Can individuals’ beliefs help us understand nonadherence to malaria test results? Evidence from rural Kenya

In malaria‐endemic countries about a quarter of test‐negative individuals take antimalarials (artemisinin‐based combination therapies [ACTs]). ACT overuse depletes scarce resources for subsidies and contributes to parasite resistance. As part of an experiment in Kenya that provided subsidies for rapid diagnostic test and/or for ACTs conditionally on being positive, we studied the association between beliefs on malaria status (prior and posterior the intervention) and decisions to get tested and to purchase ACTs. We find that prior beliefs do not explain the decision of getting tested (conditional on the price) and nonadherence to a negative test. However, test‐negative individuals who purchase ACTs report higher posterior beliefs than those who do not, consistent with a framework in which the formers revise beliefs upward, while the latters do not change or revise downward. We also do not find evidence that prior beliefs on ACT effectiveness and trust in test results play any major role in explaining testing or treatment behavior. Further research is needed to improve adherence to malaria‐negative test results.     

Bayesian estimation based on ranked set sample from Morgenstern type bivariate exponential distribution when ranking is imperfect

In this paper we consider Bayes estimation based on ranked set sample when ranking is imperfect, in which units are ranked based on measurements made on an easily and exactly measurable auxiliary variable X which is correlated with the study variable Y. Bayes estimators under squared error loss function and LINEX loss function for the mean of the study variate Y, when (X, Y) follows a Morgenstern type bivariate exponential distribution, are obtained based on both usual ranked set sample and extreme ranked set sample. Estimation procedures developed in this paper are illustrated using simulation studies and a real data.     

Evaluating cause‐marketing campaigns in the Indian corporate landscape: The role of consumer skepticism and consumer attributions of firm's motive

More and more business organizations are engaging in social initiatives to make a positive contribution to society. Cause marketing, such as CSR, is one of the many ways that firms can manifest social responsibility by pitching‐in where government solutions are few or takes time in implementation, and it is the only type that calls for consumer participation. Because customer participation is imperative for the success of the campaign, it must be designed to connect with consumers while also making them feel that corporate efforts are authentic and truly helping the cause and not exploitative of the social cause. Using fictitious brand, cause‐marketing campaigns were designed, and two studies were conducted to analyze the relationship between cause involvement, consumer attributions on firm's motive, and consumer attitudes towards cause campaigns, and if and how the relationship differs when consumer skepticism towards cause claims existed. Multivariate analysis performed for hypotheses testing suggests that cause involvement influenced campaign attitudes and the relationship was mediated by consumer attributions of firm's motive, and consumer skepticism towards cause campaigns affected the relationship.     

Discrete choice models of firms’ strategic decisions

This paper outlines the methods and applications related to the nascent area of empirical discrete games in marketing. Many key strategic decisions firms make involve discrete choices such as deciding the location of a new store, determining where in product space to position a product, or what options to offer in a service contract. These decisions are fairly complex and typically involve the consideration of a number of demand, cost, and competitive factors. What makes these discrete choices particularly interesting (and challenging to analyze) is that they are interrelated with the choices of other firms because firms take into account the actions of their competitors when making their own decisions. We describe the basic problem of dealing with interrelated discrete choices in a game-theoretic framework and present the various estimation methods available. A discussion of the existing applications and future research opportunities concludes the article.     

Return Linkages between Dual Listings under Arbitrage Restrictions: A Study of Indian Stocks and Their London Global Depositary Receipts

We examine the linkages between returns on Indian global depositary receipts (GDRs) in London and their underlying stocks in India. GDR returns are sensitive to returns observed earlier in India. This sensitivity is more pronounced for more liquid GDRs. Although arbitrage is not feasible for GDRs that sell at a premium, these GDRs are, nevertheless, sensitive to Indian returns. The sensitivity is greater for GDRs selling at a discount, where costly arbitrage is feasible. GDR returns have a significant but small effect on subsequent returns of the underlying stocks, with more liquid GDRs having a slightly greater impact.     

Perception of food safety and changes in food consumption habits: a consumer analysis

The relationship between seven types of food safety concerns and the corresponding change in food consumption habits of 236 households in Georgia, USA was evaluated. Results showed a gap between food safety concerns and food consumption habits. Gaps were particularly evident in the cases of pesticide residues, animal drug residues, growth hormones and bacteria. For example, more than 54% of sample households were extremely concerned about pesticide residues, but only 35% actually took extreme precaution in buying items considering this perceived threat. The study indicated that educating consumers about preventive methods to reduce food safety threats will lead to reduced concerns and changes in food consumption habits.     

Markov chain Monte Carlo for incomplete information discrete games

This paper outlines a Bayesian approach to estimating discrete games of incomplete information. The MCMC routine proposed features two changes to the traditional Metropolis–Hastings algorithm to facilitate the estimation of games. First, we propose a new approach to sample equilibrium probabilities using a probabilistic equilibrium selection rule that allows for the evaluation of the parameter posterior. Second, we propose a differential evolution based MCMC sampler which is capable of handling the unwieldy posterior that only has support on the equilibrium manifold. We also present two applications to demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed methodology.     

Widowhood and health of elderly in India: examining the role of economic factors using structural equation modeling

Evidence on the association between widowhood and health is widely available in the literature. However, there is a dearth of analysis on the mechanism through which widowhood affects the health status of an individual, particularly in old age, specifically whether widowhood among the elderly affects their health through their economic conditions. This paper purports to establish both the direct and indirect effects of widowhood on self-reported health status among aged Indians. We examine the mediating effect of economic factors such as income, labor force participation, extent of economic independence and other economic factors in the relationship between widowhood and health status. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to test specific hypotheses. We use unit level 60th round data for the year 2004 surveyed by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The results confirm that poor economic conditions have a mediating effect on the relationship between widowhood and health and, therefore, any policy to reduce the effect of widowhood on health must be based on economic factors.     

WHAT'S IN A NICKNAME? PRICE AND VOLUME EFFECTS OF A PURE TICKER SYMBOL CHANGE

We examine the effect of a voluntary change in ticker symbol without other contemporaneous corporate events such as a name change. We find significant declines in trading volume and prices on the effective date of the ticker change. We segment the sample by exchange listing, share turnover activity, and subperiod. We observe declines in trading volume in all subsamples and negative abnormal returns in recent years.