A note on the relationship between obesity and driving

Vehicle travel and obesity rates in the United States have surged in recent decades. This paper contributes to the mounting evidence of a link between them by drawing attention to a very close relationship between trends in miles driven per licensed driver and adult obesity rates six years later. It also presents evidence on why the effect might be expected to be lagged by six years. A simple model is produced, which predicts reductions in obesity rates over the next few years. If these reductions come about, the model will be seen to offer a powerful insight into the relationship between driving and obesity. If the relationship is more than coincidental, it has implications for transport policy and supports the development of a multi-pronged, interdisciplinary approach to tackle increased driving and obesity.     

Genetically modified crops as real options: Identifying regional and country-specific differences

This paper employs real options methodology for evaluating profitability of genetically modified (GM) crops in volatile market and regulatory environments. Observed instances of market entry, or product introduction, are viewed as outcomes of profit maximizing decisions based on comparison of market entry costs, expected future returns, and the value of managerial flexibility. The process is estimated using simulated maximum likelihood. The estimates suggest that, in the developing countries, the downward volatility of the returns is higher resulting in lower adoption rates, whereas the environment in the top four industrialized GMO adopting countries appears to be costlier but much more optimistic. Commercial success of GM soybean and maize in Argentina, Brazil, and the U.S. is explained mostly by a combination of high upward return volatility and moderate entry costs. The findings may contribute to the general understanding, measurement, and possibilities of controlling the rate of technical advance in biotechnology.     

Credence Good Labeling: The Efficiency and Distributional Implications of Several Policy Approaches

A model of vertical product differentiation is used to analyze the labeling of credence goods, focusing on the manner by which quality is communicated. The results indicate that firms prefer private labeling options. In addition, firms may hire private certifiers as well as paying for mandated government labels when the government's quality benchmark substantially deviates from firms' private quality choices. The average consumer prefers a mandatory, discrete label with a high-quality standard while poor consumers prefer a mandatory, discrete label with a low standard.     

Trade and Environmental Policy: A Race to the Bottom?

The focus of this paper is the issue of regulatory chill and a race to the bottom in environmental standards and policies. In particular, it explores the possibility that resolution of this problem may lie in a more flexible application of the existing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO) rules. The structure of the discussion is divided into four parts: (i) the standard analysis of trade and environmental policy is laid out; (ii) the theoretical analysis of and empirical evidence for the existence of pollution havens is reviewed; (iii) the main arguments as to why governments may weaken domestic environmental policy with greater trade liberalisation is outlined; and (iv) some recent analysis of border tax adjustments for environmental taxes is laid out, leading to the basic conclusion of the paper: a method for countering any tendency for regulatory chill and a race to the bottom in environmental policies is already embedded in existing GATT/WTO rules.     

Participation in industrial training programs

Two questions suggested by the recent literature on the matching of workers and firms are examined. The first relates to differences in the proportion of workers that participate in industrial training programs in large and small firms. The second relates to the characteristics of workers who participate in such programs. The major finding of this study is that workers in large firms are more likely to participate in industrial training programs than similar workers in small firms; the large-small firm training program participation rate differential is less, however, among low productivity workers than among high productivity workers. Additionaly, workers with vocational training received outside of a work setting are just as likely to find employment in small firms as in large ones.This research was supported by the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration under SBA award number 8487-AER-84. The findings and conclusions are the sole responsibility of the author.     

Propagules in dry wetland sediments as indicators of ecological health: effects of salinity

Indicators of ecological health are problematic for wetlands in dry regions because distinctive communities are associated with dry and wet phases of indefinite duration. The propagule bank, including the resting stages of aquatic animals and plants, maintains the community's capacity to recover from drought or disturbance. This paper records observations of invertebrates, protists and algae emerging in laboratory microcosms following the inundation of dry sediments from two temporary lakes on the River Murray floodplain in South Australia. A simple experiment carried out on the sediment from one lake showed that increased salinity was associated with lower diversity (richness) but higher abundance of emergent organisms. The effect on diversity was evident at salinities above 11–17 mS cm^?1, and the effect on abundances was evident above 6–11 mS cm^?1 (salinity here is indicated by electrical conductivity at 25°C). These data suggest that propagule banks may be useful as complementary indicators of wetland health. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

POLICY-INDUCED CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS AND STRATEGIC INTERACTION IN PROCESSED FOOD MARKETS

Attempts to curtail surplus agricultural production may result in excess capacity for food processors. This paper considers the impact of potential capacity constraints for different specifications of duopoly behaviour. If one firm's capacity is constrained, rents are shifted to the other under quantity competition, while both benefit under price competition. If both firms face capacity constraints, each benefits whatever the nature of competition. Consequently, food processing firms may benefit from cut-backs in agricultural production or quantitative trade restrictions, depending on the nature of strategic interaction, though consumers always lose.     

Short communication. Pipelines as a refuge for freshwater snails

In the lower River Murray, Australia, populations of gastropods have declined markedly over the past 40 years. Of the native fauna of about 18 species, only the ancylid Ferrissia petterdi remains common (but in patches), and another five species feature in sporadic local resurgences. Until recently the viviparid Notopala was thought to be extinct. The introduced physid Physa acuta is widespread, but in low numbers. The decline probably is associated with flow regulation, high turbidity and the introduction of common carp. Snail populations have persisted, however, in irrigation pipelines fed from the river, where they periodically cause blockages. This paper reports the discovery of the only known populaion of Notopala hanleyi in a pipeline where the inner wall accumulates microbial and other organic matter, providing high quality food for snails. In the Murray before regulation most of the periphytic biomass was probably microbial, as fluctuating water levels would have maintained littoral communities in a highly productive, early state of succession his postulated that, by stabilizing seasonal water levels, regulation has promoted the production of filamentous green algae, an inferior food source, and so displaced snail populations from the open aquatic environment.     

Tax planning, regulatory capital planning, and financial reporting strategy for commercial banks

We test whether banks' investment and financing policies canbe explained by tax status. We document changes in bank holdingsof municipal bonds in response to changes in tax rules relatingto deductibility of interest expense. We also document an associationbetween banks' marginal tax rates and their investment and financingdecisions, which is consistent with the existence of tax clienteles.However, banks do not sort themselves perfectly into investmentand financing clienteles because of adjustment costs. We positspecific types of transaction-cost impediments to tax planning,and document that banks apparently trade off these costs againsttax-planning benefits.