Who in Brazil Will Gain from Global Trade Reforms?

The potential impacts of multilateral trade liberalisation on developing countries are the subject of numerous controversies. One particular concern is that Brazil, a major agricultural exporter and a country with one of the world's most unequal income distributions, will reap a substantial share of the potential benefits to developing countries from agricultural trade reform, and that most of those benefits will go to large‐scale commercial farmers rather than to the country's smallholders. This claim is explored via a global general equilibrium model and a national model of Brazil containing multiple agricultural and non‐agricultural households. Brazil is found to account for nearly one‐half of all the benefits to developing countries deriving from global agricultural trade reform. These gains are associated with improvements in the welfare of each group and a lower incidence of poverty. Large‐scale producers gain more than smallholders as they tend to be relatively specialised in export products, but there are important gains to agricultural employees, who are relatively poor, and to urban households, who benefit from the expansion of the agro‐food sector. Overall, there is no discernible impact on income inequality, and no evidence that the gains to commercial farmers occur at the expense of poorer households.     

Evaluating Financial Capability Services Provided in a Workforce Development Program

This field study explores the effects of an offer of financial counseling provided to low‐income people exiting welfare assistance in a workforce development program. While only about one‐third of workers actually took part in counseling, those who did were able to reduce the amount of debt they had in collections. We did not find other statistically significant effects on financial behavior or well‐being, however. People living at or below poverty levels of income may need more intensive financial support services than counseling can provide. This study illustrates the challenge of engaging participants in financial capability services, as well as the limitation of interventions like counseling for people who have very low incomes.     

Correlates of first‐brand loyalty

A mail survey of British supermarket customers shows that the factor most strongly associated with claimed brand loyalty is household income Brand loyal customers also claim to spend more, are more concerned about quality and less about price, are slightly more store loyal and make more use of large out‐of‐town stores Brand loyalty is also related to age; those aged under 25 years and 65 + years are less loyal

There is little difference between those who are primarily loyal to store brands and those who are primarily loyal to manufacturer brands, and there is little evidence that store patronage is raised by loyalty to store brands     

The links between job insecurity,financial well‐being and financial stress: A moderated mediation model

This study proposed a nuanced approach to the association between job insecurity and financial stress by examining whether financial well‐being mediates the established association. In addition, we examined whether the association between the job insecurity and financial stress, through financial well‐being, is moderated by income. For this study, we conducted a path analysis using 1,145 survey respondents. Results revealed a significant relationship between the job insecurity and financial stress and a partial mediation effect of financial well‐being. Moreover, the indirect effect of job insecurity on financial stress through financial well‐being was moderated by income. Although people who have higher financial well‐being were more likely to have lower financial stress, this relationship varied by income such that it was stronger for higher income groups than for lower income groups. Our findings provide insights into the way job insecurity and financial well‐being influence financial stress. This study will help the researchers and practitioners develop more effective and adaptive intervention programmes and resources for individuals and families. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Relationship between types of food choice motives and well‐being among young and middle‐aged Chinese adults

Food choice plays a vital role in people’s lives and well‐being, and this topic has received more research attention in recent years. The aims of the present research were to identify subgroups of participants who shared similar profiles of multiple motives for food choices, and examine differences across motive types on the well‐being of young and middle‐aged Chinese adults. Participants were 627 Chinese adults aged 18–58 years who completed questionnaire measures. The results of Latent Profile Analysis showed that based on the configurations among different motives for food choice, there were five profiles of food choice motives, corresponding to five types of Chinese adult consumers: unconcerned, mood oriented, weight control oriented, food enthusiast and health oriented. The food enthusiast consumers were more likely to include young adults with high‐income level and educational level, while the unconcerned consumers had a larger share of middle‐aged adults with low income. Results of ANOVA suggested that the types of food choice motives significantly predicted individuals’ well‐being. Specifically, the food enthusiast group had the highest level of well‐being, while the unconcerned group had the lowest level of well‐being. The other three groups had moderate levels of well‐being. The current study is the first to explore the potential influence of food choice motives on well‐being using a person‐centred approach, and the results have practical implications for public health authorities in developing effective interventions, for food companies in tailoring marketing campaigns and for individuals in optimizing food choices.     

