Using a dual-frame design to improve phone surveys on political attitudes: developing a weighting strategy for limited external information in Hong Kong

Quality & Quantity - In recent years, rapid increases in mobile phone ownership and decreases in landline users have led to potential biases in landline phone survey estimations. Mobile-only...     

The Impact of Institutional Differences on Derivatives Usage: a Comparative Study of US and Dutch Firms

This paper examines the influence of institutional differences on corporate risk management practices in the USA and the Netherlands. We compare results to surveys in each country using a strategy that corrects for differences over industry and size classes across the Dutch and US samples. We document several differences in the firms’ uses and attitudes towards derivatives and attempt to attribute them to the differences in the institutional environments between the USA and the Netherlands. We find that institutional differences appear to have an important impact on risk management practices and derivatives use across US and Dutch firms.     

Health, Government, and Irving Fisher

A bstract    This paper provides a few historical notes on government involvement in health, followed by a summary of the theoretical arguments that economists offer in its support. Irving Fisher's views and recommendations about health are examined in the light of today's perceptions concerning health, health economics, and health policy. The wide variety of roles that the U.S. and other governments currently play in health is reviewed, and the ability of economics to explain these roles is assessed. The consequences of government involvement for the health of populations, for expenditures on health care, and for political and social stability are examined. The paper concludes with an overview of new worldwide trends in health policy and some probable explanations for these trends.     

Where have all the traditional classroom settings gone?—The use of large scale, public sector projects to illustrate a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving

This work describes the evolution and potential of an elective course for students who have already been exposed to the standard techniques of problem solving as presented in traditional courses. Students apply these techniques to large scale problems in directed mullidisciplinary project teams. In doing so, they are provided with a unique learning experience allowing them to serve as a resource to the community. Course projects described here include the promotion of a railing retail district; the formulation, implementation and monitoring of litter reduction strategies; the economic evaluation of using inmate labor to clean public areas; and economic comparisons of recycling strategies for used tires.     

Advertising with Subjective Horizontal and Vertical Product Differentiation

In this paper, we analyze the impact of advertising on markets wheresubjective horizontal and vertical product differentiation are important. A simple model showshow advertising can be used to create subjective horizontal and vertical differentiation.The model predicts that firms are likely to be symmetric when advertising creates subjective horizontaldifferentiation and that name and generic brands are most likely to coexist in markets whereadvertising creates subjective vertical differentiation. In all cases, the ability toadvertise creates distance between products which increases the market power of firms. Finally, severalreal world examples are used to illustrate the conditions under which the model is most relevant.     

Collective Virtuosity in Organizations: A Study of Peak Performance in an Orchestra

abstract    The purpose of this paper is to build theory on peak performance at the group level. Peak performance transcends ordinary performance and is associated with a subjective experience in which one loses a sense of time and space as well as feels great joy and bliss. We chose to study this phenomenon at the group level through a methodology of participant observation in an orchestra. We found that groups can be transformed by their own performance in a reflexive process in which virtuosity, or individual peak performance, becomes collective. We offer a propositional model of collective virtuosity in organizations, and offer directions for further research.     

Gut issue

Unions are willing to strike over it, and companies are ready to draw the line, too. Now both sides are turning to Congress to fix the health insurance mess. This is the first of two articles on responses to the growing health care crisis. A report on state efforts begins on p. 708.     

The measurement of marketing efficiency in the presence of spillovers: theory and evidence

We develop a model of marketing efficiency based on a directional distance function that allows for marketing spillovers. A parametric model is used to test for spillovers from rival marketing and from a firm's marketing activity of its other related products. We then show how this information can be incorporated into a non‐parametric model and used to estimate marketing inefficiency. We apply brand level data from the US brewing industry to the non‐parametric model to determine the effectiveness of television, radio, and print advertising. We find that advertising spillovers are important in brewing and show that efficiency estimates are inaccurate when spillover effects are ignored. Our results also suggest that marketing efficiency may be an important component to firm success in brewing, a result that may apply to other consumer goods industries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.