Goodbye smokers' corner: Health effects of school smoking bans

We estimate the causal impact of school smoking bans in Germany on the propensity and intensity of smoking. Using representative longitudinal data, we use variation in state, year, age cohort, school track, and survey time for implementation of such smoking bans to identify the effects of interest. The estimates from our multipledifferences approach show that six to ten years after intervention, propensity towards smoking is reduced by 7-16 percent, while the number of smoked cigarettes per day decreases by 8-13 percent. Our results still hold if we account for the clustered data structure by evaluating the effects with randomization inference.Wir untersuchen die kausalen Auswirkungen des Rauchverbots an Schulen in Deutschland auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit zu rauchen und die Anzahl gerauchter Zigaretten pro Tag. Um diese Effekte zu messen, verwenden wir einen repräsentativen Paneldatensatz und nutzen Variationen zwischen Bundesländern, Jahren, Alterskohorten, Schulformen und Interviewzeitpunkten in Bezug auf das Inkrafttreten der Intervention. Die Schätzungen unseres multiplen Differenzenansatzes zeigen, dass sich sechs bis zehn Jahre nach Einführung der Verbote an Schulen die Wahrscheinlichkeit zu rauchen um 7-17 Prozent reduziert, während die Anzahl an gerauchten Zigaretten pro Tag um 8-13 Prozent sinkt. Unsere Ergebnisse bleiben auch dann robust, wenn wir der Clusterstruktur der Daten Rechnung tragen und die Effekte mit Randomisierungsinferenz evaluieren

A data-driven procedure to determine the bunching window : an application to the Netherlands

This paper presents new empirical evidence on taxpayers responsiveness to taxation by estimating the compensated elasticity of taxable income with respect to the net-of-tax rate in the Netherlands. Applying the bunching approach introduced by Saez (2010), we find small, but clear evidence of bunching behaviour at the thresholds of the Dutch tax schedule with a precise estimated elasticity of 0.023 at the upper threshold. In line with the literature, we find much larger estimates for women and self-employed individuals, but we can also identify significant bunching behaviour for wage employed individuals which we can attribute to tax deductions for couples. We add to the bunching literature by proposing to rely on the information criteria to determine the counterfactual model, as well as developing an intuitive, data-driven procedure to determine the bunching window

“I added the numbers, it’s math!”: how sense-making in “age of the captain” problems differs between a mathematics classroom and a language classroom

Students’ solution process of mathematical word problems depends on the situational context, e.g. the school subject (Dewolf, Van Dooren & Verschaffel, 2011). We analysed approaches to “age of the captain problems” (ACP; Verschaffel, Greer & De Corte, 2000) that present a situation that makes no sense, but are nonetheless frequently “solved” by a majority of primary school students. 48 primary school students (age M = 9.4, 54% female) in a mathematics or a language classroom were given five ACP. Afterwards, classroom interviews were conducted in both groups. Quantitative analyses show a non-significant tendency that students in the mathematics class were more likely to provide an arithmetic response to ACP. Interviews revealed that students in both groups experienced a cognitive dissonance regarding the expectation to provide an arithmetic solution, but differed in their approach to resolve it. This suggests that sense-making in ACP is influenced by the classroom context

The effect of transfer pricing regulations on intra-industry trade

We analyse the effect of transfer pricing regulations on trade ows. We base our estimation on a panel gravity model, where the transfer pricing regulations are modeled as trade costs. To abstract from any aggregate demand shocks, we focus on intermediate goods in the car industry. Our results suggest a significant volume effect on the exported quantity as a result of the introduction of transfer pricing laws in the exporting country. Exports to lower tax rate countries are reduced, whilst exports to higher tax rate countries are increased. In line with theory, transfer pricing regulations only play a role if a tax rate difference exists between the trading partners

A comparison of self-reports and electrodermal activity as indicators of mathematics state anxiety.: An application of the control-value theory

In the present study with 86 undergraduate students, we related trait Mathematics Anxiety (MA) with two indicators of state anxiety: self-reported state anxiety and electrodermal activity (EDA). Extending existing research, we included appraisals of control and perceived value in hierarchical multiple regression analyses in accordance with the control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006). Results showed that trait MA predicted self-reported state anxiety, while no additional variance was explained by including control and value. In contrast, we found no significant relation between trait MA and physiological state anxiety, but a significant, negative three-way interaction effect with control and value. Regression coefficients indicated that trait MA predicted physiological state anxiety, but only in the presence of negative perceived control and positive perceived value. Thus, our results support the control-value theory for physiological state anxiety, but not for self-reports. They emphasize the need to distinguish between trait and state MA, the advantages of adopting the control-value theory, and the benefits of using EDA recording as a supplemental assessment method for state anxiety

Sudden Attention Shifts on Wikipedia During the COVID-19 Crisis

We study how the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the severe mobility restrictions that ensued, has impacted information access on Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia. A longitudinal analysis that combines pageview statistics for 12 Wikipedia language editions with mobility reports published by Apple and Google reveals massive shifts in the volume and nature of information seeking patterns during the pandemic. Interestingly, while we observe a transient increase in Wikipedia's pageview volume following mobility restrictions, the nature of information sought was impacted more permanently. These changes are most pronounced for language editions associated with countries where the most severe mobility restrictions were implemented. We also find that articles belonging to different topics behaved differently; e.g., attention towards entertainment-related topics is lingering and even increasing, while the interest in health- and biology-related topics was either small or transient. Our results highlight the utility of Wikipedia for studying how the pandemic is affecting people's needs, interests, and concerns.Comment: Manoel Horta Ribeiro, Kristina Gligori\'c and Maxime Peyrard contributed equally to this work. Also, this paper has been accepted at the 15th International Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), please cite accordingl

Are There Cross-Cultural Legal Principles? Modal Reasoning Uncovers Procedural Constraints on Law

Despite pervasive variation in the content of laws, legal theorists and anthropologists have argued that laws share certain abstract features and even speculated that law may be a human universal. In the present report, we evaluate this thesis through an experiment administered in 11 different countries. Are there cross-cultural principles of law? In a between-subjects design, participants (N = 3,054) were asked whether there could be laws that violate certain procedural principles (e.g., laws applied retrospectively or unintelligible laws), and also whether there are any such laws. Confirming our preregistered prediction, people reported that such laws cannot exist, but also (paradoxically) that there are such laws. These results document cross-culturally and –linguistically robust beliefs about the concept of law which defy people’s grasp of how legal systems function in practice