Vehicle Acquisitions: Leasing or Financing?

In this study, we investigate household vehicle leasing versus financing behavior using the Interview Survey Portions of the 2001 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Two research questions are addressed in this study: (1) What are the demographics of those who lease as opposed to those who finance, and (2) What are the major factors affecting a consumer's probability of leasing versus financing when acquiring vehicles? Findings show that among income and demographic characteristics, being older, Caucasian or Hispanic, college educated, living in urban Northeast and Midwest, living in large Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), not having teenagers in the family, and having a higher income increase a consumer's probability to lease a vehicle. Most of these income and demographic effects either become smaller or disappear after the vehicle characteristics are controlled for. Among vehicle characteristics, being newer, Japanese or European made, luxury brand, with more cylinders, with power brakes, sunroof, and four‐wheel drive increase the probability of leasing. Purchasing the vehicle new instead of used, having a lower down payment and monthly payments, and having a smaller number of contracted payments also increase the probability of leasing.     

Illustrating the Power of fsQCA in Explaining Paradoxical Consumer Environmental Orientations

Prior research on proenvironmental and prosocial behavior focuses primarily on explaining consistent rather than paradoxical tendencies. Even though this field receives wide attention from different scientific disciplines, findings for many causal factors of such proenvironmental orientation are contradictory. Nevertheless, knowing who those individuals are who think and behave in a pro‐/antienvironmental way or show a paradoxical behavior in this regard becomes useful for many different parties in human societies including public policy makers, governmental and nongovernmental environmental protection organizations, and for‐profit firms. Therefore, this study identifies those individuals who show neither consistent proenvironmental nor consistent antienvironmental tendencies as the “walkers‐only” and “talkers‐only” (i.e., for short, “walkers” and “talkers”). The former are defined as persons who put much effort into the recycling of waste materials but do not support pollution standards, whereas the latter term describes individuals who have a strong opinion with regard to the support of pollution standards yet do not engage in recycling efforts. The present study reports evidence of the existence of walkers and talkers. Further, this research is the first study to employ “fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis” to identify the complex antecedent conditions for some individuals’ paradoxical belief–behaviors in the field of socially and environmentally directed behaviors and orientations. The findings yield valuable insights both into the applicability and benefits of configural analysis and for public policy makers and managers in waste management and recycling industries.     

Wages,Health Insurance and Pension Plans: The Relationship Between Employee Compensation and Small Business Owner Income

Small business owners claim that their ability to provide higher wages and more frequent employee health insurance and pension benefits is severely constrained by the profitability of their firms. This paper examines the proposition that employee wage levels, provision of employee health insurance, and sponsorship of an employee pension plan are associated with small business owner income. A large trade-association survey supplies the data for the inquiry. Regression analysis (OLS and logistic) demonstrates that all three forms of employee compensation are tied to business owner income. Further, the business owner income variable "washes out" the generally accepted relationship between size of business and wages, though not the relationships between size of the business and the presence of health insurance nor between the size of business and the presence of pension benefits. The regressions also indicate that unit costs of health insurance and pension benefits are higher for those employing 10 or fewer and 20 or fewer respectively compared the other small businesses.     

Vulnerability of the unbanked: evidence from a developing country

Financial exclusion is an apparent phenomenon globally, the majority of people without bank accounts living in the developing countries. Those who lack access to financial services could experience vulnerability. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to unfold the vulnerability of the low‐income unbanked consumers in a Pakistani context. Qualitative data were gathered from low‐income unbanked consumers through in‐depth interviews. The findings suggest that unbanked consumers are vulnerable in many ways. The participants faced several negative consequences due to their financial exclusion, which resulted into their personal, economic and social detriment. Based on our study findings, we provide managerial and public policy implications for the well‐being of the low‐income unbanked consumers. Lastly, study limitations and future study guidelines are discussed.     

