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on Regulation |
| By: | Hubbell, Bryan (Resources for the Future); Krupnick, Alan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Trump administration’s US Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) has decided to stop quantifying and monetizing human health benefits when analyzing the impacts of federal regulations, overturning decades of established and peer-reviewed conventions. Instead, only the costs incurred by companies for complying with a regulation will be quantified when implementing regulatory decisions, leading to an unbalanced assessment of impacts. The EPA’s arguments for not quantifying and monetizing benefits are unsupported and out of step with the best available science and established practice. We provide a point-by-point rebuttal to these arguments and conclude that by failing to include quantified and monetized benefits in economic impact analysis, EPA has chosen to abandon adherence to economic principles, decades of guidance from experts, its own economic analysis guidelines, and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget. |
| Date: | 2026–01–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:report:rp-26-04 |
| By: | Joshua S. Gans |
| Abstract: | Machine learning systems embed preferences either in training losses or through post-processing of calibrated predictions. Applying information design methods from Strack and Yang (2024), this paper provides decision problem agnostic conditions under which separation training preference free and applying preferences ex post is optimal. Unlike prior work that requires specifying downstream objectives, the welfare results here apply uniformly across decision problems. The key primitive is a diminishing-value-of-information condition: relative to a fixed (normalised) preference-free loss, preference embedding makes informativeness less valuable at the margin, inducing a mean-preserving contraction of learned posteriors. Because the value of information is convex in beliefs, preference-free training weakly dominates for any expected utility decision problem. This provides theoretical foundations for modular AI pipelines that learn calibrated probabilities and implement asymmetric costs through downstream decision rules. However, separation requires users to implement optimal decision rules. When cognitive constraints bind, as documented in human AI decision-making, preference embedding can dominate by automating threshold computation. These results provide design guidance: preserve optionality through post-processing when objectives may shift; embed preferences when decision-stage frictions dominate. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.18732 |
| By: | Claire Greene; Oz Shy; Joanna Stavins |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the degree to which merchants influence consumers’ choice of how they pay for transactions. Using data from the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payments Choice, we examine consumers’ adherence to their preferred payment method when making in-person transactions. We also investigate whether merchants are able to steer consumers away from their preferred payment method. We characterize preferences for paying with cash or cards according to consumers’ income, level of education, and employment status. We find that consumers make most payments with their preferred method. When consumers pay with a non-preferred method, it is due only in small part to merchants’ refusal to accept that payment method. If a merchant accepts card payments, consumers who prefer paying with cards are not likely to pay with cash for large-value transactions or for gas or groceries. Discounts on cash purchases do not affect the probability of consumers deviating from using cards and paying with cash. Finally, the paper identifies “inertia” effects, which lead consumers to use the same payment method for consecutive purchases. |
| Keywords: | consumer payments; consumer payment choice; merchant steering; discounts; surcharges |
| JEL: | D14 E42 |
| Date: | 2026–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:102380 |
| By: | Sander Onderstal (University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Ruben van Oosten (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We analyze vertical integration in auction markets using a symmetric independent private-values model where the auctioneer invests in the auctioned object's quality. We find that the auctioneer invests more after integration. The integrated bidder enjoys a bidding advantage over other bidders. The merging parties benefit from integration, while non-merging bidders are worse off. In a platform setting where the auctioneer is an intermediary and the bidders are sellers on her platform, vertical integration has ambiguous effects on consumer surplus and total welfare. Our results contribute to the ongoing policy debate about platforms self-preferencing, effective competition policy, and digital market regulation. |
