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Nan Yang

Bio: Nan Yang is an academic researcher from National University of Singapore. The author has contributed to research in topics: Markov perfect equilibrium & Oligopoly. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 18 publications receiving 68 citations. Previous affiliations of Nan Yang include Tilburg University & University of Tokyo.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that temporary incentives can lead to lasting changes in people’s daily routines through a field experiment in Singapore, and the modest shift toward early travel strongly persisted even seven months after the end of the free-trip offer.
Abstract: We show that temporary incentives can lead to lasting changes in people’s daily routines through a field experiment. In randomized controlled trials on Singapore’s subways, commuters in the treatment group received a full rebate of their fares for 10 weeks if they exited fare gates before the start of morning peak-travel time. The objective of the fare promotion was to alleviate peak-time congestion by encouraging commuters to travel prepeak. This promotion resembles an actual public program implemented in Singapore in 2013. Using participants’ fare cards, we obtained a rich data set for 60 weeks’ worth of trips. A difference-in-differences analysis reveals that the effect of the free-trip offer was modest but robust during the promotional period: on average, trips were 5.5% more likely to end before the morning peak time. More encouragingly, the modest shift toward early travel strongly persisted even seven months after the end of the free-trip offer. This seemingly small shift could imply large financia...

28 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on consumer psychology for insight into the social and cognitive psychological factors that may hamper the adoption of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) and their influence on consumer choices and perceptions.
Abstract: Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is based on the notion that consumers and transport providers access a centralized platform for the planning, payment, and management of trips and combines multiple modes of transportation designed to increase the efficiency of the system. MaaS offers substantial societal benefits, including the reduction of emissions, traffic congestion, road injuries, and the overall discomfort associated with travel, in addition to providing personalized transportation solutions. Since the delivery of these benefits hinges on the widespread adoption of MaaS platforms, we draw on consumer psychology for insight into the social and cognitive psychological factors that may hamper the adoption of MaaS, and their influence on consumer choices and perceptions. More generally, this paper highlights that transportation is a fertile context for consumer psychology research.

17 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an econometric model of industry dynamics for concentrated markets that can be estimated very quickly from market-level data on demand shifters and the number of producers is developed.
Abstract: This paper develops an econometric model of industry dynamics for concentrated markets that can be estimated very quickly from market-level data on demand shifters and the number of producers. We show that the model has an essentially unique symmetric Markov-perfect equilibrium that can be calculated from the xed points of low-dimensional contraction mappings. We characterize the model's identi cation and extend Rust's (1987) nested xed point estimator to account for the observable implications of mixed strategies on survival. We illustrate the model's application with ten years of County Business Patterns data from Motion Picture Theaters in 573 Micropolitan Statistical Areas.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that behavioral incentives may be an effective tool to address a common issue with this form of transportation and demonstrate that the warning message and monetary incentive shift users' behavior compared with the social norm intervention.
Abstract: Dockless shared bicycles have become a popular mode of transportation for city dwellers in China. Despite its convenience, the dockless feature also creates new challenges, as users often park shared bicycles in a disorderly fashion, which places a burden on both city management and business operations. In a randomized field experiment, subjects receive general information via one of three interventions to improve orderly parking: being informed about the social norm, receiving a warning message, or being offered a monetary incentive. The results suggest that the warning message and monetary incentive shift users’ behavior compared with the social norm intervention. Users who received warning messages were 18.0% more likely to park in an orderly fashion, and users who received a monetary incentive were 25.2% more likely. This study demonstrates that behavioral incentives may be an effective tool to address a common issue with this form of transportation.

10 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a simple model of firm entry, competition, and exit in oligopolistic markets is developed, and an essentially unique symmetric Markov-perfect equilibrium is proved.
Abstract: This paper develops a simple model of firm entry, competition, and exit in oligopolistic markets. It features toughness of competition, sunk entry costs, and market-level demand and cost shocks, but assumes that firms' expected payoffs are identical when entry and survival decisions are made. We prove that this model has an essentially unique symmetric Markov-perfect equilibrium, and we provide an algorithm for its computation. Because this algorithm only requires finding the fixed points of a finite sequence of contraction mappings, it is guaranteed to converge quickly.

6 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
Mark A. Nyman1
01 Mar 2007

282 citations

OtherDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the evolution of the supermarket industry, from the birth of the chain store concept in the early 1900s to the recent rise of the Wal-Mart supercenter, and provides a coherent context for current merger policy and broadens our understanding of the processes shaping the economic geography of retail trade.
Abstract: This paper examines the evolution of the supermarket industry, from the birth of the chain store concept in the early 1900s to the recent rise of the Wal-Mart supercenter. The central message is that the major themes relevant today (the importance of scale and standardization, technological innovation, the introduction of new formats, and the rapt attention of anti-trust authorities) appear throughout its hundred year history. The goal of this paper is to provide a coherent context for current merger policy and broaden our understanding of the processes shaping the economic geography of retail trade.

56 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper discusses some recent developments in smart city initiatives across the world to motivate the opportunities and challenges that such initiatives pose, and categorizes them into three themes: opportunities, challenges, and strategy.
Abstract: We discuss some recent developments in smart city initiatives across the world to motivate the opportunities and challenges that such initiatives pose, and we categorize them into three themes: dat...

49 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A behavioral model of durable good usage with mental accounting for sunk costs predicts higher-than-rational usage that attenuates at a rate that increases with sunk costs, believed to be the first field evidence of the sunk cost fallacy in usage of a major durable good.
Abstract: Does the sunk cost fallacy affect decision-makers in high-stakes situations? We develop a behavioral model of usage of a durable good with mental accounting for sunk costs. It predicts that usage increases in the sunk cost, and attenuates with time at a rate that increases in the sunk cost. The model nests conventionally rational behavior as a special case.We take the model to a panel of 7,398 cars between 2001-2011 in Singapore. During that period, the sunk cost involved in a new car purchase varied substantially with the continuing government policy. We found robust evidence of a sunk cost fallacy. The elasticity of usage with respect to the sunk cost was 0.124(±0.015). An increase in the sunk cost by S$4,500 (the outcome of government policy between 2009 and 2010) would have been associated with an increase in monthly usage by 53.5 kilometers or 3.4% in the first four years of purchase. Our results were robust to various checks including alternative controls for selection, differences in model and specification, and allowing for heterogeneous effects by car size.

46 citations