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作者：Englmaier, Florian; Stowasser, Till
作者单位：University of Munich
摘要：We provide evidence that German savings banks, which are controlled by county-level politicians, systematically adjust lending policies in response to local electoral cycles. The different timings of county elections across states and the existence of a comparable group of cooperative banks-that are very similar to savings banks but lack their political connectedness-allow for identification of the effects of county elections on savings bank lending. These effects are economically meaningful a...
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作者：Campaniello, Nadia; Diasakos, Theodoros M.; Mastrobuoni, Giovanni
作者单位：University of Essex; University of Stirling; Collegio Carlo Alberto
摘要：Is there a rational component in the decision to commit suicide? Economists have been trying to shed light on this question by studying whether suicide rates are related to contemporaneous socioeconomic conditions. This paper goes one step further: we test whether suicides are linked to forward-looking behavior. In Italy, collective sentence reductions (pardons) often lead to massive releases of prisoners. More importantly, they are usually preceded by prolonged parliamentary activity (legisla...
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作者：Grossman, Zachary; van der Weele, Joel J.
作者单位：State University System of Florida; Florida State University; University of Amsterdam; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
摘要：Avoiding information about adverse welfare consequences of self-interested decisions, or willful ignorance, is an important source of socially harmful behavior. To understand this issue, we analyze a Bayesian signaling model of an agent who cares about self-image and has the opportunity to learn the social benefits of a personally costly action. We show that willful ignorance can serve as an excuse for selfish behavior by obfuscating the signal about the decision-maker's preferences, and help ...
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作者：Fuchs, Andreas; Gehring, Kai
作者单位：Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; University of Zurich; University of Gottingen
摘要：Using data on 143 sovereigns provided by nine agencies based in six countries, we estimate the determinants of sovereign ratings to test whether agencies assign higher ratings to their respective home countries, as well as to economically, geopolitically, and culturally aligned countries. Our regression results show that the respective home country, culturally more similar countries, and countries to which home-country banks have a larger risk exposure receive higher ratings than justified by ...
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作者：Andersen, Jorgen Juel; Johannesen, Niels; Lassen, David Dreyer; Paltseva, Elena
作者单位：BI Norwegian Business School; University of Copenhagen; Stockholm School of Economics
摘要：Do political institutions limit rent seeking by politicians? We study the transformation of petroleum rents, almost universally under direct government control, into hidden wealth using unique data on bank deposits in offshore financial centers that specialize in secrecy and asset protection. Our main finding is that plausibly exogenous shocks to petroleum income are associated with significant increases in hidden wealth, but only when institutional checks and balances are weak. The results su...
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作者：d'Adda, Giovanna; Darai, Donja; Pavanini, Nicola; Weber, Roberto A.
作者单位：Polytechnic University of Milan; University of Zurich
摘要：We study whether leaders influence the unethical conduct of followers. To avoid selection issues present in natural environments, we use an experiment in which we create simple laboratory firms and assign leadership roles at random. In our first experiment, firms engage in competition and unethical behavior enhances firm earnings but produces a negative externality for all firms. We vary, by treatment, two instruments through which leaders can influence follower conduct-prominent statements to...
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作者：Berg, Gunhild; Zia, Bilal
作者单位：The World Bank
摘要：Responsible financial habits are important for economic welfare, yet it remains unclear whether they can be effectively taught. Entertainment media offers a unique and cost-effective channel of reaching millions of viewers with financial education messages that resonate. This paper uses random and symmetric encouragement methodology to study the economic impact of targeted messages on debt management and gambling scripted in a popular television soap opera in South Africa. The results show tre...
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作者：Eugster, Beatrix; Lalive, Rafael; Steinhauer, Andreas; Zweimuller, Josef
作者单位：University of St Gallen; University of Lausanne; University of Edinburgh; University of Zurich
摘要：Unemployment varies across space and in time. Can attitudes toward work explain some of these differences? We study job search durations along the Swiss language border, sharply separating Romance language speakers from German speakers. According to surveys and voting results, the language border separates two social groups with different cultural background and attitudes toward work. Despite similar local labor markets and identical institutions, Romance language speakers search for work almo...
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作者：Dow, James; Goldstein, Itay; Guembel, Alexander
作者单位：University of London; London Business School; University of Pennsylvania; Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole; Toulouse School of Economics; Universite de Toulouse
摘要：We analyze information production incentives for traders in financial markets, when firms condition investment decisions on information revealed through stock prices. We show that traders' private value of information about a firm's investment project increases with the ex ante likelihood the project will be undertaken. This generates an informational amplification effect of shocks to firm value. Information production by traders may exhibit strategic complementarities for projects that would ...
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作者：Gerko, Elena; Rey, Helene
作者单位：University of London; London Business School
摘要：The importance of financial markets and international capital flows has increased greatly since the 1990s. How does this affect the effectiveness of monetary policy? We analyse the transmission of monetary policy in two important financial centres, the United States and the United Kingdom. Studying the responses of mortgage and corporate spreads, we find evidence in favour of an important financial channel in both countries. Our identification strategy allows us to study the effect of movement...
