Behavioral Economics Commons^™

Voluntary Simplicity: An Exploration Through Text Analysis, Apollo Demierel

Barowsky School of Business | Faculty Scholarship

Overconsumption poses severe ethical problems and causes harm to the environment. Today many individuals change their consumption practices and actively limit their overall consumption due to ethical and environmental concerns. This article focuses on voluntary simplicity, a sustainable lifestyle phenomenon that comprises environment-friendly consumption practices as an innate characteristic. This paper offers a fresh and nuanced understanding of voluntary simplicity through the lens of social cognitive theory (SCT) and by examining textual content generated by voluntary simplifiers on Facebook. Five thousand three hundred thirty-six Facebook posts and comments were scrapped and examined using sentiment analysis, associative networks and cluster analysis. …

Natural Disasters And Domestic Violence: A Study Of The 2015 Nepal Earthquake, Arpita Khanna, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

This study explores the link between exposure to an earthquake and the incidence of intimate partner violence using two rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys data in Nepal. Using a differences-in-differences estimation, we find that exposure to the earthquake lead to a statistically and economically significant increase in the incidence of intimate partner violence in urban areas, which is attributable to the increase in stress felt by the victims. We argue that the heterogeneity of the impact between the urban and rural areas would be partly due to the differences in the reconstruction processes and assistance provided.

Decomposing Duration Dependence: Skill Depreciation Vs. Statistical Discrimination, Ismail Baydur, Jianhuan Xu

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper develops a random matching model with unobserved worker heterogeneity and learning about worker types from unemployment duration. The model features negative duration dependence that stems from unobserved heterogeneity as well as statistical discrimination and skill depreciation. We estimate our model using micro-level data from Current Population Survey (CPS) and we decompose the contribution of each channel to job finding rates by duration. We find that shutting down statistical discrimination substantially increases the job finding rates of the long-term unemployed while skill depreciation mainly affects the medium-term unemployed.

Staying Connected: The Importance Of Social Integration On The Well-Being Of Older Adults, Paulin T. Straughan, Vincent Chua, Stephen Hoskins, Frosch Quek

ROSA Research Briefs

It has been about a year since COVID-19 first emerged and reshaped the daily lives of people around the globe, including Singaporeans. Since moving past the circuit breaker in June, Singapore has gradually re-opened and relaxed its restrictions in different phases. As Singapore prepares for Phase 3- the final and least restrictive phase, it is important to examine how Singaporeans have coped and responded with the circuit breaker (7 April 2020) and its gradual easing of restriction in Phase 1 (2nd June 2020) and Phase 2 (19 June 2020), and identify the groups which have fallen through the gaps in …

Writing Tips For Economics Research Papers, Plamen Nikolov

Economics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Housing Equity And Household Consumption In Retirement: Evidence From The Singapore Life Panel©, Lipeng Chen, Liang Jiang, Sock Yong Phang, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

Housing affordability for elderly homeowners involves an entirely different set of issues as compared to housing affordability for first-time homeowners. To afford to ‘age-in-place’ may require homeowners to access channels that enable them to withdraw their housing equity to finance consumption in retirement. We utilize data from the Singapore Life Panel© survey to empirically investigate the impact of housing equity on the consumption of elderly households. Based on panel analysis, we find housing equity value has no significant impact on non-durable consumption for elderly people. The conclusion holds for a battery of robustness checks. Moreover, heterogeneity analyses based on subsamples …

Investor Behavior In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic, Abigail N. Bates

Honors Projects

Investors partaking in portfolio and asset management through the stock market and other avenues do so with certain reasoning and methods in hand. Each investor may have different interests and risk tolerances that guide their choices for investment. Behavioral finance allows for an in-depth look at an investor’s actions and the influencing psychology behind it. Before this approach was popularized, early studies of finance assumed that investors were always rational in their decision making and put resources only into opportunities that would increase their utility or happiness. The behavioral finance approach takes a more comprehensive look at these behaviors and …

Does Early Access To Pension Wealth Improve Health?, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh

Research Collection School Of Economics

We examine the health impacts of early access to public pension wealth by exploiting a unique policy in Singapore allowing individuals to withdraw a proportion of their pension savings after their 55th birthday. For the identification, we employ a regression discontinuity design by comparing individuals before and after their 55th birthday. To address anticipated and lagged health impacts, we adopt the donut regression discontinuity approach. Using nationally representative monthly panel data, we find that early access to pension wealth improves self‐reported overall health.

