Browsing by Author "He, Haoran"

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Can Stated Preference Methods Accurately Predict Responses to Environmental Policies? The Case of a Plastic Bag Regulation in China
(2010-05-06T12:00:32Z) He, Haoran
This study investigates the validity of using stated preference (SP) estimates to predict policy effects on plastic bag consumption. Before implementation of a plastic bag regulation, when bags were still free of charge, we utilized an SP survey to elicit consumers’ contingent bag consumption in certain possible pricing scenarios. Following implementation of the regulation mandating charging for bags, we conducted another survey to collect actual consumption information. We thus have unique data to compare stated and revealed consumption. The comparison results show that consumers’ behavioral reactions to a policy change can be predicted reasonably well with SP techniques.
Easy come, easy go - The role of windfall money in lab and field experiments
(2009-08-11T13:26:55Z) Carlsson, Fredrik; He, Haoran; Martinsson, Peter
A growing number of experimental studies focus on the differences between the lab and the field. Important in this issue is the role of windfall money. By conducting a dictator game, where the recipient is a charity organization, in exactly the same way in the laboratory and in the field, we investigate the influence of windfall and earned endowment on behavior. We find a strong effect on donation amounts of earned endowment in the lab and the field. Subjects donate more if the endowment is a windfall gain. Thus, windfall money is important not only in a lab environment. However, even for earned endowment, there is a significant difference in behavior between the lab and the field.
The Effects of an Environmental Policy on Consumers: Lessons from the Chinese Plastic Bag Regulation
(2010-06-03T11:15:48Z) He, Haoran
To reduce plastic bag litter, China introduced a nationwide regulation requiring all retailers to charge for plastic shopping bags on June 1, 2008. By using the policy implementation as a natural experiment and collecting individual-level data before and after the implementation, we investigate the impacts of the regulation on consumers’ bag use. We find that the regulation implementation caused a 49% reduction in the use of new bags. Besides regulation enforcement, consumers’ attitude toward the regulation and some consumers’ socioeconomic characteristics also affected bag consumption. However, the regulation effects differ largely among consumer groups and among regions and shopping occasions.
Environmental and Behavioral Economics - Applications to China
(2010-10-25) He, Haoran
Group Decision Making Under Risk: An experiment with student couples
(2011-12) He, Haoran; Martinsson, Peter; Sutter, Matthias; Dept of Economics, University of Gothenburg
In an experiment, we study risk-taking of cohabitating student couples, finding that couples’ decisions are closer to risk-neutrality than single partners’ decisions. This finding is similar to earlier experiments with randomly assigned groups, corroborating external validity of earlier results.
Household Decision Making in Rural China: Using Experiments to Estimate the Influences of Spouses
(2010-08) Carlsson, Fredrik; He, Haoran; Martinsson, Peter; Qin, Ping; Sutter, Matthias
Many economic decisions are made jointly within households. This raises the question about spouses’ relative influence on joint decisions and the determinants of relative influence. Using a controlled experiment (on inter-temporal choice), we let each spouse first make individual decisions and then make joint decisions with the other spouse. We use a random parameter probit model to measure the relative influence of spouses on joint decisions. In general, husbands have a stronger influence than wives. However, in richer households and when the wife is older than the husband, we find a significantly stronger influence of the wife on joint decisions.
Windfall vs. Earned Money in the Laboratory: Do They Affect the Behavior of Men and Women Differently?
(2010-08) Carlsson, Fredrik; He, Haoran; Martinsson, Peter
We experimentally investigate, using a dictator game, if the effects of windfall and earned endowments on behavior differ between men and women genders. In line with previous studies, we find that windfall endowments significantly increase the amount donated. The impact of moving from earned to windfall endowment on behavior is larger for females, yet the gender difference is statistically insignificant. Thus, we do not find evidence that the change in how the endowment is obtained in a laboratory experiment affects male and female behavior differently.