| dc.description.abstract | Paper 1 investigates how birth order and having siblings affect positional concerns in
terms of success at work and of income. We find that only-children are the most
positional, but that number of siblings increases the concern for their position among
those who grew up together with siblings. Furthermore, people whose parents often
compared them with their siblings have stronger positional concerns in general.
Paper 2 analyzes whether an introduction of an entrance fee affects visitor
composition at a Swedish state-funded museum, namely the Museum of World
Culture. We conducted two surveys in order to collect information about the visitors’
socio-economic backgrounds, one before and one after the introduction of the
entrance fee. While the entrance was still free, we asked visitors about their
willingness to pay (WTP) for a visit, using the Contingent Valuation (CV) method.
The results of the CV survey show that several target group visitors that the museum
wishes to reach are less likely to visit the museum even at a very low fee level. By
comparing the CV results and the observed post-introduction change in visitor
composition, we conclude that CV does predict a majority of the changes
successfully.
In Paper 3 we use a choice experiment to study whether Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) administrator preferences regarding improvements in
environmental quality differ from citizen preferences. The EPA administrators were
asked to choose the alternatives they would recommend as a policy, while the citizens
were asked to act as private persons. We find that the attribute rankings and the WTP
levels for particular attributes differ between the two groups. We also find that
ecological sustainability is more important for the administrators than the preferences
of ordinary people regarding changes in environmental quality.
Paper 4 analyzes the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for changes in noise levels
related to changes in the volume of take-offs and landings at a city airport in
Stockholm, by using a choice experiment. When estimating MWTP for different times
of the day and days of the week, we find that these vary with temporal dimensions:
mornings and evenings have higher values.
Paper 5 investigates whether women have correct perceptions about the age-related
risk of female infertility, whether the perceptions of the personal and the general risk
in the own age group differ, and if so, which factors can explain the difference. The
results show that women overestimate the general risks for women older than 34, and
that mothers in general have a too optimistic picture of their own fertility while nonmothers
do not.
Paper 6 analyzes from which channels of information women get information about
the general risks of age-related female infertility and how the different channels of
information affect women’s risk perceptions. We find that media reaches women of
all ages, while only about one-fourth have received information from the health care
system. Furthermore, information from friends and relatives makes women more
likely to overestimate the risks. Since women are most interested in receiving
information from the health care system, we argue that system authorities should
inform women earlier than what is being done today. | en |
