We study the role of face-to-face interaction for gender differences in deceptive behavior and perceived honesty. In the first part, we compare women to men’s deceptive behavior using data from an incentivized income-reporting experiment with three treatments. Reporting is fully computerized in a baseline treatment but occurs face-to-face in the second and third treatment. Lies can be detected in the ...
This study examines the association between employment trajectories and retired men’s and women’s individual wealth at older ages in the two distinct welfare state contexts of Eastern and Western Germany. Because of the increasing re-marketization of retirement provisions, wealth is becoming increasingly important for retirees’ economic well-being. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study ...
It is very rare that the causal link between actions and outcomes can be observed directly. Often, it is much easier to observe correlation. To derive causality from correlation, economists use elaborate techniques. However, little is known about individuals’ capabilities to infer from correlational data in their everyday lives. I test if individuals erroneously infer...
In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced a special report on the impacts of average global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pathways. It is set in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. This paper, which differs ...
This study develops and applies a framework for analyzing variability in individuals’ occupational prestige trajectories and changes in average variability between birth cohorts. It extends previous literature focused on typical patterns of intragenerational mobility over the life course to more fully examine intracohort differentiation. Analyses are based on rich life course data for men and women ...
Personality predicts how we interact with others, what partners we have, and how happy and lasting our romantic relationships are. At the same time, our experiences in these relationships may affect our personality. Who experiences specific major relationship events and how do these events relate to personality development? We examined this issue based on data from a nationally representative household ...
We analyze workers’ risk preferences and training investments. Our conceptual framework differentiates between the investment risk and insurance mechanisms underpin-ning training decisions. Investment risk leads risk-averse workers to train less; they undertake more training if it insures them against future losses. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to demonstrate that risk affinity is ...
This study examines the effect of a soft commitment device in the form of a savings goal calendar on savings for small business owners in Kampala, Uganda. We run a randomized controlled trial (RCT) under which the treatment group receives a calendar designed to set savings goals and to make a plan to reach this goal. The control group is given a plain calendar. We find no average effect on savings, ...