Causes And Consequences Of The Protestant Reformation,
2016
University of Warwick
Causes And Consequences Of The Protestant Reformation, Sascha O. Becker, Steven Pfaff, Jared Rubin
ESI Working Papers
The Protestant Reformation is one of the defining events of the last millennium. Nearly 500 years after the Reformation, its causes and consequences have seen a renewed interest in the social sciences. Research in economics, sociology, and political science increasingly uses detailed individual-level, city-level, and regional-level data to identify drivers of the adoption of the Reformation, its diffusion pattern, and its socioeconomic consequences. This survey takes stock of the research so far, tries to point out what we know and what we do not know, and which are the most promising areas for future research.
Payment Scheme Self-Selection In The Credence Goods Market: An Experimental Study,
2016
CIDE
Payment Scheme Self-Selection In The Credence Goods Market: An Experimental Study, Hernan Bejarano, Ellen P. Green, Stephen Rassenti
ESI Working Papers
Given heterogeneity in expert behavior across payment schemes in credence goods markets, it becomes important to understand the consequences of payment scheme selection. To study the effect on customer well being of expert self-selection, we recruited subjects to participate in a real-effort credence good laboratory market. Experts were either randomly assigned or faced with the choice of three payment schemes: fee-for-service, salary, and capitation. We found that experts who selected fee-for-service payment resulted in customers with significantly worse outcomes in comparison with experts who had been randomly assigned to fee-for-service. In contrast, experts who selected salary payment did not change …
Bringing A Natural Experiment Into The Laboratory: The Measurement Of Individual Risk Attitudes,
2016
University of Economics in Bratislava
Bringing A Natural Experiment Into The Laboratory: The Measurement Of Individual Risk Attitudes, Zuzana Brokesova, Cary Deck, Jana Peliova
ESI Working Papers
Controlled laboratory experiments have become a generally accepted method for studying economic behavior, but there are two issues that regularly arise with such work. The first pertains to the ability to generalize experimental results outside the laboratory. While laboratory experiments are typically designed to mimic naturally occurring situations, ceteris paribus comparisons are rare. Using data from a promotional campaign by a bank and a matching laboratory experiment, we find similar patterns of risk taking behavior controlling for gender and age. The second issue pertains to the impact that the payment procedure in an experiment has on observed risk taking behavior. …
The Impact Of Taxes And Wasteful Government Spending On Giving,
2016
Chapman University
The Impact Of Taxes And Wasteful Government Spending On Giving, Roman M. Sheremeta, Neslihan Uler
ESI Working Papers
We examine the impact of taxes and wasteful government spending on charitable giving. In our model, the government collects a flat-rate tax on income net of donations and wastes part of the tax revenue before redistribution. The model provides theoretical predictions which we test in a framed field experiment. The results of the experiment show that the tax rate has a weak and insignificant effect on giving. The degree of waste, however, has a large, negative and significant effect on giving, with the relationship moderated by the curvature in the utility function.
Ambiguity Framed,
2016
Chapman University
Ambiguity Framed, Mark Schneider, Jonathan W. Leland, Nathaniel Wilcox
ESI Working Papers
In his exposition of subjective expected utility theory, Savage (1954) proposed that the Allais paradox could be reduced if it were recast into a format which made the appeal of the independence axiom of expected utility theory more transparent. Recent studies consistently find support for this prediction. We consider a salience-based choice model which explains this frame-dependence of the Allais paradox and derive the novel prediction that the same type of presentation format which was found to reduce Allais-style violations of expected utility theory will also reduce Ellsberg-style violations of subjective expected utility theory since that format makes the appeal …
Random Expected Utility And Certainty Equivalents: Mimicry Of Probability Weighting Functions,
2016
Chapman University
Random Expected Utility And Certainty Equivalents: Mimicry Of Probability Weighting Functions, Nathaniel Wilcox
ESI Working Papers
For simple prospects of the kind routinely used for certainty equivalent elicitation, random expected utility preferences imply a conditional expectation function that can mimic deterministic rank dependent preferences. That is, an agent with random expected utility preferences can have mean certainty equivalents that look exactly like rank dependent probability weighting functions of the inverse-s shape discussed by Quiggin (1982) and later advocated by Tversky and Kahneman (1992) and other scholars. It seems that certainty equivalents cannot nonparametrically identify preferences, at least not in every relevant sense, since their conditional expectation depends on assumptions concerning the source and nature of their …
Axioms For Salience Perception,
2016
National Science Foundation
Axioms For Salience Perception, Jonathan W. Leland, Mark Schneider
ESI Working Papers
Models of salience-based choice have become popular in recent years, although there is still no known set of simple conditions or axioms which implies the existence of a salience function. In this paper, we provide simple and natural axioms that characterize the general class of salience functions. As an application we consider a salience-based model of decision making and show that within that setup the fourfold pattern of risk attitudes is a general property of a salience function and that the properties producing that pattern also account for other anomalies involving risky and intertemporal choice.
