Behavioral Economics Commons^™

The Extent To Which The Provision Of Water And Sanitation Services Affect The Individual’S Decision To Migrate: The Case Of Egypt, Sara Mohamed Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

Determinants of migration, although researched copiously shed little light on the importance of access to sustainable, basic water and sanitation utilities on an individual’s decision to migrate. This research reveals that individuals originating from rural Upper Egypt, rural and urban Lower Egypt, and rural and urban Alexandria and Suez Canal regions are more likely to migrate relative to those from the urban Greater Cairo region. Access to water has been deemed as insignificant while access to sanitation is a significant factor in determining migration patterns as do macro- economic differences in origin governorates, gender, educational background before migration, and employment …

Covid-19 Lockdowns And Air Quality In The United States, Ashlyn B. Cenicola

Economics Masters Project Research Papers

Using a difference-in-differences approach, I test whether the U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns influenced air pollution levels. I hypothesize that the halt in human mobility stemming from lockdowns caused transportation sector activity to decrease, leading to a reduction in related pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, and NO2. I investigate whether counties with strict lockdown policies experienced greater improvements in air pollution relative to before the lockdowns than counties with lenient lockdown policies. I use lockdown stringency data from the University of Oxford to identify strict versus lenient counties, and data from the Environmental Protection Agency to capture air pollution outcomes. The main …

The Missing Middle In Product Price Distribution, Pao-Li Chang, Xin Yi, Haeyeon Yoon

SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series

The IO literature has typically studied the supply-side factors that determine the price structure of products/services competing in a market. This paper pro-poses that the demand-side demographics could play an important role in shaping the product price structure. In particular, we document a “missing middle” phe-nomenon in both the income and the product price distributions in the U.S., based on the IPUMS ACS dataset (2005–2017) and the Nielsen Retail Scanner Data (2006–2017), for a large set of goods sold in the U.S. at the national, state, or commuting-zone level. We show that the lagged population share of the middle-income class …

Analysis Of Demand Under Time And Quantity Restriction Frames, Haily K. Traxler

Dissertations

For decades, behavioral economists and behavior analysts have borrowed techniques from one another to investigate human decision making. While there has been little overlap in their work, the union of the two may help to answer important questions about behavior. An emerging behavioral economic topic of interest in the behavior analytic literature is the analysis of how framing affects demand. The purpose of the present studies is to investigate some conditions under which demand is affected by framing and provide a behavior analytic interpretation of those effects. To assess the effects of framing, demand for marketplace items was assessed under …

Measuring The Impact Of Loan-To-Deposit Ratio (Ldr) On Banks' Liquidity In Nigeria, A. O. Adenuga, J. A. Mohammed, C. V. Laniyan, A. A. Akintola, O. C Asuzu

Economic and Financial Review

The study measures the impact of loan to deposit ratio (LDR) on Banks' liquidity in Nigeria between 2000Q1 and 2019Q3. The paper applied the Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR-X) methodology for estimation and forecasting. The result suggests that an LDR of 70.0 per cent, which reduces Banks' liquidity from N187.95 billion in 2019Q4, through N153.09 billion in 2020Q2 to close at N135.15 billion in 2020Q4, may require cautious acceptance. Thus, increasing LDR beyond 70.0 per cent may impact Banks' liquidity negatively. Furthermore, a direct relationship is established between LDR and inflation. The findings conform to a priori expectations as higher LDRs …

Are Nigerian Banks Vulnerable To Oil Price Shocks? A Stress Test Approach, A. T. Odu, A. R Sanusi

Economic and Financial Review

This study empirically examines the vulnerability of the Nigerian banking industry to extreme, but plausible, adverse oil price shocks. A structural vector autoregressive (SVAR-X) is adopted to achieve this objective. The study period covers 2007Q1 – 2020Q4. The simulations assess the asset quality performance of DMBs, using the NPLs, under three scenarios (baseline, adverse and severely adverse). The findings suggest that the entire banking industry, as well as individual DMBs, are vulnerable to adverse oil price shocks. Accordingly, the study recommends, strict compliance with the single obligor limit, by commercial banks, to mitigate adverse effects of volatilities in crude oil …

Happy Lottery Winners And Lottery-Ticket Bias, Seonghoon Kim, Andrew J. Oswald

Research Collection School Of Economics

The world spends a remarkable $250 billion a year on lottery tickets. Yet, perplexingly, it has proved difficult for social scientists to show that lottery windfalls actually make people happier. This is the famous and still unresolved paradox due initially to Brickman and colleagues. Here we describe an underlying weakness that has affected the research area, and explain the concept of lottery‐ticket bias (LT bias), which stems from unobservable lottery spending. We then collect new data—in the world’s most intense lottery‐playing nation, Singapore—on the amount that people spend on lottery tickets (n = 5626). We demonstrate that, once we correct …

