconomics, behavioral economics, and urban economics. Each chapter examines how individual decision-making processes may produce more pronounced economic patterns, while highlighting the role of psychological factors and spatial considerations in shaping outcomes. Chapter 1 studies the causes and dynamics of segregation in US neighborhoods. A conditional instrumental variables estimator allows for unbiased estimation of preferences for past neighborhood minority shares by addressing endogeneity concerns present in my theoretical model. I use estimated preference parameters to simulate neighborhood population dynamics for Texas. I regress measures of racial animus and xenophobia on …

Criminal Behavior Responses To Changing Penalties: Estimating The Impact Of Felony Theft Threshold Changes, Ezra R. Simmons

All Theses

This study estimates how criminal behavior changes in response to shifts in felony theft thresholds, contributing to broader evidence on the deterrent effects of criminal penalties. Using detailed incident-level crime reports, this study applies econometric techniques to evaluate how offenders responded to reduced penalties. Analyzed within is California’s Proposition 47, which raised the felony threshold for theft-related offenses from $450 to $950. The results show a significant increase in low-level shoplifting (approximately 21%) and more substantial rises (approximately 24% to 30%) in crimes within the threshold overlap ($450 to $950). Additionally, the value stolen in crimes below the $450 threshold …

Effective Altruism, In-Group Favoritism, And Urban And Rural Values Across Cultures, Brian Chu

Master's Theses

Effective altruism has become an increasingly fashionable philosophy in recent years, with ardent supporters in Silicon Valley and other echelons of power. This study investigates to what extent people in urban and rural settings in the U.S., South Africa, and India act as effective altruists by employing an experiment in which participants must decide how to divide a $100 donation between two charities, one benefiting 10 people in their in-group and the other, more “effective” charity, benefiting 100 people in their out-group. The results show some areas in which U.S. urban populations act much more effectively altruistic than others, perhaps …

The Hidden Logic Behind Migration And Success, Elsa Russom

Master's Projects and Capstones

This research paper explores the hidden drivers of financial success among Eritrean migrants navigating uncertainty, displacement, and limited institutional access. Drawing on original survey data collected from diaspora communities across East African host countries, I apply a mixed-methods framework combining ordinal and binary logistic regression, random forest classification, bootstrapping, and Bayesian causal mediation; to identify the structural and cultural variables most predictive of financial stability. The findings reveal that participation in Ekub, a traditional rotating savings association, and engagement in communal support systems are the strongest predictors of financial success, outperforming conventional factors such as age, education, or employment status. …

Learning Rules Under Asymmetric Information: A Cournot Market Experiment, Marshall H. Pentes

Honors Theses

I present the use of best response (BR) and imitation (IM) learning rules in experimental Cournot duopoly markets under asymmetric information. In treatment BR, one subject (called BR1) receives, after every round, information about their previous quantity choices, the previous market prices, their previous profits, the previous quantities of the the other firm in the market, and the previous Cournot best response to the quantity of the other firm. In treatment IM, one subject (called IM1) receives, after every round, information about the prior quantities of and profits of both firms in the market. The BR1 and IM1 subjects are …

High ‘Steaks’: Does Lone Star Tick-Induced Red Meat Allergy Reduce Cardiovascular Disease-Related Hospitalizations?, Raj Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I investigate the relationships between Lone Star Tick-induced Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS), red meat consumption, and cardiovascular health outcomes within New York State's 62 counties from 2012 to 2021. The analysis examines whether AGS, which forces individuals to reduce red meat consumption, serves as a natural experiment in understanding dietary impacts on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Leveraging panel data, I utilize Fixed Effects (FE) and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression frameworks to disentangle the relationships between red meat expenditure, meat prices, Lone Star Tick prevalence, and health outcomes such as CVD, stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart attack hospitalization …