The effect of perceived economic mobility on customer aggression toward service employees: A darker aspect of customer behavior

The current research illuminates perceived economic mobility (PEM) as a causal antecedent of customer aggression. Study 1 with large‐scale panel data shows that PEM is positively related to attribution of poverty to personal characteristics and self‐centered intention to change jobs. Study 2 based on an experimental design shows that PEM causally induces customer aggression. Study 3 reveals that the effect of PEM on customer aggression varies depending on income; PEM increases customer aggression among low‐income earners, but the effect disappears among high‐income earners. Study 4 examines control over service employees to get self‐beneficial outcomes as a mechanism for the interaction effect of PEM and income on customer aggression. A moderated mediation analysis shows that the indirect effect of PEM on customer aggression through the proposed mechanism is significant among low‐income earners but not among high‐income earners. In sum, main findings of the present article are threefold: (a) PEM induces customer aggression, (b) income moderates the causal relationship, and (c) control to get benefits explains the joint effect of PEM and income on customer aggression. By delineating the dark side of PEM in consumer behavior, this study provides useful marketing implications for lessening side effects.     

Leaving Welfare: Independence or Continued Vulnerability?

Data from two semi‐structured interviews gathered approximately six months apart from seven women who were receiving cash welfare benefits at the time of the first interview and were not receiving benefits at the second interview were used to analyze the experiences of leaving welfare. Emergent themes about the post‐welfare experience are: (1) the low wages and lack of advancement opportunities in jobs, (2) confusion related to program administration, (3) the continued reliance on income support programs and kin, and (4) the banking of cash benefits under the five‐year time limit as a new safety net.     

Is India Specialising in Polluting Industries? Evidence from US‐India Bilateral Trade

Recently, the apex environmental agency of India observed that domestic industrial pollution has been increasing at an alarming rate over the last two decades, and the need to rein in traditional polluting industries. This raises the pertinent question of whether the poor domestic pollution regime has affected the pattern of India's trade in dirty manufactured products in the post‐liberalisation era since 1991. We find that on the whole, India has remained a net importer of pollution‐intensive manufactured goods; however, there is a distinct trend of increasing specialisation in specific dirty industries especially in the bilateral trade with high‐income countries, and to a lesser degree with low‐income countries. The USA being India's single largest country trading partner in the post‐liberalisation era, we test for pollution offshoring at the finer industry level in US‐India bilateral trade. While we find that the pollution haven effect is not significant, India's specialisation in certain dirty manufacturing industries through the last decade remains a disturbing trend. India needs to integrate environmental sustainability within industrial growth urgently, and it is pertinent to implement policies which would reflect the true pollution costs in an industry that is increasingly competing in the international market.     

The Structure of Subjective Well‐being: A Vector Autoregressive Approach

We use panel vector autoregressions to analyze the underlying structure of changes in subjective well‐being and its coevolution with changes in income, health, worries, marital status and employment status for the German Socio‐Economic Panel (SOEP) data set. We find that positive changes in the named life domains are followed by decreases in subjective well‐being (except for health, which is followed by well‐being increases). Positive changes in well‐being are followed by positive changes in most life domains. We also examine how the structure of subjective well‐being differs with respect to different Big Five personality traits.     

The Uruguay Round and air pollution: estimating the composition,scale and technique effects of trade liberalization

This paper develops a methodology to estimate the environmental impact of the Uruguay Round trade agreement. The impact is estimated in terms of five air pollutants for both developed and developing countries/regions. The methodology estimates environmental Kuznets curves and uses these in conjunction with FranÇois et al.'s (1995) estimates of Uruguay Round income gains and sectoral production changes, together with sectoral pollution intensities from Hettige et al. (1994). In this manner, composition, scale and technique effects of the Uruguay Round on air pollution are estimated. The monetary cost/benefit associated with the pollution changes is also estimated. Results indicate that emissions of all five pollutants are predicted to increase in developing and transition regions as a result of the Uruguay Round, whilst in developed regions emissions of three pollutants decrease and two increase. The results also suggest that the environmental impact will be considerably greater if the Uruguay Round affects the rate of economic growth.     

