Reducing the volume, exposure and negative impacts of advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children: a systematic review of the evidence from statutory and self-regulatory actions and educational measures

Purpose: To identify and review evidence on 1) the effectiveness of statutory and self-regulatory actions to reduce the volume, exposure or wider impact of advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) to children, and 2) the role of educational measures. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of three databases (Medline, CINAHL and PsycINFO) and grey literature was carried out. Relevant evidence included studies evaluating advertising bans and restrictions, advertising literacy programmes and parental communication styles. Relevant media included TV, internet, radio, magazines and newspaper advertising. No studies were excluded based on language or publication date. Findings: Forty-seven publications were included: 19 provided evidence for the results of statutory regulation, 25 for self-regulation, and six for educational approaches. Outcome measures varied in approach, quality and results. Findings suggested statutory regulation could reduce the volume of and children's exposure to advertising for foods HFSS, and had potential to impact more widely. Self-regulatory approaches showed varied results in reducing children's exposure. There was some limited support for educational measures. Discussion: Consistency in measures from evaluations over time would assist the development and interpretation of the evidence base on successful actions and measures to reduce the volume, exposure and impact of advertising for foods HFSS to children

The effect of legal barriers to entry in the Spanish retail market: a local market approach.

Recent studies have shown that barriers to entry for large retail establishments in Spain have been increased in the last decade. Using information on local markets, we test whether the entry of large retail establishments was effectively limited by regional regulation and whether it effectively protected in-town shops from competition. We find that if entry barriers were reduced to their average level in 1997, the number of large retail establishments would increase by 11.7%. We also find that over-regulation in 1997 has improved in-town shops’ market position, with their number increasing by 13.8%.Barriers to entry, retail distribution, regulation

U.S. and Canadian Livestock Prices: Market Integration and Trade Dependence

Cointegration of Canadian and U.S. livestock prices points to the existence of market integration in the period 1996:1 to 2004:12 even though the trade flows of livestock and beef products were non-existent for many months in 2003 and 2004 (suggesting market segmentation) due to livestock/beef import bans by both countries due to BSE. It was also determined that Canada's trade dependence in livestock and beef is cointegrated with Canadian and U.S. livestock prices. However, as the trade dependence variable is shocked, the effects on Canadian and U.S. prices are opposite although one would expect that in an integrated market the price responses to an exogenous shock would be similar or statistically identical. This result reinforces the case against the use of cointegration in determining presence (or absence) of market integration. Empirical results in this article raise some very difficult questions. Gains from trade are well documented. Yet, once a country is very trade dependent, the prices in it are much more vulnerable to exogenous shocks that reduce the trade flows. Canadian livestock prices plummeted and stayed low following the BSE incident and U.S. (and Japanese) import bans on Canadian livestock and beef. Given the long cycles and high sunk cost in the livestock and beef industry, immediate adjustment (reduction in production) for Canadian producers was difficult and always unlikely. Moreover, the possibility of import bans being lifted in the near future may have further shaped their expectations and prolonged the decisions on herd reduction. In the meanwhile, U.S. prices increased following Canada's trade dependence shock due to BSE and remained above the original long-run equilibrium price.Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

The 2011 European short sale ban on financial stocks: a cure or a curse? : [version 31 july 2013]

Did the August 2011 European short sale bans on financial stocks accomplish their goals? In order to answer this question, we use stock options’ implied volatility skews to proxy for investors’ risk aversion. We find that on ban announcement day, risk aversion levels rose for all stocks but more so for the banned financial stocks. The banned stocks’ volatility skews remained elevated during the ban but dropped for the other unbanned stocks. We show that it is the imposition of the ban itself that led to the increase in risk aversion rather than other causes such as information flow, options trading volumes, or stock specific factors. Substitution effects were minimal, as banned stocks’ put trading volumes and put-call ratios declined during the ban. We argue that although the ban succeeded in curbing further selling pressure on financial stocks by redirecting trading activity towards index options, this result came at the cost of increased risk aversion and some degree of market failure

The Indirect Impacts of Smoking Bans in Gaming Venues

Recent changes in smoking laws have influenced gambling behaviour at Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) venues. In this paper we review the literature that examines the interrelationship between gambling, problem gambling and smoking in order to gauge the indirect effects of smoking bans in gaming venues. We then perform an analysis on the consequences of a smoking ban in Victoria, Australia that was instituted on September 1st, 2002. This analysis investigates the nature of the pattern of drops in local EGM revenue and the impact on the state tax revenue.slot machines, pokies, tax revenue, border effects

The Costs and Consequences of Gun Control

In politicizing mass murders, gun control advocates, such as President Obama, insist that more laws against firearms can enhance public safety. Over and over again, there are calls for common sense gun controls, such as a system of universal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and a ban on assault weapons. And yet such proposals are not likely to stop a deranged person bent on murder

Are anonymity-seekers just like everybody else? An analysis of contributions to Wikipedia from Tor

User-generated content sites routinely block contributions from users of privacy-enhancing proxies like Tor because of a perception that proxies are a source of vandalism, spam, and abuse. Although these blocks might be effective, collateral damage in the form of unrealized valuable contributions from anonymity seekers is invisible. One of the largest and most important user-generated content sites, Wikipedia, has attempted to block contributions from Tor users since as early as 2005. We demonstrate that these blocks have been imperfect and that thousands of attempts to edit on Wikipedia through Tor have been successful. We draw upon several data sources and analytical techniques to measure and describe the history of Tor editing on Wikipedia over time and to compare contributions from Tor users to those from other groups of Wikipedia users. Our analysis suggests that although Tor users who slip through Wikipedia's ban contribute content that is more likely to be reverted and to revert others, their contributions are otherwise similar in quality to those from other unregistered participants and to the initial contributions of registered users.Comment: To appear in the IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy, May 202

Alcohol Advertising and Advertising Bans: A Survey of Research Methods, Results, and Policy Implications

This chapter surveys the literatures on advertising bans and alcohol consumption or abuse, and advertising expenditures and alcohol consumption. Studies of state-level bans of billboards are examined as well as studies of international bans that cover broadcasting media. For expenditures, the survey concentrates on econometric methods and the existence of an industry advertising-sales response function. Selected results from survey-research studies of advertising and youth alcohol behaviors also are discussed. The chapter concludes that advertising bans do not reduce alcohol consumption or abuse; advertising expenditures do not have a market-wide expansion effect; and survey-research studies of youth behaviors are seriously incomplete as a basis for public policy. Results of the survey are applied to the Supreme Court's Central Hudson test for constitutionality of restrictions on commercial speech.

Variation in Staple Food Prices in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Synthesis

The global food crisis of 2007-08 has focused attention on food prices, pushing the topic to the top of the agenda of international organizations. For policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa, however, food prices have been an issue of economic importance and political sensitivity for decades. Of particular importance are the prices of staple foods, defined as grains and starchy root crops that are inexpensive sources of calories. In eastern and southern Africa, maize is the most important staple food, followed by cassava, sorghum, teff, wheat, plantains, and sweet potatoes, with the importance of each varying by country. The importance of these staple foods cannot be underestimated, as they contribute 50-75% of the caloric intake of the population. Furthermore, staple foods represent a large share of food spending, which is itself 40-70% of the budgets of households in sub-Saharan Africa.food security, Africa, food policy, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Marketing, q11, q18,