Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Price-Shopping In Consumer Directed Health Plans, Neeraj Sood, Zach Wagner, Peter Huckfeldt, Amelia Haviland

Peter J. Huckfeldt

No abstract provided.

Fertility Desires Among Hiv-Infected Men And Women In Los Angeles County: Client Needs And Provider Perspectives, Sebastian Linnemayr, Deborah Mindry, Glenn Wagner, Jordan Lake, Amber Smith, Molly Quinn, Risa Hoffmann

Sebastian Linnemayr

Combination antiretroviral therapy for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) has extended life expectancy, and enabled PLHA to live productive lives that can include having children. Despite calls to address childbearing for PLHA there has been limited attention to developing safe conception programs. This research sought to assess the childbearing desires of PLHA and the experiences of health care providers serving this population. Research entailed a brief cross-sectional client survey given to HIV-infected men and women over age 18 at two Los Angeles County clinics administered over an 8-week period. Focus group discussions were conducted with providers at each clinic site. …

The Effect Of Prospective Payment On Admission And Treatment Policy: Evidence From Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Neeraj Sood, Peter Huckfeldt, David Grabowski, Joe Newhouse, Jose Escarce

Peter J. Huckfeldt

We examine provider responses to the Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system (PPS), which simultaneously reduced marginal reimbursement and increased average reimbursement. IRFs could respond to the PPS by changing the number of patients admitted, admitting different types of patients, or changing the intensity of care. We use Medicare claims data to separately estimate each type of provider response. We also examine changes in patient outcomes and spillover effects on other post-acute care providers. We find that costs of care initially fell following the PPS, which we attribute to changes in treatment decisions rather than the characteristics of …

Further Evidence On The Internal Validity Of The Early Legal Access Research Design, Brad Hershbein, Martha Bailey, Melanie Guldi

Brad J. Hershbein

Recent Evidence On The Broad Benefits Of Reproductive Health Policy, Brad Hershbein, Martha Bailey, Melanie Guldi

Brad J. Hershbein

Fertility Choice, Mortality Expectations, And Interdependent Preferences: An Empirical Analysis, Sebastian Linnemayr, David Canning, Isabel Guenther, David Bloom

Sebastian Linnemayr

We investigate the empirical relationship between child mortality and fertility across 46 low and middle income countries. Specifically, we model the effect of mortality expectations and interdependent fertility preferences on fertility. The direct marginal effect of mortality expectations on fertility is larger than zero but less than unity. This implies that a decrease in mortality rates leads to a decrease in children born but to an increase in the number of surviving children and hence the rate of population growth. Taking into account interdependent fertility preferences, whereby an individual's fertility choice affects the fertility decisions of others, the marginal effect …

A Cash-Back Rebate Program For Healthy Food Purchases In South Africa: Results From Scanner Data, Roland Sturm

Roland Sturm

No abstract provided.

Multiple Pollutants, Unovered Sectors, And Suboptimal Environmental Policies, Daniel Karney, Don Fullerton

Daniel H Karney

In our analytical general equilibrium model where two polluting inputs can be substitutes or complements in production, we study the effects of a tax on one pollutant in two cases: one where both pollutants face taxes and the second where the other pollutant is subject to a permit policy. In each case, we solve for closed-form solutions that highlight important parameters. We demonstrate two important ways that environmental taxes and permits are not equivalent. First, the change in the pollutant facing a tax increase depends on whether the other pollutant is subject to a tax or permit policy. Second, if …

Dynamic Cointegration And Diversification Benefits Among The Greater China, The Uk, And The Us Stock Markets, Francesco Guidi, Christos Savva

Francesco Guidi

No abstract provided.

The Hungry Dragon: How China's Resource Quest Is Reshaping The World, Sophal Ear

Sophal Ear

The Price Sensitivity Of Medicare Beneficiaries: A Regression Discontinuity Approach., Thomas Buchmueller, Kyle Grazier, Richard Hirth, Edward Okeke

Edward Okeke

We use 4 years of data from the retiree health benefits program of the University of Michigan to estimate the effect of price on the health plan choices of Medicare beneficiaries. During the period of our analysis, changes in the University's premium contribution rules led to substantial price changes. A key feature of this ‘natural experiment’ is that individuals who had retired before a certain date were exempted from having to pay any premium contributions. This ‘grandfathering’ creates quasi-experimental variation that is ideal for estimating the effect of price. Using regression discontinuity methods, we compare the plan choices of individuals …