| JEL: | D44 G34 |
| Date: | 2025–08–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20250046 |
| By: | Brian C. Albrecht; Mark Whitmeyer |
| Abstract: | How do cost shocks pass through to prices in markets with price dispersion? Pass-through analysis typically assumes a single equilibrium price, but empirical studies consistently document substantial price variation, even for homogeneous products. This paper develops a tractable framework that decomposes the pass-through problem into two distinct tiers. The first is a competition layer where consumers' \textit{consideration sets} determine equilibrium distributions of normalized margins. The second is a curvature layer where demand elasticity determines how these margins translate into prices and pass-through rates. The key theoretical innovation is showing that the strategic pricing game with arbitrary downward-sloping demand is order-isomorphic to a baseline unit-demand game once reformulated in terms of normalized effective margins. This decomposition yields closed-form pass-through formulas, robust bounds across demand specifications, and clear comparative statics linking market structure to incidence. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.17964 |
| By: | Fabien Giauque; Mehdi Farsi |
| Abstract: | Dynamic social norms have been recognized as a promising approach to promote energy sufficiency. By highlighting trends and future shifts rather than current states, dynamic norms allow for a better focus on emerging norms that are not widely adopted. While existing studies predominantly examine behavioral outcomes, the underlying processes and trade-offs remain to be explored. This paper uses a discrete choice experiment (DCE) combined with a randomized controlled trial to study electricity saving preferences under various dynamic norms. An emphasis is placed on the rationale for the norm changes. The results show that dynamic norms framed in terms of growing concerns about energy supply security positively affect electricity saving goal, whereas those framed around climate change do not. The heterogeneity analyses suggest that dynamic norms shape behavior through two complementary mechanisms: they generate new preferences while simultaneously reinforcing existing ones. The concluding analysis identifies four distinct groups that vary systematically in their preferences for electricity sufficiency. |
| Keywords: | Electricity saving; Dynamic Norms; Energy supply security; Climate change; Discrete choice experiment; Latent Class Model; Mixed Logit Model; Value-Belief-Norm Theory |
| JEL: | D12 D91 Q48 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:26-01 |
| By: | Gersbach, Hans; van Buggenum, Hugo; Zelzner, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | Stablecoins are rapidly expanding as money-like assets for payments, trading, settlement, and cross-border transfer. In response, policymakers are moving quickly to develop new regulatory frameworks to safeguard the monetary and financial system. This article develops a forward-looking, research-based policy agenda for stablecoins, drawing on monetary theory, recent market developments (including stress events), our own analytical framework, and the broader academic literature. In our view, a world in which stablecoins reach scale requires a coherent package of measures: tools to preserve financial stability and resilience against liquidity crises; protections for monetary sovereignty and the singleness of money; rules on stablecoin remuneration; constraints on platform market power alongside interoperability requirements; robust financial-integrity rules; and international coordination to limit regulatory arbitrage and close cross-border loopholes such as multi-issuer structures. We also highlight several areas that require further evaluation prior to policy adoption, including whether (and under what conditions) a public liquidity backstop for systemic issuers or central-bank reserve access is warranted, as well as modernization pathways within the traditional monetary system. We benchmark our agenda against the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU's MiCA and provide a cross-jurisdictional comparison. |
| Keywords: | Stablecoins, Private digital money, Regulation and policy, MiCA, GENIUS Act |
| JEL: | E4 E5 G1 G2 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cfswop:335903 |
| By: | Xuesong Huang; Todd Keister |
| Abstract: | We study how the type of money used in blockchain-based trade affects interest rates, investment, and welfare. Stablecoins in our model are backed by safe assets, while banks issue deposits (both traditional and tokenized) to fund a portfolio of safe and risky assets. Deposit insurance creates a risk-shifting incentive for banks, and regulation increases banks’ costs. If regulatory costs are large and risk-shifting is limited, we show that allowing only tokenized deposits to be used in crypto trade raises welfare by expanding bank credit. If regulation is lighter and the risk-shifting incentive is strong, in contrast, allowing only stablecoins is desirable despite crowding out credit. In between these cases, allowing stablecoins and tokenized deposits to compete is optimal. The tradeoffs between these policies are reminiscent of both historical and recent debates over the desirability of narrow banking. |