Sports Facilities, Trails, And Travel Cost: A Non-Market Valuation Case Study Of Parks In Montana, Clemens Walter Wilson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study applies the travel cost valuation method to urban parks in the State of Montana in an effort to determine whether parks with attributes related to exercise have greater value for recreationalists. By observing real recreation behaviour of urban park visitors through the use of cellphone mobility data, recreational demand for varying parks can be ascertained. To model recreational demand, the random utility model (RUM) and multinomial logit model (MNL) are leveraged to understand choice probabilities of parks, based on the attributes of parks, including sports facilities and trails. This study finds that there are positive and significant relationships …

Striking A Balance: Market Shock & Responses In Automotive Components Manufacturing, Emma Lane Mcgahey

All Theses

This thesis examines the effects of extreme market shocks on supply chain dynamics within the automotive industry. Through an analysis of demand data from an automotive manufacturer to its component suppliers (January 2018 to May 2024), the study investigates the relationship between market shocks and supply chain responses, providing insights into how auto components inventory management handles downstream responses to market shocks. With supporting public data—from FRED, BLS, and the U.S. Census Bureau resources—we explore two primary relationships: the impact of market shocks on the Average Standard Deviation of Demand (SDO) and the effect of demand variability on expedited pricing …

The Effect Of Crime On Tourism In Indonesia, Muhammad Farhan, Hera Susanti

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Tourism sector is widely known as one of economic sectors that can be the engine of economic growth in an effort to reduce poverty in a country. However, growth in the tourism sector can be influenced by safety factors. Tourists tend to avoid tourism destination areas with high crime rates in order to avoid becoming victims of crime. This study aims to analyze the effect of crime on the number of tourist arrivals in Indonesia by using four proxies of crime, which are total crime rate, property crime rate, violent crime rate, and fraud crime rate. This study utilizes a …

What The Stork Brought: Endogenous Fertility Preferences, Lucas Fortier Borden

Master's Theses

Where most existing literature on fertility preferences has described how fertility preferences shape outcomes, this paper provides insight into how the sex of a recent birth affects a mother’s fertility preferences. Utilizing data from the Demographic Health Survey from 1985-2020 in 81 countries containing 309,238 mothers who gave birth in the past 12 months and who have equal to or fewer than three children, I employ OLS with two-way fixed effects as my primary specification, examining the effects of the plausibly exogenous sex of a recent birth on sibship sex composition preferences. Results show that a recent daughter birth increases …

Climate Change And Environmental Crises In Coastal Cities: Charleston Vs New York City, Nolan Rodriguez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasing vulnerability that coastal communities face regarding climate crises and rising sea levels. Specifically, this paper investigates the environmental crises facing Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. The geographical location of these cities places a more severe threat upon their environment, as opposed to urban collectives removed from the immediate effect of rising sea levels. A cross-examination of politics and economics is discussed in order to determine the causal relationship of each city’s engagement with its surrounding environment. This paper examines how each city is affected by climate change, what measures are in place to …

To Tip Or Not To Tip: An Analysis Into Prompted Tipping, Jared Dingman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Giving tips (or gratuities) in restaurants in the United States has been and is currently a hotly debated and discussed topic. Concerns regarding proper compensation have been raised, but there is a need for empirical evidence to investigate and solve potential issues of compensation. This honors thesis aimed to answer two questions: Whether restaurant patrons tip more when prompted with tipping percentages, and whether those who have worked in the tipping industry tip more than those who have not. I administered a brief survey with tipping scenarios to gauge prompted and unprompted tipping behaviors. With these scenarios, demographic information was …

U.S. Government Agency Podcasts, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Presents podcasts from U.S. Government agencies which can be discovered through the U.S. Government Publishing Office's Catalog of Government Publications. Agencies whose podcasts are presented include the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Peace Corps, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Government Accountability Office (GAO), National Park Service, Department of Justice, Federal Reserve System, and U.S. Naval War College.

