Can fluctuations in climate affect economic activity by altering beliefs about the economy? Using new data on subjective well-being and economic sentiment, this paper documents a causal effect of extreme temperatures (below 15 and above 85 degrees Fahrenheit) on beliefs about current and future...

Do crises make people more prosocial? And what role does communication play in promoting such attitudes and behavior? These answers matter for post-crisis economic recovery as social capital has been linked to growth. We leverage the incidence of COVID-19 --a multifaceted global crisis-- and...

Investors increasingly can obtain assistance from “robo-advisors,” artificial intelligence–enabled digitalized service agents imbued with anthropomorphic design elements that can communicate using natural language. The present article considers the impact of anthropomorphized robo-advisors...

Investors increasingly can obtain assistance from "robo-advisors," artificial intelligence - enabled digitalized service agents imbued with anthropomorphic design elements that can communicate using natural language. The present article considers the impact of anthropomorphized robo-advisors on...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper investigates the effect of a shift in social/religious norms on compliance behaviour. Religion-based norms of behaviour have the potential to counteract newly established norms of health-preserving behaviours. One such event occurred during the...

This paper analyses the equilibrium effects of individual information filters. Information is modelled as advertisements which are distributed across a population of consumers with heterogeneous preferences. An advertisement that provides knowledge about a product with little or no utility for a...

In both developing and developed economies, the awareness of the importance of financial education led to the development of an increasing number of tailored national strategies for financial education. These frameworks promote a smoother and more sustainable co-operation between interested...

The Internet has become an integral part of the everyday life of households, firms and governments. Its proper functioning over the long run is therefore crucial for economic growth and people’s wellbeing more generally. The success of the Internet depends on its openness and the confidence of...

This paper outlines the main trends of the evolution of EU consumer legislation. It ends with some recent developments, in particular ADR and projects of standardisation organisations such as the CEN in the area of services. It draws the seemingly paradoxical conclusion that EU consumer law may...

We examine to what extent a specific aspect of national culture — uncertainty avoidance — can explain cross‐country variations in (dis)trust in banks. Relying on data from the World Values Survey, we find that trust in banks is lower in countries that score high for Hofstede's uncertainty...