Financially constrained borrowers have the incentive to influence the appraisal process in order to increase borrowing or reduce the interest rate. We document that the average valuation bias for residential refinance transactions is above 5%. The bias is larger for highly leveraged...

Obwohl es dem Konzept des Soft Paternalismus gelang, die Aufmerk-samkeit auf die Bedeutung verhaltensökonomischer Erkenntnisse und die verhaltensbeein-flussende Wirkung von ‚weichen‘ Politikinstrumenten wie Default rules zu lenken, wird ge-zeigt, dass der Soft Paternalismus nur einen...

During the 1990s, household public services in Colombia went through an important reform: the entrance of the private sector was allowed and users could participate in the surveillance and control of these services. However, given the collective dimension and monopolistic character of most of...

The recent financial crisis has led many to question how well businesses deliver consumer financial services and how well regulatory institutions address problems in consumer financial markets. In response, the Obama administration proposed a new agency to oversee consumer financial services,...

Today a new generation of food safety policy is emerging in OECD countries and international public health forums. The United States has actively contributed to the thinking and scientific research underlying this new generation of policy. A consensus has emerged among nations about the basic...

This Paper develops extensive new indices of legal independence (Central Bank Independence, or CBI) for new central banks in 26 former socialist economies (FSEs). The indices reveal that central bank reform in the FSE during the 1990s has been quite ambitious. In spite of large price shocks,...

On November 12, 1999, President Clinton signed the most significant piece of financial services regulation to be enacted since the Great Depression, at least up to that time. When the Financial Service Modernization Act of 1999, better known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), was signed, the...

On November 12, 1999, President Clinton signed the most significant piece of financial services regulation to be enacted since the Great Depression, at least up to that time. When the Financial Service Modernization Act of 1999, better known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), was signed, the...

At a time when policy makers want to change the behaviour of citizens to tackle a broad range of social problems, such as climate change, excessive drinking, obesity and crime, a promising new policy approach has appeared that seems capable of escaping the liberal reservations typically...

Federal regulatory policy and the evaluation of regulations using benefit-cost analysis continue to be quite contentious. Advocates for more regulation claim that benefit-cost analysis loses information and impedes our understanding of the real beneficial consequences of regulatory action....