The American Inventors Protection Act: A Natural Experiment on Innovation Disclosure and the Cost of Debt

We examine the impact of innovation disclosure through patenting on firms' cost of debt, focusing on the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) as an exogenous shock in innovation disclosure regulation. Post‐AIPA, firms have an incentive to apply for patents only if commercial success is likely. Accordingly, we expect post‐AIPA patents to be a better proxy for successful innovation activity, and thus to have a stronger effect on reducing the cost of debt than pre‐AIPA patents. Indeed, we find that pre‐AIPA patents reduce the cost of debt only for the most innovative firms, while post‐AIPA, this effect holds for all firms.     

Individual investor perceptions and behavior during the financial crisis

Combining monthly survey data with matching trading records, we examine how individual investor perceptions change and drive trading and risk-taking behavior during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. We find that investor perceptions fluctuate significantly during the crisis, with risk tolerance and risk perceptions being less volatile than return expectations. During the worst months of the crisis, investors’ return expectations and risk tolerance decrease, while their risk perceptions increase. Towards the end of the crisis, investor perceptions recover. We document substantial swings in trading and risk-taking behavior that are driven by changes in investor perceptions. Overall, individual investors continue to trade actively and do not de-risk their investment portfolios during the crisis.     

Environmental Regulations and Plant Exit

A qualitative response model is applied to study the relationship between environmental regulations and plant exit. The data set is Norwegian panel data for establishments in three manufacturing sectors that have high shares of units which have been under strict environmental regulations. In two of the sectors, the estimated exit probability of regulated establishments is, ceteris paribus, only one third of the exit probability of non-regulated establishments. We also find that the probability to change regulation status from being non-regulated to become regulated depends significantly on economic factors. In particular, establishments with weak profitability had the highest probability to come under environmental regulation.     

How Does Consumers' Financial Vulnerability Relate to Positive and Negative Financial Outcomes? The Mediating Role of Individual Psychological Characteristics

Vulnerable consumers are at particular risk of financial detriment due to, for example, low financial literacy or numeracy, high debt, low income, or impactful changes in personal circumstances. We introduce a comprehensive and formative measure of financial vulnerability that integrates these risk factors and is grounded in definitions of vulnerability from financial regulation bodies and government agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Across three studies of US individuals, we assess the nomological validity of this measure of financial vulnerability through its relationship with positive and negative financial outcomes (e.g., savings levels, paying credit card balances in full each month, being in arrears) as well as relevant psychological characteristics (e.g., personal savings orientation [PSO], money management skills, financial self‐efficacy). Moreover, we examine whether and how these psychological characteristics mediate the relationship between financial vulnerability and financial outcomes. We conclude with an overview of implications for policy makers and business practitioners.     

Attitudes and Donation Behavior When Reading Positive and Negative Charity Appeals

This article tries to clarify whether negative charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the bad consequences of not helping) or positive charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the good consequences of helping) are more effective. Previous literature does not provide a single answer to this question and we suggest that one contributing reason for this is that different studies have operationalized appeal effectiveness in different ways (e.g., actual behavior, self-rated helping intentions, or expressed attitudes about the ad or the organization). Results from four separate studies suggest that positive appeals are more effective in inducing favorable attitudes toward the ad and toward the organization but that negative appeals are more effective (in studies 1A and 1B) or at least equally effective (in studies 1C and 1D) in eliciting actual donations. Also, although people’s attitude toward the appeal (i.e., liking) was a good predictor for the expected effectiveness in increasing donation behavior (in Study 2), it was a poor predictor of actual donation behavior in all four main studies. These results cast doubt on marketing theories suggesting that attitudes toward an advertisement and toward the brand always lead to higher purchase behavior.     

Bild und Emotion — ein neues Forschungsfeld

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

A linear demand system within a seemingly unrelated time series equations framework

A seemingly unrelated time series equations framework for the linear almost ideal (AID) demand system is considered. The framework is applied to a consumer demand system covering nine non-durable commodities. Within a specification where the static linear AID system is augmented by latent variables representing stochastic trends and seasonality, demand homogeneity is tested; both in each equation and in the system as a whole. Income and own-price elasticities are calculated under homogeneity restrictions. Although the homogeneous model is formally rejected by statistical tests, it performs well with respect to interpretability, parameter stability and forecasting.     

Do good things come in pairs? How personality traits help explain individuals' simultaneous pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and financially responsible behavior

Both a healthy lifestyle and financially responsible behavior contribute to individual wellbeing and benefit society. Motivated by the fact that both types of behavior involve short-term sacrifices in exchange for uncertain long-term benefits and require self-control, we examine individuals' consistency in behavior across the health and financial domains. Using a large-scale data set of 3,752 employed Australians, we find that the majority of individuals behave in a consistently beneficial or detrimental way across both domains. This behavioral consistency relates to fundamental life outcomes, including physical and mental health, financial prosperity, and life satisfaction. In a new contribution to the literature, we show how personality traits—Locus of Control, the Big Five, Achievement Motivation—have a meaningful role in explaining the simultaneous pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and financially responsible behavior. These behavioral insights can guide policymakers in developing more effective strategies to steer individuals towards beneficial health and financial outcomes.