Behavioral Economics Commons^™

What, Exactly, Is Surveillance Pricing?, Kaylina Stroud

McNair Summer Research Program

Surveillance pricing is a method of price discrimination in which firms use personal data to set individualized prices. While this practice is often criticized on grounds of privacy, unfairness, or exploitation, these objections do not fully explain what is morally objectionable about surveillance pricing. This paper examines surveillance pricing through the lenses of price discrimination, market competition, efficiency, exploitation, and deception. I argue that surveillance pricing is not inherently unethical merely because it results in different consumers paying different prices for the same product. Nor is it necessarily objectionable when it promotes mutually beneficial exchanges and efficient market outcomes. The …

Essays In Applied Microeconomics, Md Tahmeed Hossain

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to empirical economics research by examining three settings in which historical shocks, behavioral constraints, and localized public events affect social relations, decision quality, and public safety. The first chapter examines the persistence of historical religious conflict in contemporary Hindu–Muslim relations in India. The second chapter studies how time pressure affects decision quality in online chess. The third chapter analyzes the localized traffic-safety externalities of NFL game days. Across these settings, the dissertation uses large-scale data and quasi-experimental research designs to distinguish causal effects from selection, spatial concentration, and persistent local conditions.

The first chapter asks whether historical …

Supersuit Up Or Get Left Behind: Why A Personal Agentic Os Is Required For Commercial Viability In The New Economy, Gary Sheng, Ron Roberts

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

In my first article, The Writing on the Wall, we laid out the case: self-improving AI has arrived, the economy is splitting, and every organization faces an existential choice. This paper answers the question we heard most after that piece: “Okay, I believe you. What do I do on Monday morning?” The answer is your Personal Agentic OS. It is the minimum viable infrastructure that turns you from a passive consumer of AI into a sovereign operator of it. And in April 2026, three events converged to make this the most urgent professional skill in the world: Andrej Karpathy’s LLM …

The Economics Of Accountability: Learning From German Holocaust Reparations, Grace I. Gates

Scripps Senior Theses

Drawing on microdata from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, this study compares European Holocaust survivors who received reparations with similar Europeans who did not. It finds that, decades on, recipients are not systematically better or worse off on core outcomes like life satisfaction, savings, and debt. This is consistent with the argument that reparations restore parity rather than create new advantages. Where differences emerge, they point to stabilization in more vulnerable settings (e.g., lower likelihood of high debt in parts of Eastern Europe). The main takeaway from effective reparations is applicable to the United States debate: …

Housing Burden And Insurance Expenditures, Melanie M. Lytell

Honors Capstones

Housing costs shape the way families spend on protection and security. This study looks at how the share of income devoted to housing, the housing burden, influences household spending on four types of insurance: vehicle, life, personal, and health. Using data from nearly 92,000 households and regression models that account for state differences, I find that even small increases in housing burden shift insurance choices in meaningful ways. A one‑percentage‑point rise in housing burden is linked to a 2.1% increase in vehicle insurance spending and a 0.5% increase in life insurance, but a 0.7% decrease in personal insurance and a …

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 …

The Social Impact Of Unconditional Cash Transfer: A Quasi-Experimental Approach, Andar Ristabet Hesda

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

This study investigates the social effects of the unconditional cash transfer program and analyzes the underlying mechanism. The empirical analysis indicates that those who consistently participated as program beneficiaries own greater social capital than those who did not maintain continuous enrollment in the program. One mechanism of this impact is enhanced personality, particularly in social behavior. Furthermore, the characteristic of social capital most impacted is heightened participation in communal activities. This study indicates that the program neither displaces private aid nor promotes altruism. These data contradict the claim that the targeted cash transfer program could incite societal discord by fostering …

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 …

The Switch: Determinants Of Family School Modality Choices During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Steicy Dorfi Lopez

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The K-12 system in the United States experienced substantial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to give an overview of public, private, and homeschooling enrollment decisions during the pandemic, the changes families made between types of schooling and identify familial characteristics associated with the probability of switching in and out of public education. Knowing more about the groups exiting and returning to the public school system can help public school districts better tailor policies to attract and retain their students. Socioeconomic factors influencing a change could be signs of increasing segregation. Using a discrete choice duration model, a …

Undominated Monopoly Regulation, Debasis Mishra, Sanket Patil

Working Papers

We study undominated mechanisms with transfers for regulating a monopolist who privately observes the marginal cost of production. A mechanism is undominated if no other mechanism gives the regulator a strictly higher payoff at some marginal cost of the monopolist without lowering the regulator’s payoff at other costs. We show that an undominated mechanism has a quantity floor: whenever the monopolist is allowed to operate, it produces above a threshold quantity. Moreover, the regulator’s operation decision is stochastic only if the monopolist produces at the quantity floor. We provide a near-complete characterization of the set of undominated mechanisms and use …

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 Stimulus Payments On College Students: Ex-Ante Perceptions And Reality, Rohan Angadi, Vidhura Sbw Tennekoon

