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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：Oto-Peralias, Daniel; Romero-Avila, Diego
作者单位：University of St Andrews; Universidad Pablo de Olavide
摘要：This paper explores the political economy that leads frontier regions to be unequal. By focusing on the presence of a stable frontier between Castile and the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in the late Middle Ages, our analysis shows how a historical border may generate differences in inequality that can become extremely persistent. We argue that the dynamics of being a militarily insecure frontier region created the conditions on the Castilian side for a high concentration of economic and political...
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作者：Abeler, Johannes; Marklein, Felix
作者单位：University of Oxford
摘要：Fungibility of money is a central assumption in the theory of consumer choice: any unit of money is substitutable for another. This implies that the composition of income or wealth is irrelevant for consumption. We find that even in a simple, incentivized setup many subjects do not treat money as fungible. When a label is attached to a part of their budget, subjects change consumption according to the label. We first provide suggestive evidence from the field and then use a laboratory experime...
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作者：Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding; Kaarsen, Nicolai; Wingender, Asger Moll
作者单位：University of Copenhagen
摘要：Irrigated agriculture makes societies more likely to be ruled by authoritarian regimes. Ancient societies have long been thought to follow this pattern. We empirically show that irrigation affects political regimes even in the present. To avoid endogeneity, we use geographical and climatic variation to identify irrigation dependent societies. We find that countries whose agriculture depended on irrigation are about six points less democratic on the 21-point polity2 scale than countries where a...
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作者：Peitz, Martin; Rady, Sven; Trepper, Piers
作者单位：University of Mannheim; University of Bonn; University of Munich
摘要：We study optimal experimentation by a monopolistic platform in a two-sided market. The platform provider is uncertain about the strength of the externality each side is exerting on the other. Setting participation fees on both sides, it gradually learns about these externalities by observing actual participation levels. This provides an informational rationale for introductory pricing, with the platform provider charging a fee below the myopically optimal level on at least one side of the mark...
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作者：Ghysels, Eric; Idier, Julien; Manganelli, Simone; Vergote, Olivier
作者单位：University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; European Central Bank; Bank of France; European Central Bank
摘要：Policy impact studies often suffer from endogeneity problems. Consider the case of the European Central Bank (ECB) Securities Markets Programme: If Eurosystem interventions were triggered by sudden and strong price deteriorations, looking at daily price changes may bias downward the correlation between yields and the amounts of bonds purchased. Simple regressions of daily changes in yields on quantities often give insignificant or even positive coefficients and therefore suggest that Securitie...
