The attraction paradigm in dyadic exchange

Although the marketing literature alludes to the influence of interpersonal attraction in dyadic exchange, the composition of attraction, as well as its relationship to other elements in the exchange process, has not been given adequate attention. Since substantial empirical evidence supports the impact of attraction on a variety of human responses, this article examines how attraction impacts on marketing dyads and presents a model of interpersonal attraction as a framework for empirical testing. The implications of the model are discussed, and suggestions for further research are given.     

parent power lost and regained?

How can parents regain control of schools? Marjorie Seldon, doyenne of education voucher enthusiasts, argues that education vouchers would restore rights to parents and improve the quality of education.     

The medical officer's role in critical illness insurance product development

Critical illness insurance is a new (to the US), medically sophisticated insurance product that is tantalizing some US insurers. Few have brought a product to market, but many opine that a US breakthrough is in the offing. Would you rise to the challenge and craft an opportunity to participate in the development of a new product concept? How do medical officers bring value to the product development world? Do medical officers belong in the domain of product actuaries and consultants who bring new product ideas to life? Dr. Jan von Overbeck and I presented a workshop at the 2004 AAIM meeting to discuss the role of the medical officer in the development and evaluation of critical illness insurance. This article summarizes that discussion for the Journal's readers.     

Post‐Injury Work Outcomes Revisited

We use data for Ontario workers with permanent impairments resulting from work‐related injuries to investigate the complex relationships among post‐injury work outcomes: wages, accommodations, returning to the same or different employer, and duration of work absence. We argue the different aspects of post‐injury work experience may be jointly determined, making post‐injury job characteristics endogenous in a duration model. To explore the endogeneity issues we instrument post‐injury job variables from first‐stage equations and compare results from this “informed” model to a “naive” model that treats the variables as exogenous. We find that returning to one's pre‐injury employer is associated with more favorable post‐injury work outcomes, including higher wages, greater likelihood of job accommodations, and shorter durations of work absence relative to workers who change employers. We also find substantial differences between the naive and informed models, with accommodations having the predicted negative effect on duration only after we control for endogeneity.     

Comparison of fruit and vegetable consumption among Native and non‐Native American populations in rural communities

Fruit and vegetable consumption of Native Americans was compared with that of non‐Native Americans and determinants of fruit and vegetable intake for both populations were found based upon the Theory of Planned Behavior. A one‐time survey was conducted as part of a larger research project funded by the South Dakota Department of Health. The survey was administered in local grocery stores and supermarkets in six South Dakota communities, including two located on Native American reservations. Of the 1000 distributed surveys, 499 were returned with 230 being usable, resulting in a response rate of 49.9%. Wilcoxon signed‐rank test and two regression models were tested using SAS 9.2 software. Dependent variables were fruit and vegetable intake. Attitudes towards health, fruit and vegetable consumption, perceived difficulty, subjective norm and intention were also measured. Community size, family income, employment status and participation in food assistance programmes [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Women, Infants, and Children (SNAP or WIC)] were socio‐demographic control variables. Overall, Native American participants consumed more fruit and vegetables at home and had a more positive attitude towards healthy diets than non‐Native American participants. SNAP or WIC participation, family health, exercise, intention to live healthier than parents, buying healthy food, and fruit and vegetable consumption when eating out were positively associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among Native Americans, while participation in the SNAP or WIC programme had a negative influence on consumption among non‐Native American participants. Family health, exercise, buying healthy food, fruit and vegetable when eating out, and intention to buy healthy food were positively associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among the non‐Native American population. Theory of Planned Behavior variables (e.g. attitude towards healthy food) significantly contributed to the model explaining fruit and vegetable consumption. The fact that SNAP and WIC participation had an opposite influence on the two populations warrants further research.     

The effect of relational age on older Canadian employees' perceptions of human resource practices and sense of worth to their organization

This study examined the effect of older employees' perceived relative age of their organization's workforce, work group members, and immediate supervisor on human resource practices tailored to older employees and older employees' sense of worth. The 291 participants were aged between 50 and 65 years. Perceived organization relative age was associated with the human resource practices, perceived work-group relative age was related to training and respect, and perceived supervisor relative age was associated with respect and fair treatment. All three relational age variables were related to perceived contribution to the organization. It is important for employers to be aware of the age dissimilarities within their organizations and to take steps to bolster older employees' feeling of being valued organizational members.     

A Statistical Control Model for Utilization Management Programs

Abstract

A new approach is proposed for monitoring health-care costs to help in cost containment efforts. This informative essay is intended to provide information on and stimulate discussion of ways of improving the health-care management process.

Data that are being collected by insurers and providers could be used to analyze and improve the health-care process. New statistical techniques, and better, more consistent input of data, will be critical to successful utilization management programs. Necessary conditions for the success of the new methods are (1) diagnosis protocols that are “true gold standards,” (2) a satisfactory disease classification system, (3) meaningful and consistently coded data, and (4) statistical methodology that takes advantage of as much of the available data as possible. The hospital admissions process is illustrated to show the incorporation of an inexpensive statistical control process for reducing the incidence of unnecessary hospitalizations.