Private insurance subsidies and public health care markets: evidence from Canada

In this study I examine the effects of government subsidies to employer-provided health insurance on the decision to purchase insurance, and on utilization of publicly funded health services. Using unique variation in tax subsidies across Canadian provinces as an instrument, I estimate the effects of these subsidies on the demand for supplemental health insurance and their extended effects on the decision to use publicly-funded health services. My results show that government subsidies through tax exemptions have significant effects on the decision to purchase insurance. Furthermore, additional insurance policies lead to moral hazard in the use of publicly funded health services. JEL Classification: H2,H4, I1     

Sustainability Governance Across Time and Space: Connecting Environmental Stewardship in the Firm with the Global Community

To differentiate ecosystem management, three models of firm‐level environmental stewardship are paired with three types of trust, which serve as informal governance mechanisms. The interconnectedness of organizational fields and the influence of intertemporality and interspatiality (time and space) are key dynamics in developing decentralized networks as an approach for linking firms, organizational fields, and global sustainability efforts. Interviews with 18 firms, government agencies, and nonprofit‐making organizations from Japan and the USA are utilized to discuss the key concepts in the paper. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

How fast can China grow? The Middle Kingdom's prospects to 2030

Given its size and importance for global commodity markets, the question of how fast China can grow over the medium term is an important one. Using a Cobb–Douglas production function, we decompose the growth of trend GDP into those of the capital stock, labour, human capital and total factor productivity (TFP) and then forecast trend output growth out to 2030 using a bottom‐up approach based on forecasts that we build for each one of these factors. Our paper distinguishes itself from existing work in that we construct a forecast of Chinese TFP growth based on the aggregation of forecasts of its key determinants. In addition, our analysis is based on a carefully constructed estimate of the Chinese productive capital stock and a measure of human capital (based on Chinese wage survey data) that better reflects the returns to education in China. Our results suggest that Chinese GDP growth will slow from around 7% currently to approximately 5% by 2030, consistent with a gradual rebalancing of the Chinese economy characterized by a decline in the investment rate. Moreover, our findings underscore the growing importance of TFP growth as a driver of Chinese growth.     

Modeling the Response of Gasoline-Crude Oil Price Crack Spread Macroeconomic Shocks

To date, considerable attention has been given to evaluating movements in crude oil and gasoline prices and in determining the significance of fundamental state variables that may influence these prices. This paper differs from the existing literature by identifying the response of the single-product gasoline-crude oil crack spread to unexpected changes in real output growth, inflation, the corporate default risk premium, and the stance of monetary policy utilizing the econometric techniques of vector autoregression and generalized impulse response analysis. The generalized impulse response method does not impose a priori restrictions as to the relative importance each of the state variables may play in the process of transmitting unexpected information from the macroeconomic variables to the crack spread. The results show the extent and the magnitude of the relationship between the crack spread being investigated and macroeconomic factors.     

Competing industries in islands a new tourism approach

Many islands host both tourism and offshore finance, but their coexistence has been little researched. This paper examines their relationship via a case study of the British Channel Island of Jersey. Both sectors require labor, land, and capital—all frequently scarce in small islands. The study considers the nature of the relationship and resource competition. In light of the unusual context of small polities and the political power of external actors, it also analyzes the dynamics of tourism, offshore finance, and the state in islands. The overall impact of the relationship between tourism and offshore finance is further examined, to suggest how this affects islands’ economic development.     

The primacy of human capital and social capital in influencing landholders’ participation in programmes designed to improve environmental outcomes*

Increasing landholder participation in environmental programmes is often essential for achieving desired levels of restoration and protection, as well as the economic goals of efficiency and equity. Previous literature has identified sociodemographic property and attitudinal variables that influence participation. Using qualitative research, we identify variables relating to human capital (business orientation and information seeking behaviour) and social capital (trust in those delivering programmes and connectedness with other landholders) that have been seldom or never identified as influencing participation. New scales are developed and existing scales refined for measuring these constructs, and their influence on past and future participation is examined together with a range of other constructs. The effect of these variables is examined using a survey of Australian landholders, and the results demonstrate the primacy of variables relating to human and social capital in influencing past and future participation.     

Gender Pay Equity and Comparable Worth in Australia: A Reassessment

The Australian labour market is characterised by a persistent earnings differential between men and women. This article examines the contribution made by gender-based occupational segmentation to that gap using data from the 1993 Survey of Training and Education. It is estimated that occupational segmentation is responsible for between 3.9 and 4.9 percentage points of the earnings differential when measured across all employees. The comparable range after excluding managerial employees, however, is only 2.1 to 3.6 percentage points. Finally, the importance of segmentation for the gender earnings gap is found to be directly correlated with age, suggesting the intriguing possibility that the occupation-based inequity in pay will work itself out over time. That said, other explanations for this age effect also exist.     

Prominence and consumer search

This article examines the implications of “prominence” in search markets. We model prominence by supposing that the prominent firm will be sampled first by all consumers. If there are no systematic quality differences among firms, we find that the prominent firm will charge a lower price than its less prominent rivals. Making a firm prominent will typically lead to higher industry profit but lower consumer surplus and welfare. The model is extended by introducing heterogeneous product qualities, in which case the firm with the highest‐quality product has the greatest incentive to become prominent, and making it prominent will boost industry profit, consumer surplus, and welfare.     

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson

Books reviewed in this issue:

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  The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

       

Affect and Retail Shopping Behavior: Understanding the Role of Mood Regulation and Regulatory Focus

Two studies investigate the relationship between promotion and prevention focus, mood regulation, and retail marketplace evaluations and behaviors. Study 1, a laboratory experiment, finds that individuals high in promotion focus regulate their moods more than individuals low in promotion focus. Study 2, a field study, investigates the relationships between retail outcomes, regulatory focus, and the three core mood regulation constructs of mood monitoring, mood clarity, and mood repair. Results suggest that mood regulation is closely related to promotion and prevention focus, having both a direct influence on retail outcomes as well as mediating the influence of regulatory focus. Implications for theory and practice, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.