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. …

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 …

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.

Does Bitcoin Use Affect Crime Rates?, Kevin Keane

The Corinthian

Bitcoin is the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world because of its decentralized network that completes user-to-user transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries. During 2017, the volume of Bitcoin transactions totaled $94.3 trillion. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public database called the blockchain. Although the blockchain can keep track of how many transactions there are, it can’t identify the people involved in transactions. The lack of identity increases the anonymity of Bitcoin transactions, making it less detectable when used for crime. Using the Uniform Crime Reporting’s state-level crime rate data and blockchain’s Bitcoin transaction information, I estimate the …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Religious Travel: Present And Future Trends, Daniel H. Olsen, Dallen Timothy

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had dramatic effects on both the health and economic stability of countries around the world. While several scholars and media commentators have suggested that the pandemic would be a good time to reset an unsustainable tourism system, left out of these discussions has been the impacts on religion and religious travel. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious travel, including the tensions that have arisen between religious communities, governments and health officials. The paper then discusses potential futures regarding religious travel in a …

Writing Tips For Economics Research Papers, Plamen Nikolov

Economics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Establishing Factors Affecting Tax Morale Of The Millennials In The Gig Economy, Farah Nabila Md Fadzil

Student Works (2020-2029)

The lack of clear conceptual framework and understanding of the tax morale in the gig economy is due to the contemporary literature being sparse. Considering the development of the gig economy, the purpose of this study is to provide insights on the factors affecting tax morale of those working in the gig economy. Data was then collected from millennials working in the gig economy through a questionnaire survey and analysed using second generation multivariate analysis, known as PLS-SEM. Taking into account self-efficacy and social cognitive theory as theoretical foundation, the findings reveal that while the extent of the dependency on …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Adaptive Utility: Observing The Rate Of Adaptation In Happiness As Short Run Shifts Revert To Long Run Averages, Cameron Bellamoroso

Honors Thesis

In economics, human decision-making models are based on the utility, or happiness, a person experiences from the choices they make. Individual happiness is closely tied to societal and global well-being, a common political and and research goal. Psychological studies on happiness show that people generally return to an average level of happiness after experiencing a significant positive or negative change in their life, a process known as the ``hedonic treadmill.'' Empirically, it is often difficult for people to predict the specific utility they will experience from a given choice, leading them to maintain constant preferences for only frequently experienced options. …

Financial Literacy And French Behaviour On The Stock Market, Luc Arrondel

Numeracy

This article looks back over the different dimensions of financial literacy: theoretical, methodological, empirical and political. The theoretical foundations of the notion of financial literacy are presented with reference to recent contributions by psychological or behavioural economics: “household finance” refers to the concept of financial literacy based on the empirical dead-ends of standard saver theory. This raises the fundamental question as to how to measure and evaluate financial literacy. Here, we are especially interested in the empirical robustness of a standard measure of financial literacy based on three straightforward questions (interest calculations, notion of inflation and risk diversification). Is this …

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 …

Income Inequality And Crime: Consumption Channel, Ishak Nur Annizah

Student Works (2020-2029)

The general objective of this study is to examine the relationship between income inequality and crime. Many studies have discussed the relationship between inequality and crime. However, all the literature focused on ‘absolute’ measurements, such as income, poverty, Gini index, education, and employment. They neglected the importance of ‘relative concept’ - a missing element of the way economists analyze inequality. This study argues income inequality is visible through conspicuous consumption. Hence this study proposes conspicuous consumption as another possible channel that could explain the relationship between inequality and crime. Specifically, this study comprises of four specific research objectives. The first …

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.

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.

Empirical Asset Pricing Of Saudi Stock Market, Muath Alolayan

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This essay tests the differences in equity returns between Islamic and conventional firms using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Fama & French three factors model, and Fama & French four factors model. We us the Fama-Macbeth methodology to test the adequacy and explanatory power of the various model specifications. We find that the CAPM can better predict the factors for Islamic firms but not the conventional firms. There was a failure of Fama and French three factors and four factors model for Islamic, conventional and the total market. The estimated Beta is very close to the market for the …

Essays On Issues In Management And Gender, Priyanka Chakraborty

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three empirical essays that focus on the intersection of management, gender issues and education. I am interested in finding policy interventions that promote healthy, efficient and more inclusive workplaces. To do so, I study the micro and behavioral aspects of labor markets using different methodologies. In Chapters 1 and 2, I study two key features in management, namely mentorship and leadership. Both have an economic impact on individual employee outcomes as well as organizational performance. I examine advice giving in mentoring relations in my job market paper and leadership decisions, performance and styles of men and …

Data For "Consistent Differences In A Virtual World Model Of Ape Societies", Bart J. Wilson, Sarah F. Brosnan, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Crickette M. Sanz

Business and Economics Faculty Data Sets

The zip file contains the data for the paper entitled "Consistent Differences in a Virtual World Model of Ape Societies" which appears in Scientific Reports.