Trust And Trustworthiness Under Information Asymmetry And Ambiguity,
2016
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Trust And Trustworthiness Under Information Asymmetry And Ambiguity, Irma Clots-Figueras, Roberto Hernán-González, Praveen Kujal
ESI Working Papers
We introduce uncertainty and ambiguity in the standard investment game. In the uncertainty treatment, investors are informed that the return of the investment is drawn from a publicly known distribution function. In the ambiguity treatment, investors are not informed about the distribution function. We find that both trust and trustworthiness are robust to the introduction of these changes.
What Makes A Good Trader? On The Role Of Intuition And Reflection On Trader Performance,
2016
Chapman University
What Makes A Good Trader? On The Role Of Intuition And Reflection On Trader Performance, Brice Corgnet, Mark Desantis, David Porter
ESI Working Papers
Using simulations and experiments, we pinpoint two main drivers of trader performance: cognitive reflection and theory of mind. Both dimensions facilitate traders’ learning about asset valuation. Cognitive reflection helps traders use market signals to update their beliefs whereas theory of mind offers traders crucial hints on the quality of those signals. We show these skills to be complementary because traders benefit from understanding the quality of market signals only if they are capable of processing them. Cognitive reflection relates to previous Behavioral Finance research as it is the best predictor of a trader’s ability to avoid commonly-observed behavioral biases.
Gender Biases In Delegation,
2016
Chapman University
Gender Biases In Delegation, Eleonora Bottino, Teresa García-Muñoz, Praveen Kujal
ESI Working Papers
We explore gender biases towards delegation in a modified (delegation) dictator game. Under compulsory delegation and no (gender) revelation no significant gender differences are observed for choices made by principals. Male agents share little with the recipients, meanwhile, female (agents) are not responsive to the incentive scheme and return less to the dictator. However, a clear dichotomy in female behavior is observed under gender revelation. As principals, females behave similar to their male counterparts and appoint as agents those who return more to them. On the other hand, as agents’ females show greater redistributive concerns relative to their male counterparts …
The Effects Of Experience, Choice Architecture, And Cognitive Reflection In Individual And Strategic Decisions,
2016
Chapman University
The Effects Of Experience, Choice Architecture, And Cognitive Reflection In Individual And Strategic Decisions, Mark Schneider, David Porter
ESI Working Papers
Cognitive reflection has been shown to be an important trait which is correlated with the propensity to: take risks, delay gratification, and form accurate beliefs about others’ behavior. However, previous research has not cleanly identified whether reflective thinkers make ‘better’ decisions than intuitive thinkers, since inferences of decision quality are confounded by inferences regarding risk preferences, time preferences, and beliefs. We directly test for differences in decision quality between reflective thinkers and intuitive thinkers in both individual and strategic decisions using a design which makes it possible to objectively rank risky and strategic choices, independent of one’s attitudes toward risk …
Money And The Scale Of Cooperation,
2015
University of Bologna
Money And The Scale Of Cooperation, Maria Bigoni, Gabriele Camera, Marco Casari
ESI Working Papers
This study reveals the existence of a causal link between the availability of money and an expanded scale of interaction. We constructed an experiment where participants chose the group size, either a low-value partnership or a high-value group of strangers, and then faced an intertemporal cooperative task. Theoretically, a monetary system was inessential to achieve cooperation. Empirically, without a working monetary system, participants were reluctant to expand the scale of interaction; and when they did, they ended up destroying surplus compared to partnerships, because cooperation collapsed in large groups. This economic failure was reversed only when participants managed to concurrently …
Two Essays In Finance And Economics: “Investment Opportunities In Commodity And Stock Markets For G7 Countries” And “Global And Local Factors Affecting Sovereign Yield Spreads”,
2015
University of New Orleans
Two Essays In Finance And Economics: “Investment Opportunities In Commodity And Stock Markets For G7 Countries” And “Global And Local Factors Affecting Sovereign Yield Spreads”, Selma Izadi
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
In chapter 1, I investigate the return links and dynamic conditional correlations between the equity and commodity returns for G7 countries from 2000:01 to 2014:10. The commodity futures include BCOM Index which contains the futures and spot price of 22 commodities, Brent and Crude oil futures, gold and silver futures, Wheat, Corn and Soybean futures and CRB index. The finding indicates that during the full sample period GOLD, WHEAT and CORN have the smallest dynamic conditional correlations with all the Equity indexes. In addition, the correlations between the GOLD/Equity pairs are negative during the financial crisis. This fact indicates the …
Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- December 2015,
2015
University of Rhode Island
Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- December 2015, Leonard Lardaro
The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index
No abstract provided.