News Of Corporate Failure: Evaluating The Relationship Between Individual Assessments And Market Investments, Ann Williams

Ann E Williams

Individuals’ comprehension of communication is shaped by the use of metaphor. This study illustrates how the use of metaphor in business and economic news coverage shapes individuals’ responsibility attributions in ways that can ultimately influence consumers’ investment decisions. In a randomized experimental design, participants were invited to read news articles that described the bankruptcy of a business. The treatment text narrated the bankruptcy using metaphor, while the control text narrated the same event without the use of metaphor. After exposure to the communication text narrated with metaphor, responsibility attributions and subsequent investment decisions were significantly altered. The findings suggest that …

The Politics Of Rights-Based Approaches In Conservation, Prakash Kashwan

Prakash Kashwan

Scholars and advocates increasingly favor rights-based approaches over traditional exclusionary policies in conservation. Yet, national and international conservation policies and programs have often led to the exclusion of forest-dependent peoples. This article proposes and tests the hypothesis that the failures of rights-based approaches in conservation can be attributed in significant measure to the political economic interest of the state in the tropics. To this end, the article presents findings from the empirical analysis of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 in India. Two key recommendations emerge from this analysis. One, the proposals for operationalizing rights-based approaches will likely be far …

Medicare Payment Reform And Provider Entry And Exit, Peter Huckfeldt, Neeraj Sood, John Romley, Alessandro Malchiodi, Jose Escarce

Peter J. Huckfeldt

Objective. To understand the impacts of Medicare payment reform on the entry and exit of post-acute providers. Data Sources. Medicare Provider of Services data, Cost Reports, and Census data from 1991 through 2010. Study Design. We examined market-level changes in entry and exit after payment reforms relative to a preexisting time trend. We also compared changes in high Medicare share markets relative to lower Medicare share markets and for freestanding relative to hospital-based facilities. Data Extraction Methods. We calculated market-level entry, exit, and total stock of home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities from Provider of Services …

The Impact Of Natural Disasters On Child Health And Investments In Rural India, Sebastian Linnemayr, Ashlesha Datar, Jenny Liu, Chad Stecher

Sebastian Linnemayr

No abstract provided.

Offshoring, Unemployment, And Welfare With Risk Averse Workers, Priya Ranjan

Priya Ranjan

This paper studies the welfare and policy implications of offshoring when risk averse workers face the risk of unemployment. If offshored inputs can be easily substituted for domestic workers, then offshoring reduces wages and increases unemployment. In this situation, in the absence of any government intervention offshoring not only reduces the welfare of workers but could reduce aggregate welfare as well if workers are highly risk averse and the markets for insurance against unemployment risk are missing. In addition to unemployment insurance, the role of employment protection policies- severance payments and administrative cost of firing -in protecting workers against the …

Graduate Labor Economics Ii (Econ 7430/Ilrle 7460), Matthew Freedman

Matthew Freedman

This course is one-fourth of a two-semester sequence in graduate labor economics. This segment will focus on theories of principal-agent models and compensation design; firm, industry, and occupation effects; job search theory; and labor market policy evaluation. In addition to covering the basic theory behind these subjects, we will discuss the major empirical challenges surrounding each topic. We will go on to develop and apply different econometric approaches to dealing with such challenges, including difference-in-differences, instrumental variable estimation, and regression discontinuity.

See also the Labor Economics Seminar Series.

Course materials are posted on Blackboard.

Taught Spring 2013.

Aid Dependence In Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy, Sophal Ear

Sophal Ear

Comments Regarding The Federal Trade Commission’S Rule Concerning Cooling‐Off Period For Sales Made At Homes Or At Certain Other Locations, Project Number P087109, Stacie Bosley

Stacie Bosley

Quantifying The Value Of Personalized Medicines: Evidence From Cox-2 Inhibitors, Neeraj Sood, Tomas Philipson, Peter Huckfeldt

Peter J. Huckfeldt

No abstract provided.

What Is The Price Of Prevention? New Evidence From A Field Experiment., Edward Okeke, Akinfolarin Adepiti, Kayode Ajenifuja

Edward Okeke

Federal Competition And Economic Growth, Katrina Kosec, John William Hatfield

Katrina Kosec

Resource Allocation, Affluence And Deadweight Loss When Relative Consumption Matters, Jesse A. Matheson, B. Curtis Eaton

Jesse A Matheson

Targeted Business Incentives And Local Labor Markets, Matthew Freedman

Matthew Freedman