The Impact of Retirement on Household Leisure Expenditures

Household leisure expenditures for retired and near‐retired households were examined in order to better understand the dynamics associated with the move to retirement status. Data from the 1995 Consumer Expenditure Survey indicated that retirement, total expenditures, and education had positive impacts on leisure expenditures. For retired households, greater total expenditures and education increased expenditures, while age and the presence of earned income decreased expenditures. For near‐retired households, greater total expenditures, education, and the presence of asset income significantly increased leisure expenditures.     

Perceived Third‐Person Effects and Consumer Attitudes on Prevetting and Banning DTC Advertising

This study examined consumer attitudes toward two potential direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising regulatory options—prior approval of DTC ads and a total ban—and how those attitudes are influenced by perceived DTC ad effects and receiver‐specific characteristics within the context of the third‐person effect framework. Results suggest that (1) consumers support the prevetting of DTC ads, but not the banning of DTC ads, (2) their support for prior approval is unaffected by demographic, predispositional, and ad‐effect perceptual differences, but (3) their support for a ban is associated with age, attitude toward DTC advertising, and perceptions of negative effects on self and others.     

OPTIMAL FOREIGN BORROWING REVISITED

Foreign capital has become increasingly important in financing investment and growth in developing countries. Foreign capital flows, however, can be volatile as is evident from the recent financial crises. It has also recently been noted by researchers that there is little systematic empirical evidence that foreign capital contributes to the economic growth of developing countries. In this context, this paper attempts to theoretically reevaluate the borrowing behaviour of a developing economy that relies on foreign borrowing for its capital formation. In particular, this paper investigates the implications of different lending policies of international financial institutions. It is found that no matter whether the borrowing interest rate increases with the level of foreign debt per capita or with the foreign‐capital/total‐capital ratio, the economy always moves toward the stationary state. The result holds even when the representative agent regards the interest rate given as constant. This implies that foreign borrowing does help economic growth, irrespective of lending policies of international financial institutions.