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In this paper, we use a natural experiment to measure the impact of a transitory positive income shock on college education. On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law. This act made provisions for the third round of Economic Impact Payment for eligible US residents. Each person in an eligible family received up to $1,400. This stimulus payment was an exogenous positive income shock on US college students if they received the payment. Using primary data collected through a survey, we first investigate how US college students were affected by and responded to this income …

The Influence Of Socio-Economic Constraints On Women's Economic Empowerment In Kenya: Evidence Of Wage Disparities?, Wairimu Kimani

McNair Summer Research Program

This study presents an econometric analysis of socio-economic factors which influence wage inequalities in Kenya. This study tests the hypothesis that women experience cross sectoral gender wage disparities which are influenced by cultural and social expectations. Linear, logistic, factorial regressions models and the Mann-Whitney test were utilized to identify statistical determinants of the gender-wage gap through disproportionate educational outcomes, labor outcomes, and social outcomes. The outcomes reflect that education and other demographic factors play a pivotal role in the wage and employment outcomes for women in Kenya. The results suggest that cultural implications are the main influence to the socio-economic …

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.

Horizontal Economic Inequality And Mass Atrocity Risk: A Large-Sample Empirical Inquiry, Charles H. Anderton, Roxane A. Anderton

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Our research question is: Does inter-group horizontal economic inequality elevate state-perpetrated mass atrocity risk? Theoretical perspectives in genocide studies show how economic and other forms of discrimination against ethnic or religious groups can elevate the risk of government violence against them. Among the approximately five dozen large-sample empirical studies of mass atrocity risk, only a few consider the effects of economic discrimination. Moreover, no large-sample empirical studies, to the best of our knowledge, test hypotheses related to how inter-group horizontal economic inequalities (as distinct from vertical economic inequalities based on GINI coefficients or quantile income or wealth measures) affect mass …

The Effect Of Conditional Cash Transfers On The Prepaid And Postpaid Expenditures Of Internet And Cellular Services: The Case Of Filipino Households, Krisann Carmina G. Caoile, Edgar Desher P. Empeño, Raphael Manuel P. Ramos, Marie Angeline A. Trinidad, Myrna S. Austria, Ma. Ella Oplas, Tereso S. Tullao Jr, Winfred M. Villamil

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Technology has been playing a large role in the lives of households regardless of income. How, then, do poor families value the importance of internet and cellular services due to the existence of outcome-improving or outcome-worsening effects associated with these services? At the same time, since the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) substantially affects its beneficiaries’ household expenditures, assessing its effectiveness concerning its objectives is important. Most literature on how poor households spend their cash transfers is centered on directly linked goods such as health and education. However, the relationship between CCTs and expenditures on goods that play a more …

Reflections On Inflation: How Bad Has It Been?, Jesus Felipe

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

THE increase in prices that countries have experienced since March 2022 has brought old fears about the deleterious impact of inflation. It is true that prices increased after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and this affected a series of commodities that are imported. Yet, it is important to understand how much prices have increased, the nature of inflation we have experienced, and the reaction of central banks.

Heterogeneous Effects In The Prospects Of Upward Mobility Hypothesis: The Roles Of Risk And Political Beliefs., Nathaniel Badalov

Theses and Dissertations

I test for heterogenous effects in the Prospects of Upward Mobility (POUM) hypothesis framework. This framework suggests that individuals who are poorer than average but expect to become richer than average support less redistribution. Using a survey of households in primarily transition economies - Life in Transition Survey (LiTS2) and ordered logistic regression, I test whether the POUM effect is influenced by the riskiness of the individual's environment or political beliefs. The results suggest that the POUM effect holds independent of the riskiness of the environment but is conditional on political beliefs. The prospects of upward mobility decrease redistributive support …

Fafsa Completion: Considerations For An Extension-Led Statewide Nudge Campaign, Portia L. Johnson, Kacee Ross, Emily Hines

Journal of Extension

Eight U.S. states have enacted legislation that mandates high school seniors to act on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before graduation. At least 10 other states are considering implementing similar FAFSA requirements. While proponents of the law believe it will affect postsecondary education and the workforce positively, dissenters argue that the policy is an unfunded mandate that taxes students and parents without offering adequate resources. This article synthesizes existing literature related to policy-related nudge campaigns to provide an Extension-led, cost-effective strategy to achieve the FAFSA mandate’s goal and improve citizens’ FAFSA completion behavior.