The Relationship Between Traffic Congestion And Quality Of Life, Amer Alhusinan

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

The problem of traffic congestion is one of the most serious problems that affect people because of the many negative effects it has on the quality of life and well-being of people, which include health, environmental, psychological and aesthetic aspects. With the increase in the number of vehicles and means of transportation, especially in large, densely populated cities, the problem of traffic congestion is exacerbated, which results in many negative effects, such as air pollution resulting from vehicle exhausts, which leads to chest diseases and suffocation, as well as the transfer of toxic substances present in fuel such as lead …

Comparing Generative Ai, Keyword Searchers, And Hiring Committees In Selecting Semi-Finalist Job Candidates In Academia, Sarah Snyder

Honors Theses

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of AI tools and keyword searchers in candidate evaluation. The first study examined the use of ChatGPT-4 and a traditional hiring committee in selecting a semifinalist pool for an Assistant Professor of Economics position. It was found that ChatGPT-4's selections were non-replicable, producing different semifinalist lists with each run, indicating significant variability and lack of reliability compared to human committees. The second study focused on predicting self-reported conscientiousness from resumes using both keyword searchers and ChatGPT-4. The results showed that neither method could accurately predict conscientiousness. Similarly, ChatGPT-4's selections were non-replicable, producing …

Heat & Social Cooperation: The Effects Of Thermal Stress On Altruism, Alexander J. Courtman

Master's Theses

Recent literature has highlighted the effects of temperature on economic outcomes and violence in humans, on both the interpersonal and intergroup levels: as temperatures rise, humans are more likely to exhibit increased aggression and agitation. However, little research has been done on how pro-social behaviors like cooperation and altruism among humans might respond to increased temperatures. As extreme heat events increase in frequency, will humans and communities work together in the face of adverse shocks and crises? Leveraging experimental data collected randomized controlled trails held in 4 locations across the world, this paper seeks to establish a relationship between thermal …

Economic Empowerment Through Art, Ava Ellis

Thinking Matters Symposium

Economic Empowerment Through Art: Final Abstract

Ava Ellis, Shaw Innovation Fellow, USM, MSW graduate student

My research project focused on using drawing and one-to-one art workshops as a way into discussing money habits. Participants shared their beliefs about money and responses to questions about money. They considered ways they may want to alter habits related to money within the 1 hour workshop, art was used as a scaffold to envision future-oriented economic goals. Participants mentioned uncertainty regarding financial planning and a lack of education regarding money in childhood. All felt they often needed more financial insight, in terms of developing …

Optimal Contest Design When Policing Damaging Behavior, Scott M. Gilpatric, Ye Hong

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Abstract

Fiscal Decentralization And Economic Performance In Selected Developing Federal Econom, Samuel Onyeka Okonkwo, Walter Okwudili Ugwuoke Phd

Bullion

Extant literatures on fiscal decentralization in most developing countries show more concerns on revenue allocation principle/sharing. Contrary to extant studies, this paper undertakes analysis of fiscal decentralization and economic performance in five emerging federal economies. The curiosity is to ascertain if poor economic performance in most emerging economies could be attributed to ill - structured fiscal decentralization. This objective was addressed using Panel Vector Autoregressive technique and impulse response function. The results showed that all the measures of fiscal decentralization such as revenue measure denoted as (FDC1), spending measure denoted as (FDC2) and revenue — spending measure or Simultaneity measure …

Feeling The Heat: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Of Heat On Human Cooperation, Scott K. Klaus

Master's Theses

The goal of this paper is to examine how increased temperatures affect human behavior in terms of cooperation. Currently, there is an abundance of literature regarding increased aggression in humans as temperatures rise. However, there is ambiguity concerning whether a similar effect exists in altering levels of cooperation in human interactions. Additionally, people of different characteristics may be influenced by heat at varying levels. First, we run a baseline model of prosociality on different heat measurements, such as standard and wet-bulb temperatures. Included in this model are experimental specification variables, a “trigger”, and characteristics. The trigger is defined as losing …

Sweet And Timely Insurance: The Role Of Honey In Reducing Coffee Producer Food Insecurity Exposure In Mexico, Grant Xavier Storer

