Economic Analysis of Current Issues in Consumer Product Safety: Fabric Flammability

Two major issues in the area of consumer product safety are who should protect the consumer and how much protection should be provided. Underlying both these questions are concerns for the consumer's freedom of choice and efficiency. Is the consumer the most efficient risk reducer or should risk reduction be left to the regulatory authorities? Given resources constraints which preclude the attainment of 100 percent protection, what is the optimal degree of protection. This paper applied economic analysis, including cost-benefit analysis, to an examination of both issues. The advantages and disadvantages of the informed buyer approach versus the regulatory approach to the assignment of responsibility for consumer protection are first discussed. Cost-benefit analysis is then applied to an evaluation of actual and hypothetical flammability standards for children's sleepwear and clothing. The two sleepwear standards proved cost effective in contrast to the two clothing standards where the costs of providing additional protection to the cosumer far exceeded the benefits. The results indicate the feasibility and utility of cost-benefit analysis in determining how much protection should be provided.     

Consumer and Welfare Losses from Milk Marketing Orders

Consumer and welfare losses from milk marketing orders in 1985 including their impact on the sale of reconstituted milk are estimated. Results indicate that consumers pay higher prices for fluid milk and lower prices for manufactured milk products than they would under a competitive system. The net loss in consumer surplus ranges from $621 million to $851 million while the absolute welfare loss ranges from $343 million to $608 million. In addition, existing provisions of milk marketing orders effectively prohibit the use of reconstituted milk, an innovation that could ensure adequate and low cost supplies of fluid milk through the year and have many of the same effects as eliminating milk marketing orders.     

Consumer Risk Response and Consumer Protection: An Economic Analysis of Seat Belt Usage

A utility analysis of decisions involving risk indicated that risk averse consumers would undertake a risk reduction strategy as long as the change in expected loss was equal to or greater than the costs of the strategy. Cost-benefit analysis of seat belt usage was conducted to test this hypothesis. The results indicated that drivers of all size classes would gain from using seat belts in the case of low user costs while the drivers of subcompacts and compacts would gain in the case of higher user costs. However, less than one-fifth of drivers wear seat belts. These results raise questions concerning the effectiveness of the informed buyer approach in areas of risk or uncertainty.     

‘So Long as I Take my Mobile’: Mobile Phones,Urban Life and Geographies of Young People's Safety

Mobile phone ownership has spread rapidly among young people in the UK. This article contributes to an expanding body of literature which is examining the consequences of this phenomenon for urban life. Our focus is the impact of mobile phones on young people's geographies, particularly their own and their parents’ fears about their safety in public spaces. Quantitative and qualitative findings are presented from two research projects in Gateshead, north‐east England on crime victimization and leisure injury risk for young people, in which the role of mobile phones in managing and negotiating safety emerged as significant. The article highlights the different ways in which young people and parents are using mobile phones for this purpose, and asks whether they are best viewed as technologies of surveillance or empowerment. We also raise questions about the efficacy of mobile phones in protecting young people from risk and fear, in particular examining the mobile as a new site of victimization. Throughout, we emphasize the social unevenness of the uses and impacts of new technologies, which is often underplayed in research. We conclude with the suggestion that although they offer some empowerment to young people in their use of public spaces and their negotiation of risk, mobile phones appear to be reshaping rather than reducing moral panics about young people's presence there. Au Royaume‐Uni, le téléphone mobile s’est répandu rapidement parmi les jeunes. Cet article s’ajoute aux documents en nombre croissant qui étudient les conséquences de ce phénomène sur la vie urbaine. Il s’attache à l’impact des mobiles sur la géographie des jeunes, notamment sur leurs craintes personnelles et celles de leurs parents quant à leur sécurité dans les espaces publics. Il présente des résultats quantitatifs et qualitatifs provenant de deux projets de recherches à Gateshead (nord‐est de l’Angleterre) sur le risque pour les jeunes d’être victimes d’un acte criminel et de se blesser durant un loisir, cas où les mobiles semblent jouer un rôle important pour gérer et négocier la sécurité. L’article met en lumière les différents modes d’utilisation des mobiles à cette fin, par les jeunes et les parents, en se demandant si ces téléphones sont d’abord considérés comme des technologies de surveillance ou de responsabilisation. Il interroge également l’efficacité des mobiles pour protéger les jeunes contre risques et craintes, notamment en envisageant ces téléphones comme nouveau terrain de victimisation. Dans son ensemble, ce travail souligne l’irrégularité sociale des usages et impacts des nouvelles technologies, souvent minimisée dans la recherche. La conclusion suggère que, même s’ils offrent une certaine responsabilisation aux jeunes dans leur utilisation des espaces publics et leur négociation du risque, les téléphones mobiles semblent remodeler, non réduire, les paniques morales liées à leur présence dans ces lieux.     

Portion Distortion: A Study of College Students

This study compared designated serving size to actual consumption (portion size). Forty‐two college students estimated portion size and serving size of cereal, candy, and punch. Most (81%) refer to package labels, and over a third of women identified serving size as “of major interest.” Only one‐third accurately estimated the serving size of cereal within 10% of the correct amount. The stated serving size of cereal and punch was less than half of the portion size. Increasing serving sizes to more closely correspond to portion sizes would benefit consumers by providing information more likely to represent the nutritional quantities commonly consumed.