Unidimensional measurement and structural equation models with latent variables

This article considers various methods for constructing sets of multiple indicators that measures one and only one trait, i.e., unidimensional measurement. The article compares two procedures for constructing unidimensional measures: the modification index and tests designed specifically for assessing unidimensionality. The specific tests were shown to work better than the modification indices.     

Einkommensschwache Personen: die jüngere Entwicklung in Deutschland

The article examines the structure and development of persons in low income households in Germany from 2011 to 2016. Low income is operationalised as a fixed percentage of median income of all households, similar to the EU’s risk of poverty definition. The low income population rose to 16 per cent in this period but this was the result of increasing average incomes. Above average levels of low income are seen in Eastern Germany and in the migrant population. Employed and retired persons are less affected than the unemployed or students. The increase in the numbers of low income households is mainly due to an increase in the number of migrants. The number of “poor” students has also increased.     

Armut: vom Elend eines Begriffs

Poverty is a frequent topic in the media and in politics, but the definition of poverty is not satisfactory. The European Commission’s poverty of risk concept ignores social and regional income discrepancies, assets are disregarded, and real poverty is not defined. Other definitions show that poverty is difficult to grasp in practice. There are also differing opinions on and definitions of poverty in the population. A lot of those people who were defined as at risk of poverty according to the EU concept are not poor in reality and not unsatisfied with their income. This lack of clarity has led to the proposal to replace the term “poverty” with “low income”. Future research should place greater weight on determining the causes of low incomes.     

When Beauty Backfires: The Effects of Server Attractiveness on Consumer Taste Perceptions

The current research tests whether and how being in the presence of attractive individuals alters consumers’ evaluations of their expected dining experience and the taste of the products consumed. Our results uncover a novel phenomenon in the domains of physical attractiveness and taste perception: attractiveness does indeed impact taste perception, but its influence varies as a function of the valence of the food consumed. When the server is attractive, good food tastes better but bad food tastes worse. Six studies demonstrate this effect and, importantly, show that it occurs for male, but not female consumers and only if the male consumers are low in need for cognition. The implications of this work and potential avenues for additional research are discussed.     

Trade in data services : The international context

This article explores the importance of data services within the service sector, and particularly with regard to international trade in services. International economic agreements have traditionally only dealt with trade in manufactured products and ignored the services, which now make up the largest economic sector. Some international organizations, encouraged particularly by the USA, are beginning to confront the problem of defining an open international framework covering foreign direct investment and trade in services. The national interests of different countries are explored, in the light of their existing data resources and their desire to build them up or be able to access foreign databases.     

The past,present and future of euro area monetary-fiscal interactions

International Economics and Economic Policy - The EU’s Treaties were designed to limit the interaction between fiscal and monetary policies. However, over the last decade, the introduction of...     

More long-term care for better healthcare and vice versa: investigating the mortality effects of interactions between these public sectors

Public healthcare (HC) and long-term care (LTC) sectors coexist in several OECD countries. Economic interactions between these two sectors have been found to occur even in the absence of formal integrated care arrangements. We investigate whether and how interactions between the HC and LTC sectors impact mortality. We analyse data on English local authorities in 2014–15 and employ a sequence of cross-sectional econometric specifications based on instrumental variables to identify the effect that LTC expenditure has on mortality through its interactions with HC services, and vice versa. Our findings suggest that any effect of LTC expenditure on mortality is likely to run through the HC sector by allowing the latter to reallocate resources from less to more effective services. A 10 per cent increase in LTC expenditure per user can indirectly save, on average, about three lives per million individuals. In addition, on top of the known HC direct mortality effects, we find that investing an extra £42 million in the HC sector – equivalent to a 10 per cent increase in HC expenditure per capita for the average local authority – can decrease the use of LTC services, producing around £7.8 million of savings. These can generate mortality effects if invested in services having an impact on mortality.