Evidence of Large-Scale Social Interactions in Mammography in the United States

This paper examines the extent of social interactions in an individual’s decision to undergo mammography. Using Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System surveys from 1993 to 2016, the effect of other female screening behavior on an individual’s decision to have a routine breast cancer screening was measured by calculating the size of a so called “social multiplier” in mammography. A vector of social multipliers was estimated in the use of mammograms in the past 1–2 years by taking the ratio of group-level effects of exogenous explanatory variables to individual-level effects of the same variables. Peer groups were defined as same-aged women living in the same state. Three age groups of women were considered: 40–49, 50–74, and 75 and older. Several econometric approaches were used to analyze the effect of social interactions on mammography use, including ordinary least squares, fixed effects, and split-sample instrumental variable. For all women, evidence was found of social interactions associated with individual’s education, employment, and poor health. In addition, number of age-group-specific social multipliers was found. The strongest evidence of spillover in mammography was found for women ages 75 and older. Policy makers should be aware that, in the presence of a social multiplier, the value of any type of screening intervention is higher than the one that would be measured at the individual-level.

     

An analysis of the intra-firm sales activities of Japanese multinational enterprises in the United States: 1977 to 1989

This paper examines the activities of the largest Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the United States by looking at data on exports, imports, and intra-firm trade between the Japanese subsidiaries in the United States and their parent and other foreign groups. It also examines how much of the domestic sales in the United States are accounted for by local production of the Japanese subsidiaries. Sales data provide an indication of the advantages of being multinational, which are mirrored in the growth of the post-investment sales of overseas units (both manufacturing and non-manufacturing). Data on the flows and stocks of foreign direct investment (FDI) represent the initial decisions to undertake FDI and largely ignore the learning effects of having overseas production.The authors are from the City University of Hong Kong and NORTACK Software Limited. We would like to thank the Editor, Dr Leung Hing-Man, the anonymous referees, and Don Daly, Wendy Dobson, Hiroaki Izumi, Terutomo Ozawa, Alan M Rugman and Rob Tran for their helpful comments. All errors and omissions, however, remain the responsibility of the authors.     

Competition in the electricity industry in England and Wales

When the electricity industry was privatized, the governmentmade structural changes to encourage competition in generationand in supply to consumers. The conventional power stationswere only divided between two companies, however, and we showthat duopolistic competition in an unregulated spot market mightimply undesirably high prices. Most sales are hedged in thecontract market, which makes the spot market more competitive,and a realistic threat of entry could also force generatorsto keep their prices down. In the event, a large amount of entrytook place, supported by the regional electricity companies'franchise monopoly over smaller consumers. That monopoly endsin 1998, so that further entry might become very difficult,while competition between firms already in the generation marketis still limited. Vertical integration between the major generatorsand regional electricity companies might make entry even harder,and should be blocked until the industry is more competitive.     

Cost of hospital care for elderly at risk of falling

The variables that relate to cost of hospital care for a large sample of elderly patients at risk for falling are examined. The chief predictors of cost of hospitalization were medical, pharmacy, and nursing interventions. Use of nursing interventions, on average, raised the median hospital cost less than use of medical or pharmacy interventions. Using a standardized nursing language with the hospital's information system can provide nurses with information that demonstrates the cost effectiveness of their interventions.     

SCREENING FOR A CHRONIC DISEASE: A MULTIPLE STAGE DURATION MODEL WITH PARTIAL OBSERVABILITY

We estimate a dynamic multistage duration model to investigate how early detection of diabetes can delay the onset of lower extremity complications and death. We allow for partial observability of the disease stage, unmeasured heterogeneity, and endogenous timing of diabetes screening. Timely diagnosis appears important. We evaluate the effectiveness of two potential policies to reduce the monetary costs of frequent screening in terms of lost longevity. Compared to the status quo, the more restrictive policy yields an implicit value for an additional year of life of about $50,000, whereas the less restrictive policy implies a value of about $120,000.     

A transactions data analysis of nonsynchronous trading

Weekly returns of stock portfolios exhibit substantial autocorrelation.Analytical studies suggest that nonsynchronous trading is capableof explaining from 5% to 65% of the autocorrelation. The varyingimportance of nonsynchronous trading in these studies arisesprimarily from differing assumptions regarding nontrading periodsof stocks. We simulate the effects of nonsynchronous tradingby sampling stock returns from a return generating process usingtransactions data to obtain the precise time of each stock'slast trade. We find that simulated weekly portfolio returnsexhibit autocorrelations that are roughly 25% that of theirobserved (CRSP) weekly returns.     

A comparison of treatment effects estimators using a structural model of AMI treatment choices and severity of illness information from hospital charts

We compare the performance of various matching estimators using a novel approach that is feasible in the absence of experimental data. We estimate a structural model of hospital choices and catheterization for Medicare heart attack victims using hospital chart data on patient heterogeneity. With the estimated structural parameters, we simulate data for which the treatment effect is known. We find that as measures of individual heterogeneity are added to the controls, matching estimators perform well. However, the estimators do a poor job recovering the true treatment effect when measures of individual heterogeneity are unavailable. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equity-worthiness and equity-willingness: Key factors in private equity deals

While access to private equity funds (PEFs) provides a unique opportunity for firms to set up sturdy growth paths, how PEFs select companies is an unknown process to entrepreneurs and business owners. This study aims to offer insights regarding the private equity market to entrepreneurs searching for external capital. We analyzed a novel dataset of 240 pre-deal negotiations between small- and medium-sized Italian companies and a closed-end fund. Results indicate that the successful closing of a deal depends on more than just the target firm's equity-worthiness (i.e., the company's ability to meet the expectations of a private equity investor). In fact, there is another dimension: the target firm's equity-willingness (i.e., the company's motivations to accept an outside equity investor). We summarize the results of our study by building a 2x2 positioning matrix on the basis of the target firm's equity-worthiness and equity-willingness. This matrix enables entrepreneurs to grasp how private equity investors evaluate their firms.     

马克思主义的最高命题与中国共产党人的伟大实践

在马克思主义的经典理论中,人的全面发展理论是其重要的组成部分,而其核心：“一切人自由而全面的发展”则是马克思主义的最高命题。坚持马克思主义,首先应当坚持马克思主义的这一根本价值和最高命题。中国共产党人在中国革命与社会主义建设的进程中,将马克思主义与中国实际相结合,通过艰难探索,丰富和发展了人的全面发展理论。历代中央领导集体在践行这一最高命题上都作出了贡献,尤其是新一代中央领导集体在党的十六大以来提出了科学发展观和构建社会主义和谐社会等一系列重大战略思想,对马克思主义人的全面发展理论再度进行理论创新,在践行马克思主义最高命题上开辟了新道路。     

Are for-profit hospital conversions harmful to patients and to Medicare?

We examine how changes in hospital ownership to and from for-profit status affect quality and Medicare payments per hospital stay. We hypothesize that hospitals converting to for-profit ownership boost post acquisition profitability by reducing dimensions of quality not readily observed by patients and by raising prices. We find that 1-2 years after conversion to for-profit status, mortality of patients, which is difficult for outsiders to monitor, increases while hospital profitability rises markedly and staffing decreases. Thereafter, the decline in quality is much lower. A similar decline in quality is not observed after hospitals switch from for-profit to government or private nonprofit status.