Behavioral Economics Commons^™

The Smallest Upper Bound For The Pth Absolute Central Moment Of A Class Of Random Variables, Martin Egozcue, Luis Fuentes García, Wing Keung Wong, Ricardas Zitikis

Martin Egozcue

We establish the smallest upper bound for the p absolute central moment over the class of all random variables with values in a compact interval. Numerical values of the bound are calculated for the first ten integer values of p, and its asymptotic behaviour derived when p tends to infinity. In addition, we establish an analogous bound in the case of all symmetric random variables with values in a compact interval. Such results play a role in a number of areas including actuarial science, economics, finance, operations research, and reliability.

An Optimal Strategy For Maximizing The Expected Real- Estate Selling Price: Accept Or Reject An Offer?, Martin Egozcue, Luis Fuentes García, Ricardas Zitikis

Martin Egozcue

Motivated by a real-life situation, we put forward a model and then derive an optimal strategy that maximizes the expected real-estate selling price when one of the only two remaining buyers has already made an offer but the other one is yet to make. Since the seller is not sure whether the other buyer would make a lower or higher offer, and given no recall, the seller needs a strategy to decide whether to accept or reject the first-come offer. The herein derived optimal seller's strategy, which maximizes the expected selling price, is illustrated under several scenarios, such as independent …

Convex Combinations Of Quadrant Dependent Copulas, Martin Egozcue, Luis Fuentes García, Wing Wong, Ricardas Zitikis

Martin Egozcue

It is well known that quadrant dependent (QD) random variables are also quadrant dependent in expectation (QDE). Recent literature has offered examples rigorously establishing the fact that there are QDE random variables which are not QD. The examples are based on convex combinations of specially chosen QD copulas: one negatively QD and another positively QD. In this paper we establish general results that determine when convex combinations of arbitrary QD copulas give rise to negatively or positively QD/QDE copulas. In addition to being an interesting mathematical exercise, the established results are helpful when modeling insurance and financial portfolios.

Understanding Child Work And Child Labor In The 21st Century: A Focus On Malawi And Tanzania, Courage Chikomborero Mudzongo

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Child labor is on the increase and this is exacerbating an already desperate situation in Africa. Past research has focused on which levels of determinants are most effective in influencing the decision on children’s activities. Using the Malawi Integrated Household Survey and the Tanzania National Panel Survey, this research seeks to unearth the factors that influence the number of hours that child workers and laborers work. I can conclude that the greatest degrees of change are at the individual level as child’s enrollment status is significant for child workers from Malawi and Tanzania and laborers from Tanzania. At the community …

Integration–Segregation Decisions Under General Value Functions: ‘Create Your Own Bundle—Choose 1, 2 Or All 3!’, Martin Egozcue, Sebastien Massoni, Wing Wong, Ricardas Zitkiks

Martin Egozcue

Whether to keep products segregated (e.g., unbundled) or integrate some or all of them (e.g., bundle) has been a problem of profound interest in areas such as portfolio theory in finance, risk capital allocations in insurance and marketing of consumer products. Such decisions are inherently complex and depend on factors such as the underlying product values and consumer preferences, the latter being frequently described using value functions, also known as utility functions in economics. In this paper, we develop decision rules for multiple products, which we generally call ‘exposure units’ to naturally cover manifold scenarios spanning well beyond ‘products’. Our …

Gains From Diversification: A Regret Theory Approach, Martin Egozcue

Martin Egozcue

No abstract provided.

Palliative Commitments, Leo Buser

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project is a speculative fiction novel. The focus of my project is a futuristic palliative care treatment. The intended use if for terminal patients, and it can also be considered an alternative to terminal sedation. The theme of this project mainly came from Biomedical Ethics. This project is also influenced by economics and dreaming supplements. A section explaining the academic influences to the story is provided.

What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean

Economics Honors Projects

Health care costs account for 17% of US GDP and many programs and policies seek to reduce these costs. This paper focuses on exercise as preventive care due to its immense physiological benefits. I model the profit-maximizing choice of health insurance companies to subsidize exercise and the utility-maximizing choice of individuals to engage in exercise using a traditional principal-agent framework. I then use principles from behavioral economics and psychology to critique these models and provide further insight into understanding our underconsumption of such preventive services. I end with an evaluation of current programs and suggestions for improvement using empirical findings.

A Closer Look At The Relationship Between Superstitious Behaviors And Trait Anxiety, Brandy Futrell

Brandy Futrell

This study examines the relationship between superstitious behaviors and trait anxiety. Researchers randomly selected participants from college campuses for a 28-question survey measuring superstitiousness and the 20-question State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) to measure symptoms of anxiety. Results show a positive correlation between superstitious behaviors and an increase in anxiety symptoms. Significant gender differences were found; women scored higher on superstitiousness survey and the STAI-X2 test. Superstitious behaviors were a significant indicator for developing trait anxiety.

Law, Environment, And The “Nondismal” Social Sciences, William Boyd, Douglas Kysar, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Over the past 30 years, the influence of economics over the study of environmental law and policy has expanded considerably, becoming in the process the predominant framework for analyzing regulations that address pollution, natural resource use, and other environmental issues. This review seeks to complement the expansion of economic reasoning and methodology within the field of environmental law and policy by identifying insights to be gleaned from various “nondismal” social sciences. In particular, three areas of inquiry are highlighted as illustrative of interdisciplinary work that might help to complement law and economics and, in some cases, compensate for it: the …

Legal Promise And Psychological Contract, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Willingness To Pay For Country-Of-Origin Labeled, Traceable, And Bse-Tested Beef, Kar Ho Lim

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

While previous studies have investigated country-of-origin effect from various angles, it remained unexplored the extent to which Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) affects U.S. beef imports from specific countries. Using choice-experiment data, willingness to pay (WTP) for Australian, Canadian beef in addition to other enhancement attributes were estimated with a Mixed Logit Model and a Latent Class Model. The results revealed unobserved taste heterogeneity and important differences in the WTP between the imported and domestic steak. The Latent Class Model estimated the range of discount needed for consumers to switch from U.S. to Canadian steak was a range from $1.09 …

Information Projection: Model And Applications, Kristof Madarasz

Kristof Madarasz