Master's Theses

Smallholder coffee producers face a combination of pre- and post-harvest risk factors that leaves them particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. A popular form of on-farm diversification is honey production through beekeeping, that has both nutritional and commercial value. This study investigates the role of honey production as means of food security management due to the heightened pollinating activity during the coffee flowering stage that follows the annual coffee harvest provides an additional non-contemporaneous source of income. Using primary data collected in coffee-producing regions of Chiapas, Mexico, I find that during the honey harvest months, which occurs during the early stage …

L’Économie Solidaire De Kabylie : Une Perspective Critique, Mohamed-Amokrane Zoreli

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Résumé :

Dans cet article, l’auteur réalise, pour le contexte de la Kabylie, une étude d’ensemble de l’évolution des pratiques d’économie sociale, du modèle originel jusqu’à la période actuelle, en passant par les différentes phases de colonisation puis d’indépendance. L’objectif est triple. Voir d’abord quels sont les ressorts, les mécanismes et les finalités des solidarités locales originelles et comment elles se mobilisent pour répondre à des besoins socio-économiques et politiques. Voir ensuite comment l’Etat-nation et la mondialisation ont impacté dans le temps long ces solidarités locales, en les démobilisant et immobilisant par différents moyens, juridiques, économiques et politiques. Voir enfin …

The Determinants Of Homeownership: Mortgage Rates, Median Household Income And Vacancy Rates, Aisha S. Mackey

Applied Economics Theses

Several studies conducted have considered the determinants to homeownership in America. In our study, we are looking at the impact of mortgage rates, median household income, and vacancy rates. Here, we identify how homeownership is determined, how mortgage rates affect homeownership, how median income affects homeownership, and how vacancies affect homeownership. Our study begins with a literature review. We then use regression analysis to look at the relationship between total homes owned, the mortgage rate, median household income, and vacancy. Our study confirms our expectations. We find that there is a negative relationship between total homes owned and the mortgage …

Impact Of Recessions And The Business Cycle On Altruism, Nicolas De Mello

CMC Senior Theses

I examine how recessions and the business cycle impact the time individuals allocate to altruism, using American Time Use Survey data from 2002-2019. The aim of the paper was to create a measure of altruism to explore changes in attitudes towards charity and altruism instead of the financial ability to do so. Additionally, I want to understand how economic shocks, such as recessions, impact behaviors and habits across the US population. Using ordinary least squares and the Tobit model, I created two models to capture both changes during and after recessionary periods. The first model is a regression of individuals’ …

Motives For (In)Effective Giving: Comparing Rural And Urban Groups In South Africa., Luvuyo Bulelani Magwaza

Master's Theses

Different cultures have their own set of norms and values that not only shape people’s motives but also influences their decision making. What may be viewed as logical and ethical in one culture, may be seen as illogical or unethical in another. One area that is consistently affected by cross-cultural differences in motives is charitable giving. Recently, there has been an increase in interest around effective altruism— a social movement and philosophy that argues, people should give to charities that do the most good. Prior research that has found that people do not give based on efficiency; instead, people give …

The Modern-Day Effect Of Holc Redlining On Neighborhood Development, Liubov Ivashov

Master's Theses

Racial segregation, which happened more than one hundred years ago in the U.S., is a fundamental cause of economic inequality for people living in historically segregated neighborhoods today. Redlining was one form of federal policy that forced to separate communities by race even more after the Great Depression. The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps are widely used in economic research papers as one of the most comprehensive sources of data available to measure the effect of residential segregation. In this paper, using the Historical Redline Score (HRS) method, the author measured the association between modern-day population distribution, rent prices, …

Socioeconomic Factors And Mass Shootings, 1982-2016, Taylor Petkovich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an examination and investigation of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and mass shootings. The objective of this paper was to see if economic policy making could be an effective tool for reducing the level of mass gun violence that America has been experiencing. This paper highlights the known relationship between violent crime and economics and tries to bridge that connection to mass shootings specifically through literature review and econometric testing. The ultimate takeaway from this paper’s results and analysis is the need for a universal definition and governing body for data on mass shootings in order to …