Consumers and Competition in Health Care: The Case of Denturism

Denturism is the making and fitting of dentures directly for the public by nondentists. It is an example of potential competitive entry in a health services market and, like other such examples, its economic benefits must be weighed against any threat to the public health and safety. This article examines evidence relating to the economic benefits to consumers of legalizing denturism. Conservative estimates are presented of the economic benefits to consumers that would accrue under alternative institutional arrangements. Under several such arrangements it was found that the value of benefits is of the same order of magnitude as total government expenditures on dental services.     

Risky Debt,Investment Incentives,and Reputation in a Sequential Equilibrium

The agency relationship of corporate insiders and bondholders is modeled as a dynamic game with asymmetric information. The incentive effect of risky debt on the investment policy of a levered firm is studied in this context. In a sequential equilibrium of the model, a concept of reputation arises endogenously resulting in a partial resolution of the classic agency problem of underinvestment. The incentive of the firm to underinvest is curtailed by anticipation of favorable rating of its bonds by the market. This anticipated pricing of debt is consistent with rational expectations pricing by a competitive bond market and is realized in equilibrium. Some empirical implications of the model for bond rating, debt covenants, and bond price response to investment announcements are explored.     

Storage changes in biscuits

The purpose of this research was to investigate the changes occurring in biscuits under domestic storage conditions. The experimental work involved the storage of manufactured biscuits under closed, open/light and open/dark conditions for appropriate periods of time. Moisture content, texture, colour and peroxide value were determined throughout the storage time. The results indicate that the moisture content of the samples increased under all storage conditions, with a softening of texture. Peroxide values increase with rapid acceleration towards the end of the storage period. Very little change was observed in the colour of the biscuits.     

An Experimental Assessment of the Effects of Two Alcoholic Beverage Health Warnings Across Countries and Binge-Drinking Status

In recent years, alcohol-related problems on college campuses have been well documented. This research examines how two different alcoholic beverage health warnings placed on the label of a fictitious brand of beer influence alcohol-related risk perceptions, attitudes and intentions, and characterizations of problem-drinking behaviors of binge and non-binge drinkers in Australia and the United States. The consumer welfare implications of our findings, which show that the dependent measures are influenced by both main and interaction effects, are discussed.     

Job Security Provisions and Employment: Revised Estimates

This article provides estimates of the effect of statutory severance pay and notice on four labor market outcome indicators, closely following Lazear (1990) but correcting for errors in his dependent variables and covariates. Although we corroborate the directional influence of severance pay for three of the indicators, there is little to suggest that its contribution to rising unemployment is material. Also contrary to Lazear, longer notice appears to be associated with broadly favorable outcomes.