Behavioral Economics Commons^™

Financial Technology And Household Wealth, Rongbo Zhou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the spread of mobile payment platforms in China, the micro-foundations of household financial behaviour have been reshaped, and this change is increasingly reflected in household property income. Based on microdata from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) for 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021, this dissertation examines how mobile payment use affects household property income, through which channels this effect is transmitted, and how its impact differs across household groups, regional conditions, and macro-financial environments.

The empirical results show a positive association between the use of mobile payment platforms and household property income. This conclusion remains robust after controlling for …

Financial Valuation Of Retirement Village Via Stochastic Modelling Of Disability Prevalence Rates, Jackie Li, Mingke Wang, Jia Liu, Jessica Wai Yin Leung

Research Collection School Of Economics

Global mortality rates continue to decline, and life expectancy continues its upward trend. Besides mortality levels, policymakers and providers of financial and health services would also be interested in disability prevalence and its potential future trajectories. The length of time in good health versus the duration with major disabilities or long-term illnesses has significant financial implications for both individuals and society. In this paper, we develop Bayesian common factor models to analyse Australian age- and sex-specific disability prevalence rates. In particular, there are one or more common factors shared by both sexes, as well as specific factors for each sex. …

Shrinkflation And Consumer Demand, Aljoscha Janssen, Johannes Kasinger

Research Collection School Of Economics

This study investigates shrinkflation—the practice of reducing product size while maintaining or slightly changing prices—in the U.S. retail grocery market. We analyze a decade of retail scanner data to assess the prevalence and patterns of product size changes across various product categories. Our findings show that approximately 1.92% of products have been downsized. When comparing total sales, product downsizing is more than five times as prevalent as upsizing. Product downsizing typically occurs without a corresponding decrease in price and is widespread across product categories. Consequently, consumers end up paying more per unit volume. We further find that consumers are more …

Reducing Carbon Emissions Through Sustainable Food Consumption: Applying An A-S-I Framework On Beijing Residents, Xuan Yang, Jiaxin Zou, Jingyao Gao, Shu Yang

Student Publications

The food sector represents one of the largest contributors to global climate change, making it urgent for the public to transform their food consumption behavior. However, food consumption behaviors that can facilitate carbon reduction, and how to classify these behaviors from the perspective of behavioral science, have not been deeply explored. This study pioneers a novel categorization of carbon-mitigating food consumption behaviors based on an A-S-I framework (i.e., “Avoid” food loss and waste, “Shift” to low-carbon alternatives, and “Improve” dietary structure). Such a classification not only encompasses the full spectrum of emission-altering behaviors but also enables identification of common determinants …

Strategic Thinking Skills: A Key To Collective Economic Success, Syngjoo Choi, Seonghoon Kim, Wooyoung Lim

ROSA Journal Articles and Publications

We conduct a large-scale experiment to measure elementary aspects of strategic thinking skills and their linkage to labor market outcomes. Two incentivized measures of higher-order rationality and backward induction are developed. Males' (females') strategic thinking skills are positively (negatively) associated with individual labor income. However, among married individuals, strategic thinking skills are significantly and positively associated with their household labor income regardless of gender, highlighting the importance of strategic thinking skills for collective economic success. We argue that the intrahousehold channels encompassing collective labor supply with home-to-workplace spillover and marriage assortative matching offer the most plausible explanation for our findings.

Is Subjective Well-Being Insured Against Income Shocks? Evidence From 20-Year Panel Data In South Korea, Jiyeon An, Taehyun Ahn, Kim

Research Collection School Of Economics

Using 20 years of nationally representative panel data in South Korea, we estimate how life satisfaction responds to income shocks. We document that unexpected income changes significantly impact an individual's life satisfaction, and the magnitudes depend on the persistence of income shocks. We find that permanent income shocks substantially penetrate life satisfaction, while transitory income shocks have minimal impact. We also find that life satisfaction regarding external factors such as family income and leisure activities is more sensitive to income shocks than life satisfaction related to social relationships. Our findings imply that it is critical for the government to address …

On Strategy-Proofness And The Salience Of Single-Peakedness In A Private Goods Allotment Problem, Shurojit Chatterji, Jordi Masso, Shigehiro Serizawa

Research Collection School Of Economics

We consider strategy-proof rules operating on a rich domain of preference profiles in a set up where multiple private goods have to be assigned to a set of agents with entitlements and where preferences display satiation. We show that if the rule is in addition tops-only, same-sided and individually rational with respect to the entitlements, then the preferences in the domain have to satisfy a variant of single-peakedness (referred to as multi-dimensional single-peakedness relative to the entitlements). We also provide a converse of this main finding. It turns out that this domain coincides with the one already identified in a …

Consumption Responses To Income Shocks Through Lottery Winning, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the effects of lottery winning on consumption spending using newly available household survey data in Singapore. We find strong consumption responses to a transitory income shock via lottery wins. Lottery winners spend about half of their prizes within 12 months of winning. We show that consumption responses are stronger among households with more binding liquidity constraints and less risk aversion, which is consistent with the standard life-cycle model. The strong consumption response suggests that fiscal stimulus policies or other public transfer programs could be an effective means of boosting consumption spending of the economy in the short run.