| Keywords: | stablecoins; money creation; narrow banking; bank regulation |
| JEL: | E42 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2026–02–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:102411 |
| By: | Vitaly M. Bord; Agnes Kovacs; Patrick Moran |
| Abstract: | Behind the scenes of every credit card lies an increasingly complex algorithmic infrastructure that determines who receives more credit and when, largely outside the inspection or knowledge of credit card users. Credit card issuers deploy sophisticated algorithms that continuously analyze consumer spending and borrowing behaviors, often increasing credit limits without consumers requesting such changes. |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:102363 |
| By: | Alex Haag |
| Abstract: | Global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) has intensified in recent years. Some assessments emphasize US exceptionalism, while others argue that China is eroding US dominance. By contrast, the progress of other advanced foreign economies (AFEs) receives far less attention. |
| Date: | 2025–10–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:102359 |
| By: | Martimort, David; Simons (Semenov), Aggey |
| Abstract: | We study a repeated buyer-seller relationship with persistent adverse selection and one-sided enforcement, where a prepaid seller can breach by taking the money and running. The optimal stationary contract depends on enforcement strength and the discount factor. Three regimes arise. With a strong legal system, penalties deter breach and the optimal static contract can be repeated. With a weak system, the penalty caps transfers, forcing bunching among efficient (low-cost) types. With a very weak system, compliance relies on relational rents, causing large downward distortions. Strengthening public enforcement relaxes both incentive and enforcement constraints, reducing allocative inefficiency. |
| Keywords: | Adverse selection, Limited enforcement, Relational contracts, Contract breach |
| JEL: | D82 D86 K12 O17 |
| Date: | 2026–01–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:131355 |
| By: | Zahid, Haider; Ali, Amjad; Audi, Marc |
| Abstract: | This study explores how cryptocurrency regulation influences corporate financial reporting across multiple jurisdictions from 2016 to 2022, examining how differing laws alter managerial incentives and assurance processes. Disclosure behaviour in strictly regulated and moderately regulated settings is compared with evidence from 20 firms operating in 10 countries. Ordinary least squares regression and thematic coding provide convergent evidence. OLS regression controls for jurisdictional grouping and sectoral variation are applied. The analysis finds that tougher regimes are associated with greater transparency, more consistent cryptocurrency valuation, and richer risk disclosure. These benefits are most pronounced where proactive regulators exercise strong public financial oversight. Conversely, firms operating under vague or lax regimes exhibit fragmented disclosure and limited comparability. The inquiry also highlights systemic shortcomings, including inconsistent accounting classification of cryptocurrency, the absence of a single impairment rule, and a lack of unified reporting norms. Such deficiencies hinder investors, regulators, and auditors in assessing financial positions and risk exposure. Stakeholder theory highlights accountability pressures, legitimacy theory explains symbolic responses, and systems theory situates disclosure within broader institutional ecosystems, showing how regulatory contexts shape organisational strategy and reporting conventions. The research concludes by urging international harmonisation of accounting standards and sector-specific disclosure guidance to secure transparency and comparability within the expanding digital asset economy. This implies that policymakers should prioritize regulatory clarity to improve global disclosure comparability. |
| Keywords: | Cryptocurrency Regulation, Financial Reporting, Disclosure Quality, FinTech |
| JEL: | G0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127482 |
