Behavioral economics provides several motivations for the common observation that agents appear somewhat unwilling to deviate from recent choices.More recent choices can be more salient than other choices, or more readily available in the agent's mind.Alternatively, agents may have formed...

This paper studies the empirical relationship between the real economy, consumer confidence and economic news coverage in national newspapers for the Netherlands during the period 1990-2008. Media-attention for economic developments Granger-causes consumer confidence, with more negative news...

We study the impact of income taxation on both partners‟ allocation of time to market work and unpaid house work in households with two adults. We estimate a structural household utility model in which the marginal utilities of leisure and house work of both partners are modelled as random...

We study the labor supply dynamics of elderly couples by means of a structural collective model.The model allows for general externalities with respect to spouses leisure.Preferences and the intrahousehold bargaining process are identified by using panel data with couples and individuals who...

This paper studies the welfare implications of using market mechanisms to allocate transmission capacity in recently liberalized electricity markets. It questions whether access to this essential facility should be traded on a market, or whether the incumbent should retain exclusive usage...

In the past China's rural areas, home to 70% of its population, suffered energy shortages.China's indigenous energy resources are limited, with the exception of coal.The widespread use of coal requires large investments in production and transport -making it costly-, and degrades the...

This paper discusses environmental policy instruments in a differential-game model of international trade with oligopolistic competition. Strategic interactions occur if firms use feedback strategies and therefore react on decisions of their competitor. Eventually this harms firm profits,...

In this paper, we study how regulators may improve upon the efficiency of their energy technology adoption programs by exploiting readily observable information to limit rent extraction by firms. Using panel data on 862 investment decisions in the Netherlands, we find that rent extraction is...

In order to meet the Kyoto targets, in the Netherlands in 2010 9% of electricity consumption should be generated from renewable resources.In this paper, we discuss and comment on the green energy policy that the Dutch government has adopted in 2001 and 2002 in order to reach this goal, and the...