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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Economics
Are There Environmental Benefits From Driving Electric Vehicles? The Importance Of Local Factors, Stephen P. Holland, Erin T. Mansur, Nicholas Z. Muller, Andrew J. Yates
Are There Environmental Benefits From Driving Electric Vehicles? The Importance Of Local Factors, Stephen P. Holland, Erin T. Mansur, Nicholas Z. Muller, Andrew J. Yates
Dartmouth Scholarship
We combine a theoretical discrete-choice model of vehicle purchases, an econometric analysis of electricity emissions, and the AP2 air pollution model to estimate the geographic variation in the environmental benefits from driving electric vehicles. The second-best electric vehicle purchase subsidy ranges from $2,785 in California to -$4,964 in North Dakota, with a mean of -$1,095. Ninety percent of local environmental externalities from driving electric vehicles in one state are exported to others, implying they may be subsidized locally, even when the environmental benefits are negative overall. Geographically differentiated subsidies can reduce deadweight loss, but only modestly.
Wintertime For Deceptive Advertising?, Jonathan Zinman, Eric Zitzewitz
Wintertime For Deceptive Advertising?, Jonathan Zinman, Eric Zitzewitz
Dartmouth Scholarship
Casual empiricism suggests that deceptive advertising about product quality is prevalent, and several classes of theories explore its causes and consequences. We provide unusually sharp empirical evidence on its extent, mechanics, and dynamics. Ski resorts self-report substantially more natural snowfall than comparable government sources. The difference is more pronounced on weekends, despite third-party evidence that snowfall is uniform throughout the week—as one would expect given plausibly greater returns to exaggeration on weekends. Exaggeration is greater for resorts that plausibly reap greater benefits from it: those with expert terrain and those not offering money back guarantees. (JEL D83, L15, L83, M37, …
Do Opposites Detract? Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity And Inefficient Strategic Savings, Simone Schaner
Do Opposites Detract? Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity And Inefficient Strategic Savings, Simone Schaner
Dartmouth Scholarship
This paper uses a field experiment to test whether intrahousehold heterogeneity in discount factors leads to inefficient strategic savings behavior. I gave married couples in rural Kenya the opportunity to open both joint and individual bank accounts at randomly assigned interest rates. I also directly elicited discount factors for all individuals in the experiment. Couples who are well matched on discount factors are less likely to use costly individual accounts and respond robustly to relative rates of return between accounts, while their poorly matched peers do not. Consequently, poorly matched couples forgo significantly more interest earnings on their savings. (JEL …
Consumer Credit: Too Much Or Too Little (Or Just Right)?, Jonathan Zinman
Consumer Credit: Too Much Or Too Little (Or Just Right)?, Jonathan Zinman
Dartmouth Scholarship
The intersection of research and policy on consumer credit often has a Goldilocks feel. Some researchers and policy makers posit that consumer credit markets produce too much credit. Other researchers and policy makers posit that markets produce too little credit. I review theories and evidence on inefficient consumer credit supply. For each of eight classes of theories I sketch some of the leading models and summarize any convincing empirical tests of those models. I also discuss more circumstantial evidence that does not map tightly onto a particular model but has the potential to shed light on, or obscure, answers to …
Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior And Related Parameter Estimates, Alix Peterson Zwane, Jonathan Zinman, Eric Van Dusen, William Pariente
Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior And Related Parameter Estimates, Alix Peterson Zwane, Jonathan Zinman, Eric Van Dusen, William Pariente
Dartmouth Scholarship
Does completing a household survey change the later behavior of those surveyed? In three field studies of health and two of microlending, we randomly assigned subjects to be surveyed about health and/or household finances and then measured subsequent use of a related product with data that does not rely on subjects' self-reports. In the three health experiments, we find that being surveyed increases use of water treatment products and take-up of medical insurance. Frequent surveys on reported diarrhea also led to biased estimates of the impact of improved source water quality. In two microlending studies, we do not find an …
Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract For Smoking Cessation, Xavier Giné, Dean Karlan, Jonathan Zinman
Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract For Smoking Cessation, Xavier Giné, Dean Karlan, Jonathan Zinman
Dartmouth Scholarship
We designed and tested a voluntary commitment product to help smokers quit smoking. The product (CARES) offered smokers a savings account in which they deposit funds for six months, after which they take a urine test for nicotine and cotinine. If they pass, their money is returned; otherwise, their money is forfeited to charity. Of smokers offered CARES, 11 percent took up, and smokers randomly offered CARES were 3 percentage points more likely to pass the 6-month test than the control group. More importantly, this effect persisted in surprise tests at 12 months, indicating that CARES produced lasting smoking cessation. …
Are You Sure You're Saving Enough For Retirement?, Jonathan Skinner
Are You Sure You're Saving Enough For Retirement?, Jonathan Skinner
Dartmouth Scholarship
Many view the soon-to-retire Baby Boomers as woefully unprepared for their golden years, while other economists have taken a more sanguine view of American levels of saving. And if Americans are failures at saving enough for retirement, why are some retirees so happy? The seemingly simple question of "Am I saving enough for retirement?" is apparently not so simple at all. Instead, it touches on a variety of deeper issues in economics, psychology, and health policy. I use the program ESPlanner to present life-cycle retirement wealth targets for a range of incomes and situations typical of American Economic Association members. …
Abortion Policy And Fertility Outcomes: The Eastern European Experience, Phillip B. Levine, Douglas Staiger
Abortion Policy And Fertility Outcomes: The Eastern European Experience, Phillip B. Levine, Douglas Staiger
Dartmouth Scholarship
Theory suggests that abortion restrictions will influence fertility outcomes such as pregnancy, abortion, and birth. This paper exploits the variations in abortion policy generated in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s to examine their impact on fertility outcomes. We distinguish among countries with severe, moderate, and few restrictions on abortion access and examine the impact of changes across all three categories. As we hypothesize, the results indicate that countries that changed from very restrictive to liberal abortion laws experienced a large reduction in births. Changes from modest restrictions to abortion available on request, however, led to no …
Household Saving: Micro Theories And Micro Facts, Martin Browning, Annamaria Lusardi
Household Saving: Micro Theories And Micro Facts, Martin Browning, Annamaria Lusardi
Dartmouth Scholarship
In this survey, we review the recent theoretical and empirical literature on household saving and consumption. The discussion is structured around a list of motives for saving and how well the standard theory captures these motives. We show that almost all of the motives for saving that have been suggested in the informal saving literature can be captured in the standard optimizing model. Particular attention is given to recent work on the precautionary motive and its implications for saving and consumption behavior. We also discuss the "behavioral" or "psychological" approach that eschews the use of standard optimization techniques and focuses …