https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/42530 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 03:01:23 GMT 2026-04-27T03:01:23Z https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/42524 A needs-based framework for approximating decisions and well-being Krecik, Markus Behavioral economics has so far largely avoided discussing the psychological origins of preferences, as well as their relation to needs. This has not only restricted interdisciplinary exchange, but also significantly limits the predictive capabilities of models. For example, the revealed preference approach can only reliably predict repeating choices, while needing large amounts of observations for calibration. In this paper, I show how unifying preferences with the psychological concept of needs strengthens economic models, by developing a decision-making framework for well-being assessment and choice prediction. To present the direct merit of this approach, I show how this framework yields a systematic approximation scheme, which is able to solve limitations of current approaches by describing new alternatives, non-repeating choices, or otherwise unobservable desires. Meanwhile, the approximation scheme requires less observations on an individual level than current approaches. I achieve this by constructing a hierarchical dependency between human motivations and preferences through the language of needs. I show the basic feasibility of the approximation scheme through simulations on random populations. In practice, the framework is applicable in situations where individuals exert choices only once and measuring preferences is expensive, like evaluating policy proposals or predicting decisions under technological change Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/42524 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45833 An organizational theory of unionization Prummer, Anja; Squintani, Francesco Motivated by the recent surge in union drives, we present a theoretical model of the factors that influence unionization. An employee seeking to unionize their workplace assembles organizers to persuade coworkers to vote in favor. If unionization benefits workers, it is more likely to succeed when the organizers are credible. Credibility depends on the organizers not being overly biased and/or bearing significant organizational costs. Our theory explains why grassroots movements, rather than established unions, often succeed in organizing workplaces. Interestingly, the likelihood of successful unionization, when it benefits workers, is non-monotonic with respect to organizational costs. When such costs are low, a firm that opposes unionization and targets organizers may paradoxically increase the chances of success. However, the unionization drive is ineffective if the firm’s opposition is sufficiently strong, as this makes organizational costs prohibitive. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45833 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45709 Crowding (at) the margins Kohl, Sebastian; Steinhardt, Max F.; Stella, Luca; Voss, Simon This study explores the factors influencing household overcrowding using longitudinal survey data from Germany spanning the years 1985 to 2022. As average square meters per capita have declined for urban tenants, we find that overcrowding rates have substantially increased since 2012: By 2022, 11% of the population lived in overcrowded housing (Eurostat definition), while up to 19% of individuals subjectively felt overcrowded. At the same time, under-occupation also rose, with 39% of dwellings objectively classified as under-occupied, and 16% of residents subjectively perceiving their homes as under-occupied. We demonstrate that the likelihood of entering, experiencing, and remaining in overcrowded housing increases in early adulthood and decreases over the life cycle. Moreover, we find that, after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics such as the number of children or a migration background, economic factors contribute relatively little to explaining the likelihood of living in an overcrowded household. In policy terms, our paper highlights a misallocation of housing space and the need for housing policies to target particular vulnerable groups at high risk of overcrowding. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45709 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45595 Do Natural Disasters Affect Household Saving? Berlemann, Michael; Haustein, Erik; Steinhardt, Max F.; Tutt, Jascha Recently, there is a growing interest in understanding how individuals adapt to changing climate conditions and climate-induced extreme weather events. An underexplored question is whether and how climate-related natural hazards affect household saving behavior. For this purpose, we exploit a natural experiment stemming from the European Flood of August 2002. Combining micro data with geo-coded flood maps allows us to analyze the causal impact of flood exposure on household savings within a differences-in-differences setting. We find that flood exposure depresses household saving behavior in the medium run. The most likely explanation is moral hazard induced by massive government support for affected households. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/45595 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z