L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier la fragilité financière, c.à.d. la sensibilité du système financier par rapport aux perturbations. La difficulté principale concernant la fragilité financière dans le contexte actuel est la complexité croissante du système financier. piur remédier à ce problème, cette thèse s'inspire des deux courants relativement récents de la recherche économique : l'analyse des réseaux et l'économie comportementale. Les principaux concepts mobilisés sont les mécanismes de diffusion, de cascade et la rationalité limitée. Chapitre 1 étudie les effets des structures locales ds liens, spécifiquement la longueur des cycles transitifs sur la magnitude de la contagion financière. Chapitre 2 propose un modèle dynamique des paniques bancaires, dans lequel les paniques émergent par un mécanisme de cascade des retraits. Le but est de mieux comprendre comment les paniques se forment. Chapitre 3 étudie les paniques bancaires dans un contexte à la fois dynamique et comportemental, avec la présence du mimétisme et l'hétérogénéité des déposants. / This thesis studies financial fragility, i.e. the sensitivity of the financial system with respect to shocks. the main issue of financial fragility in the current context is the increased financial complexity. To address this problem, this study draws inspiration from two relatively recent streams of literature : econopmics of networks and behavioral economics. The main concepts in use are diffusion, cascade and bounded rationality. Chapter 1 studies how petterns of links, specifically, the length of transitive cycles affect the extent of financial contagion. Chapter 2 proposes a dynamic model in which bank runs arise as cascades of withdrawals. The aim is to better understand how bank runs occur. Chapter 3 studies bank runs in a dynamic and behavioral setting, with herding and heterogeneity of depositors.

Provider incentives are a commonly used policy tool to mold provider behaviors.1 However, while we frequently measure the change in patient outcomes, failure to consistently produce changes in outcomes does not mean that providers are not changing their behavior. This paper focuses on two programs with null or inconsistent quality outcomes to try to identify why such inconsistency occurs. The two programs, both ratified in the Affordable Care Act, are 1) patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), and 2) the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program. Chapter 1: Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel survey (MEPS), I match provider characteristic surveys to member experience with care in order to evaluate characteristics key to patient-centered medical homes. I find that patient-perceived patient-centeredness of a practice is not related to the number of PCMH attributes a practice reports. However, some characteristics do play specific and significant roles in patient perception and outcomes. For instance, case management is not only associated with increased patient perception of after-hours access to care, but overall costs were reduced. Interestingly, having after hours clinic hours was more common with practices highly consistent with PCMH criteria, but these hours did not result in decreased emergency department use or cost of care. Chapter 2: The second provider incentive studied is the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP). This program assigns payment adjustments based on performance on a series of rotating quality metrics. To date, changes in patient outcomes cannot be attributed to the program; however, it should not be concluded that hospitals are not responding at all. I identify changes in staffing by provider type as an early indicator of hospital response to payment incentives. Data come from the Virginia Health Information (VHI) Hospital Cost Report, 2010-2017. Using a generalized linear model, I find that when receiving a penalty, hospitals reduce staffing among the most and least expensive personnel (physicians and nursing aides). Hospitals increase nursing and administrative staff following a bonus. These findings are consistent with hospitals responding to incentives both by aiming to improve efficient use of resources and maintain or improve quality of care. Chapter 3: Finally, I assess potential unintended consequences of the HVBP program, specifically the provision of charity care. Using the VHI cost reports for year 2013 to 2017 with a regression discontinuity model, I find that hospitals receiving a bonus decrease their charity care among the lowest income patients (under 100% federal poverty level (FPL)). Hospitals receiving a penalty tend to reduce charity care among higher income patients (100%-200% FPL). These findings are consistent with two separate responses to the incentives. Hospitals receiving bonuses appear to be cream-skimming healthier, wealthier individuals while hospitals receiving penalties appear to be shifting the focus of their charity care to the most needy, likely in an effort to reduce cost of care levels overall while maintaining their community benefit programs, potentially as a result of goal gradient cognitive bias.

The ongoing conflict between Thailand’s red shirt and yellow shirt parties is not purely political. This tension is rooted in a renewed awareness of regional economic and social inequality, a byproduct of rapid economic growth in the past. This thesis seeks to understand the overall consequences of unequal economic development in Thailand, as the rationale for asserting that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program is an appropriate policy tool for the ongoing reconciliation efforts.

This thesis further investigates the effectiveness of 15 variable moving average strategies that mimic the trading rules used in the study by Brock, Lakonishok, and LeBaron (1992). Instead of applying these strategies to developed markets, unique characteristics of emerging markets offer opportunity to investors that warrant further research. Before transaction costs, all 15 variable moving average strategies outperform the naïve benchmark strategy of buying and holding different emerging market ETF's over the volatile period of 858 trading days. However, the variable moving averages perform poorly in the "bubble" market cycle. In fact, sell signals become more unprofitable than buy signals are profitable. Furthermore, variations of 4 of 5 variable moving average strategies demonstrate significant prospects of returning consistent abnormal returns after adjusting for transaction costs and risk.