Monitoring The Philippine Economy Fourth Quarter Report For 2022, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada, Natasha Amber Y. Cabiltes, Brendan Emmanuel A. Miranda, Edgar Desher P. Empeño

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The Philippine economy grew 7.2 percent, featuring robust growth despite facing domestic challenges. Fourth quarter growth reflected a more optimistic consumer sentiment as the economy continued to open up. Economic growth in Q4 2022 was 7.2 percent year-on-year and 17.1 percent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), showing the Philippines’ consistent effort to create a positive growth outlook for the economy (see Table 1). Year-on-year growth exceeded the median analyst forecast of 6.8 percent despite accelerating inflation and growing food security issues. Revenge spending continues to drive consumption on the demand side while service sector growth remains headstrong on the supply side amid stunted …

U.S. Consumers’ Willingness To Pay For Raised Carbon-Friendly Beef: Moderation Effect Of Information And Consumer Characteristics, Mariam Ishaq

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

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 …

3rd Annual International Conference Proceedings: Challenging Linearity, Centre For Business And Economic Research (Cber), School Of Economics And Social Sciences (Sess)

Conference Proceedings

As we live in an era where the knowledge landscape is rapidly changing and becoming more complex, answering age-old questions about our society, economy, and environment has become more challenging today than ever before. In the wake of this change and challenge, falling back on linear and myopic conclusions is sometimes all too irresistible. A fatigue of imagination that leads to easy answers seems to be prevalent within several disciplines and is sometimes driven by ideological biases. Resultantly, the progress in addressing economic disadvantage, social isolation, and discrimination, psychological distress remains suboptimal often because of linear conceptual frameworks which fail …

The Voluntary Carbon Market: Managing The Private Provision Of Public Goods, Atticus Maloney

Gettysburg College Headquarters

While much work has examined the large-scale compliance-based carbon offset programs associated with the Kyoto Protocol and Clean Development Mechanism, there has been far less focus on the voluntary purchasing of carbon offsets. This critical literature review will look at the formation and management of the demand for voluntary carbon offsets within the United States. It will frame carbon offsets as impure public goods and review possible explanations as to why private provision has been so active in the U.S. market. The paper will then survey the efficiency gains and other benefits associated with the voluntary market. It will highlight …

Economic Experiments On Group Identity And Bias, Nathaniel Christopher Burke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Experiments in economics have been a valuable tool to understand the behavioral implications of incentives on the decision-making process. Particularly, aspects of decision making that cannot be observed in empirical data can be better isolated in an experimental setting such as bias and identity impacts. This dissertation uses three distinct experiments to further the understanding of individual biases, perceptions, and identity and how they impact the way people defer to these internal traits under incentives. This dissertation looks at how well individuals can make inferences about polling data that was collected from individuals susceptible to socially desirable responding. It also …

The Effect Of Quantitative Easing On U.S. Stock Prices And Wealth Inequality, Griffin W. Phillips

Student Scholar Showcase

My thesis will investigate and try to find a casual relationship between Quantitative Easing, or “QE”, and the U.S. stock market since 2003. The secondary effects will then be investigated to see if stock prices impact wealth inequality. To find the causal relationship between the two a regression model will be used. It predicts the magnitude of effects for QE and other variables that may impact stock prices. Since 2007-2009, the Federal Reserve has used QE as a means to spur economic growth. This expansionary monetary policy has impacted many financial markets including the U.S. stock market. Finding the extent …

Windfall Payment Savings: An Examination Of Act 13 Disbursements In Pennsylvania, Corey Young

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

State and local governments occasionally receive positive exogenous payments or windfalls that have a significant impact on their budgets. However, few works examine how budget-makers allocate such payments or if they are consumed in a manner consistent with other revenue streams. Prior research suggests that multiple factors, including the size of a windfall payment, impact how much of the funds are saved and spent. Using data from the Act 13 Unconventional Natural Gas Impact Fee in Pennsylvania, this study examines the relationship between windfall payment size and savings rates between 2011 and 2019. The results of the study indicate that …

The Influence Of Political Party Affiliation And Park Accessibility On Covid-19 Case Incidence, Sascha Wolf-Sorokin

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the joint effect of political party affiliation and the urban landscape, as measured by access to parks, on case rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The 2016 and 2020 U.S. Presidential Election returns are used as a proxy for a county’s political party affiliation prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A county population’s spatial relationship to its parks encapsulates the green open space within an urban environment. The data set controls for features of the built environment, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics (race, gender, income, education), COVID-19 government regulations, and presidential election returns. Using …

Relationship Between Real Exchange Rate And Consumption In Nigeria: A Nonlinear Approach, Babangida Jamilu S., Sanusi Aliyu R., Yusuf Isah M.

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study analyses the relationship between real exchange rate and domestic consumption in Nigeria using the Smooth Transition Autoregressive (STAR) model from 1981Q1 to 2019Q4. Findings show that domestic consumption determines the regime shift in real exchange rate, suggesting a nonlinear linkage with clearly distinct regimes. The lagged exchange rate is shown to have a significant linear effect on the current exchange rate. On the other hand, current foreign consumption is positive but has no significant impact on the exchange rate in the linear part of the model. In the nonlinear part of the model, evidence of a significant negative …

Providing Childcare, Christine Ho, Sunha Myong

Research Collection School Of Economics

Women’s economic empowerment has been hailed as one of the most remarkable revolutions in the past 50 years. Yet, women still face the lion’s share of the burden of childcare despite major progress in their education and earnings capacity. This is particularly salient in many Asian countries. This chapter proposes a synthesis of the state of knowledge on childcare and discusses policy-relevant issues applicable to the Singapore context. Selected policies are documented and lessons from the international landscape are discussed. Raising children incurs both direct costs in the form of childcare and opportunity costs in the form of career costs. …