Is Subjective Well-Being Insured Against Income Shocks? Evidence From 20-Year Panel Data In South Korea, Jiyeon Ahn, Taehyun Ahn, Kim

Research Collection School Of Economics

Using 20 years of nationally representative panel data in South Korea, we estimate how life satisfaction responds to income shocks. We document that unexpected income changes significantly impact an individual's life satisfaction, and the magnitudes depend on the persistence of income shocks. We find that permanent income shocks substantially penetrate life satisfaction, while transitory income shocks have minimal impact. We also find that life satisfaction regarding external factors such as family income and leisure activities is more sensitive to income shocks than life satisfaction related to social relationships. Our findings imply that it is critical for the government to address …

Evaluation Of Unplanned Reattendances To The Pediatric Emergency Department: A Five-Year Study, Liying Toh, Jin Wee Lee, Siok Hoon Ang, Sashikumar Ganapathy, Janani D/O Nadarajan, Shu-Ling Chong

Research Collection School Of Economics

Background: Unplanned reattendances (UR) are an important quality indicator in the emergency department (ED). Understanding the risk factors associated with UR can aid clinicians in optimizing the allocation of time and resources, as well as targeted counselling for this specific group of patients. In this study, we aimed to compare patient characteristics between children who attended a pediatric emergency department (ED) with unplanned reattendances (UR) and those without UR. We also aimed to study the association between healthcare delivery factors such as timing of the attendance, patient load, changeover months for rotating junior doctors, presence of supervision, and rate of …

The Importance Of Sampling Frequency For Estimates Of Well-Being Dynamics, Stephen James Hoskins, David W. Johnston, Johannes S. Kunz, Michael A. Shields, Kevin E. Staub

ROSA Journal Articles and Publications

Using a high-frequency panel survey, we examine the sensitivity of estimated self-reported well-being (SWB) dynamics to using monthly, quarterly, and yearly data. This is an important issue if SWB is to be used to evaluate policy. Results from autoregressive models that account for individual-level heterogeneity indicate that the estimated persistence using yearly data is near zero. However, estimated persistence from monthly and quarterly data is substantial. We estimate that persistence to shocks typically lasts around six months and has a net present value of 75–80 per cent of the contemporaneous effect. Estimates are similar for different domains of SWB.

Diverse Pathways To Permanent Childlessness In Singapore: A Latent Class Analysis, Yanwen Wang, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Christine Ho

Research Collection School Of Economics

The proportions of adults reaching midlife without having children have been rising rapidly across the globe, particularly in Asia. However, little is known about the pathways to permanent childlessness within the region’s childless population. This study utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to typologize pathways to childlessness based on dynamic characteristics of multiple life domains (i.e., partnership, education, and occupation) among 489 childless Singaporeans aged 50 and above from a 2022 nationwide survey. Additionally, we utilized multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic correlates of pathway profiles and Shannon’s entropy index to assess the heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness among successive …

Childlessness, Social Network Profiles In Midlife And Late Adulthood, And Their Implications For Subjective Well-Being, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Dahye Kim, Christine Ho

Research Collection School Of Economics

Objectives: Despite the rising prevalence of individuals reaching advanced age without children, little is known about the diversity of support networks within childless populations. We examine the network profiles of childless adults aged 50+ in Singapore, which observes high childlessness rates despite societal emphasis on familism. Methods: We employ latent class analysis to derive network typology based on a 2022 nationwide survey in Singapore. Additionally, we use logistic regression analyses to investigate the sociodemographic correlates of childless individuals' network types and the associations between these network types and subjective well-being. Results: Childless Singaporeans form a heterogeneous group characterized by different …

Allocating Vehicle Registration Permits, Massimiliano Landi, Domenico Menicucci

Research Collection School Of Economics

We compare social welfare, consumer surplus and profits in two different institutional settings in which an item whose quantity is fixed and controlled (vehicle registration permit) is allocated to the buyers of a complementary good (car). In the first setting, which resembles the way in which vehicle registration permits are allocated in Singapore, the central planner runs a uniform price auction for permits in which the consumers who bid the highest receive the permits and pay the highest losing bid. Then each winning consumer purchases a car from a seller. In the alternative setting, the central planner first allocates the …

Housing Markets Since Shapley And Scarf, Mustafa Oguz Afacan, Gaoji Hu, Jiangtao Li

Research Collection School Of Economics

Shapley and Scarf (1974) appeared in the first issue of the Journal of Mathematical Economics, and is one of the journal’s most impactful publications. As we approach the remarkable milestone of the journal’s 50th anniversary (1974–2024), this article serves as a commemorative exploration of Shapley and Scarf (1974) and the extensive body of literature that follows it.