Intraday Value-At-Risk: An Asymmetric Autoregressive Conditional Duration Approach,
2015
Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Intraday Value-At-Risk: An Asymmetric Autoregressive Conditional Duration Approach, Shouwei Liu, Yiu Kuen Tse
Research Collection School Of Economics
We propose to compute the Intraday Value-at-Risk (IVaR) for stocks using real-time transaction data. Tick-by-tick data filtered by price duration are modeled using a two-state asymmetric autoregressive conditional duration (AACD) model, and the IVaR is calculated using Monte Carlo simulation based on the estimated AACD model. Backtesting results for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) show that the IVaR calculated using the AACD method outperforms those using the Dionne et al. (2009) and Giot (2005) methods.
Linear Programming-Based Estimators In Nonnegative Autoregression,
2015
Singapore Management University
Linear Programming-Based Estimators In Nonnegative Autoregression, Daniel P. A. Preve
Research Collection School Of Economics
This note studies robust estimation of the autoregressive (AR) parameter in a nonlinear, nonnegative AR model. It is shown that a linear programming estimator (LPE), considered by Nielsen and Shephard (2003) among others, remains consistent under severe model misspecification. Consequently, the LPE can be used to seek sources of misspecification and to isolate certain trend, seasonal or cyclical components. Simple and quite general conditions under which the LPE is strongly consistent in the presence of heavy-tailed, serially correlated, heteroskedastic disturbances are given, and a brief review of the literature on LP-based estimators in nonnegative autoregression is presented. Finite-sample properties of …
Unified M-Estimation Of Fixed-Effects Spatial Dynamic Models With Short Panels,
2015
Singapore Management University
Unified M-Estimation Of Fixed-Effects Spatial Dynamic Models With Short Panels, Zhenlin Yang
Research Collection School Of Economics
It is well known that quasi maximum likelihood (QML) estimation of dynamic panel data (DPD) models with short panels depends on the assumptions on the initial values, and a wrong treatment of them will result in inconsistency and serious bias. The same issues apply to spatial DPD (SDPD) models with short panels. In this paper, a unified Mestimation method is proposed for estimating the fixed-effects SDPD models containing three major types of spatial effects, namely spatial lag, spatial error and space-time lag. The method is free from the specification of the distribution of the initial observations and robust against nonnormality …
New Methodology For Constructing Real Estate Price Indices Applied To The Singapore Residential Market,
2015
Singapore Management University
New Methodology For Constructing Real Estate Price Indices Applied To The Singapore Residential Market, Liang Jiang, Peter C. B. Phillips, Jun Yu
Research Collection School Of Economics
This paper develops a new methodology for constructing a real estate price index that utilizes all transaction price information, encompassing both single-sales and repeat-sales. The method is less susceptible to specification error than standard hedonic methods and is not subject to the sample selection bias involved in indexes that rely only on repeat sales. The methodology employs a model design that uses a sale pairing process based on the individual building level, rather than the individual house level as is used in the repeat-sales method. The approach extends ideas from repeat-sales methodology in a way that accommodates much wider datasets. …
Adaptive Nonparametric Regression With Conditional Heteroskedasticity,
2015
Singapore Management University
Adaptive Nonparametric Regression With Conditional Heteroskedasticity, Sainan Jin, Liangjun Su, Zhijie Xiao
Research Collection School Of Economics
In this paper, we study adaptive nonparametric regression estimation in the presence of conditional heteroskedastic error terms. We demonstrate that both the conditional mean and conditional variance functions in a nonparametric regression model can be estimated adaptively based on the local profile likelihood principle. Both the one-step Newton-Raphson estimator and the local profile likelihood estimator are investigated. We show that the proposed estimators are asymptotically equivalent to the infeasible local likelihood estimators [e.g., Aerts and Claeskens (1997) Journal of the American Statistical Association 92, 1536-1545], which require knowledge of the error distribution. Simulation evidence suggests that when the distribution of …
The Child Support "Tax" : Determining The Effect Of Child Support On The Income Growth Of Noncustodial Parents,
2015
University of North Dakota
The Child Support "Tax" : Determining The Effect Of Child Support On The Income Growth Of Noncustodial Parents, Jesse Snook
Theses and Dissertations
This study examines the role of child support in determining income growth. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model with state-level fixed effects applied to panel data from the National Study of Families and Households (NSFH), I find that having a legal agreement to pay child support has a significant and negative effect on the income growth of the noncustodial parent. Specifically, after controlling for demographic variables and the respondent’s economic circumstances in the initial time period, the OLS model with state-level fixed effects finds that having a child support obligation is associated with a 17.73 percentage point decrease in …