Parental financial support: A safety net for young adults with debt problems

Parental financial support benefits young adults in societies with decreasing welfare‐state support and a pattern of early home‐leaving. This article focuses on the association between young adults’ debt problems and parental financial support: the extent to which indebted young adults receive financial help from their parents. We also investigate the extent to which specific benefits are associated with debt problems or parental financial support. The data were gathered in an online survey conducted among 18‐to‐35‐year‐old Finns (n = 1,019). The results revealed, first, that many parents safeguard their indebted adult children’s lives by means of financial support and second, that heavy cash‐welfare‐benefit users are particularly likely to receive parental financial support. Our analysis also revealed that the prevalence of debt problems as well as of parental financial support were especially high among those who had received social assistance, sickness benefit or labour‐market subsidy within the previous 12 months. In a society open to new social risks as well as to debt problems, young people who lack financial support from their parents have a rockier transition to adulthood than those who receive support.     

Economics of The Low-Income Mortgagor Counseling Program

The Section 237 Homeownership Counseling Program for lower and Moderate income household, whose applications for mortgage insurance have been rejected by the Federal Housing Administration, is a concession to the fact that members of this group may have acquired poor credit histories and still become responsible homeowners and credit users. Those being accepted for counseling are, for the most part, large younger families in the moderate income category. The program benefits mortgage-lenders by reducing their collection, delinquency and foreclosure costs and enabling them to increase the number of loans granted and profits. It also benefits all others in the real estate industry deriving compensation or profit from the sale of houses to Section 237 counselees. Those who purchase homes under the program receive benefits but prices of qualified lower priced homes are increased because of the program. Agency efforts are having some effect. About half the interviewed counselees reported they had changed how they spent their money and planned because of the agency efforts. The program costs are, in the last analysis, being borne by taxpayers. However the program does redistribute some benefits (home ownership) not equally available to all in our economy.     

The Relationship of Demographic Characteristics and Importance of Services Offered to Unaided Awareness and Recommendation of Public and Private Mental Health Care Providers

The extent to which demographic characteristics and importance of services offered by mental health providers are related to unaided awareness and recommendation of public and private mental health care providers was assessed. Awareness and recommendation of private providers was found to be stronger among men and among higher income groups. Relative to public providers, these factors were stronger among women and lower income groups. While the services offered do not appear to be strongly related to awareness or recommendation of provider types, some differences were found. Those who are aware of and would recommend a private provider gave higher importance ratings to counseling for suicide and life changes - those who are aware of and would recommend a public provider gave higher ratings to counseling for spouse abuse, depression, and eating disorders, and treatment for major mental illness.     

Distributional Effects of Public Investment when Wealth and Classes are Back

In developed economies, wealth inequality is high, while public capital is underprovided. Here, we study the impact of heterogeneity in saving behavior and income sources on the distributional effects of public investment. A capital tax is levied to finance productive public capital in an economy with two types of households: high income households who save dynastically and middle income households who save for retirement. We find that inequality is reduced the higher the capital tax rate is and that low tax rates are Pareto‐improving. There is no clear‐cut trade‐off between efficiency and equality: middle income households’ consumption is maximal at a capital tax rate that is higher than the rate which maximizes high income households’ consumption.     

Remittance Receipt and Business Ownership in the Dominican Republic

Using household‐level data from the Dominican communities in the Latin American Migration Project (LAMP‐DR7), we examine the links between remittance receipt and business ownership. We find that while the existence of a family business attracts remittance inflows, these monetary funds are associated with a reduced likelihood of business entrepreneurship. These results are consistent with various hypotheses regarding remittances and business investments. First, remittances may be motivated by the availability of investment opportunities in the home community. Second, remittances may respond to a bequest motive on the part of the emigrant, who may wish to lay claim on family assets when returning home. Lastly, remittances may cause an income effect that reduces family labour force participation and, correspondingly, the likelihood of family‐run business investments.     

Does air pollution influence investor trading behavior? Evidence from China

Building on the research linking environmental factors to investor mood, we posit that there is a negative relation between air pollution and individual trading strategies. Through an analysis of unique individual transaction data, our results show that air pollution negatively influences individual investors' propensity to buy and positively influences investors' propensity to sell. We find obvious heterogeneity effects across different investor, stock and city characteristics. The effects are even larger for investors with less investment experience and for those living in heavily polluted cities. This study is crucial for establishing an association between air pollution and individual trading activities.