WILL RETARDING THE INFORMATION FLOW ON AUTOMOBILE RECALLS AFFECT CONSUMER DEMAND?

Recently the National Highway Traffic Administration changed its policy concerning the public announcement of safety-related automotive recalls. This paper examines whether consumers continue to use recalls as an input in their decision to purchase an automobile. It was found that over the 1977-81 period, severe recalls adversely affected the demand for the model recalled, while benefiting substitutes of other manufacturers.     

THE EFFECTS OF STATE AUTOMOBILE DEALER ENTRY REGULATION ON NEW CAR PRICES

This paper examines the impact of state regulations restricting entry into new car retailing. The central hypothesis is that these regulations create artificial scarcity rents for existing dealers, which are collected through higher car prices. A reduced form multiple regression model is specified with retail price as the dependent variable. The model is estimated using transactions price data for a sample of over 5,000 Chevrolet dealers and seven car lines in 1978. The results confirm the hypothesis that entry restrictions cause higher car prices.     

ON THE LONG-RUN EFFECTS OF FASHION

We investigate the long-run dynamic interaction between fashion (brand loyalty) and industry structure. We analyze how this interaction affects the importance of fashion in the market for a product in the different stages of its life and characterize conditions under which fashion loses or preserves its relevance over time. The model can explain why some products survive fashion changes. ( JEL D21, L0)     

THE EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY ON THE LEVERAGE OF NONFINANCIAL FIRMS

This paper investigates the link between the optimal level of nonfinancial firms' short-term leverage and macroeconomic and idiosyncratic sources of uncertainty. We develop a structural model of a firm's value maximization problem that predicts a negative relationship between uncertainty and optimal levels of borrowing. This proposition is tested using a panel of nonfinancial U.S. firms drawn from the COMPUSTAT quarterly database covering the period 1993–2003. The estimates confirm that as either form of uncertainty increases, firms decrease their levels of short-term leverage. This effect is stronger for macroeconomic uncertainty than for idiosyncratic uncertainty. ( JEL C23, D8, D92, G32)     

QUESTION-ORDER EFFECTS ON THE DETERMINANTS OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Part-whole combinations of questions are believed to be particularlyvulnerable to question-order effects. A split-ballot experimentwas used in a telephone survey to vary the order of a generalwell-being question and a set of questions on well-being ineight specific life domains. A number of order effects on multipleregression parameters were found for married respondents; noorder effects were found for unmarried persons, however. Theseresults show that conclusions about the relative importanceof specific life domains for general well-being and conclusionsabout the effects of unmeasured variables can be substantiallyaffected by the order of the general and specific items. Severalexplanations for the order effects are discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY RATES ON THE PROGRESSIVITY OF SOCIAL SECURITY

Does the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance portion of Social Security become regressive once we allow for the shorter lifespan of poor people? This paper compares the net returns of poor households to the net returns of other households after taking into account differential longevity. Earnings and Social Security tax and benefit histories are simulated for families of various income levels in the 1925 birth cohort. These tax and benefit profiles are then weighted by the agents' probabilities of survival. For some plausible values of key mortality parameters, differences in mortality eliminate the progressive spread in returns across income categories.     

THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL LOSS ON THE FORMATION OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS*

Effects of parental loss on subsequent intimate relationships were studied with a sample of young married couples and with a sample of college students. Compared to those with no parental loss, young adults with parental loss tended to exhibit one of two patterns: avoidance of intimacy, or accelerated courtship. Persons with parental death exhibited both of the described patterns, but tended as a group to be more hesitant about intimate relationships. Persons with parental divorce generally indicated accelerated courtship patterns. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

EFFECTS OF QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN ON THE QUALITY OF SURVEY DATA

The importance of format, graphic layout, and question routinginstructions on the quality of survey data has been acknowledgedfor self-administered survey instruments, but the significanceof these factors for questionnaires administered by interviewershas not been recognized equally. This paper examines two studiesin which interviewers used different questionnaire designs toadminister the same set of survey questions to randomly selectedadult respondents in housing units that made up area probabilitysamples of the Detroit metropolitan area. The paper presentsempirical evidence of specific effects (questions skipped inerror, unprobed answers) directly attributable to the choiceof questionnaire design. The analysis shows that question nairedesign choices can either help or hurt the quality of data collectedby interviewers. Furthermore, the behaviors of experienced andinexperienced interviewers are affected in similar ways. Inother words, interviewing experience does not compensate forformat deficits in the design of survey instruments.     

