Genuine Savings Rates in Developing Countries

Augmented measures of savings and wealth in the national accountsare critical to conceptualizing and achieving sustainable development.After developing the theory of genuine savings—traditionalnet savings less the value of resource depletion and environmentaldegradation plus the value of investment in human capital—thisarticle presents empirical estimates for developing countries.These calculations account for resource depletion and carbondioxide emissions, using consistent time series data for 1970–93.The empirical evidence shows that levels of genuine savingsare negative in a wide range of countries, particularly in Sub-SaharanAfrica, and that these countries are being progressively impoverished.Increasing the coverage of natural resources and pollutantsin our calculations would reduce the estimated levels of genuinesavings overall. The use of genuine savings measures suggestsa series of policy questions that are key to sustaining development.These are also explored, specifically the extent to which monetaryand fiscal policies, exports of exhaustible resources, strongerresource policies, and pollution abatement measures boost genuinesavings rates. For policymakers, linking sustainable developmentto genuine savings rates means that there are many possibleinterventions to increase sustainability, from the macroeconomicto the purely environmental.     

The importance of level 1 trauma services in U.S. hospitals

In this quantitative research study, the organizational characteristics, market factors, and profitability of U.S. acute care hospitals that provide the highest intensity of trauma services are assessed. Results indicate these hospitals are larger, have a higher occupancy rate, higher expenses per discharge, and a lower length of stay. Hospitals with Level 1 trauma centers have a positive return on assets. The study has managerial implications associated with individual hospital performance and policy implications on resource allocation.     

Indivisibilities and interplant transportation cost: Do they cause market breakdown?

This paper considers the ability of the land market to allocate space among activities when economic agents operate subject to scale economies, and when the agents trade with one another, thus incurring transport cost. The structure of the problem is that of Koopmans and Beckmann. The land market fails to clear properly only for certain parameter values. The inability of the land market to work properly is found to result from the failure of the market to properly price accessibility, or alternatively, from the failure to price congestion. It is a standard externality problem.     

The Power of Promoting Healthy Brands: Familiarity in Healthy Product Decision Making

This research investigates consumer decision making and brand commitment for brands promoted as “healthy.” The authors examine the relationship of brand familiarity to brand credibility, brand quality, purchase intentions, and brand commitment. The findings indicate that familiarity can help increase purchase intentions and brand commitment for healthy brands with low credibility. However, to go beyond a transactional exchange to one that is relational in nature, familiarity, credibility, and quality are all crucial for fostering brand commitment.