In many countries environmental policies and regulations are implemented to improveenvironmental quality and thus individuals’ well-being. However, how do individuals valuethe environment? In this paper, we review the Life Satisfaction Approach (LSA) representinga new non-market valuation...

Regulation is an important part of government activity. Distinguishing between the intensity of regulation , and the range of regulation, it is possible to show that a utility maximizing government has an incentive to "overregulate " both in the short and long run, but that there are definite...

Research in the field of "Digital Economics" has widely neglected the dynamics of changes in preference and demand due to the exploding quantification of human life. This paper examines reactions to the rapidly expanding digital measurement of individual and societal factors. The reactions...

The development of the constitution must be based on the rule of law. Direct democratic rights allow citizens to participate in the amendment process. The direct democratic process of institutional change is theoretically and empirically analyzed. A number of counter arguments and issues for a...

The traditional economic approach to tax evasion does not appear to be particularly successful in explaining the extent of tax compliance. It is often argued that reciprocity norms which establish a fiscal exchange between the state and the citizens shape tax morale to a large extent. In that...

Behavioral economics documents the importance of status and self-image concerns in the workplace, but is largely silent about how to instrumentalize them to induce effort. Awards - widespread in the corporate sector and elsewhere - are motivators that derive their value from such social...

Am Beispiel der Schweizer Justizinitiative zeigen wir auf, dass eine qualifizierte Losauswahl keineswegs irrational ist, sondern zu einer Rationalität auf einer übergeordneten, institutionellen Ebene führen kann. Sie erhöht die Wahrscheinlichkeit, ausgezeichnete Kandidierende für eine...

Econometric analyses of the standard model of tax evasion overwhelmingly reveal that auditing rates and fines do not have the expected, systematic and sizeable deterrence effect on tax evasion. It is shown that tax morale may be the missing factor. In Swiss cantons, characterized by referendum...