Investigation of Products Liability Attitudes and Opinions: A Consumer Perspective

The area of product safety and products liability legislation has been the subject of a great deal of academic research. Policymakers and business executives have been surveyed to determine their attitudes toward liability and product safety concerns. In addition, a substantial amount of research has focused on the impact of products liability trial outcomes on business and public policy. However, there are relatively few studies reporting opinions, attitudes, and predispositions of consumers regarding relevant liability topics. This article explores the consumer perspective on several critical questions relating to products liability and product safety. The results indicate a wide divergence of opinion exists among consumers on key issues shaping current trends in the products liability legal environment. Implications for consumers, business, and public policy are discussed.     

OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF MEN IN BRITAIN

The occupational attainment of men aged 33 is examined usinglongitudinal cohort data. We find that family background andearly child development has a much stronger effect on occupationalattainment than found in previous studies for Britain. Testsin maths and reading taken at age 7, 11, and 16 provide importantinformation regarding the likelihood of occupational success.Our results appear to be insensitive to whether we measure attainmentusing mean earnings or occupational status. Failure to controlfor unobserved person-specific fixed effects causes significantdownward bias in estimated returns to educational qualificationsacquired after age 23.     

Earnings and Occupational Attainment among Immigrants1

This paper examines the determinants of occupational attainment and the impact of occupation on earning among foreign‐born men using the U.S. 2000 Census. Years of schooling and proficiency in English are the key factors determining access to high‐paying occupations among immigrants. Foreign labor market experience, however, has a negative impact on current occupational status, especially among those in high‐status jobs, due to the limited international transferability of skills acquired on the job.     

Factors Related to Employees’ Desire to Join and Leave Unions

Regression analyses based on a sample of 3372 nonunionized and unionized employees showed that, while the desire to join a union is associated with a wide range of work attitudes, perceived company performance, and facets of satisfaction, one's desire to leave one's union is associated with a narrow range of economic concerns. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of the declining unionization rate in the United States.     

DID INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORCES CAUSE THE GREAT DEPRESSION?

This paper reviews and assesses international explanations for the depth and duration of the Great Depression. Many of the conclusions are negative. The U.S. Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 came too late to account for the 1929 downturn and fails to explain the severity of the contraction in the U.S. The competitive devaluations of the 1930s redistributed the Depression's effects across countries but did not worsen it overall. The deflationary consequences of the liquidation of foreign exchange reserves were minor. Domestic central bank policies and their failure to be coordinated internationally must bear the major responsibility for the Depression.     

EFFECT OF TEXTILE QUOTA RESTRICTIONS ON U.S. COTTON TEXTILE IMPORTS BETWEEN 1964 AND 1973

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of U.S. cotton textile quotas on cotton textiles imported into the U.S. between 1964 and 1973. The findings showed that cotton imports requiring more processing stages had significantly greater 10-year average prices than other groups. Changes in the dollar value of imported cotton textiles during the decade have mainly occurred because of an increase in the average prices rather than resulting from a redistribution of imports from low to high average price groups. The weakening correlation between changes in the dollar value and in the quantity of high unit value groups indicated that the control on quantity has not precluded increases in total dollar value of imports in higher processing stages, especially since 1970. Since fabrics with a relatively stable average price accounted for the major importation of cotton textiles during the 1964–1973 period, the overall control by quantity in this decade was still quite good, even though average prices of apparel were rising.