A growing economic literature stresses the importance of relative comparisons, e.g., for savings and consumption or happiness. In this literature it is usually assumed that reference standards against which people compare themselves are exogenously given. In contrast findings from social...

This paper focuses on how consumer motivation can be tapped in order to encourage the adoption of cleaner technologies. Consumers are heterogeneous they may be guided by intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation. While information provision policies (such as the energy label for cars) may be...

We describe three different extensive data sets on the Swiss market for basic health care insurance - a homogeneous product by construction. First, we provide descriptive statistics on market prices for period 2004-2010. Second, we present aggregated data on health plan choices made by Swiss...

The focus of the present study is on consumer health information in relation to supplier induced demand (SID). We argue that a comparison between medical professionals and nonmedical professionals fails to identify demand inducement. Using a new information measure based on questions of the...

It is an ongoing debate how to increase the adoption of energy-efficient light bulbs and household appliances in the presence of the so-called ’energy efficiency gap’. One measure to support consumers’ decision-making towards the purchase of more efficient appliances is the display of...

Many countries have adopted policies designed to reduce CO2 emissions from road vehicles. Taxes linked to the CO2 emissions rate or the fuel economy of a vehicle (which is inversely related to its CO2 emissions rate) are examples of such policies. These taxes are usually imposed on new vehicles,...