Tilburg University

About: Tilburg University is a education organization based out in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Anxiety. The organization has 5550 authors who have published 22330 publications receiving 791335 citations.

Traders' Expectations in Asset Markets: Experimental Evidence

Abstract: We elicit traders' predictions of future price trajectories in repeated experimental markets for a 15-period-lived asset. We find that individuals' beliefs about prices are adaptive, and primarily based on past trends in the current and previous markets in which they have participated. Most traders do not anticipate market downturns the first time they participate in a market, and, when experienced, they typically overestimate the time remaining before market peaks and downturns occur. When prices deviate from fundamental values, belief data are informative to an observer in predicting the direction of future price movements and the timing of market peaks.

The Determinants of Stock and Bond Return Comovements

Abstract: We study the economic sources of stock‐bond return comovements and their time variation using a dynamic factor model. We identify the economic factors employing a semistructural regime-switching model for state variables such as interest rates, inflation, the output gap, and cash flow growth. We also view risk aversion, uncertainty about inflation and output, and liquidity proxies as additional potential factors. We find that macroeconomic fundamentals contribute little to explaining stock and bond return correlations but that other factors, especially liquidity proxies, play a more important role. The macro factors are still important in fitting bond return volatility, whereas the “variance premium” is critical in explaining stock return volatility. However, the factor model primarily fails in fitting covariances. (JEL G11, G12, G14, E43, E44) Stock and bond returns in the United States display an average correlation of about 19% during the post-1968 period. Shiller and Beltratti (1992) underestimate the empirical correlation using a present value with constant discount rates, whereas Bekaert, Engstrom, and Grenadier (2005) overestimate it in a consumption-based asset pricing model with stochastic risk aversion. Yet, these models generate realistically positive correlations using economic state variables.

Measurement quality and validity of the "need for recovery scale"

Abstract: The "need for recovery scale" is suggested as an operationalisation for the measurement of (early symptoms of) fatigue at work. Definition of and background on the concept of need for recovery are briefly discussed. Details about scale construction are summarised. Correlations with other relevant measurement scales on fatigue at work are presented to validate the operationalisation claim, as are early results on predictive validity. A study is presented that further investigates the measurement quality and validity of the scale. The data used in this study were collected by Occupational Health Services for 68 775 workers during the period 1996-2000. Comparing the measurement quality of subgroups (Cronbach's alpha) differing in terms of age class, sex, and education level, the general applicability of the scale was shown. The validity of the scale was studied by analysing its association with psychosocial risk factors. Multiple regression analyses of need for recovery were performed on individual and department level data, using 10 psychosocial job characteristics as independent variables. The two most important factors in the explanation of variance at the individual level were also dominant at the department level: pace and amount of work, and emotional workload. The percentage of explained variance was higher at the department level than at the individual level, and increased with department size. Results suggest that the need for recovery scale is an adequate scale, both for applications at the individual and at the group (department/organisation) level.

Social Exclusion Causes People to Spend and Consume Strategically in the Service of Affiliation

Abstract: When people's deeply ingrained need for social connection is thwarted by social exclusion, profound psychological consequences ensue Despite the fact that social connections and consumption are central facets of daily life, little empirical attention has been devoted to understanding how belongingness threats affect consumer behavior In four experiments, we tested the hypothesis that social exclusion causes people to spend and consume strategically in the service of affiliation Relative to controls, excluded participants were more likely to buy a product symbolic of group membership (but not practical or self-gift items), tailor their spending preferences to the preferences of an interaction partner, spend money on an unappealing food item favored by a peer, and report being willing to try an illegal drug, but only when doing so boosted their chances of commencing social connections Overall, results suggest that socially excluded people sacrifice personal and financial well-being for the sake of social well-being