No abstract

The OECD/INFE international surveys of adult financial literacy (OECD/INFE 2016, 2020) show gender differences in financial literacy in developed countries in Europe. In this study, we examine whether these differences can be explained by gender differences in parental economic socialization using the Dutch 2018 DHS household survey. We investigate whether respondents' recollection of economic socialization when young predict their adult economic behavior and self‐assessed financial knowledge. The results from ordinal logit and logistic regressions and for nonlinear equations decompositions reveal gender differences in the recollection of economic socialization and in how socialization practices are related to economic behavior and self‐assessed financial knowledge. Men have to a greater degree than women been socialized in terms of having paid work outside the home, while women more often than men report that their parents controlled their spending. Moreover, we find gender differences in how men and women benefitted from the same socialization practices.

Numerous studies have focused on estimating technical inefficiency in electricity distribution firms. However, most of these studies did not distinguish between persistent and transient technical inefficiency. Furthermore, almost none of the studies estimated the cost of input misallocation arising from non-optimal use of inputs. One reason is that the cost function (input distance function) typically used in the literature does not allow for the separation of technical inefficiency and allocative inefficiency. In this study, we estimate both the persistent and transient components of technical inefficiency and input misallocation of Norwegian electricity distribution firms, using panel data from 2000 to 2016. Our modeling and estimation strategy is to use a system approach, consisting of the production function and the first-order conditions of cost minimization. Input misallocation for each pair of inputs is modeled via the first-order conditions of cost minimization. We also estimate the costs of each component of technical inefficiency and input misallocation by deriving the cost function for a multi-output separable production technology. Our modeling and estimation strategy handles endogeneity of inputs. Finally, we allow for inclusion of determinants of persistent and transient technical inefficiency. Our results show that the costs of input misallocation of Norwegian electricity distribution firms are non-negligible.

There is overwhelming evidence of reciprocal behavior, driven by intentions. However, the role of consequences is less clear cut. Experimentally manipulating how efficient trust and reciprocity can be in deterministic and uncertain environments allows us to study how payoff consequences of trust and trustworthiness affect reciprocity. According to the results for our modified Investment Game, trustees reward trust more when trust is more efficient but do not adjust rewards when the efficiency of rewarding is varied. Furthermore, higher deterministic benefits result in higher levels of reciprocity for all trust levels, whereas an uncertain environment diminishes reciprocity.