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Dear members and friends of the VCEE,<br>
<p>This is just to flag that next week Friday April 24, 2020 we will
continue with the VCEE seminar online. For the two speakers see
below or here: vcee.univie.ac.at/seminars-events/vcee-seminars/.</p>
<p>More information (link, etc.) will come to your mailbox at the
beginning of next week. Please note that the seminar is scheduled
for 10:00 - 12:30 hrs with a small break in between. <br>
</p>
<p>Best regards,</p>
<p>Wieland Müller</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Speaker: Linda Windsteiger (Max Planck Institute of Tax Law and
Public Finance)<br>
</p>
<p><span class="event-description"><font>
<p><font><span>Title: Last Word Not Yet Spoken: Last Place and
Rank Reversal Aversion</span></font></p>
</font></span><span class="event-description"><font><font><span>
<p><span><font>Abstract: Prefe<wbr>rences over social
ranks have emerged as potential drivers of weaker
than expected support for redistributive
interventions among those <span><font>closest to
the bottom of the income distribution. We
compare preferences for alterations of the
income distribution affecting the decision
maker's social <span><font>rank, but not their
income, and compare them with similar
alterations leaving both rank and income
unchanged. We find support for both a
discontinuously <span><font>greater
disutility from occupying the last as
opposed to higher ranks,thus affecting
only those closest to the bottom of the
distribution, and for a general <span><font>dislike
of rank reversals affecting most
ranks. We moreover contribute to the
replication literature by uncovering
and correcting a potential reason
for the <span><font>failed
replication of previous results.
We discuss implications for
policy design in both public
finance and management science.</font></span></font></span></font></span></font></span></font></span></font></span></p>
</span></font></font></span><span class="event-description"></span><span
class="event-description"><font><font><span></span></font></font></span><br>
</p>
<p>Speaker: Lubomir Cingl (University of Economics Prague)</p>
<p><span class="event-description">
<p><span><font>Title: Carrots or Sticks? Field Evidence on What
Makes People Pay TV Fees</font></span></p>
<p><span><font>Authors: Jan<wbr>a Cahlíková, Lubomír Cingl,
Kateřina Chadimová, Miroslav Zajíček</font></span></p>
<p><span><font><wbr>Abstract: In a large natural field
experiment (N=82,645) we evaluate new strategies on how to
increase compliance of potential TV fees evaders by
sending them letters and randomly varying the text and
envelope. We use two new text strategies aimed at(i) the
elicitation of preference for fee designation, and (ii)
the explanation of fee purpose. We also employ three
well-known strategies that have so far given conflicting
results in the literature: (iii) highlighting the formal
consequences of evasion, (iv) stating the value of
services obtained in exchange for the fee, and (v)
invoking social norms. We also test two modifications of
the envelope design and aim at recipients' reciprocity and
attention stimulation by (vi) placing a picture of a
fairy-tale cartoon character on the envelope and an
identical sticker inside, or by (vii) placing there a red
inscription ``Important'' instead. Our results show that
the only treatment more efficient than the baseline is
using the deterrence principle spelling out the formal
consequences of not paying. Both envelope-modify<wbr>ing
treatments marginally decrease the response and
registration rates. In a preceding incentivized laboratory
pre-test, students had predicted the ranking of the text
treatments accurately.</font></span></p>
</span></p>
<pre class="moz-signature">--
Wieland Müller
Professor of Economics
University of Vienna & VCEE
Tilburg University, CentER & TILEC
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://homepage.univie.ac.at/wieland.mueller/">http://homepage.univie.ac.at/wieland.mueller/</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://vcee.univie.ac.at/people/">http://vcee.univie.ac.at/people/</a>
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