Variables and scaling — A reply

Quality & Quantity -     

Contextual and Competitive Interference: Inhibition or Facilitation?

Existing literature has found two sources of advertising interference, competitive and contextual, that decrease the effectiveness of an ad in a cluttered environment. However, to date, the negative impact of competitive and contextual interference has been examined independently. This research explores advertising effectiveness when these sources exist concurrently. Contrary to the supposition concerning the additive effects of both sources of interference when simultaneously present, our findings indicate that viewing ads for the same product category with similar executional elements leads to the dissipation of interference effects (Study 1). Consistent with the process rationale, when a product-brand cue (versus a picture cue) is provided, this novel effect disappears (Study 2). The implications of these findings for advertising are highlighted in the discussion section.     

Building Relationships Early: Banks in Venture Capital

This paper examines bank behavior in venture capital. It considersthe relation between a bank's venture capital investments andits subsequent lending, which can be thought of as intertemporalcross-selling. Theory suggests that unlike independent venturecapital firms, banks may be strategic investors who seek complementaritiesbetween venture capital and lending activities. We find evidencethat banks use venture capital investments to build lendingrelationships. Having a prior relationship with a company inthe venture capital market increases a bank's chance of subsequentlygranting a loan to that company. Companies can benefit fromthese relationships through more favorable loan pricing.     

Trip-timing decisions with traffic incidents

This paper analyzes traffic bottleneck congestion when drivers randomly cause incidents that temporarily block the bottleneck. Drivers have general scheduling preferences for time spent at home and at work. They independently choose morning departure times from home to maximize expected utility without knowing whether an incident has occurred. The resulting departure time pattern may be compressed or dispersed according to whether or not the bottleneck is fully utilized throughout the departure period on days without incidents. For both the user equilibrium (UE) and the social optimum (SO) the departure pattern changes from compressed to dispersed when the probability of an incident becomes sufficiently high. The SO can be decentralized with a time-varying toll, but drivers are likely to be strictly worse off than in the UE unless they benefit from the toll revenues in some way. A numerical example is presented for illustration. Finally, the model is extended to encompass minor incidents in which the bottleneck retains some capacity during an incident.     

WIC PARTICIPATION AND MATERNAL BEHAVIOR: BREASTFEEDING AND WORK LEAVE

We examine the effects of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program on breastfeeding outcomes and maternal employment decisions. This research expands the existing literature using an alternative identification strategy and a broader set of outcomes. Using data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, we control for selection bias into WIC using the variation in food prices as an instrumental variable. The results of this study are robust to a number of specification and falsification tests. We find WIC decreases exclusive breastfeeding by nearly 50% and increases work leave duration by over 20%. (JEL I18, I38)     

The Impact of Access to Water on Child Health in Senegal

This paper addresses the impact of access to water on child health in Senegal by using multinomial propensity score matching to estimate the impact of five water sources on the incidence of diarrhea in children. This information will facilitate a more informed cost‐benefit analysis when implementing water projects. Much research categorizes water sources into a binary variable: “improved” or “unimproved”. According to the findings of this paper, this is an erroneous restriction, as I find heterogeneous impacts of water sources on child health. In fact, water sources that are generally believed to be superior are not significantly different, and some are significantly less effective in decreasing incidence of diarrhea.     

The doctor will be with you ... shortly?

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires that Medicare-participating hospitals screen and stabilize all individuals appearing in their emergency departments, regardless of expected compensation. To counter the incentive to prioritize revenue-generating patients, the law also prohibits facilities from delaying care to under-insured individuals. I estimate whether timeliness of emergency care is, in fact, unaffected by payer source as mandated. Using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, I first examine the direct effect of under-insurance and find that under-insurance is associated with an approximately 6–10 % increase in emergency department wait time. Because of concerns that the effects of under-insurance may be mediated by triage assignment, I subsequently estimate the relationship between under-insurance and triage assignment, using the office hours of general practitioners as an exogenous source of variation in payer source. Instrumental variable results suggest that under-insured patients are inexplicably assigned higher triage scores which are known to lengthen waits. Contrary to the stipulations of EMTALA, discrepancies in timeliness of care do exist. Yet, this noncompliance is not readily apparent; roughly 80 % of the increase in under-insured individuals’ wait times are masked by adjustments to triage scores.     

Farmers' Market consumers: a Scottish perspective

Farmers' Markets in Scotland have gradually developed since 1999 as an alternative retail outlet for consumers. Throughout the UK, shoppers have become increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of their food and as a result seek healthier, locally grown organic and non‐organic produce. Thus, the growth of Farmers' Markets is directly related to consumer demand for fresh foods, direct from source, with the high quality of products being a primary reason for shopping. Farmers' Markets are not only seen as a place to buy ‘good food’ but also as a means to express consumer values associated with food choices. Scottish Government efforts to revitalize rural economies through local enterprise initiatives is evidenced by funding the initial establishment of the Scottish Association of Farmers' Market (SAFM), formed in 2000 by market organizers to further their development. The benefits of fresh local produce for Scottish consumers, the revival of a sense of community and the concept of ‘new consumption spaces’ tied to locality means the rural economy benefits from the increase in activity and profits through direct sales. This research investigates consumption habits at farmers' markets through the use of attitudinal theories along with food behaviours and motivations for purchasing. The results demonstrate that a positive attitude is important but the influence of others and barriers are not. Consumers are particularly motivated towards resource conservation and there are distinct differences in attitude between urban and rural shoppers. This research provides a unique insight into the attitudes that influence and motivate Farmers' Market consumers in Scotland.     

Exploring the role Delaware plays as a domestic tax haven

We examine whether Delaware is a domestic tax haven. We find that taxes play an economically important role in determining whether U.S. firms locate subsidiaries in Delaware and that a Delaware-based state tax avoidance strategy lowers state effective tax rates by between 0.7 and 1.1 percentage points, on average. The tax savings represent a 15–24% decrease in the state income tax burden and translate to an increase in net income of 1.04–1.47%. However, we find that the tax benefits of Delaware tax strategies are diminishing over time in response to initiatives by state governments to limit multistate tax avoidance.