Discovering The Relationship Between Investor Attention And Trade Volume In The Philippine Stock Exchange Using Google Search Analysis, Patrick Allan G. Morando, Isabel Louise D. Banico, Martin Stevens C. Ng, Riggs Mattieu M. Villardo

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

This study investigates the relationship between daily Google search volume and trade volume in the Philippine Stock Exchange. This is completed by employing a sample consisting of listed stocks in the Philippine Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2019 and testing the veracity of three different keyword categories in proxying investor attention. The empirical results indicate that when using company names and stock tickers as Google search keywords, there is a strong positive relationship between Google search volume and trade volume. This implies that the more investors search for a stock’s company name or ticker, the more likely that there will …

Covid-19, Lockdown, And The Dynamics Of Subjective Well-Being, Terence C. Cheng, Kim, Kanghyock Koh

Research Collection School Of Economics

We provide novel evidence on how the COVID-19 global health and economic crisis is affecting overall life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction using data from a monthly longitudinal survey of middle-aged and older Singaporeans. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we document large declines in overall life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction during the COVID-19 outbreak, except satisfaction with health. These declines coincide with the introduction of a nationwide lockdown, with life satisfaction remaining below its pre-pandemic levels even after the lockdown is lifted. We also find that individuals who report a drop in household income during the COVID-19 outbreak experience a decline in …

Spending Impact Of Covid-19 Stimulus Payments: Evidence From Card Transaction Data In South Korea, Kim, Kanghyock Koh, Wonjun Lyou

Research Collection School Of Economics

Various countries have implemented transfer programs to individuals since the Covid-19 outbreaks. However, the extent to which such transfers alleviate economic recessions is unclear. This paper analyzes a South Korean program, which provided vouchers redeemable only at small local businesses. We find that, due to the program, over 30% of households across all income groups increased their food and overall household spending, but the usage restriction may have affected consumer choice, distorting business competition. While the employment and sales of small businesses improved, the program’s fiscal sustainability is in question because of the large tax exemption.

Assessing The Potential Equity Outcomes Of Maine’S Climate Action Plan: Framework, Analysis And Recommendations, Senator George J. Mitchell Center For Sustainability Solutions

General University of Maine Publications

The recommendations of these groups have now been completed and the equity assessment that you see before you contains an analysis that was carried out by the University of Maine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (hereafter, Mitchell Center) to assess the recommendations’ attention to equity issues.

While the impacts of Maine decreasing its greenhouse gas emissions will not be large relative to global emissions, the state’s Climate Action Plan is an important step in the right direction. Maine is not only leading by example, but is also creating policies that will reduce emissions as well as enhance …

Predictors Of Social Distancing And Mask-Wearing Behavior: Panel Survey In Seven U.S. States, Plamen Nikolov, Andreas Pape, Ozlem Tonguc, Charlotte Williams

Economics Faculty Scholarship

This paper presents preliminary summary results from a longitudinal study of participants in seven U.S. states during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to standard socio-economic characteristics, we collect data on various economic preference parameters: time, risk, and social preferences, and risk perception biases. We pay special attention to predictors that are both important drivers of social distancing and are potentially malleable and susceptible to policy levers. We note three important findings: (1) demographic characteristics exert the largest influence on social distancing measures and mask-wearing, (2) we show that individual risk perception and cognitive biases exert a critical role in influencing …

Health And Profit In Student Housing During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Austin Mcneill Brown

Population Health Research Brief Series

The decision to reopen some U.S. universities during the current COVID-19 pandemic may be tied to private financial interests in student housing.

