The impact of soda taxes on consumer welfare: implications of storability and taste heterogeneity

The typical analysis on the effectiveness of soda taxes relies on price elasticity estimates from static demand models, which ignores consumers' inventory behaviors and their persistent tastes. This article provides estimates of the relevant price elasticities based on a dynamic demand model that better addresses potential intertemporal substitution and unobservable persistent heterogeneous tastes. It finds that static analyses overestimate the long‐run own‐price elasticity of regular soda by 60.8%, leading to overestimated consumption reduction of sugar‐sweetened soft drinks by up to 57.9% in some cases. Results indicate that soda taxes will raise revenue but are unlikely to substantially impact soda consumption.     

Choosing the right physician practices

A process for evaluating physician practices by their strategic alignment with a health system's mission separates the practices into four categories: "Must-have"--Strategically and financially beneficial. "Cash is king"--Financially beneficial but not a strategic priority. "Dream big"--strategically important but currently not financially beneficial. "Avoid acquiring"--neither strategically nor financially beneficial.     

Understanding the framing effect: do affective responses to decision options mediate the influence of frame on choice?

Little research has examined how gain- and loss-framed options influence participants’ affective states. In the current paper, we present two studies that measure affective responses to framed options to identify a potential mediator of the relation between frame and choice. We found that participants reported more positive responses after reading gain-framed options that presented a certain outcome compared to loss-framed options that presented a certain outcome, consistent with the choice patterns of the framing effect. We also found that framing effects were mediated by affective evaluation of the options. We suggest future researchers continue to assess the influence of affective response on evaluating options and making decisions.     

Different Pathways that Suggest Whether Auditors’ Going Concern Opinions are Ethically Based

Several critics have reopened the continuing debate regarding the credibility of the auditing profession in part because of auditors’ reluctance to issue warning signals to investors. At the root of auditors’ lack of independence issues are conflicts of interest resulting from the structural features of auditor–client relationship. The Throughput Model (TP) is advanced to illustrate how ethical issues may be influenced by conflicts of interest. In the first stage, the TP provides an isolation of auditors’ ethical positions from six ethical different perspectives. In the second stage, previous TP theory is built upon by arguing a simultaneous analysis of how conflicts of interests may induce auditors’ behavior. We conclude that in the current low litigation risk environment, auditors’ ethical behavior (both conscious and unconscious) is clearly ‹unbalanced’ favoring the reluctance to issue warning signals. Finally, we offer a discussion of potential solutions to improve ethical issues.

Road connectivity,population, and crop production in Sub‐Saharan Africa

This study adopts a cross‐sectional spatial approach to examine the relationship between transport infrastructure, population location, and agricultural production in Sub‐Saharan Africa using new data obtained from geographic information systems (GIS). We find that both population and agricultural production are spatially concentrated near large cities, with 41.4% of population and 23.6% of agricultural production (in value terms) within 2.5 hours travel time to large cities. Taking into account agroecological and other factors, we find a statistically significant association between travel time and agricultural production. Using coefficients estimated for Mozambique, we simulate the effects of hypothetical increases in road investments on travel times and agricultural production, suggesting that improvements in road infrastructure could facilitate a substantial increase in agricultural production.     

Household survey evidence on domestic workers in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Whilst much scholarly attention of this nascent field of domestic service work focuses on protecting the rights and security of foreign/migrant domestic workers, the nature of domestic service work undertaken within national borders has escaped the attention of both researchers and public policy makers. Outlining the findings from a large household survey data in Ethiopia collected from seven major urban areas covering the period from 1994 to 2004, this paper departs from the usual focus on rights-based perspective and foreign migrant domestic service workers. Instead, the paper attempts to contribute to our understanding of the profile of domestic service providers, the significant drivers of participation in the provision of domestic services and the welfare of unpaid and paid domestic service workers in Ethiopia. In doing so, the paper contributes to the development of a greater evidence base, relevant for both researchers and public policy practitioners alike.     

Water and wastewater treatment worldwide: the industry and the market for equipment and chemicals

Water is and will continue to be the key natural resource of the twenty-first century in all nations, large and small. While the agricultural sector is the largest user of water, its use for human consumption and in industrial processes is truly vital. A wide variety of equipment and chemicals are involved in cleansing water and wastewater; the global market is estimated at $84 billion in 2017 and at $123 billion in 2022. This study analyzes the specific categories of equipment and chemicals, the nature of end-use markets, and the creative business strategies involved. Comments on competition and marketing practices as well as two brief case studies provide further insights on this important industrial sector