Two studies attempted to discriminate between a situationaleconomic and a cultural explanation for the recently reported finding that Chinese from the People's Republic of China (PRC) are more risk-seeking than Americans. Both studies compared American and Chinese proverbs related to risk and...

This research explores whether there are systematic cross-national differences in choice-inferred risk preferences between Americans and Chinese. Study 1 found(a) that the Chinese were signi®cantly more risk seeking than the Americans, yet(b) that both nationals predicted exactly the opposite...

Both data and people's self-reports reveal that there is an undersaving problem. Behavioral economics seeks to explain this phenomenon with the concept of hyperbolic discounting. In essence, short-term actions are inconsistent with long-term goals. This is applied to the German pension system in...

This paper assesses the effects that an introduction of the French family splitting mechanism would have on German families' labour supply and intra-household consumption behaviour. We use simulated real world microdata created by means of a 'deterministic' collective labour supply model. The...

This paper compares predictions obtained for the analysis of tax reforms with collective and unitary models of household labour supply and consumption behaviour. We simulate real world microdata by means of a collective approach, using a compound procedure of estimation and calibration based on...

This paper assesses the effects that an introduction of the French family splitting mechanism would have on German families' labour supply and intra-household consumption behaviour. We use simulated real world microdata created by means of a 'deterministic' collective labour supply model. The...

We demonstrate that interpersonal comparisons lead to ”keeping up with the Joneses”-behavior. Using annual household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate the causal effect of changes in reference consumption, defined as the consumption level of all households who are...

We demonstrate that interpersonal comparisons lead to "keeping up with the Joneses"-behavior. Using annual household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate the causal effect of changes in reference consumption, defined as the consumption level of all households who are perceived...

According to the German SAVE survey, more than 40 percent of households regularly save fixed amounts rather than flexibly adjusting savings to income variations as assumed by the Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH). Fixed amount saving behaviour could thus imply a challenge to PIH-based standard...

This paper develops a conceptual framework that can explain why economic development goes along with increases in body weight and obesity rates. We first introduce the concept of novelty consumption, which refers to an increase in food availability due to trade or innovation. Then we study how...