Life Satisfaction Changes And Adaptation In The Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Singapore, Terence C. Cheng, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh

Research Collection School Of Economics

We provide novel evidence on how COVID-19 affected overall life satisfaction using a monthly longitudinal survey of middle-aged and older Singaporeans. We study how the subjective well-being of individuals evolves over the course of 18 months including the outbreak of the pandemic, the implementation of the lockdown and the spike of cases due to the delta variant in a country where COVID-19 is controlled in a sustained manner. Using an event-study design framework, we find large declines in overall life satisfaction in the lead-up to and following the lockdown. Fifteen months after the outbreak of the pandemic, and 13 months …

Statistical Discrimination And Duration Dependence In A Semistructural Model, Ismail Baydur, Jianhuan Xu

Research Collection School Of Economics

This article develops a job-search model with unobserved worker heterogeneity and learning about worker types from unemployment duration. The model features negative duration dependence that stems from unobserved heterogeneity, skill depreciation, and statistical discrimination. We estimate job-finding rates implied by our model using microlevel data from the Current Population Survey. We find that removing interview costs counterfactually, thereby eliminating statistical discrimination, substantially increases the job-finding rates of the long-term unemployed. The performance of low-skill workers at the interview stage with discriminating firms plays a key role in explaining our counterfactual result.

Becoming A Father, Staying A Father: An Examination Of The Cumulative Fatherhood Wage Premium To U.S. Residential Fathers, Ohjae Gowen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The instability of fathers’ co-residence with children has become an increasingly prevalent experience for U.S. families. Despite long-standing scholarship examining the relationship between fatherhood and wage advantages, few studies have investigated how variation in fathers’ stable co-residence with a child may produce temporal changes in the wage premium over the life course. Building on prior explanations of the fatherhood wage premium, I test if the wage premium grows with time since the birth of a resident child and if the premium depends on fathers’ co-residence with a child. I use marginal structural models with repeated outcome measures and data from …

How Tiktok “Locks In” Its Users With Reference To What Happened In The Homeland Version Douyin Application, Yang Yang, Li Zi'ang, Zhigen Zhao, Sabrina (Zi Tong) Peng, Liyu Dou, Changyu Li, Yinqi Wang

Research Collection School Of Economics

In October 2022, Douyin, the homeland version of TikTok, introduced a new rule requiring all its users to promote only Douyin-approved products during their live-streaming events and in their non-live short-videos. This requirement essentially restricts its users to monetize their content strictly through Douyin-approved products, as promoting products has become the most important source of income for Douyin users. This requirement essentially creates a lock-in effect.

Tackling Misperceptions About Immigrants With Fact-Checking Interventions: A Randomized Survey Experiment, Syngjoo Choi, Chung-Yoon Choi, Kim

Research Collection School Of Economics

We conduct a randomized online survey experiment to study the impact of fact-checking offers and financial incentives on misperceptions about immigrants. We find that natives overestimate the number of immigrants and the social and economic costs of immigration. Offering a free check of the factual information about immigrants reduces these misperceptions; it becomes more effective when combined with financial incentives. However, more than half of the participants never took up offers to check factual information. Using a model of information search with limited attention, we identify the presence of non-negligible costs of information search and processing, which limits the effectiveness …

Does Fertility Matter For Middle Aged And Older Adults’ Risk Attitudes?, Christine Ho, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Joanne Tan, Eugene Rui Le Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Given that risk attitudes influence many decisions, it is important to understand the factors that shape such attitudes in late adulthood, when individuals face important risky decisions. While research finds that parenthood tends to correlate with lower risk tolerance in western countries, there is a lacuna on whether such associations persist in late adulthood, and are applicable to the Asian context, where children are conventionally considered a linchpin of old age support. Data for middle aged and older individuals come from the nationwide Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,740). Multivariate statistical analyses are employed to estimate the associations between willingness …

Search Models Of Money: Alternative Means-Of Payment And Consumer Behaviour With Credit, Kheng Tat Marcus Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation consists of three chapters on Search Models of Money.

