Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2015
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Economics
Major Professor
William S. Neilson
Committee Members
Donald J. Bruce, Jacob S. LaRiviere, Paul R. Armsworth
Abstract
I study three questions which relate to one another only in that each explores facets of economics. First, I theoretically examine the conditions under which introducing an impure public good decreases total public provision. I introduce a central planner who can tax the private good to correct this and identify the market characteristics that typify this scenario. Second, I test the two standard competing dividend puzzle hypotheses using a laboratory experiment. Evidence from the lab, including variables unobservable in the field, reinforces empirical work supporting the outcome model over the substitute. Last, I obscure from dictators information regarding recipients' income sources in a standard laboratory dictator game. When other-regarding dictators are unaware how much of recipients' income is earned relative to luck-borne, they assume recipients are unlucky rather than lazy. This supports the social insurance literature over that on moral wiggle-room.
Recommended Citation
McMahon, Matthew John, "Theory and Experiments Exploring Behavioral, Financial, and Public Economics. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2015.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3353
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Corporate Finance Commons, Economic Theory Commons, Finance Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Other Economics Commons, Public Economics Commons, Taxation Commons