Neoclassical economic theory rules out systematic errors in consumptionchoice. According to the basic view, individuals know what they choose. They areable to predict how much utility an activity or a good produces for them now and inthe future and they can maximize their utility. This implies...

Behavioral (e.g. consumption) patterns of boundedly rational agents can lead these agents intolearning dynamics that appear to be “wasteful” in terms of well-being or welfare. Within settingsdisplaying preference endogeneity, it is however still unclear how to conceptualize well-being.This...

In order to explain the growth of obesity in industrialized and transitioneconomies, a behavioral approach to food intake and overconsumption of caloriesis presented. It is argued that changes in food consumption patterns are one of themain drivers behind the imbalance of calories consumed and...

This paper shows how sustainable consumption patterns can spread within a population viaprocesses of social learning even though a strong individual learning bias may favorenvironmentally harmful products. We present a model depicting how the biased transmission ofdifferent behaviors via...

Interdependencies in consumer behavior stem from either status-seeking consumption orcompliance with social norms. This paper analyzes how a consumption act changes froma means to signal the consumer’s status to a means of norm compliance. It is shown thatsuch a transformation can only be...

The self-employed are substantially more satisfied with their work than employed persons. We document this relationship for 23 countries and show that the higher job satisfaction can directly be attributed to the greater autonomy that self-employed persons enjoy....

One can be independent, or subject to decisions made by others. This paper empirically tests whether individuals attach an intrinsic value to the institutional difference between independence and hierarchy ...

We use a sample of 18 countries to study what variables have a significant impact on an individual’s decision to start a new business and classification and regression trees for an accurate interpretation of the data. Our results support existing literature suggesting the existence of strong...

A random variable dominates another random variable with respectto the covariance order if the covariance of any two monotone increasingfunctions of this variable is smaller. We characterize completely thecovariance order, give strong sufficient conditions for it, present a numberof examples in...