Behavioral Economics Commons^™

Education, Income, And Social Behavior Across Missouri, Gail Heyne Hafer, R. W. Hafer

Center for Applied Economics

This study investigates the relationship between education and several economic and social outcomes. On the economic side we consider the link between education and income. We also look at how education is related to health choices and social cohesion. Our basic question is: “What is the relationship between educational decisions made in the past and economic and social outcomes today?” Answers to this question reflect not only personal educational choices, but also shed light on the policy issue of why it is important to improve educational attainment.

Environmental Behavior Factors Influencing The Outlook Of Chinese College Students On The Domestic Adoption Of Solar Photovoltaic Technology, Emmanuel Amoako, John Taylor Wilson

Undergraduate Review

Over the last century, China has soared in economic growth and now stands as the world’s second-largest economy. However, rapid economic growth has given rise to environmental degradation. New visions and innovative technological systems, such as domestic solar photovoltaic systems, have been introduced to mitigate pollution from power generation. Despite the positive individual and environmental benefits associated with adopting this innovative system, adoption rates of solar PV system remain comparatively low in China. Survey data targeting environmental behavior factors were distributed among Chinese college students in Shanghai and Beijing to facilitate understanding of the low adoption rate and to shed …

Loss Aversion, Upset Preference, And Sports Television Viewing Audience Size, Brad Humphreys, Levi Pérez

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

A growing body of research examines the effect of loss aversion (LA) on consumers’ decisions to watch or attend sporting events. Much of this research focuses on live game attendance. In contrast to the predictions of uncertainty of outcome hypothesis (UOH), loss-averse consumers prefer watching either potential upsets, or dominant performances by strong favorites, to events with uncertain outcomes. We test for LA vs. UOH effects in television viewing audience data for free over-the-air broadcasts of 304 Spanish football matches from 2008/09 to 2015/16. This setting generates substantial variation home team win probabilities because of the presence of Real Madrid …

Who Reacts To Income Tax Rate Changes? The Relationship Between Income Taxes And The Motivation To Work: The Case Of Azerbaijan, Orkhan Nadirov, Bruce Dehning, Khatai Aliyev, Minura Iskandarova

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

This research investigates the effects of income taxation on the motivation to work by employing a survey method for the Azerbaijan population. The two research questions of interest are, if subjects consider income taxes when deciding how many hours to work and how subjects would react to a hypothetical 5% income tax rate increase. Also examined are the responses to these questions between subjects with different socio-economic characteristics. Examining cross-sectional data of 326 respondents reveals that income taxes do not influence Azerbaijan labour market participants’ motivation to work, regardless of their socio-economic characteristics. Empirical results indicate that reactions to hypothetical …

Life Insurance: Nudges And Adverse Selection, Timothy F. Harris

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

Death of a breadwinner can have devastating financial consequences on surviving dependents through lost earnings and medical expenses. Life insurance is designed to help mitigate these financial burdens. Nonetheless, there are documented shortages in life insurance coverage. Adverse selection---where higher risk individuals are more likely to purchase coverage leading to market failure---could be one of the causes of uninsured vulnerabilities. I analyze both the existence of and welfare costs from adverse selection in individual term life insurance and employer-sponsored life insurance (ESLI) at a large public university. In the individual term market, using a representative sample of purchasers, I do …

Are Fair Weather Fans Affected By Weather? Rainfall, Habit Formation And Live Game Attendance, Qi Ge, Brad Humphreys, Kun Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We analyze habit formation in sports attendance utilizing rainfall as an unexpected, transitory shock to attendance costs. Using attendance data from Major League Baseball (MLB) and NOAA weather data, we analyze the impact of variation in game day weather conditions on current and future MLB attendance. The empirical strategy permits identification of both the formation and persistence of habit from exogenous weather shocks. Past adverse weather shocks increase future attendance by about 200 fans per game. Our study contributes to the literature developing empirical evidence of habit formation in the field and provides policy implications for optimal ticket pricing strategies.