High-Frequency Internet Survey Of A Probability Sample Of Older Singaporeans: The Singapore Life Panel, Rhema Vaithianathan, Bryce Hool, Michael D. Hurd, Susann Rohwedder

Research Collection School Of Economics

Facing a rapidly ageing population, Singapore is presented with urgent policy challenges. Yet there is very little data on the economic, health and family circumstances of older Singaporeans. In response, the Centre for Research on the Economics of Ageing (CREA) at Singapore Management University has been collecting monthly data on a panel of Singaporeans aged between 50 and 70 years. We detail the methodology by which the Singapore Life Panel® (SLP) was constructed using a population-representative sampling frame from the Singapore Department of Statistics. Contact was made with 25,000 households through postal, phone and in-person canvassing. More than 15,200 respondents …

Three Essays On Panel And Factor Models, Ji Feng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The dissertation includes three chapters on panel and factor models.

In the first chapter, we introduce a two-way linear random coefficient panel data models with fixed effects and the cross-sectional dependence. We follow the idea of the within-group fixed effects estimator to estimate parameters of interests. We establish the limiting distributions of the estimates and also propose the two-way heterogeneity bias test to check the desirability of the estimation strategy. The specification tests then are constructed to examine the existence of the slope heterogeneity and time-varyingness. We study the asymptotic properties of the specification tests and employ two bootstrap schemes …

Colombian Women’S Experiences Of Cosmetic Surgery And Its Relationship To Body Image, Austin Gonzalez-Randolph

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand women’s experiences of cosmetic surgery and its effects on body image on women from the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Pereira. The participants of this study were women of Colombian descent, who reside in Colombia. This was done with the hopes of better understanding how culture impacts views on cosmetic surgery. Colombia appears to have a culture that is very enmeshed with cosmetic surgery. This study provides an initial exploratory and qualitative investigation into the perception of body image as it relates to cosmetic surgery among six young women living in Colombia; …

Gender Differences In Risk, Social, And Competitive Preference. Experimental Evidence From Uzbekistan., Firuzjon Khayrulloev

Master's Theses

Most of the previous literature suggests that women are less competitive than men. However, I we hypothesize that women are as competitive as man when the incentive for winning equally matter for both genders. The option to share some of their winnings with other competitors may afford females benefit from rewards without suffering some of its potential costs. In this paper we conducted an experiment on 212 subjects and the results support our hypothesis. The gap in competitiveness between males and females vanishes when we allowed winners an opportunity to share some of their winnings. Overall, our work demonstrates that …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Couples, Families, And Finance, Melissa A. Curran, Ashley B. Lebaron, Xiaomin Li, Casey J. Totenhagen

Faculty Publications

For the nine papers that appear in this special issue, we identified three main organizing themes: (1) Understudied aspects of family financial socialization, (2) Individuals or couples in different-sex romantic relationships, and (3) Finances and perceived parent–child relationships. In this introduction, we describe the main points of each of these papers within each theme. We also discuss what we have learned from these papers (e.g., finances assessed using eight different datasets; range of samples including adults repaying loans, newlywed couples, and a nationally representative sample of U.S. college students) as well as what future research questions remain (e.g., financial studies …

The Health Costs Of Political Identity: Evidence From Public Safety Responses In The Us And A Natural Experiment In California, Sahiba Chopra

Master's Theses

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought political polarization in the US to the forefront of the battle against coronavirus. We find that for every one percentage point increase in votes for Trump there are 881 more Covid-19 cases and 17 more Covid-19 deaths. We find that these results are motivated by political identity as it is mediated through public safety behaviors like maskwearing and social distancing. In addition, a natural experiment in California during the first half of the pandemic in the US finds that 36% of the Covid-19 cases at the census tract level in California can be associated with …

Do Letters And Gifts From International Sponsors Affect Child Outcomes? Evidence From Colombia, Ghana, And Haiti, Mai Moua

Master's Theses

Past research has found child sponsorship results in higher aspirations, mental health, and educational outcomes. In this research, I explore the extent to which these outcomes can be influenced by letters and gifts sent from the sponsor to the child. However, there is limited research on the effects of direct relationship between sponsor and child. Using 1142 sponsor letters and a 2017 survey from Compassion International, an international child sponsorship organization, we find that letters and gifts from sponsors have a statistically insignificant impact on outcomes including education, mental health, aspirations, social connectedness, nutrition, religiosity, hygiene, and views on drugs, …

Neuroliberalism And Beyond, Neve Durrwachter

Anthropology Honors Papers

This paper evaluates the healthy lifestyle promotion corporation known as Blue Zones by focusing on their approach to behavioral modification. The analysis relies on popular theories of governmentality such as neoliberalism, libertarian paternalism, and neuroliberalism that seek to explain how personal forms of knowledge intersect with mechanisms of social control to influence the creation of policy. Through a content-analysis of the organization’s foundational text, I argue that Blue Zones is best understood as a form of neuroliberalism because it grants individuals the autonomy to be their own choice architects.