EFFECTS OF THE PARENTAL COALITION ON ADOLESCENT EMANCIPATION FROM THE FAMILY

This study examined the relationship between late adolescents' perception of their parents' marital coalition and academic success as a college freshman. The hypothesis was tested that late adolescents from families with a primary cross-generational bond (e.g., mother-son) have more difficulty emancipating from the family than offspring from families in which mother and father are the primary dyadic alliance in the family. Academic success as a college freshman was utilized as one measure of the late adolescents' success in separating from the family. The subjects were 36 18–year-old freshman males placed on academic probation and 36 passing males matched on ethnicity and SAT scores. The principal results were that subjects reporting a primary marital alliance were more likely to succeed academically and were more internal on the Rotter I-E scale than subjects who reported a nonmarital alliance as primary. The findings provide support for the theory of structural family relations, and clarify familial processes that affect late adolescent emancipation from the family.     

THE EFFECTS OF PUBLIC SPENDING COMPOSITION ON FIRM PRODUCTIVITY

This paper exploits the unique institutional features of South Africa to estimate the impact of provincial public spending on firm productivity. In contrast to existing microeconomic evidence, we explore the effects of fiscal expenditures and remove the effects of revenue raising policies. Our identification strategy is based on differences in the effects of public spending across firms within the same industry and province. We show that public spending composition affects productivity depending on the capital intensity of firms, with less capital intensive firms being particularly affected. These effects appear to be robust. (JEL D24, H32, H72)     

EFFECTS OF A FAMILY-ORIENTED TRAINING EXPERIENCE ON THE ROLE OF THE PHYSICAL THERAPIST

This article describes ways in which a family-oriented psychologist contributed to a reconceptualization of the appropriate role for the physical therapist in patient care. The article identifies aspects of the changing role of the physical therapist, specifically its expansion to include skilled psychosocial interaction with patient and family for the purposes of reassurance, support and instruction. A primary shift involved changing from focus on the individual and his or her disability to focus on the patient in the context of his or her family. The article briefly describes elements of appropriate psychological training which can be incorporated successfully in a physical therapy educational experience, and concludes with a case example illustrating the basic points relevant to this type of interdisciplinary collaboration.     

THE EFFECTS OF A NON-RELATED ADULT FRIEND ON CHILDREN OF DIVORCE

It is intuitively appealing to think that it would help the child of divorce to have a neutral adult with whom to discuss the divorce. It would also seem to help the child by providing the parent with some time away from their child. However, although most respondents in this study were pleased with the relationship developed between the child and friend, they did not single out either of these benefits.     

THE EFFECTS OF MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS AT GRADUATION ON OVEREDUCATION

This article shows that unfavorable economic conditions at graduation decrease the likelihood of a good job‐worker match over a worker's subsequent career. Mismatch is quantified in terms of overeducation by both industry and occupation. The German Socio‐Economic Panel and region‐level unemployment rates from 1994 to 2012 are used. Instrumental variables estimates account for endogenous graduation timing. A single percentage point increase in regional unemployment causes an increase in the probability of overeducation of 1.6–1.7 percentage points for university graduates. Effects for technical tertiary education and apprenticeship graduates are smaller. Labor market entry conditions affect workers for up to 9 years after graduation. (JEL J23, J22, E32, I23)     

SOME EFFECTS OF OWNERSHIP ON THE WHOLESALE PRICES OF ELECTRIC POWER

Differences in the property rights which distinguish government-owned and privately-owned, government-regulated business firms imply that government-owned electric utilities sell wholesale electric power at lower prices and buy it at higher prices than similarly-situated private firms. The hypotheses were tested using cross-section data. The results are generally favorable and suggest that the approach is fruitful.     

THE EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENT WHILE PREGNANT ON HEALTH AT BIRTH

Today, many pregnant women take a brief period of time off work to give birth. This article explores the effects of pregnancy employment on health at birth. Initial results show that pregnancy employment has beneficial effects. However, these effects often become statistically insignificant when I control for earnings from pregnancy employment and when I examine women employed prior to the pregnancy and siblings in fixed effects models. I conclude that beneficial effects of pregnancy employment are due to increased family income via earnings and to unobserved heterogeneity. There is no evidence that pregnancy employment adversely affects health at birth.(JEL J1 , J2 , J3 )     

THE EFFECTS OF DISCRETIONARY FEDERAL SPENDING ON PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION RESULTS

Parliamentary rules make it difficult for opposition members of Parliament to influence government spending. As the electorate is aware of this situation discretionary federal spending is expected to affect vote-share differently for majority and opposition incumbents. Consistent estimators yield positive and significant point estimates for the impact of increases in spending for majority incumbents in Canadian federal elections yet yield negative but insignificant point estimates for opposition incumbents. Furthermore, $100 additional federal spending per capita in an electoral district is estimated to increase majority candidates' vote-share, regardless of incumbency, by between 1.5 and 2.5 percentage points. (JEL D72, H59 )