{"title":"The role of nudge-based messages on the acceptability and download of COVID-19 contact tracing apps: survey experiments","authors":"Hirofumi Kurokawa, Shusaku Sasaki, Fumio Ohtake","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00152-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00152-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We investigated the effectiveness of nudge-based messages in promoting the download of contact tracing apps, particularly in the context of low uptake due to serious distrust in the product. Even in the presence of distrust towards the app, promoting downloads can be a beneficial means of preventing infection spread at a stage before pharmacological interventions, such as vaccines or therapeutic drugs, are established. Two studies were conducted with Japanese residents who had not yet downloaded any contact tracing apps. Study 1, based on smartphone location data, targeted 2690 individuals who had gone out despite public instructions to stay at home. Study 2 targeted 4126 individuals whose web-search behavior could be tracked. Nudge-based messages did not increase app downloads in either study. In Study 1, where participants were considered non-cooperative, these messages also did not enhance acceptability such as willingness to accept and intention to download the apps. Conversely, in Study 2, a more representative sample, nudge-based messages emphasizing altruism, economic losses, and medical losses increased app acceptability, although they did not increase searches related to the app's keywords.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139977467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Did the BOJ’s negative interest rate policy increase bank lending?","authors":"Hiroshi Gunji","doi":"10.1007/s42973-023-00150-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-023-00150-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the effects of the negative interest rate policy in Japan on bank lending using regression discontinuity design. On January 29, 2016, the Bank of Japan announced the beginning of the negative interest rate policy from February 16, 2016. As the financial market did not anticipate this policy, we use the event as a natural experiment. For a few months, starting from February 2016, a negative interest rate was levied on banks that held reserves exceeding the average monthly reserves of 2015. This allows us to employ regression discontinuity design. The results suggest an average treatment effect on the banks levied a negative interest rate of <span>(-)</span>1.5% to <span>(-)</span>3.5%. In other words, the loans of banks levied negative interest rates declined compared with those of banks that were not.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139518816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}