Attitudes, Behaviours, And The Well-Being Of Older Singaporeans In The Time Of Covid-19: Perspectives From The Singapore Life Panel, Paulin T. Straughan, William Tov, Seonghoon Kim, Terence Cheng, Stephen Hoskins, Micah Tan

ROSA Research Briefs

COVID-19 has affected all Singaporeans, regardless of age and socioeconomic status (SES). Many measures have been implemented by the government to control the spread of this disease, including restrictions on social gatherings, restrictions on overseas travel, and making it compulsory to wear a mask. Measures have also included a partial lockdown – known as the ‘circuit breaker’ – which began in April 2020. This forced Singaporeans to quickly adapt to a new normal with some doing better than others. This research brief provides an overview of how COVID-19 and its related measures have affected seniors in Singapore using data from …

Three Essays Of Assessing The Risk, Adaptation And Resilience To Natural Disasters, Mohammad Asif Hasan Khan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters in environmental and natural resource economics. In the first chapter, using survey data, I investigate what factors are important in people's evacuation decisions in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. I examine if temporal spillover is present in their decision making and how significant the spillover effect is. With that objective in mind, I examine the effect of previous evacuation experience on future evacuation decision. I also analyze how network effects influence people's evacuation decisions during a natural disaster.

As the threat of climate change grows, communities around the world are facing the dangers of …

Rationing Social Contact During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Transmission Risk And Social Benefits Of Us Locations, Seth G. Benzell, Avinash Collis, Christos Nicolaides

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

To prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some types of public spaces have been shut down while others remain open. These decisions constitute a judgment about the relative danger and benefits of those locations. Using mobility data from a large sample of smartphones, nationally representative consumer preference surveys, and economic statistics, we measure the relative transmission reduction benefit and social cost of closing 26 categories of US locations. Our categories include types of shops, entertainments, and service providers. We rank categories by their trade-off of social benefits and transmission risk via dominance across 13 dimensions of risk and …

Consumer Response To Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) At Bridgewater College, Abenezer Tekle

Honors Projects

With the development of multinational companies (MNCs), corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a very important component of corporate strategic plan. This study provides preliminary evidence that consumer response about the CSR behavior of Multinational Corporation are determined by different factors. In order to identify and measure the effects of CSR behavior on consumer response, I used quantitative research by creating an online survey to analyze three objectives. Nike was specifically included in the survey due to its popularity on college campuses. The results show that knowledge/awareness of CSR have some meaningful influence on millennial purchasing behavior; however, extensive student …

Economics Of Reciprocity And Temptation, Laxman Bokati, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Nguyen Ngoc Thach

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Behavioral economics has shown that in many situations, people's behavior differs from what is predicted by simple traditional utility-maximization economic models. It is therefore desirable to be able to accurately describe people's actual behavior. In some cases, the difference from the traditional models is caused by bounded rationality -- our limited ability to process information and to come up with a truly optimal solutions. In such cases, predicting people's behavior is difficult. In other cases, however, people actually optimize -- but the actual expression for utility is more complicated than in the traditional models. In such case, it is, in …

"Bad Hombres" And The Bully Pulpit: A Study Of Presidential Rhetoric On Social Media And Behavioral Responses Of The Immigrant Population, Mary Vlamis

Honors Scholar Theses

For years, social scientists have studied the impact of presidential rhetoric on public opinion and consumer behavior. This paper adds to the literature on presidential rhetoric by investigating how presidential statements on social media change public behavior in a reaction to these statements. President Trump's immigration policy tweets are used to examine if there is a relationship between the president's statements and changes in behavior using and Google searches. I find no relationship between the instance of a President Trump’s tweet and changes in searching for related topics among both large immigrant populations and Trump supporters.

Incentivized Learning And Libraries: A Comparative Study Of Summer Reading Programs In Connecticut, Andrew Morrison

Honors Scholar Theses

With digital forms of entertainment and media more inescapable than ever, it has become increasingly difficult to encourage children and teens to read. Simultaneously, despite an overwhelming amount of literature demonstrating the educational benefits of reading, especially as a necessity in the summer between academic years, library budgets are shrinking as federal funding nears its end. How do libraries promote summer reading amidst declining interest and decreased funding? Using data from public libraries across Connecticut, this paper investigates how libraries are adapting their children's summer reading programs to a changing landscape, how programs are designed to incentivize reading without eliminating …

Chaprates, Brinly Xavier, Micole Amanda Marietta, Nidhi Vedantam

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

On the Chapman campus, through taking and choosing various classes, there is a significant need for communication and feedback between students and peers, professors, tutors, and study groups. With this, we wanted to create an application that enables users from various majors to not only easily and effectively communicate with various people in their field, but one that also enables them to give and receive feedback on various classes through a rating system. We believe that the application will aid students in a myriad of specific ways, including being involved in study groups and getting tutoring help, determining which classes …