The feed-in tariff is a flexible, yet effective mechanism in promoting the proliferation of renewable electricity in California. The tariff creates a stable investment environment that protects both the utilities and the renewable electricity generators. Not only does the system foster capacity growth, but also technological advancement to the point where renewable electricity can compete in the market without assistance. From an environmental standpoint, the feed-in tariff contributes significantly towards achieving the emissions reduction goals set forth by AB32 without causing harmful increases to electricity prices. The feed-in tariff model has been used in countries all over the world and in countless variations. The California model is certainly unique, using a dynamic combination of eligibility requirements, pricing mechanisms, and degression rates. Flaws can already be spotted in the system, but it is too early to tell what type of market effects will truly prevail. The key will be to analyze the market effects as they happen and adjust the tariff accordingly. In the meantime, it would be advantageous to pursue more aggressive green marketing campaigns in order to establish meaningful social norms in favor of environmentally responsible goods and practices. These strong social norms will help to ensure quicker and more effective transitions to green products in the future, including the complete transition to renewable electricity over the coming generations.

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary simplicity— “simplicity that is voluntary-consciously chosen, deliberate, and intentional- [and] supports a higher quality of life” (Elgin 4). The complexity of the subject of sustainability is why I chose to narrow my focus to such a worldview and because much of my educational background is in Gender and Women’s Studies I specifically focus on women. Feminist ethnographic methods of participant observation are utilized as well as rhetorical analysis. I examine the attentive roles that have afforded these women the ability to form intimate social as well as ecological relations in their community. The observations are recorded in a narrative form and contribute to the growing knowledge base of sustainability as well as resilience studies. The lack of sustainable practices on a large scale in our country affects every citizen who lives here through environmental problems like climate change and peak oil. The narrative form allows the research I have collected to maintain an accessible language which is important in reaching a greater audience beyond that of academia. The narrative shows easy, manageable sustainable choices and changes that can be applied at the micro as well as macro level. These choices and changes are not exhaustive or all inclusive; rather they are suggestions for those who are interested in joining the sustainability movement.

Purpose of the research: The purpose is to forecast the future trend of housing prices in Stockholm County 2011-2014 based on estimated slope coefficients of selected explanatory variables 1993-2010. Thereafter, the obtained forecast will be discussed with respect to other non-quantifiable concepts within behavioral economics. Method: Multiple regression technique with a deductive and explorative approach. Empirical data: Quantitative. Conclusion: The future trend of housing prices in Stockholm County has been forecasted to be positively sloped throughout all the years 2011-2014, but in 2011, the forecast reveals that the increase of house prices will taper off. Nevertheless, behavioral economics reveals some insights about the trend on the housing market and that the house prices might include a portion of abnormal returns. / Syfte: Syftet är att förutse den framtida utvecklingen av bostadspriserna i Stockholms län 2011-2014 baserade på beräknade lutningskoefficienter av valda förklaringsvariabler 1993-2010. Därefter kommer den erhållna prognosen att diskuteras i förhållande till andra icke-kvantifierbara begrepp inom beteendeekonomi. Metod: Multipel regressionsteknik med en deduktiv och explorativ strategi. Empirisk data: Kvantitativ. Slutsats: Den framtida utvecklingen av bostadspriserna i Stockholms län har beräknats ha en positiv lutning inom samtliga år 2011-2014, men under 2011 visar också prognosen att ökningen av huspriserna kommer att avta successivt. Icke desto mindre avslöjar beteendeekonomi vissa insikter om utvecklingen på bostadsmarknaden och att huspriserna kan innehålla en andel abnorm avkastning.

This study looks at alternative models of follow-up album success in order to determine if there is a relationship between the decrease in Metascore ratings (assigned by Metacritic.com) between the first and second album for a musician or band and the 1) music genre or 2) the number of years between the first and second album release. The results support the dominant thought, which suggests that neither belonging to a certain genre of music nor waiting more or less time to drop the second album makes an artist more susceptible to the Sophomore Slump. This finding is important because it forces us to identify other potential causes for the observed disappointing performance of a generally favorable musician’s second album.

This dissertation is a collection of essays (chapters) on behavioral economics. Behavioral economics—arguably one of the most influential innovations in economics over the last 20 years—is a research paradigm introducing psychologically more realistic assumptions into economics. A common theme throughout the dissertation is the focus on either biased beliefs, or heterogeneous preferences, or both. The first chapter serves as an introduction to some themes in behavioral economics and its implications for market outcomes in industrial organization settings. The next two chapters are theoretical papers on entrepreneurial and managerial overconfidence that can also be thought of as contributions to this newly emerging field of behavioral industrial organization. The last chapter is an empirical contribution on gender differences in preferences and economic behavior at a young age. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2011</p>

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the personality traits that are associated with socioeconomic mobility, specifically pertaining to individuals from working class backgrounds. Socioeconomic mobility is an important issue to examine due to the persistence of intergenerational poverty and the difficulty with which to resolve it. Extensive research explicitly shows the dilemma of intergenerational transmission of poverty exists and continues to persist regardless of revised policies. Many aspects each individual experiences have been proven to affect economic attainment, such as race, family background, parental efficacy, social discrimination, area of residency, welfare, education, and intelligence. Although these are recognized in this paper, they are, for the most part, ignored as determinants, as the focus is on the personality traits defining the upwardly mobile, and similar characteristics exist, even while disregarding the above ignored qualities. Mainly social identity theory and identity theory, but also motivational theory, personal efficacy theories, and other related theories, have determined social participation, perception of social class and poverty, control of emotions, impulse control, personal efficacy, social identity, motivation, victimization and dependence or the lack thereof, are all major determinants of mobility.