Gender and the Value of Bodily Goods: Commodification in Egg and Sperm Donation

Listing a child for sale in the local paper\u27s classified section is unthinkable, and it is illegal for donors to sell organs in the US. Yet fertility programs routinely recruit young women and men to donate eggs and sperm in return for financial compensation. Payments to women vary substantially, both within particular agencies and in different regions of the US, but the national average is around $4,200. Here, Almeling constructs a theoretical framework analyzing the social process of assigning value to the human body. He further describes the historical emergence of the market in eggs and sperm before turning to detailed analyses of organizational procedures at contemporary donation programs. Also, he finds out the significant variation in how women\u27s bodies and men\u27s bodies are valued. He conclude by emphasizing the importance of conducting empirical research on markets in human goods, because social processes of commodification do not always proceed as theorists might expects

The Problems of Pouring-Rights Contracts

This contribution describes a common family of estimation methods for system identification, viz, prediction-error methods. The basic ideas behind these methods are described. An overview of typical model structures to which they can be applied is also given, as well as the most fundamental asymptotic properties of the resulting estimates

The impact of company disclosure on the capital market : an empirical analysis of the capital market reactions on earnings announcements

Im Rahmen der Arbeit wird empirisch untersucht, welche Reaktionen die Veröffentlichung von Periodenergebnissen als Teil der Unternehmenspublizität am deutschen Kapitalmarkt auslöst, welches die Bestimmungsfaktoren für das Ausmaß der Kapitalmarktreaktionen sind und ob Unternehmen in der Lage sind, durch ihre Publizitätsentscheidungen die Kapitalmarktreaktionen auf die Veröffentlichung von Periodenergebnissen zu beeinflussen. Kapitalmarktreaktionen auf die Veröffentlichung von Periodenergebnissen werden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit anhand von Aktienkursen und Handelsvolumen (Informationsgehalt) sowie anhand von Geld-Brief-Spannen (Informationsasymmetrie) gemessen. Als Ergebnis kann ein erhöhtes Ausmaß an abnormalen Renditen und Handelsvolumen am Tag der Ergebnisankündigung festgestellt werden, was darauf hinweist, dass Ergebnisankündigungen Informationsgehalt besitzen. Weiterhin kann festgestellt werden, dass durch Ergebnisankündigungen anhand von Geld-Brief-Spannen gemessene Informationsasymmetrien sinken. Weiterhin zeigt sich, dass die Kapitalmarktreaktion umso stärker ist, je mehr zusätzliche Informationen zusammen mit dem Periodenergebnis veröffentlicht werden. In diesem Zusammenhang kann auch gezeigt werden, dass sowohl Aktienkurs- und Handelsvolumenreaktionen als auch Geld-Brief-Spannen bei Anwendung international anerkannter Rechnungslegungsgrundsätze größer sind als bei Anwendung handelsrechtlicher Grundsätze. Dabei zeigt sich, dass Aktienkursreaktionen und Geld-Brief-Spannen über den Untersuchungszeitraum, der als Gewöhnungsphase an international anerkannte Rechnungslegungsgrundsätze angesehen werden kann, sinken und das Handelsvolumen steigt. Darüber hinaus kann gezeigt werden, dass die Kapitalmarktreaktion umso geringer ausfällt, je mehr oder je qualitativ hochwertiger die Unternehmenspublizität vor der Ergebnisankündigung ausfällt.Within the dissertation the following is empirically analysed: the reactions of the German capital market on earnings announcements as part of the company disclosure, the influencing factors for the extent of the capital market reactions and whether companies are able to influence the capital market reactions on earnings announcements through their disclosure decisions. Capital market reactions on earnings announcements are measured within this dissertation by using stock prices and trading volume (information) as well as bid-ask spreads (information asymmetry). As a result an enlarged extent of abnormal returns and trading volume can be found at the earnings announcement date which indicates that earnings announcements have information content. Moreover, it can be found that information asymmetry is lowered through earnings announcements measured by bid-ask spreads. Moreover, the results indicate that capital market reactions are the higher the more additional information is disclosed together with the earnings. In this connection it can be shown that stock price and trading volume reactions as well as bid-ask spreads are higher when internationally accepted accounting principles are applied compared to using the rules of the German Commercial Code. It can be shown that stock price reactions and bid-ask spreads fall over the sample period, which can be viewed as a period of familiarisation with internationally accepted accounting principles, and that trading volume rises. Above that it can be shown that the capital market reaction is the lower the more or the qualitatively better the company disclosure before the earnings announcement is

Reducing Alaska Native paediatric oral health disparities: a systematic review of oral health interventions and a case study on multilevel strategies to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage intake

Background. Tooth decay is the most common paediatric disease and there is a serious paediatric tooth decay epidemic in Alaska Native communities. When untreated, tooth decay can lead to pain, infection, systemic health problems, hospitalisations and in rare cases death, as well as school absenteeism, poor grades and low quality-of-life. The extent to which population-based oral health interventions have been conducted in Alaska Native paediatric populations is unknown. Objective. To conduct a systematic review of oral health interventions aimed at Alaska Native children below age 18 and to present a case study and conceptual model on multilevel intervention strategies aimed at reducing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake among Alaska Native children. Design. Based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement, the terms “Alaska Native”, “children” and “oral health” were used to search Medline, Embase, Web of Science, GoogleScholar and health foundation websites (1970–2012) for relevant clinical trials and evaluation studies. Results. Eighty-five studies were found in Medline, Embase and Web of Science databases and there were 663 hits in GoogleScholar. A total of 9 publications were included in the qualitative review. These publications describe 3 interventions that focused on: reducing paediatric tooth decay by educating families and communities; providing dental chemotherapeutics to pregnant women; and training mid-level dental care providers. While these approaches have the potential to improve the oral health of Alaska Native children, there are unique challenges regarding intervention acceptability, reach and sustainability. A case study and conceptual model are presented on multilevel strategies to reduce SSB intake among Alaska Native children. Conclusions. Few oral health interventions have been tested within Alaska Native communities. Community-centred multilevel interventions are promising approaches to improve the oral and systemic health of Alaska Native children. Future investigators should evaluate the feasibility of implementing multilevel interventions and policies within Alaska Native communities as a way to reduce children's health disparities