Allocation Of Public Resources: Bringing Order To Chaos, Lance Clifner

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Science Olympiad (SO) is a team-based academic competition involving multiple subject areas (Events) with arcane rules governing the team composition. Add to the mix parental contention over which student(s) get on the “All-Star” team, and you have a potentially explosive situation. This project brings order and logic to school-based SO programs and defuses tense milestones through the implementation of an institutional structure that: assigns students to Events based on solicited student preferences for the Events, collects objective student performance data, composes competitive teams based on student performance (aka “Moneyball”), and brings transparency to the Team Selection process through crowdsourcing. The …

Sustainable Development Issue In The Relocation Policy At Peterongan Market, Semarang City, Mira Esti Kusumaningrum, Tiya Juliani, Khairul Amri, Muhammad Alfan Silamon, Fenny Roshayanti

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

In 2015, Peterongan Market was one of the traditional markets in the city of Semarang which was widely discussed there because of its relocation according to new government sustainable development policy. This study aims to determine the social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts of that relocation. It follows a qualitative descriptive approach using qualitative data obtained from interviews with various sources such as traders, buyers, and parking attendants, who were most directly affected, as well as field observations and literature studies from various relevant journals and newspapers. Furthermore, qualitative data analysis uses three activity streams in the form of data …

Essays On Emotional Well-Being, Health Insurance Disparities And Health Insurance Markets, Disha Shende

Economics ETDs

This dissertation has three research papers. First paper looks at the effect of social networks on emotional well-being of cancer patients by studying the response of social networks on their depression symptoms. Using the data from a primary survey conducted in Nepal, the study finds that social networks significantly reduce depression symptoms among cancer patients. The results strongly advocate for the importance of the social networks in improving their emotional well-being. Second paper examines the health coverage disparities among Hispanic and non-Hispanic young adults in five southwestern states of the United States. Using the pooled data from American Community Survey …

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 …

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 …

Impacts Of Rift Valley Fever Virus: A One Health Approach To Assess Burden And Inform Prevention And Control Options, Catherine Machalaba

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a climate-sensitive emerging zoonotic disease associated with large-scale livestock production losses and human disease burden in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. While recognized as a key One Health issue based on its transmission dynamics involving human, animal and environmental determinants, there has been poor coordination between sectors to reduce the risk and impact of RVF. Efforts to counter the disease remain largely reactive, presenting an ongoing threat to local and global health security. The intent of this dissertation was to improve understanding of the burden of RVF across society and to identify entry …

The Effect Of Piracy Website Blocking On Consumer Behavior, Brett Danaher, Jonathan Hersh, Michael D. Smith, Rahul Telang

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

In this study, we ask what drives the success or failure of various supply-side anti-piracy enforcement actions such as piracy website blocking. We do this in the context of three court-ordered events affecting consumers in the United Kingdom: We first study Internet Service Providers’ blocking of 53 video piracy sites in 2014 and of 19 piracy sites in 2013, and we then study the blocking of a single dominant site, “The Pirate Bay,” in 2012.

We show that blocking 53 sites in 2014 caused treated users to decrease piracy and to increase their usage of legal subscription sites between 7% …

Sanctuary Cities And Their Respective Effect On Crime Rates, Adam R. Schutt

Undergraduate Economic Review

According to the U.S. Center for Immigration Studies (2017), cities or counties in twenty-four states declare themselves as a place of “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants. This study addresses the following question: Do sanctuary cities experience higher crime rates than those cities that are not? Using publicly available data, this regression analysis investigates the relationship between crime rates in selected cities and independent variables which the research literature or the media has linked to criminal activity. Results of this research reveal that sanctuary cities do not experience higher violent or property crime rates than those cities that are not sanctuary cities.

Effect Of Unemployment Length On Employment Expectations, Kamyar Kamyar

Undergraduate Economic Review

Unemployment often has devastating effects on individuals -- both in financial and psychological terms. Depending on the type and category of unemployment, its length varies; and as its length increases it may implement biased thought in individuals’ predictions regarding future employment. This paper’s primary purpose is to measure and discuss how the time length that one has been unemployed for affects his or her expectations on his or her own short-term possibility of employment. The results suggest a strong opposite link between one’s prediction of future employment and the same person’s prior unemployment period. This paper was originally written in …