| By: | Constance Frohly; Roberto Galbiati; Emeric Henry; Nicolas Jacquemet (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Moral reminders, also referred to as moral appeals or moral nudges, are widely used by governments, companies, and NGOs to promote pro-social behavior. These appeals function by either increasing the salience of moral concerns or the cost of diverting attention away from relevant information on payoffs or social norms. Drawing on over 400 studies across psychology, sociology, management and economics, we present a meta-analysis of their effects. Our findings reveal that, on average, moral reminders are effective, with an effect size (Hedge's g) of 0.24 in a random-effects model, but with significant backfiring occurring in 12% of studies. We identify sources of heterogeneity based on disciplinary focus and design choices. Crucially, we introduce a taxonomy of moral reminders: we distinguish those that provide information on consequences, those that highlight descriptive or injunctive norms, and those that prime moral awareness. Our analysis shows that all of these instruments are effective, particularly those providing information on consequences, whereas information on injunctive norms is more likely to backfire. |
| Keywords: | Meta-analysis, Behavioral ethics, Moral reminders, Pro-social behavior |
| Date: | 2026–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-05456784 |
| By: | Nicoleta-Elena Heghes (Acad. Andrei Rădulescu Institute of Legal Research of the Romanian Academy) |
| Abstract: | The evolution of the regulation of the crime of trafficking in underage persons/minors in Romanian criminal legislation reflects the social, political and legal transformations of the Romanian state, as well as the obligations assumed through international treaties. The purpose of this study is to analyze the evolution of the regulation of the crime of trafficking in underage persons in the Romanian criminal legislation, from the first forms of indirect incrimination to the current enshrinement in the 2009 Romanian Criminal Code, in force since 2014. The topic remains highly relevant, as trafficking in underage persons represents one of the most serious forms of organized crime, with a direct impact on the fundamental rights of the child and on social security. The conclusions of the study highlight the constant tendency of the Romanian legislator to tighten and specialize the legal regime of trafficking in underage persons, in accordance with the international commitments assumed and the imperatives of child protection. Although the current regulations provide a firm legislative framework, their effectiveness depends on the consistent application by the authorities and on the existence of complementary policies of prevention and support for victims. |
| Keywords: | regulation, crime, trafficking, underage person/minor, harmonization |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0578 |
| By: | Ñancupil, Ignacio; Gil, Marina |
| Abstract: | La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) ha establecido cinco ejes prioritarios para una transición energética justa e inclusiva en América Latina y el Caribe: acceso universal y equitativo a la energía; una matriz sostenible; mayor eficiencia; infraestructura resiliente, e integración energética regional. Una mejor conectividad energética y una red resiliente e integrada permiten a los países aumentar su seguridad energética, aprovechar economías de escala en proyectos de infraestructura verde con menores costos, y facilitar la complementariedad y la mayor integración de energías renovables en un sistema interconectado más inclusivo, flexible, confiable y descarbonizado. Este estudio aporta información, sobre la base del análisis de los datos de Costa Rica, sobre las oportunidades que ofrece la integración energética para mejorar la seguridad y resiliencia de los sistemas energéticos, y constituye un insumo técnico para apoyar la formulación de políticas públicas orientadas a una transición energética sostenible e inclusiva, que contribuya al bienestar de las personas y al cumplimiento de los compromisos regionales y mundiales en materia de desarrollo sostenible. |
| Date: | 2025–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:83822 |
| By: | Ñancupil, Ignacio; Gil, Marina |
| Abstract: | La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) ha establecido cinco ejes prioritarios para una transición energética justa e inclusiva en América Latina y el Caribe: acceso universal y equitativo a la energía; una matriz sostenible; mayor eficiencia; infraestructura resiliente, e integración energética regional. Una mejor conectividad energética y una red resiliente e integrada permiten a los países aumentar su seguridad energética, aprovechar economías de escala en proyectos de infraestructura verde con menores costos, y facilitar la complementariedad y la mayor integración de energías renovables en un sistema interconectado más inclusivo, flexible, confiable y descarbonizado. Este estudio aporta información, sobre la base del análisis de los datos de Panamá, sobre las oportunidades que ofrece la integración energética para mejorar la seguridad y resiliencia de los sistemas energéticos, y constituye un insumo técnico para apoyar la formulación de políticas públicas orientadas a una transición energética sostenible e inclusiva, que contribuya al bienestar de las personas y al cumplimiento de los compromisos regionales y mundiales en materia de desarrollo sostenible. |
| Date: | 2025–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:83830 |