Some consequences of the single market for European and Danish consumer policy

In this paper, the future of consumer policy within the context of the European single market will be estimated. As the scope of the EC for consumer action is mainly economic, a broader social approach will be used as the theoretical framework. Within such an approach, consumer problems and consumer policy will be characterized, and three paradigms describing the social and political influence of consumers will be discussed as possible guidelines for consumer action. In the light of these guidelines and available published knowledge of the single market, consumer policy at Community level and in Denmark will be analysed.     

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATION PROXIES*

Shortcomings in the treatment of intangible investment in company accounts imply that there is no statistical collection for innovative activity which abides by the logic used for other economic activity data. As a consequence, analysts rely on innovation proxies derived from administrative and survey data. However, it is still unclear exactly how the different proxies are correlated, and whether the choice amongst different proxies matters. In the light of the innovation measurement, this paper takes another look at the relationship between different proxies of firm innovation. The results show that firm‐level correlations between survey‐based indicators and other proxies for innovation are highest for manufacturing firms and for product innovations.     

It Don't Come Easy: Overcoming Obstacles to Technology Use Within a Resistant Consumer Group

To identify ways in which resistance can be overcome and technology's potential realized, we study acceptance and use of a specific technology, the Internet, by a specific resistant group, older consumers. Using interviews and a survey of consumers who are over 65 years old, we discover that curiosity and proactive coping drive technology optimism, which then predicts adoption and heavier usage. Motivated seniors with technology discomfort get help to adopt and continued assistance to learn usage repertoires. Surprisingly, technology discomfort is positively rather than negatively related to usage enthusiasm. Implications are drawn for consumer groups resistant to technology.     

WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS DOING TO CREATE A COMPETITIVE MARKET FOR HEALTH CARE IN THE TWIN CITIES?

Employers' willingness to control costs is a critical aspect of pro-competition strategies for the health-care market. Here, we present some of the first quantitative evidence of what employers do to control health-care costs. Our sample is 44 large private and public employers in Minnesota.
We develop a theoretical model in which the employer chooses cost-control "innovations"—along with wages, fringe benefits, and labor-force size—to maximize profits. The role of innovations is to reduce unit costs of offering fringe benefits.
Our data are from a 1982 survey. Eighty percent of the surveyed employers, representing nearly 200,000 employees, responded. Most respondents offer both indemnity insurance plans and health-maintenance organizations (HMOs). Many firms and individual health-insurance plans conduct cost-control activities, but less than half of the firms which offer HMOs have adopted level-dollar premium contributions for their family health-insurance policies. Few plans have increased their coinsurance and deductible requirements in the past five years.
We use probit equations to estimate the probability that a firm or a health plan will adopt cost-control activities. Our analysis suggests that many firms may soon make major plan-design changes to control health-care costs, although they have not yet done so.     

Determinants of Household Expenditures on Alcohol

This paper examines the determinants of household alcohol expenditures by using a nonnormal and heteroscedastic double-hurdle model to accommodate zero observations in the sample. The model is a generalization of the double-hurdle model estimated in previous studies of alcohol consumption. We also examine the effects of explanatory variables by calculating and decomposing the elasticities. Findings support the use of a more generalized error distribution. Income, region, education, and household demographics are among the significant determinants of alcohol expenditures.