Quality of life improvements after sports injury

Traffic accidents and their health consequences are a major public health problem in industrialized countries. In addition to being the first cause of death of children up to the age of 14 years, they are also responsible for considerable morbidity. Persistent lesions and more or less disabling sequelae are the lot of a certain number of causalities. In this study, we took stock of all of the information about functional impairment following injuries sustained in traffic accidents that is available in Belgium. We described the ‘itineraries’ of traffic accident patients and identified the potential sources of data. We then analyzed the available and accessible data. Our study shows that we do not have any directly usable data in Belgium that can yield a measure of the public health impact of traffic accidents in terms of temporary and permanent disabilities. Very partial information exists in the country's various institutions and insurance companies, but this information is not suitable for use in a public health approach aimed at quantifying the importance of a health problem and its course over time. We do not feel that the country's main disability measurement tool (BOBI), which is used notably by the insurance companies, attuned to the everyday reality that is experienced by people whose functional abilities have been reduced in the wake of a traffic accident. Given this lack of data, priority should be given to initiating the routine collection of such information or at least to quantifying post-traffic accident disabilities by following up a cohort of traffic accident victims.     

Betwixt and Between: The Dilemma of Employee References

Concerns have arisen over employers' collection and sharing of information about employees, especially employment references. As a result of the dramatic growth in the number of lawsuits brought by employees, many employers have seriously curtailed the information they release concerning current and former employees. However, even the refusal to release information carries a legal risk. Employers who do not obtain information concerning applicants can be liable for negligent hiring, and those who knowingly withhold negative information regarding their former employees may be liable for negligent referral. This paper explores these expanding liabilities and suggests strategies to allow employers to manage the risk of communicating employee references.     

Choice and the Internet: From Clickstream to Research Stream

The authors discuss research progress and future opportunities for modeling consumer choice on the Internet using clickstream data (the electronic records of Internet usage recorded by company web servers and syndicated data services). The authors compare the nature of Internet choice (as captured by clickstream data) with supermarket choice (as captured by UPC scanner panel data), highlighting the differences relevant to choice modelers. Though the application of choice models to clickstream data is relatively new, the authors review existing early work and provide a two-by-two categorization of the applications studied to date (delineating search versus purchase on the one hand and within-site versus across-site choices on the other). The paper offers directions for further research in these areas and discusses additional opportunities afforded by clickstream information, including personalization, data mining, automation, and customer valuation. Notwithstanding the numerous challenges associated with clickstream data research, the authors conclude that the detailed nature of the information tracked about Internet usage and e-commerce transactions presents an enormous opportunity for empirical modelers to enhance the understanding and prediction of choice behavior.     

Small Manufacturing Enterprises in Developing Countries

Emphasis is often placed on the promotion of small enterprisesin developing countries, particularly as a means of improvingthe lot of unskilled workers. This focus raises questions aboutthe relationship between establishment size and the patternand efficiency of factor use, and about the nature and effectsof price differentials in factor markets. This article goessome way toward answering these questions with data from surveysof small manufacturing enterprises in India and Colombia sponsoredby the World Bank and relevant material from other countries.The article also examines India's long-standing policy, unusualamong developing countries, of providing special support andprotection for small enterprises. Analyses based on disaggregateddata found that small firms are not reliably more labor-intensivethan their larger counter-parts; nor are they consistently moretechnically efficient in their use of resources. In light ofthese findings and an analysis of factor markets, this articlediscusses the general implications of the research results forindustrial policy in developing countries.