Consumer Economic Behavior and the Role of Information: Three Case Studies

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dc.contributor.authorVinoles Gomez, Maria V.en
dc.contributor.committeechairMoeltner, Klausen
dc.contributor.committeememberBlank, Steven C.en
dc.contributor.committeememberTsang, Kwok Pingen
dc.contributor.committeememberYou, Wenen
dc.contributor.departmentAgricultural and Applied Economicsen
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-23T08:05:33Zen
dc.date.available2015-05-23T08:05:33Zen
dc.date.issued2014-10-13en
dc.description.abstractThe economics of information is a relatively new and important field of economics. This dissertation analyzes the role of information in three case studies within three different branches of economics: health economics, environmental economics, and finance and banking. First I analyze parental nutritional label usage and its effect of children's dietary outcomes (i.e. Health Eating Index and Body Mass Index). I show that parental usage of nutritional labels is associated with a better quality of their children's diet as well as an overall improvement in their health as measured by their Body Mass Index. Secondly, I study the behavioral effect of length of residency on water demand in the arid cities of Reno and Sparks in Nevada. In this case, I observe that social interaction among households affects their water usage. In particular, newcomers' watering behaviors are influenced by the prevailing social norms among neighbors that have lived in the arid area for a longer period of time. Finally, I compare the performance of local versus larger national and regional lending institutions in the years leading to the 2007 mortgage crisis. I find that local or community lenders have a significantly lower foreclosure rate during these years. Local lenders presumably base their origination decisions on an interpersonal relationship with their customers. This provides them with information that is not contained within the standard risk metrics generally used in loan applications. I discuss the policy implications of these results for each case study.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:3844en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/52568en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectinformationen
dc.subjectnutritional labelen
dc.subjectsocial normsen
dc.subjectlength of residencyen
dc.subjectcommunity lendersen
dc.titleConsumer Economic Behavior and the Role of Information: Three Case Studiesen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineAgricultural and Applied Economicsen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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