Do Nonprofit Hospitals Exercise Market Power?

Several theories of nonprofit hospitals behavior predict that nonprofit hospitals behave in the consumer interest and thus do not exercise market power. If these theories are correct, then antitrust enforcement of hospital mergers should be restricted only to those markets in which a nonprofit hospital cannot offset anticompetitive behavior by for-profit hospitals. In this paper, we examine the relationship between price and market concentration among nonprofit hospitals in California in 1993. We find that nonprofit hospitals set higher prices in more concentrated markets. This result suggests that antitrust enforcement should challenge those mergers of nonprofit hospitals that create market power without creating offsetting efficiencies.     

The moderating effects of need for cognition and cognitive effort on responses to multi-dimensional prices

We investigate how need for cognition and cognitive effort associated with multi-dimensional pricing combine to influence demand. Experiment 1 shows that individuals with low (vs. high) need for cognition are less likely to purchase products that list price and relative discount separately. The direction of the effect of need for cognition on demand is found to depend on whether consumers’ inaccurate arithmetic generally leads them to overestimate or underestimate final prices. Therefore, experiment 2 finds that individuals with low (vs. high) NFC are more likely to purchase products that list price and relative surcharge separately. As expected, the effect is eliminated for absolute discounts or surcharges and mediated by recalled purchase prices.     

Habits,Self-Control and Social Conventions: The Role of Global Media and Corporations

There has been an intellectual debate at least since the 1960s in business ethics on the role of the media in relation to consumer choice driven by either habits or rationality. If consumers are totally rational, then the global media and global corporations provide just information and knowledge. If consumers are influenced by habit then large corporations and global media can greatly influence consumer choice and create problems of self-control (Ainslie, 1992, Pico Economics: The Strategic Interaction of Successive Motivational States Within the Person, Cambridge University press, Cambridge). In this article, we provide a synthesis and integrated approach to this continuing debate. We provide a more institutional approach to consumer choice based on social conventions, rather than just on individual habits and lapses in self-control.     

Multisensory Processing Impacts on Destination Image and Willingness to Visit

Missing from destination image research is a focus on multisensory processing, particularly with respect to multiple types of communication about a destination. In this study a 2 × 2 between‐subject experimental design was employed to explore how multisensory processing of various forms of communication induces or amplifies positive images. At the same time, the relative contributions of empathy and destination image to willingness to visit the tourism destination were investigated. Structural equation modeling suggested that multisensory processing positively affected empathy and destination image, and empathy and destination image contributed to willingness to visit a destination. The study results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the literature as well as the ways in which they can be used by tourism researchers and marketers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Value Congruence Awareness: Part 2. DNA Testing Sheds Light on Functionalism

This case involves the quandary of a businessman named Arthur Eldredge. A member of the Board of Trustees of Plum Valley Hospital, he is uneasy about apparent conflicts of interest among many board members. Further, Mr. Eldredge is unsure if he can fulfill his responsibilities to the Board. A trustee of the hospital, he thinks he should do something to resolve these issues. He is uncertain about what action to take.     

Market-to-book ratio in stochastic portfolio theory

Finance and Stochastics - We study market-to-book ratios of stocks in the context of stochastic portfolio theory. Functionally generated portfolios that depend on auxiliary economic variables other...     

Spatiotemporal analysis of Korean ginseng farm productivity

Journal of Productivity Analysis - The past two decades has seen new methodological debates on the identification of production function. Olley and Pakes (J Polit Econ 101(6):1149–1164,...     

Fiscal policy and economic growth: some evidence from China

Review of World Economics - China has experienced profound economic and social changes in recent decades. During this period, China’s fiscal policy framework has been substantially reformed....