We reconsider evidence from experiments that claim to show that using “house money” in standard public goods experiments has no effect on behavior. We show that it does have an effect when one examines the data using appropriate statistical methods that consider individual-level responses and account for the error structure of the panel data.

One of the most robust empirical findings in the behavioral sciences is loss aversion--the finding that losses loom larger than gains. We offer a new psychological explanation of the origins of loss aversion in which loss aversion emerges from differences in the distribution of gains and losses people experience. In 4 experiments, we tested this proposition by manipulating the range of gains an...

This paper studies the behavior of international capital flows driven by the portfolio reallocation decisions of international investors; so-called hot money. I develop an open economy model with endowment and preference shocks that can account for the empirical behavior of real exchange rates, interest rates and consumption in the U.S. and Europe. The model includes financial frictions that im...

Mobile (feature) phone-based monetary transactions are common in the developing world, where there are millions of users in Africa and India. These mobile payment systems are often offered by network carriers acting as a clearing house for a small fee on each transaction. This payment system does not require the user having a bank account. Evaluations of these payment systems usability and secu...

Asthma is a chronic life-threatening disease of worldwide importance. Although allergic asthma and related atopic conditions correlate strongly with immune sensitization to house dust mites, it is unclear why antigens from mites provoke such powerful allergic immune responses. We have characterized the protease activity of Der p I, the group I protease allergen of the house dust mite Dermatopha...

In everyday life, people often make decisions on behalf of others. The current study investigates whether risk preferences of decision-makers differ when the reference point is no longer their own money but somebody else money. Thirty four healthy participants performed three different monetary risky choices tasks by making decisions for oneself and for another unknown person. Results showed th...