Technology In Major League Baseball: 2017 Houston Astros, Prisoner’S Dilemma, And Behavioral Solutions, Spencer Kinyon

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper compares and contrasts the economic model for baseball in the 20th century without technology and the economic model for baseball in the 21st century with technology. Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have evolved to use technology to improve the performance of players on the field. This paper explores the economics of penalties in MLB and how teams are penalized for their use of illegal technology. In the 2017 season, the Houston Astros used illegal technology that led the team to win the World Series. This paper provides a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether or not a team should …

The Responsiveness Of Household’S Charitable Donations To Income Changes Across Religious Groups, Mitch Grenier

Economics Department Student Scholarship

This study examines the motivations behind the higher level of charitable donations by the religious by measuring the income elasticity of charitable donations separately for different religious groups and different charitable causes, such as religious organizations, organizations serving the needy or combined purpose organizations.

Earning, Taxing, Spending, Saving: Tracking South Dakota Incomes, Matthew Berg

Schultz-Werth Award Papers

When tracking the flow of personal incomes, four groupings of expenditures emerge: taxes, fixed expenses, saving, and consumption. This cross-sectional study of 2016 data highlights the differences in these areas across the sixty-six South Dakota counties and between various levels of income to illustrate the income flows among South Dakota residents. Using data primarily from the Internal Revenue Service, several important patterns and statistics arise. In South Dakota, the average statewide income per capita was about $32,127. Individuals in metropolitan counties received the highest average incomes per capita, and individuals in counties with the lowest population densities had the lowest. …

Measuring The Chinese Economic Impact Of Covid-19, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The COVID-19 outbreak currently sweeping around the globe with deadly results will create hardships for a good proportion of businesses in China while generating new opportunities for others, says Jing Wu, Assistant Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics.

The Economic Impact Of The Metro Manila (Ncr) Enhanced Community Quarantine, Krista Danielle Yu, Kathleen Aviso, Raymond R. Tan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Metro Manila (NCR) comprises 37.5 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) and the 30-day enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will cause a significant decline in the national economy. This policy brief is based on a persistent inoperability input-output model to estimate two metrics: inoperability and economic losses. This takes into account the interdependent nature of the different sectors of the economy and considers the impact of the pandemic on the productivity of sectors directly affected by the ECQ such as the manufacturing, construction, trade, finance, private sector services, and transport sectors. Unlike previous model, PIIM results will provide insights …

Why Is Las Vegas Busy Everyday? A Behavioural Analysis Of Impact Investors’ Attitude And Decision-Making Process, Isha Shah

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Remarking a discrepancy in the statistics of a growing influence of impact investment and yet its restrictive inclusion in the financial market has encouraged this inductive research to take an alternative approach to address the impact investment market. In an emic perspective, this study aims to assess the factors motivating individuals and institutions to pursue impact investment. Further, it also investigates some elements that guide the decision making of the investors in this field. The qualitative nature of the research demands exceptional secondary sources and it is rendered more credible with the inclusion of three relevant primary sources. The analysis …

The Paradox Of Insurance, Gideon Parchomovsky, Peter Siegelman

All Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, we uncover a paradoxical phenomenon that has hitherto largely escaped the attention of legal scholars and economists, yet it has far-reaching implications for insurance law: loss-creation by uninsured parties caused by the presence of insurance. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we show that insurance can create significant negative externalities by inducing third parties to engage in antisocial, illegal and unethical activities in order to extract money from insureds or insurers. Moreover, as the amount and scope of insurance grows, so does its distortionary effect on third parties. We term this phenomenon the paradox of insurance. The risk …

Fertility And Rural Electrification In Bangladesh, Tomoki Fujii, Abu S. Shonchoy

Research Collection School Of Economics

We use contemporaneous and retrospective panel datasets to examine the household-level relationship between fertility and access to electricity in Bangladesh. We find that access to electricity reduces fertility by about 0.2 children over a period of five years or total fertility rate by about 1.2 in most estimates. This finding is robust with respect to the choice of the estimation method, the choice of sample, and potential presence of endogeneity. The finding also corroborates the theoretical predictions on time use and consumption pattern derived from our model of electrification and fertility. The results also suggest that television is an important …