Status quo bias is a systematic cognitive error which makes it difficult for individuals to make decisions independently of the currently dominant situation. This study pursues the question of whether bond market analysts are affected by status quo bias. We evaluated interest rate forecast...

Die von wirtschaftlichen Umbrüchen geprägten Jahre nach der Wiedervereinigung waren für viele Ostdeutsche mit zunehmender Unsicherheit verbunden, während die Veränderungen in Westdeutschland weitaus weniger gravierend waren. In der Folge kam es in den 90er Jahren zu einem massiven Rückgang...

The paper investigates the importance of probability weighting in financial decisions and examines the degree to which risk-taking behavior deviates from expected utility theory in the presence of probability weighting. A group of professional traders participates in an experiment, whose data...

Labor market policies succeed or fail at least in part depending on how well they reflect or account for behavioral responses. Insights from behavioral economics, which allow for realistic deviations from standard economic assumptions about behavior, have consequences for the design and...

This study examined the relationship between share prices and dividends, earnings and book values for companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in Kenya for the six years period between 2005 and 2010. Using panel data analysis the study found evidence that there is a positive and...

Starting in the mid 1970s, Chile implemented comprehensive structural market reforms. Using manufacturing plant-level data on Chilean firms for years 1980 to 2001, we estimate the role of reforms on efficiency. We analyze aggregate productivity constructed from micro data to find that in the...

Previous empirical research has shown that Mexico's Oportunidades program has succeeded in increasing schooling and improving health of disadvantaged children. This paper studies the program's potential longer-term consequences for the poverty and inequality of these children. It adapts methods...

Industrial decline and restructuring in the transition economies presents a prime example of the relationship between changes in aggregate economic indicators and underlying microeconomic adjustments. This paper employs matched labor force survey data to focus on the magnitude and determinants...

We analyze the impact of remittances on the labor supply of men and women in post-conflict Tajikistan. Individuals from remittance-receiving households are less likely to participate in the labor market and supply fewer hours when they do. The results are robust to different measures of...

We develop a theoretical framework that considers the role played by moral hazard and the diversity of networks and cultures in the choice of hiring channel. In favoritism contexts social networks, and particularly strong ties, are adopted as hiring channels for unskilled jobs and result in wage...