Smart Home Energy Management: An Analysis Of A Novel Dynamic Pricing And Demand Response Aware Control Algorithm For Households With Distributed Renewable Energy Generation And Storage, Jamal Abushnaf

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Home energy management systems (HEMS) technology can provide a smart and efficient way of optimising energy usage in residential buildings. One of the main goals of the Smart Grid is to achieve Demand Response (DR) by increasing end users’ participation in decision making and increasing the level of awareness that will lead them to manage their energy consumption in an efficient way. This research presents an intelligent HEMS algorithm that manages and controls a range of household appliances with different demand response (DR) limits in an automated way without requiring consumer intervention. In addition, a novel Multiple Users and Load …

The Moral High Road In The Undercity: An Examination Of Ethics In A Mumbai Slum, Mary L. Bauer

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

As of 2016, 1.6 billion people around the globe lacked proper shelter and of these, one billion lived in informal settlements, also called slums, according to data collected by the United Nations (UN-Habitat 2016). Investigative journalist Katherine Boo spent four years, between 2007 and 2011, interviewing and shadowing the residents of one such slum on the outskirts of Mumbai. Her goal was to draw attention to socio-economic inequality (Boo, 2014 pp. 247-248), but in the course of collecting data about the consequences of poverty and residents’ attempts to rise out of it, she also recorded information about their moral choices, …

Revenue Incentives And Referee Propensity To Make Foul Calls In The Nba Finals, Daniel Fallon-Cyr

CMC Senior Theses

In this study I examine foul calls by NBA referees alongside the difference in aggressiveness of twelve NBA basketball teams as they compete for the Championship Title. I aim to identify referee biases that increase the likelihood of the NBA Finals ending in a later game due to league revenue incentives. My data consists of 91 individual NBA Finals games played between the 2001 and 2016 NBA Finals. After controlling for changes in play as well as the difference in aggressiveness, I find that NBA referee’s foul calls are more dependent on a call on the opposing team in situations …

Is Silence The Answer?, Gator Adams

CMC Senior Theses

This study examines the relationship between company management guidance, and ex-ante crash risk over the duration of 2008(Jan 2006-Dec 2009) financial crisis using the implied volatility skew, which is based upon ex-ante volatility implied by the pricing model developed by Black-Scholes (1973). The study finds that over the duration of this crisis period, management guidance decreases with a rise in ex-ante crash risk. Further, the study provides evidence on the relationship of management guidance and earnings volatility, and how that is affected by a firm's industry product concentration based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) score.

Behavioral Economics, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes: 

• Shaikh, A. (2017, May 4). Thank-you card from students [Handwritten greeting card]. The New School for Social Research. Unpublished. Signed by multiple students expressing gratitude for instruction in behavioral economics.
• Shaikh, A. (2017). Behavioral economics: Course outline [Handwritten lecture notes, partial draft]. The New School for Social Research. Unpublished. 
• Shaikh, A. (2017). Annotations on Richard Thaler and nudging [Handwritten sticky note and marginalia on printed article]. The New School for Social Research. Unpublished. 
• Shaikh, A. (2017, December 5). Behavioral economics: Class discussion notes [Handwritten lecture notes]. The New School for Social Research. Unpublished. T
• [Author unknown]. (n.d.). …

Robert Parker’S Wine Advocate And The Consequential Pricing Of Provençal Wines, Gweneth Marter

Scripps Senior Theses

Robert Parker is an esteemed, somewhat controversial wine-critic. Since 1978, Parker has assigned every wine he tastes a score between 50 and 100. He uses this method to communicate to both consumers and producers his opinion of the quality, taste, and aging potential of the wine. Between the years 2005 and 2015, Robert Parker graded 115 wines from the French region of Provence. The goal of this thesis is to determine whether and to what extent Robert Parker’s grades affect the price of wine. Through descriptive statistics and regression analysis of Robert Parker’s grade and year of production on the …

To Nudge Or Not To Nudge: Promoting Environmentally Beneficial Behaviors, Emma Jean Cooper

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

In order to mitigate the effects of climate change, humans need to change how they act toward the environment. Unfortunately, as much as we may want to act in ways that would be best for us and for the environment, we often struggle to do just that due to cognitive biases. Nudge theory attempts to remedy this problem by helping us make the decision that would be in our best interests. To explore this issue, I conduct an extended review of the literature to examine how well nudge theory can be applied to the realm of environmental policy. Specifically, I …

