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Preferences, individual decision-making and government interventions

  • "Present Bias in Choices over Food and Money: Evidence from a Framed Field Experiment" - this paper presents results from a field experiment investigating dynamically inconsistent time preferences over real food choices and commitment take-up in a natural environment. We implement a longitudinal consumption experiment with a continuous convex budget: College students repeatedly choose and consume lunch menus at their college canteen. We not only allow for a full continuum of healthy or unhealthy foods; we also explicitly design the consumption stage to comply with the consume-on-receipt assumption: utility is created right after handing out the food. The paper also focuses on the implications for effective policy design: It sheds light on consumers' tendency to utilize different types of self-control devices to commit to personal consumption plans. We further compare inconsistent behavior between convex food and money choices to investigate the applicability of monetary reward studies to natural behavior. We find no correlation"Present Bias in Choices over Food and Money: Evidence from a Framed Field Experiment" - this paper presents results from a field experiment investigating dynamically inconsistent time preferences over real food choices and commitment take-up in a natural environment. We implement a longitudinal consumption experiment with a continuous convex budget: College students repeatedly choose and consume lunch menus at their college canteen. We not only allow for a full continuum of healthy or unhealthy foods; we also explicitly design the consumption stage to comply with the consume-on-receipt assumption: utility is created right after handing out the food. The paper also focuses on the implications for effective policy design: It sheds light on consumers' tendency to utilize different types of self-control devices to commit to personal consumption plans. We further compare inconsistent behavior between convex food and money choices to investigate the applicability of monetary reward studies to natural behavior. We find no correlation between time parameters in food vs. money tasks. Utility estimates from food choices suggest that dynamically consistent individuals substitute internal self-control with commitment take-up. Non-committing individuals tend to be present-biased and naive about their inconsistency. "Dynamic Inconsistencies and Food Waste: Assessing Food Waste from a Behavioral Economics Perspective" - this paper investigates the link between dynamically inconsistent time preferences and individual food consumption and waste behavior. Food waste is conceptualized as unintended consequence of consumption choices along the food consumption chain: Because inconsistent individuals postpone the consumption of healthier food at home, storage time is prolonged and food more likely to be wasted. Capitalizing on a rich data set from a nationally representative survey, the paper constructs targeted measures of time-related food consumption and waste behaviors. In line with the theory, the paper finds that more present-biased individuals waste more food. The mechanism can be empirically supported: Although dynamically inconsistent individuals plan their food consumption, they deviate from their consumption plans more compared to consistent individuals. Deviation behavior is significantly associated with food waste. The paper points to the importance of considering dynamic inconsistencies at different stages of the food consumption process to foster the intended effects of food policies (increase in healthy nutrition) and diminish unintended consequences (increase in food waste). "Economic Behavior under Containment: How do People Respond to Covid-19 Restrictions?" - this paper investigates the effects of policy interventions on individual decision-making and preferences by looking at a period of unprecedentedly strict regulation: the Covid-19 pandemic. Focusing on Germany, we measure regulatory strictness by calculating a policy stringency index at the federal state level. Capitalizing on exogenous variation in predetermined election cycles across states, we instrument policy stringency with the distance to the next election. Results support a positive relation between weeks to next election and state policy stringency. Leveraging a nationally representative short panel, the paper exploits this exogenous variation in policy stringency across states and over time to assess behavioral changes in different economic domains. The paper finds that government restrictions increase working from home and the provision of childcare at home, while it reduces the number of grocery shopping trips. Containment policies also affect risk preferences and fear of Covid-19: individuals become more risk-averse and afraid of Covid-19 as a consequence of stricter policies. The results are robust against various different model specifications.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Zeidler, Helen
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:824-opus4-8449
Subtitle (English):[cumulative dissertation]
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Danzer, Alexander, Prof. Dr. Wiederhold, Simon
Document Type:Doctoral thesis
Language of publication:English
Year of creation:2023
Date of first Publication:2023/07/27
Publishing Institution:Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Awarding Institution:Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät
Date of final examination:2023/06/28
Release Date:2023/07/27
Tag:food policy; government interventions; individual decision-making
GND Keyword:Verbraucherverhalten; Verhaltensökonomie; Lebensmittelverbrauch; Lebensmittelabfall
Pagenumber:vii, 176 Seiten : Illustrationen, Diagramme
Faculty:Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät / Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft
JEL-Classification:C Mathematical and Quantitative Methods / C9 Design of Experiments / C93 Field Experiments
D Microeconomics / D1 Household Behavior and Family Economics / D11 Consumer Economics: Theory
D Microeconomics / D1 Household Behavior and Family Economics / D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
D Microeconomics / D9 Intertemporal Choice and Growth / D91 Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
I Health, Education, and Welfare / I1 Health / I18 Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
J Labor and Demographic Economics / J1 Demographic Economics / J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
Q Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Q1 Agriculture / Q18 Agricultural Policy; Food Policy
Q Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Q5 Environmental Economics / Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
License (German):License LogoKeine Lizenz - es gilt das deutsche Urheberrecht
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