Big Five Personality Traits And Political Orientation: An Inquiry Into Political Beliefs, Ian E. Phillips

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Personality research centered on the Big Five personality traits has heavily impacted our understanding in regards to what forces orient a person on a political spectrum. Examining how personality differences interact with political orientation, this research seeks to provide information on what makes someone either more or less likely to be liberal or conservative based on their temperament. In this paper, previous personality research is synthesized into one discussion, centered on what the effects of each trait are and how they impact political orientation, the heritability of personality, and what implications there are for such research in the realm of …

Better Together? Effects Of Dyadic Collaboration On Intertemporal Preference, Emily Edgington

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Abstract

Intertemporal choices have been researched extensively in the context of individual choices. However, empirical evidence is absent regarding intertemporal preferences when two individuals collaborate on a choice task. This study aimed to compare the rates of discounting under the condition of dyadic collaboration and individual decisions. Furthermore, this study examined the collaboration sessions in an online video conferencing platform. Results showed a strong, positive correlation between average individual discounting rates and corresponding dyad rates of discounting. The findings of this study should be considered when making intertemporal decisions.

Key Words: delay discounting, group decision-making, online collaboration

Giving In Dictator Games: Factors Of Generosity, Margaret Gallagher, Prachi Jain

Honors Thesis

Because perceptions of luck, hard work, and the idea of a “me vs. you” mindset often influence people’s ideas of fairness, it is important to understand these perceptions and how they can affect giving and support for redistributive policies. To better understand the factors that influence people to give or not give to others, I created two modified dictator games to answer the research questions, “How does the generation of initial allocation in a dictator game affect perceptions of deservingness?” and “How does competitive and cooperative priming affect dictator allocation choices between efficiency and inefficiency?” By varying the way the …

Determinants Of Female Bargaining Power In Northern Mozambican Households, Sara Marilyn Gardner

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

Melinda Gates stated, “If you search for poverty, you will find women who don’t have power. If you explore prosperity, you will find women who do have power and use it.” Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, women are expected to perform disproportional amounts of labor but are often ignored in household decision-making regarding social and economic matters. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) states that women in Mozambique are highly disadvantaged, relative to men, due to low levels of education, maternal health risks, restricted economic prospects, and cultural norms. This study aims to better understand the causes of female empowerment in Northern …

Studying Successful Ageing: A Showcase Of The Singapore Life Panel, Jee Yuen Yew, Jia Wei Gwee, Anirudh Srivathsan

ROSA Research Briefs

In this special issue of the ROSA Research Brief Series, we showcase two aspects of the work being done at the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA). Firstly, we showcase the capabilities of the Singapore Life Panel (SLP) and the data that the SLP is able to obtain and measure on a monthly basis. Secondly, we showcase the amazing work of the SGUnited Traineeship Programme’s Research Assistants at ROSA who have proven themselves to be incredible assets in helping further ROSA’s aims of enabling successful ageing in Singapore. ROSA aims to measure well-being among older adults holistically in order …

Jr. And Sr. High At-Risk Students Within Poverty: Formation Of The Mentor-Mentee Program In Addressing Their Needs, John J. Noggle

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

In the Spring of 2015, I was driving toward Southwest Arkansas to my new appointment at Stamps First United Methodist Church. As I was driving further south on Highway 71, I began to notice how poverty-stricken South Arkansas was. Towns that were once the commercial service centers to their communities contained empty store buildings and little economic life. It was then that I knew that the majority of children in South Arkansas were At-Risk children in poverty. I felt a call in my Spirit to help those in need by developing a plan of action to help them in meeting …

Effects Of Covid: Non-Essential V Essential Industries, William Shipley

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

As the year 2020 has finally come to an end and the end of Covid is in near sight, it is important for us to look back at how it has shaped the world from an economic perspective. Ever since the closure of most of the U.S. and global economy in March 2020 it has made us deem which companies we consider essential and non-essential. This major decision came as all governments across the world had to close the operations of as many companies they could to limit the spread of the covid-19 virus. This major choice of determining what …

