TWO-PART PRICING FOR A MULTI-PRODUCT MONOPOLIST

This paper examines profit-maximizing multi-part pricing arrangements by multi-product monopolists. The results indicate that prices set by such firms will deviate from the marginal-cost-pricing efficiency norm when multi-part tariffs can be set on only a subset of the firm's product line. Per unit prices will be set above marginal cost when the monopolist sells goods that are substitutes, while per unit prices for complements may be set above or below marginal cost. In either case, the pricing strategy will involve increasing the demand for goods on which an entry fee can beset.     

Gender and the Economics of the Sentimental Market in Nineteenth-Century America

This essay explores the cultural history of nineteenth-centurybusiness failure as based on textual analysis of five hundred"begging letters" from strangers who sought assistance fromJohn D. Rockefeller between the Panics of 1873 and 1893. Failurewas an economic crisis as well as an identity crisis that strippedmen of their opportunities to achieve normative ideals suchas independence and family breadwinning. Sandage analyzes beggingletters as an epistolary genre, a mode of surveillance, anda declaration of "the political economy of the Forgotten Man."Businessmen and their wives reinscribed masculine selfhood byconceiving market relations as an inseparable mixture of bothgift and commodity exchange, an amalgam of sentiment and economicrationality. Begging letters illuminate the persistence of informaleconomies—a black market in alms conceived in oppositionto the bureaucratic surveillance of "scientific charity." Byshowing how beggars preferred the language of commodity exchangeto that of gift or charity, Sandage analyzes masculinity asa transactional status, wherein esteem depended on being adjudgedworthy to buy, sell, borrow, and repay. By creating an informaleconomy, failed men and their wives deployed sentiment as aform of capital to buy back manly self-respect and to reacquirethe resources and credentials necessary for striving in theformal, commodity market.     

PRICING ANOMALIES IN THE MARKET FOR DIAMONDS: EVIDENCE OF CONFORMIST BEHAVIOR

Some goods are consumed not just for their intrinsic utility but also for the impression their consumption has on others. We analyze the market for such a commodity—diamonds. We collect data on price and other attributes from the inventories of three large online retailers of diamonds. We find that people are willing to pay premiums upward of 18% for a diamond that is one‐half carat rather than slightly less than a half carat and between 5% and 10% for a one‐carat rather than a slightly less than one‐carat stone. Since a major portion of larger gem‐quality diamonds are used for engagement rings, such an outcome is consistent with Bernheim's model of conformism, where individuals try to conform to a single standard of behavior that is often established at a focal point. In this case, prospective grooms signal their desirability as a mate by the size of the diamond engagement ring they give their fiancées. (JEL A1, D4)     

RESPONSE RATES AND RESPONSE CONTENT IN MAIL VERSUS FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS

Two surveys were administered based on the same area probabilitysampling frame and with some of the same questions: one samplewas used for hour-long face-to-face interviewing in the 1992Detroit Area Study; the other sample received a much shorterquestionnaire in the mail for sell-administration. The samplesegments had previously been stratified in terms of the percentagethat was black. For the predominantly white stratum, there wasonly a small difference in response rates due to mode of administration.For the predominantly black stratum, the mail survey obtaineda considerably lower response rate then the face-to-face survey.Within the predominantly white stratum, there were no cleardifferences between results for the two modes of administrationin demographic variables or in gross housing characteristics.However, the mail survey respondents expressed more negativeattitudes toward racial integration and affirmative action thandid the face-to-face respondents. Because the mail sample ofthe predominantly black stratum was small, it was not possibleto carry out similar analyses of demographic or attitudinaldifferences, or to determine whether its lower response ratewas due mainly to race, to correlates of race such as incomeor education, or even to problems with mail delivery in centralcities.     

SHOULD CITIES GO FOR THE GOLD? THE LONG‐TERM IMPACTS OF HOSTING THE OLYMPICS

The Summer Olympics bring hundreds of thousands of visitors and generate upward of $10 billion in spending for the host city. This large influx of tourism dollars is only part of the overall impact of hosting the Olympic Games. In order to host the visitors and sporting events, cities must make sizable investments in infrastructure such as airports, arenas, and highways. Additionally, the publicity and international exposure of a host city may benefit international trade and capital flows. Proponents argue that this investment will pay off through increased economic growth, but research confirming these claims is lacking. This paper examines whether hosting an Olympiad improves a city's long‐term growth. In order to control for the self‐selection of cities that host Olympic Games, this paper matches Olympic host cities with cities that were finalists for the Olympic Games, but were not selected by the International Olympic Committee. A difference‐in‐difference estimator examines post‐Olympic impacts for host cities between 1950 and 2005. Regression results provide no long‐term impacts of hosting an Olympics on two measures of population, real Gross Domestic Product per capita and trade openness. (JEL O18, R11)     