Chinese Superstition And Real Estate Prices: Transaction-Level Evidence From The Us Housing Market, Brad Humphreys, Adam Nowak, Yang Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We investigate the impact of Chinese superstition on prices paid by Chinese home buyers in Seattle, Washington. Chinese consider 8 lucky and 4 unlucky. Empirical results indicate Chinese buyers pay a 1-2% premium for addresses including an 8 and a 1% discount for addresses including a 4. These results are unrelated to unobserved property quality: no premium exists when Chinese sell to non-Chinese. Absent explicit identfiers for Chinese individuals, we develop a binomial name classifier using methods from the biomedical and document classification literature, allowing for falsification tests using other ethnic groups and mitigating ambiguity attributable to transliteration of Chinese …

Determinants Of Organ Donor Registration Rates Among Young Americans, Syed Umar Farooq

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper I examine the factors that affect the likelihood an individual is a registered organ donor. Unlike many studies which focus on subpopulations in specific regions, I utilize national data to get a broader assessment of individuals from around the country across a number of racial and religious classifications. Using a probit model and controlling for a variety of parameters, I find that some racial and religious variables are negatively and significantly associated with organ donor registration rates, while education and being female are positively associated with organ donor registration rates. I conclude by discussing the implications of …

Nudging Towards Social Change: The Application Of Psychology And Behavioral Economics In Promoting Responsible Consumption, Larissa Chern

CMC Senior Theses

With workplace disasters in developing countries increasingly in the news, a major question is how to encourage consumers to use corporate social responsibility as a criterion in purchasing. Distinct from environmental concerns, social responsibility is defined here with respect to the humanitarian aspects of corporate practice, including fair wages and working conditions, equitable treatment of the disadvantaged, and restriction of child labor. Although the idea of socially responsible consumption (SRC) was first identified over forty years ago, most recent research on changing consumption habits focuses specifically on environmentally responsible consumption (ERC). Combining the psychological concept of social norms with economic …

Emotions, Intuitions And Risk Perception In Critical Care, Oleksandr Dubov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theory of decision-making as it applies to bioethics and healthcare assumes a rational decision maker: someone who knows all his alternatives, has clear preferences, can rank and weigh risks and benefits of an intervention, and always acts in his own best interests. However, the growing body of research from the field of decision science shows that, in reality, such a purely rational decision maker does not exist. Instead, patients are rational within personal or environmental constraints such as uncertainty or ambiguity in which non-rational approaches such as emotion and intuition are instrumental. This issue is particularly important in critical …

Renewable Portfolio Standards May Reduce Green Energy Used In Electricity Production, Karina Schoengold, Suparna Bhattacharya, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

Rising energy prices, dependence on foreign oil supplies, and consequences of climate change have prompted governments worldwide to initiate policies to shift from fossil fuels to renewables for electricity generation. One of the most commonly used policy instruments is the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires electricity providers to procure green energy (e.g., wind, solar, biomass) for a portion of their electricity supplies. To date, RPS has been a state-mandated program in the United States. As of February 2017, 29 states, Washington DC, and 3 territories have adopted RPS policies.

Empathy Conservation: Experiments Suggest A Need For More Attention In Policymaking, Natalia V. Czap, Hans J. Czap, Gary Lynne, Mark E. Burbach

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

One of the major challenges of environmental policy with regard to conservation is that it must often rely on voluntary and non-selfish actions of individuals. Traditionally policy makers rely on direct regulation and financial incentives, but both approaches face problems. Regulations may lead to resentment and the costs of perfect enforcement are prohibitively high. Financial incentives can be perverse and may lead to unintended consequences, including crowding out of intrinsic motivation. In addition, behavioral economics and economic psychology studies demonstrate that the assumptions of the neoclassical economic models (such as self-interest only, rationality, and willpower) on which the policy design …

The Role Of Behavior In The Effectiveness Of Indoor Air Pollution Interventions: Results From The Artis Study, Madison J. Cole

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Using panel data from a randomized placebo-controlled trial of a wood stove changeout and air filter interventions, this study addresses the role of behavior in the efficacy of air quality interventions. The effectiveness of an intervention in improving air quality depends on how households respond to and use them. Two important responses are whether the target population complies with the requirements of the intervention and whether users adjust other behaviors that can affect air quality.

This paper’s results are consistent with prior studies in finding that in the absence of interventions, a number of behaviors can affect indoor air pollution, …