PAYING WARDS AND PAYING HOSPITALS.

Paying more when paying for others.

Social behavior is heavily influenced by the perception of the behaviors of others. We considered how perceptions (and misperceptions) of kindness can increase generosity in economic transactions. We investigated how these perceptions can alter behavior in a novel real-life situation that pitted kindness against selfishness. That situation, consumer elective pricing, is defined by an economic t...

Paying taxes

Imagine a woman named Amina who owns a manufacturing company in Morocco. In 2004 she had to make 28 payments and spend more than 44 days (358 hours) to comply with tax regulations. Today, thanks to changes over the past 7 years, her administrative burden is lighter. The government merged many taxes and eliminated others, and now Amina needs to make only 17 payments a year as measured by Doing B...

Paying Respect

W hy do people work? Economic theory generally, and the principal– agent model specifically, emphasize the role of material incentives. The standard assumption is that people work hard only if they receive monetary compensation for doing so. However, a substantial body of evidence contradicts the standard economic model. Many salaried academics, for example, work diligently year after year, con...

Paying Hospitals Under Medicare's Prospective Payment System: Another Perspective

Paying Attention or Paying Too Much in Medicare Part D.

We study whether people became less likely to switch Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) due to more options and more time in Part D. Panel data for a random 20 percent sample of enrollees from 2006--2010 show that 50 percent were not in their original PDPs by 2010. Individuals switched PDPs in response to higher costs of their status quo plans, saving them money. Contrary to choice overloa...