This project was divided into three parts. By storing a large data set in the database system, the data can be efficiently queried to analyze the customer base with reference to size and density, distribution, and vital statistics. First, the current customer portfolio was profiled in terms of...

Does consumer behavior exhibit time inconsistency? This is an essential, yet difficult question to answer. This dissertation attempts to answer this question based on a large-scale randomized experiment in the credit card market. Specifically,we apply both time consistent preferences...

Trotz ständig steigender Bedeutung kartengebundener Zahlungssysteme fehlt es im deutschen Zivilrecht an einer speziellen Regelung für Kreditkarten und den mannigfachen Risiken, die sich bei deren Gebrauch ergeben können. Aus diesem Grund kommt den Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen, also den...

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/18/10.

Traditional economic theory regards the social costs of monopoly as the reduction in both consumer and producer surplus as a result of monopolization of certain sectors of the economy. Recent research has shown that a proper accounting of the social costs of monopoly must include the costs of...

In the following decades there will be a fundamental structural change in the European power supply system. This structural change is forced by several factors, e.g. the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, the strategic goal for the European Union of a more sustainable...

Die Arbeit untersucht das Auftreten von Externen Kosten im Rahmen der Verbraucherverschuldung, sowie die Wirkungen verschiedener rechtlicher Regelungen auf die Arbeitsleistung der Kreditnehmer nach der Kreditaufnahme. Sie konzentriert sich dabei auf drei „Arten“ von externen Kosten:1....

The Dutch regulatory process for setting the first X-Factors in the electricity distribution sector has gone badly wrong. During two-and-a-half years four different X-Factors were published by the regulator. These X-Factors fluctuated wildly. We demonstrate that Dutch electricity consumers will...