This paper concerns optimal income taxation under asymmetric information in a two-type overlapping generations model, where people care about their relative consumption compared to others.

The purposes of placing sensors in water distribution systems vary from complying with water quality regulations, monitoring accidental contamination events, and detecting intentional contamination events.

This paper analyses differences in the choice of health care facility by ill individuals in HIV/AIDS-affected households in the Free State province of South Africa.

This thesis consists of six papers, related to artifactual field experiments, conducted in South Africa. The main focus of the thesis is the effect of different forms of heterogeneity on cooperation and punishment within groups.

We conduct public goods experiments where the first study draws on a sample of nine fishing communities in South Africa; the second is conducted in Cape Town amongst four high schools with distinctly different socio-economic profiles.

The ‘‘old” familiar diseases of cholera and typhoid remain a serious health threat in many developing countries. Health policy analysts often argue that vaccination against cholera and typhoid should be provided free because poor people cannot afford to pay for such vaccines and because vaccination confers positive economic externalities on unvaccinated individuals.

This paper analyses the role of risk and rate of time preference in the choice of land contracts.

We study behavior in a search experiment where sellers receive randomized bids from a computer. At any time, sellers can accept the highest standing bid or ask for another bid at positive costs. We find that sellers stop searching earlier than theoretically optimal. Inducing a mild form of time pressure strengthens this finding in the early periods. We find no significant differences in search behavior between individuals and groups of two participants. However, there are marked gender differences.

We investigate the importance of relative income within the Indian Caste system, using a choice experiment.

Results indicate that visitors look at the behavior of others in deciding if and how much to donate, but partially reject being told what to do. Also, as the social reference moves farther away from average behavior, its effect on the typical visitor is diminished, leading to lower and less frequent donations.

This paper attempts to bring some central insights from behavioural economics into the economics of climate change.