The impact of smoking bans on alcohol demand

Although many studies find that smoking bans reduce cigarette demand, arguments can be made for smoking bans also affecting alcohol demand. Accordingly, in this paper we address the determinants of state-level alcohol demand, which we treat as a function of various economic and demographic variables, as well as smoking bans. Results reveal that smoking bans reduce the demand for beer and spirits. Furthermore, smoking bans tend to intensify the complementary relationship between cigarettes and alcohol, which suggests that smoking bans have altered consumer demographics in the alcohol market. We also find the nature of the smoking ban matters, as bans specific to restaurants and bars lead to larger reductions in beer and spirits consumption, but increase the demand for wine.     

The Effect of Risk Beliefs on Property Values: A Case Study of a Hazardous Waste Site1

Health risk beliefs of homeowners near a landfill site were assessed in a survey and compared to expert judgments of the health risks of living near the site. A bimodal distribution of health risk beliefs suggested sharp disagreement between the experts and at least some of the residents. Correlates of high risk beliefs included perception of odor from the site, exposure to media coverage of the problem, having children living at home, age (younger respondents more concerned), and gender (females more concerned). An aggregated neighborhood health risk belief predicted reductions in home prices even after controlling for home physical characteristics, such as size and other disamenities such as proximity to a freeway. In the 4100 homes near the site, the estimated depression in property values was estimated to total about $40.2 million before the site was closed and to be about $19.7 million after closure. Implications of these results for community conflict and for benefit-cost analysis of hazard site remediation are discussed.     

Role constraints and first ladies

The First Ladyship is an institution that consists not only of the perceptions of its various occupants, and the accumulated precedents they have established, but also of the perceptions of the various audiences to which the First Ladies have played, and the elite and popular expectations that have accumulated over time in response to those precedents. Certain roles and their attendant behaviors are, thus, more likely than other roles and behaviors to attract elite and/or popular supports, whereas others are more likely to founder against one or more of the audience constraints that are part of the political ecology in which any First Lady operates.     

“I've been independent for so damn long!”: Independence, masculinity and aging in a help seeking context

This paper draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with 36 older men to examine how older men's understandings of independence relate to their help seeking behaviours and health service use. We argue that discourses of masculinity and successful aging are both represented in men's talk about independence. Recognising that these discourses are intertwined is important for understanding how older men seek help and use health services. We outline the practice and policy implications of viewing older men's help seeking behaviours in this way, and how it might be useful for promoting older men's health.     

Public accountability in non-profit industrial development organisations

Non-profit industrial development organisations (NIDOs) represent a common but little studied community response to widespread deindustrialisation in the United States. These non-profits are organised as chartered not-for-profit corporations, public authorities or agencies of local government. Most receive at least some public funding to promote local industrial development. Thus, a key issue is how accountable NIDOs are to the public they have been created to serve. Data from national surveys of NIDO executive directors in 1984 and 1994, as well as a survey of six case study boards of directors, suggest that public accountability is an increasingly important concern among NIDOs. Public hearings, efforts to diversify the boards in terms of gender and race, and connections to community development corporations and other local organisations are among the ways NIDOs attempt to be accountable to the general public. Although few women or racial minorities serve on NIDO boards, those boards with representation of these groups tend to be more concerned with public accountability. Boards containing public officials tend to be less concerned, presumably because their presence makes the NIDOs more directly accountable as a result of the participation of elected public representatives.