The first chapter is a review of recent advances in Search Models of Money. It reviews the Lagos and Wright (2005) framework which is the workhorse of many modern search models with applications to models with Competing Media of Exchange to Fiat Currency, and models with Money and Credit. We trace the history of the development of search models of money from the first generation to present day. We highlight recent developments that address puzzles such as the coexistence of money in an environment where an asset serves as …

The Impact Of Upzoning On Housing Construction In Auckland*, Ryan Greenaway-Mcgrevy, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

There is a growing debate about whether upzoning is an effective policy response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. This paper provides empirical evidence to further inform debate by examining the various impacts of recently implemented zoning reforms on housing construction in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area in New Zealand. In 2016, the city upzoned approximately three quarters of its residential land to facilitate construction of more intensive housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to analyze the short-run impacts of the reform on construction, allowing for potential shifts in construction from non-upzoned to upzoned areas (displacement effects) that would, if …

The Importance Of The First Generic Substitution: Evidence From Sweden, Aljoscha Janssen, David Granlund

Research Collection School Of Economics

We analyze changes in the willingness to substitute from prescribed pharmaceuticals to more affordable generic equivalents in response to the first experience with a substitution. Using Swedish individual-level data of prescribed and dispensed pharmaceuticals, we em-ploy a dynamic event study and an instrumental variable approach to show that an initial substitution reduces the probability of opposing subsequent substitutions by 39 percent-age points. We recommend that policy-makers target patients with a history of opposed substitution and offer additional discounts to promote substitution as long-term savings outweigh one-time costs.

Teaching In The Right Context: Textbook Supply Program, Language, And Vocabulary Ability In Vietnam, Tomoki Fujii, Maki Nakajima, Sijia Xu

Research Collection School Of Economics

An ethnic gap in education is prevalent around the world. This remains the case in Vietnam, a country that has achieved phenomenal economic growth and raised the educational attainment of the public. This paper examines the impact of language policy reorientation represented by the textbook supply program in Vietnam on the ethnic gap in children's learning measured by a vocabulary test. Applying difference-in-differences estimation to the Young Lives data between 2006 and 2015, we show that the program became more effective in narrowing the ethnic gap as the education policy became reoriented toward ethnic minority children. A causal mediation analysis …

Concerns Over The Cost Of Living Among Older Adults In Singapore, Rachel Ngu, Micah Tan, Paulin T. Straughan, Seonghoon Kim, William Tov, Grace Cheong, Xiaoyan Zhang

ROSA Research Briefs

A post-National Day Rally survey conducted in August 2022 found that the rising cost of living and health-related issues were ranked among the top concerns of Singaporeans (Baharudin, 2022). This comes as no surprise as global crises such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, has resulted in global and domestic inflation (Gov.sg, 2022). In May 2022, Singapore reported a 13-year high core inflation of 3.6% (Channel News Asia, 2022), while in September 2022, Singapore’s core inflation had risen to 5.3% (Ang, 2022). Additionally, the government announced that Singapore residents will see a goods and services tax (GST) …

In A Gig Economy, Do People Work More When Wages Rise?, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Study finds that when wages go up, how the supply of labour changes can depend on how the change in pay is communicated

Is Fed Policy In The Eye Of The Beholder?, Leo Krippner, Thomas Lam

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

While the US Federal Reserve remains vigilant on inflation, it will likely continue its tightening cycle with caution, with an eye on market expectations about future policy actions and financial conditions.

Life In An Endemic Covid-19: Older Adults' Well-Being, Activity, And Perceptions, Rachel Ngu, Micah Tan, Jia Ying Low

ROSA Research Briefs

The current research brief provides a preliminary examination of whether older adults have been able to ‘return’ to the pre-pandemic way of life in an endemic COVID-19. To do this, we look at several key indicators, including (1) tracking older adults’ overall life satisfaction, activity levels, and trust in government over the past 3 years, (2) older adults’ confidence to resume activities, as well as subjective perceptions about their safety when leaving the home in an endemic COVID-19, and (3) older adults’ ability to adhere to the Home Recovery Program (HRP), where individuals with COVID-19 are able to recover from …

Weight Perceptions And Health Education On Obesity Among Older Adults, Seonghoon Kim, Vicky Mengqi Qin, Xuan Zhang, Kanghyock Koh, Mindy Eiko Tadai, Micah Tan

ROSA Research Briefs

The current brief presents preliminary findings from a special module that measures perceptions of weight and receptivity to health education among older adults. Singapore Life Panel® (SLP) data collected in January 2022 (n=2814) were utilized. Two policy recommendations were made: The main findings highlight that weight misperception is prevalent among older adults. More than a third of respondents (39%) incorrectly perceive their weight status, particularly among overweight and obese older adults, as well as Malay and lower educated respondents. This suggests the importance of public health education for older adults to reduce misperceptions about their own over- and under-weight status, …