Progress,Public Health,and Power: Foucault and the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan*

De 1911 à 1979, les Homemakers' Clubs de la Saskatchewan ont mobilisé et suivi une étude et une action à grande échelle dans le domaine de la santé publique. Cet article examine comment ces clubs ont poussé des femmes à lutter pour avancer et les ont encouragées à considérer de telles luttes comme étant fondamentales pour bâtir leur propre identité. Les techniques utilisées comprenaient des encouragements à partager des buts, à faire leurs de tels buts, à structurer leur démarche, à rendre compte de leurs pensées et de leurs actions, à récompenser certaines conduites et à lier ces dernières à des causes convaincantes sur le plan émotif. En s'insérant dans un cadre conceptuel foucaldien, cet article apporte une contribution à la compréhension sociologique de la gouvernance et de la formation du sujet. From 1911 to 1979, the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan mobilized and monitored extensive study and action in the field of public health. This article explores how these clubs exhorted women to strive for progress, and encouraged women to internalize such striving as fundamental to their own identities. The techniques used included encouraging commitment to shared goals, making such goals personal, structuring action, requiring women to report their thoughts and actions, rewarding certain behaviors, and linking those behaviors with emotionally compelling causes. Rooted in a Foucauldian conceptual framework, this article contributes to the sociological understanding of subject formation and governance.     

Straightening the Seam Effect in Panel Surveys

Panel surveys, such as the Survey of Income and Program Participationand the Consumer Expenditure Survey, interview respondents every3 or 4 months, but ask the respondents for monthly data. A typicalfinding in such surveys is that changes in responses to a questionare relatively small for adjacent months within a referenceperiod but much more abrupt for adjacent months across referenceperiods. Previous studies have attributed this "seam effect"either to underreporting of changes within the periods or tooverreporting of changes across them. In the present studies,we attempt to distinguish these possibilities, using an experimentalmethod that allows us to gauge respondents' accuracy as wellas the number of times they change their answers. The studiesproduced seam effects and accompanying evidence for forgettingof queried information and bias toward constant responses withinthe reference period. In general, seam effects appear to increaseas a function of the demands on memory. We also find that separatingquestions with the same content in the survey instrument decreasesthe seam effect. To account for these data, we propose a modelin which respondents' answers are initially based on attemptedmemory retrieval. Inability to recall leads to (possibly biased)guessing or subsequent repetition of an earlier answer.     

To Educate or Not to Educate? Canadian Discourses Concerning Inuit Schooling From the 1930s to the 1950s

Abstract In the middle of this century, Canadian state representatives transformed their conceptualization of the relationship between Inuit, education, and modernity. In the 1930s, Inuit were seen as destined to remain collectively insulated from the modem world, and education was considered either insignificant or dangerous. By 1955, Inuit were seen as destined to become fully modern citizens of Canada, and education was considered a moral and practical necessity. This discursive reversal was a response to the process of state formation in Northern Canada, and not an outcome of the changing functional requirements of global capitalism.     

Incentives for Increasing Return Rates: Magnitude Levels, Response Bias, amd Format

The use of monetary incentives has been shown to significantlyincrease response rate. However, previous investigations haverarely investigated the effects of incentives greater than $1,compared different magnitudes of incentives, or investigatedresponse bias due to incentives. The current study also investigatedthe utility of an Answer Check. Results suggest that monetaryincentives increase response rate, larger incentives do notnecessarily further increase survey response, incentives donot appear to bias responses, and the Answer Check does notfacilitate response rate.     

Demographic,Residential, and Socioeconomic Effects on the Distribution of Nineteenth-Century White Body Mass Index Values

Little research exists on the body mass index (BMI) values of nineteenth-century Americans of European descent. Examination of a new body mass index data set and robust statistical analysis yields the following conclusion: between 1860 and 1880, BMIs decreased across the distribution; however, after 1880, BMIs in the highest quantiles increased, while those in lower BMI quantiles continued to decrease. Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century white BMIs increased at older ages in higher quantiles and decreased in lower quantiles, indicating significant net biological disparity by age. During industrialization, white BMIs were lower in Kentucky, Missouri, and urban Philadelphia.