Measuring a Consumer Energy Conservation Ethic: An Analysis of Components

An energy future based on conservation will require that consumers subscribe to a Consumer Energy Conservation Ethic. This study identifies the components and best predictors of a conservation ethic.     

Bank Credit Cards: Consumer Irrationality versus Market Forces

Why are bank card interest rates sticky? One explanation is bank card consumer irrationality, a potentially significant market failure requiring government intervention. Alternate explanations focus on efficient market forces. The 1989 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data are not consistent with the consumer irrationality hypothesis. The data are consistent with a market-based model of demand for balances and suggest that consumers may rationally eschew search because small outstanding balances imply low returns to search.     

A Note on Concentration and Checking Account Prices

A recent survey ( 16 ) of StructureConductPerformance studies in banking lists twelve studies of the effect of concentration on checkingaccount prices. All twelve rely on proxies for price instead of actual price. Here we evaluate this practice by comparing the three most widely used proxies with the prices actually charged by a sample of 154 Texas banks.     

Use of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to assess textile product quality*

Use of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to assess quality of textile items was studied. Product-knowledgeable subjects rated the quality of socks and sweaters and completed a questionnaire which asked how they judged quality. Subjects relied more on product information (intrinsic cues), i.e., compositional features and performance properties, to assess quality than on price and warranty/certification seals (extrinsic cues). Significance lies in increased understanding of the process involved in quality assessment of textile items in the marketplace.     

Work after retirement: intentions,realities and implications

The economic security of families in retirement is a function of levels of inflation and how well families can adjust their retirement incomes to meet inflation. One way of buffering the effects of inflation is to work part-time after retirement from one's main job. Studies of retired people, however, have indicated that levels of post-retirement work are low. This study of a near-retirement aged cohort offered a special early retirement incentive indicates that intentions to work after retirement from their main job are consistent with previous retired cohorts' work levels. On average, respondents anticipated working less than 3·5 h per week or less than 10 weeks per year. Major factors affecting the hours or weeks of work desired were age, life expectancy, perceived retirement income adequacy, marital status, health, sex, area of residence and education.     

Why Don't Households Have a Checking Account?

Using the Surveys of Consumer Finance from 1989 to 2001, this study expolres households’ reasons for not having a checking account. Reasons havechanged over time, shifting away from account features and toward human capital and institutional reasons. We also find that reasons for not having an account are related to income, race/ethnicity, marital status/gender, planning horizon, education, previous account experience, and credit history. We suggest potential responses for community educators, firms, and policy makers.     

The Elusive Gains from International Financial Integration

Standard theoretical arguments tell us that countries with relatively little capital benefit from financial integration as foreign capital flows in and speeds up the process of convergence. We show in a calibrated neoclassical model that conventionally measured welfare gains from this type of convergence appear relatively limited for the typical emerging market country. The welfare gain from switching from financial autarky to perfect capital mobility is roughly equivalent to a 1% permanent increase in domestic consumption for the typical non-OECD country. This is negligible relative to the welfare gain from a take-off in domestic productivity of the magnitude observed in some of these countries.     

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR TIME-USE STUDY IN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN

A conceptual model to use in explaining influences on household production time of wives in the United States and in Japan is presented. This model is tested on a national U.S. sample using variables suggested by both U.S. and Japanese time-use studies. The results support and expand those of earlier studies. It is suggested that the model be tested with Japanese data to determine its usefulness in cross-cultural comparisons.