Does the relative position in a hierarchy or a ranking affect individual risk attitudes and performance? This paper proposes a new empirical approach to evaluate the implications of rankings by analyzing a rich set of data on World Cup alpine skiing tournaments for the period of 1995-2013....

Die vorliegende Dissertation verwendet empirische Methoden zur Untersuchung von Problemen in den Bereichen Makroökonomie, internationaler Handel, Politische Ökonomie und Verhaltensökonomie. Kapitel 5 untersucht die Bedeutung von Ranglisten und ob Medienaufmerksamkeit individuelle Erwartungen...

Die vorliegende Dissertation verwendet empirische Methoden zur Untersuchung von Problemen in den Bereichen Makroökonomie, internationaler Handel, Politische Ökonomie und Verhaltensökonomie. Kapitel 5 untersucht die Bedeutung von Ranglisten und ob Medienaufmerksamkeit individuelle Erwartungen...

We use a credible regression discontinuity design to estimate causal education effects. Pupils in the Swiss education system had to pass a centrally organized exam that classified them into different levels of secondary school, and that ultimately determined their educational degree. A major...

A standard assumption of structural models of default is that firms' assets evolve exogenously. In this paper, we examine the importance of accounting for investment options in models of credit risk. In the presence of financing and investment frictions, fi rm-level variables that proxy for...

We examine the asset pricing implications of a production economy whose long-term growth prospects are endogenously determined by innovation and R&D. In equilibrium, Rh&D endogenously drives a small, persistent component in productivity which generates long-run uncertainty about economic growth....

Recent theoretical research in corporate finance has highlighted the role of incentive problems between firms' investors and insiders in determining corporations' financial structures, dynamics and investment policies. Financial contracts are designed to mitigate these agency conflicts. However,...