Topic Consumers

Support study for the evaluation of the rules for operating aid under the EU aviation framework applicable as of 2014

As part of the evaluation process of the current State aid rules, the European Commission has awarded to the consortium of Lear, DIW Berlin, and Sheppard Mullin, a specific contract to carry out a study to support its evaluation of the rules regarding access of airports to operating aid under the EU Aviation Framework applicable as of 2014 (2014 Aviation Guidelines or the Guidelines). The study...

Social media and protests in China

How Effective Is Black-box Digital Consumer Profiling and Audience Delivery?: Evidence from Field Studies

BAMS is a joint seminar by the DIW Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance, the HU Berlin and the WZB.

Antibiotic Resistance: Socio-Economic Determinants and the Role of Information and Salience in Treatment Choice (ABRSEIST)

Antibiotics have contributed to a tremendous increase in human well-being, saving many millions of lives. However, antibiotics become obsolete the more they are used as selection pressure promotes the development of resistant bacteria. The World Health Organization has proclaimed antibiotic resistance as a major global threat to public health. Today, 700,000 deaths per year are due to...

Health-Related Life Cycle Risks and Public Insurance

Based on a dynamic life cycle model, this study analyzes health-related risks of consumption and old-age poverty. The model allows for health effects on employment risks, on productivity, on longevity, the correlation between health risks, productivity and preferences, and the financial incentives of the German public insurance schemes. The estimation uses data on male employees and an extended expectation-maximization ...

How Consumers Trade Off Supply Security and Green Electricity: Evidence from Germany and Great Britain

The expansion of renewable energies requires infrastructure investments to at least maintain the stability of electricity grids. Using survey data from residential consumers in Germany and Great Britain, we infer in pecuniary terms the extent to which people are prepared to reward the presence of renewable resources in electricity production and how they trade off this change in the fuel mix against ...

The Effect of Social Comparison on Debt Taking: Experimental Evidence

A number of studies show that there is a link between social comparison and high levels of household debt. However, the exact mechanisms behind this link are not yet well understood. In this paper, we perform a lab experiment designed to study the effects of social image concerns and peer information on consumption choices that can be financed through debt taking. We find that having to announce one's ...

Monetary Policy Can Have Heterogeneous Effects on the Investment Behavior of Women and Men

The ultra-loose monetary policy of recent years has raised concerns that the low interest rate environment may overly benefit households with specific demographic and financial characteristics. In this context, monetary policy can be a potential driver of gender wealth inequality, since women are known to be more risk averse, less financially literate, and to participate less in the financial markets ...

Drivers of Renewable Technology Adoption in the Household Sector

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we undertake a simultaneous assessment of the importance of factors that are individually found to be significant for the adoption of renewable energy systems by households but are not yet tested jointly. These are sociodemographic and housing characteristics, environmental concern, personality traits, and economic factors; i.e. the expected costs of ...

The Effect of a Leniency Rule on Cartel Formation and Stability: Experiments with Open Communication

Cartels can severely harm social welfare. Competition authorities introduced leniency rules to destabilize existing cartels and hinder the formation of new ones. Empirically, it is difficult to judge the success of these measures because functioning cartels are unobservable. Existing experimental studies confirm that a leniency rule indeed reduces cartelization. We extend these studies by having a ...