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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean May 2012

What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean

Economics Honors Projects

Health care costs account for 17% of US GDP and many programs and policies seek to reduce these costs. This paper focuses on exercise as preventive care due to its immense physiological benefits. I model the profit-maximizing choice of health insurance companies to subsidize exercise and the utility-maximizing choice of individuals to engage in exercise using a traditional principal-agent framework. I then use principles from behavioral economics and psychology to critique these models and provide further insight into understanding our underconsumption of such preventive services. I end with an evaluation of current programs and suggestions for improvement using empirical findings.


Does School Quality Affect Real Estate Prices? The Effect Of Top-Tier Elementary Schools On Property Prices In Shanghai, Wanyi Li May 2012

Does School Quality Affect Real Estate Prices? The Effect Of Top-Tier Elementary Schools On Property Prices In Shanghai, Wanyi Li

Economics Honors Projects

This study adapted the hedonic pricing model and inspected how varying elementary school quality affects property prices in Shanghai. Because the variation of school quality appeared before the capitalization of the housing market, the obtained results suggest a causal relationship. The data set comprises top-tier elementary school information from eWOM, the yearly school attendance zones published by the government, and the Shanghai Existing Property Index, which has a sample of similarly structured apartments. Main results show that prices on average increase 41.9% more in the top-tier school districts under the standardized housing system, and range from 15.5% to 69.7% among …


Challenges To Policy Implementation: An Examination Of An Integrated Health Care Delivery System Demonstration Project, Kaitlin A. Roh May 2012

Challenges To Policy Implementation: An Examination Of An Integrated Health Care Delivery System Demonstration Project, Kaitlin A. Roh

Political Science Honors Projects

US health care costs are among the highest of all industrialized nations. In an effort to reduce costs and improve health outcomes, new delivery models – including accountable care organizations – have been developed. Yet, as revealed through interviews with key participants in Hennepin County's delivery project, significant challenges to implementing them exist. They include obstacles that inherently arise from implementing a means-tested health care policy within a competitive, federalized governing structure. Because these challenges are not unique to Hennepin County, this project can help similar projects and may push policy towards the integration of the health care and social …


On A Condition Or A Mission?: Examining The Political Histories Of Anti-Poverty Policies In Brazil, Venezuela And Colombia, Diego A. Melo Jan 2012

On A Condition Or A Mission?: Examining The Political Histories Of Anti-Poverty Policies In Brazil, Venezuela And Colombia, Diego A. Melo

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

Political culture, fiscal constraints and institutional incentives have shaped the making and implementation of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) in Latin America. However, why have CCTs consolidated in Brazil, been secondary in Colombia and remained absent in Venezuela? Brazilian authoritarian legacy and neoliberal rationality combined with strong federalism during economic downturn and provided room for experimentation in social policy, eventually leading to the incorporation and future universalization of CCTs (Bolsa Família). In contrast, less rationalized bureaucracies in Colombia and Venezuela have operated under strong presidentialism, allowing economic recessions and executive electoral incentives to shape weak CCT implementation (Familias …