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No mood effects in the field : The case of car inspections

Samahita, Margaret LU and Holm, Håkan J. LU (2023) In Journal of Economic Psychology 96.
Abstract

We study mood effect in the field to measure its economic impact and address shortcomings in the existing literature, which typically uses one single mood proxy and ignores selection effects. Using over 50 million car inspections in Sweden and England and multiple mood proxies, we study whether car inspectors are more lenient on good mood days and if car owners self-select into those days. We find evidence of a “Friday effect” in England and a small selection bias, but no support for consistent mood effect. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the expectations of rational actors who may exploit mood effect and the need to study mood in the field using different settings and multiple proxies to avoid hasty conclusions.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Car inspection, Emotion, Mood effect, Selection bias
in
Journal of Economic Psychology
volume
96
article number
102612
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85150767224
ISSN
0167-4870
DOI
10.1016/j.joep.2023.102612
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8f1adbb7-58a7-4cb2-a6de-2a2f55632862
date added to LUP
2023-05-16 15:36:33
date last changed
2023-05-16 15:36:33
@article{8f1adbb7-58a7-4cb2-a6de-2a2f55632862,
  abstract     = {{<p>We study mood effect in the field to measure its economic impact and address shortcomings in the existing literature, which typically uses one single mood proxy and ignores selection effects. Using over 50 million car inspections in Sweden and England and multiple mood proxies, we study whether car inspectors are more lenient on good mood days and if car owners self-select into those days. We find evidence of a “Friday effect” in England and a small selection bias, but no support for consistent mood effect. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the expectations of rational actors who may exploit mood effect and the need to study mood in the field using different settings and multiple proxies to avoid hasty conclusions.</p>}},
  author       = {{Samahita, Margaret and Holm, Håkan J.}},
  issn         = {{0167-4870}},
  keywords     = {{Car inspection; Emotion; Mood effect; Selection bias}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Economic Psychology}},
  title        = {{No mood effects in the field : The case of car inspections}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2023.102612}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.joep.2023.102612}},
  volume       = {{96}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}