Saving behavior and cognitive abilities

Experiments on saving behavior reveal substantial heterogeneity of behavior and performance. We show that this heterogeneity is reliable and examine several potential sources of it, including cognitive ability and personality scales. The strongest predictors of both behavior and performance are two cognitive ability measures. We conclude that complete explanations of heterogeneity in dynamic decision making require attention to complexity and individual differences in cognitive constraints.     

Developing planned giving at the Salvation Army Southern Territory

The Salvation Army operates internationally and is an evangelical part of the universal church, they provided help to over 30 million individuals in 2008. Their main focus is to build community, provide fellowship, rebuild lives, and provide comfort and support to those in need. They also provide disaster relief, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and activities for the elderly, among many other social services. The international headquarters, the administration centre, is based in London. The Salvation Army USA, based in Virginia, has a national commander and national chief secretary who work to coordinate the national efforts. There are 4 geographical territories, south, east, west and central and each territory is a separately registered nonprofit entity. The southern territory is further divided into 9 divisions and has historically been very successful at planned giving fundraising. Planned giving success had been attributed to the territories personal approach. However, with the noticeable changes in the attitudes of seniors the planned giving has significantly declined in 2008/2009. Seniors, who had been considered the most suitable donor prospects had developed a sense of fear and distrust of the government and the banking system. They were resisting personal meetings with planned giving staff that had been so successful for the Salvation Army. As a consequence the planned giving strategy had to be adapted. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact attenuation performance of materials used under indoor playground equipment at child care centers

In this article, we have investigated the pattern of road fatality in Brunei. It is seen from this analysis that road fatality in Brunei was one of the highest in the world in the early 1990s, but has been significantly reduced over the years, and is now one of the lowest in the world. Preliminary investigation shows that young male drivers are responsible for most road fatalities in Brunei. We have also fitted a linear regression model and found that road fatality is significantly positively related to people aged 18–24 years and new registered vehicles, both of which are expected to grow with the growth of population and economic development. Hence, road fatality in Brunei is also expected to grow unless additional effective road safety countermeasures are introduced and implemented to reduce road toll. Negative coefficient is observed for trend variable, indicating the reduction of road fatality due to the combined effects of improvements of vehicle safety, road design, medical facilities and road safety awareness among road user groups. However, short-term road fatality analysis based on monthly data indicates that the coefficient of the trend variable is positive, implying that in recent months road fatalities are increasing in Brunei, which is supported by media reports. We have compared Brunei's road fatality data with Australia, Singapore and Malaysia and found that Brunei's road fatality rate is lower than Singapore and Malaysia, but higher than Australia. This indicates that there are still opportunities to reduce road fatalities in Brunei if additional effective road safety strategies are implemented like in Australia without interfering in the economic and social development of Brunei.     

Spatial models of secession-proofness and equilibrium size

This paper examines spatial models of secession-proofness and equilibrium size which have been developed in the literature on secession. The goal of the paper is to assess whether these models are sufficiently sensitive to the dynamics of secession. Do these models sufficiently allow for a difference between ex ante and ex post incentives and choices which might be strategically exploited by actors? Are these models sensitive to the endogenous dynamics of relations between state agents and secessionists?     

‘Concerted action’: wages policy in West Germany, 1967–1977

In this article, Michael Hudson makes a contribution to the current debate on future British wages policy. He presents a detailed empirical analysis of the West German experiment with ‘concerted action’, and, in his conclusion, assesses the possibility of employing such an approach in Great Britain.     

What You Don't Know Can Cost You: A Web-Based Experiment in Price Discrimination

This paper presents a Web-based experiential learning tool to assist instructors in conveying the central principles of price discrimination under asymmetric information. The game allows students to make monopoly-pricing decisions when the characteristics of individual consumers are not known. The Web-based approach allows for involvement by all students in the class and can be used in or out of class as a support for classroom lectures.     

Toward a consumer economy in China: implications of changing wage policies for U.S. cotton exports

The effect of a Chinese minimum wage increase on China's textile market as well as on the world cotton market is evaluated. Based on a Nonlinear Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (NQAIDS) model of China's textile demand, the results suggest that the income elasticity for textiles is around 0.6 in China, and that apparel is less price responsive than home textiles and other textile products. Simulation results suggest that a minimum wage increase would raise Chinese domestic textile consumption and lower Chinese textile exports. Most of the decline in textile exports by China is offset by expansion in other countries’ domestic textile production and results in a slight increase in world cotton mill utilization and higher clothing prices.     

Public perceptions of the dioxin incident in Irish pork

In early December 2008, a global recall of Irish pork was initiated as a result of a subset of the national pork output being contaminated with dioxin. In this study, members of a panel from an Internet‐based longitudinal monitor of public opinion on food and health issues were used to assess public perceptions about the dioxin incident in late December. Although most respondents did not regard food as posing a risk to health, a larger proportion of respondents reported that that there was a ‘very high’ health risk from pork (8.6%) compared to any other food of animal origin. However, when asked to rank the risk posed to human health from a broad range of food and non‐food hazards, PCBs/dioxins were considered to pose less of a risk than high fat food, chemical pollution, or tanning. The majority of respondents (70.5%) considered that the authorities managed the incident in an ‘adequate’ or ‘very efficient’ manner. Respondents who considered that the authorities’ management of the incident was ‘incompetent’ rated the risk associated with eating Irish pork to be higher than those who considered that the authorities’ management was ‘very efficient’. Both the European Food Safety Authority and the Irish food safety authorities pronounced that there was no risk to human health from the level of dioxin in the pork. These communications, coupled with the rapid handling of the incident in an open and transparent way, reassured consumers and maintained their confidence in the food supply.