Brain Drain In Mississippi, Clifford Adam Conner

Honors Theses

Brain drain is the out-migration of educated individuals from an area. It is a problem with which Mississippi is overly familiar. This thesis uses data gathered from a survey of 965 respondents to identify who is leaving the state and for what reasons. The data gathered suggest confirmation that brain drain is an issue for the state, with roughly two-thirds of respondents having left the state or seriously considering doing so. The impetus for this varies with each individual, but respondents underscore economic and societal factors within Mississippi as pushing them away from the state. Quality of life factors are …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Single Women, Catherine Martens

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since its formation in the 1700’s, America has been home to varying degrees of discrepancies between social classes, which include assumptions inherently held within these differences. Considering the fact that America was largely built by the hands of human slaves ruled by those with political influence often landowners, social hierarchy has been intricately woven into the fabric of America’s story from the beginning. Despite the progress that has been made to create and advance equal economic opportunity, there is still a considerable lack of social mobility available for those in lower socioeconomic statuses. More specifically, the impact of poverty is …

Economic Experiments On Conflict, Information Acquisition, And Public Goods, Jeffrey Braxton Gately

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains essays on economic experiments. The first chapter, “Well, at Least I Tried: Partial Willful Ignorance, Information Acquisition, and Social Preferences,” focuses on the effects of information acquisition on social decision-making. The second chapter, “Paved With Good Intentions: Partial Willful Ignorance and Group Identity in Public Goods Games,” focuses on the effect of information acquisition on contributions to public goods. I also explore human conflict in the third chapter, “Risk Preferences and Reform Paths: Experimental Evidence.”

In my first chapter, “Well, at Least I Tried: Partial Willful Ignorance, Information Acquisition, and Social Preferences”, I investigate whether remaining partially …

The Impact Of Information Shocks And Partisanship On The Evolution Of Covid-19 In Connecticut, Joslin Valiyaveettil

Honors Scholar Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life within the United States since early 2020. How people decided to behave during this time heavily influenced the trends that followed, triggering both health and behavioral economic concerns. Those trends seemed to vary based on the area and the beliefs of those constituents. This paper explores how partisan beliefs had an impact on the changes in case rates that occurred within the top 30 most populated towns in the state of Connecticut. In July 2020, former President Donald Trump sent out a tweet publicly endorsing face masks for the first time. …

How The Level Of Job Complexity Impacts The Gender Wage Gap Across Occupations, Zytlaly Magaña Corona

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The present study focused on unpacking the social and structural aspects of job complexity to better understand its effects on the gender wage gap. Previous research on the job complexity-compensation dynamic has primarily focused on cognitive complexity. Job complexity across occupations were examined using work activity data from O*NET and merging it with the Current Population Survey data sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (N=67,003). Results revealed that higher complexity jobs in this study yielded greater wage disparities across different occupations as predicted. Furthermore, physical activities and gaining knowledge from the Generalized Work Activities were the two most …

Consumer Motivations And Perceived Value In Online Second-Hand Luxury Fashion Shopping, Murphy Brianne Aycock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The second-hand luxury fashion market is growing four times faster than the primary luxury fashion market and already represents a $24 billion market today (Beauloye, 2019; Siwak, 2020). Younger generations such as millennials and Gen Z are buying and selling preowned luxury products almost three times faster than any other age group (Beauloye, 2019). Digital selling platforms such as The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective are fueling the growth of the second-hand luxury fashion market (Beauloye, 2019). Despite the increased consumer interests and sales growth in the second-hand luxury fashion market, existing research has not concentrated on the underlying motivations of …

Rising Costs, Stagnant Prices: How Video Game Companies Truly Earn Profit, Lucas Mcculloch

Senior Honors Projects

Despite being one of the youngest forms of entertainment, video games have grown from a relatively niche market into an economic juggernaut, easily eclipsing both film and music in market value. In particular, the global video games industry has doubled in value in under a decade, from an estimated global revenue of approximately $80 billion in 2012 to approximately $160 billion in 2020. In order to better understand the economic principles underlying the rise of the gaming industry over the past decade, this project includes an interview of game developer and industry insider Rami Ismail and an in-depth literature review. …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Healthy Food Choices, Kaylea Hopfer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of mindfulness has a long history in research, particularly psychological studies. In this paper I examine the effects of a short mindfulness intervention on healthy food purchases. Specifically, I developed an online survey and recruited 634 participants via Prolific between July 24 - July 27, 2020. I randomly assigned participants to either a mindfulness manipulation or a control condition. Following treatment (or control) participants completed a food choice task and various other control. Following the survey, I analyzed data using R version 4.0.2 (2020-06-22) and R-Studio. I estimated three different regression models, ordinary least squares (OLS), Poisson, and …