Comments on "Echoes of Henry George in Modern Analysis"

A bstract .   These comments were presented at a session entitled "Echoes of Henry George in Modern Analysis" held at the 2002 meetings of the Southern Economic Association.     

Distinguishing characteristics of the Martiniquan economy and constraints on modelling

The decentralization law confers on local elected representatives powers in the fields of economic, social and cultural development. For this purpose we have constructed a large-scale macroeconometric model for Martinique. The purpose of this article is to present the model and discuss its capacity. To begin with we shall set out its general structure. We shall then describe the relationships that have been selected for solving the model. Finally we shall examine the power of the model, first of all in retrospective simulations and then from the point of view of economic policy. The variants selected are: a demand policy, a supply policy and a policy aimed at bringing the Martiniquan minimum wage up to the level of the metropolitan wage.     

Can a Mixed Health Care System be Desirable on Equity Grounds?*

Should health care provision be public, private, or both? We consider this question in a setting where people differ in their earnings capacity and face some illness risk. We assume that illness reduces an individual's time endowment when waiting for treatment. Treatment can be obtained in a competitive private sector (through private insurance) or in the National Health Service (NHS) where it is provided free of charge but after some (endogenous) waiting time. The equilibrium in the health care sector consists of a waiting time in the NHS such that no patient wants to switch health care provider. This equilibrium is governed by two public policies: the income tax system and the size of the NHS. We find that: (i) a mixed system with a small NHS is never desirable; (ii) actuarially fair sickness insurance is never desirable either; (iii) a mixed system with a sufficiently large NHS may improve on a pure public system if the dispersion of earnings capacities is large enough; and (iv) the welfare gains from such a mixed system are not likely to be significant.     

Ideational item The politics of the press

The public press has often been criticized for anti-business bias. A recent study surveyed journalists' political views in an attempt to find sources for such a bias.     

Vacation decisions,activities, and satisfactions

Vacations are a major consumer expense category. People devote considerable attention to deciding whether to take one or not (generic decision), to making joint decisions as husband, wife, and children, and to acquiring information from different sources and media. Information functions to sensitize, persuade, heighten appreciation, and legitimize choices. Several vacation types can be distinguished. Life-style, as a broader concept, may server as a good basis of explanation for vacation behavior. Equity and attribution are important concepts in understanding vacationer (dis)satisfaction and complaint behavior.     

Trends in business tourism management

There has been significant growth in the business travel sector of tourism, which includes both individual travel and organized group arrangements, eg for conferences, conventions and exhibitions. This article considers the various types of business travel, the influences on demand, and trends in development of facilities.