Does Democracy Promote Education?

The purpose of this paper is to examine if, and under what conditions, democracy promotes education. The investigation is based on theoretical models where the level of income, income inequality and ethnical fractionalization are assumed to affect the impact democracy has on the level of education in a country. Based on panel data, regression analyses are performed with the level of education as the dependent variable. For quality purposes two separate measurements are used for the democracy and education variables respectively. The empirical results support the relationship between secondary school enrollment rate and democracy while government spending on education shows little correlation with democracy. Further, the results indicate that low income levels in a country lowers the effect democracy has on education

Dietary changes based on food purchase patterns following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis

Objective: The study explores whether type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis affects food consumption patterns in line with the dietary recommendations provided to individuals in relation to a diagnosis. Design: Based on detailed food purchase data, we explore which dietary changes are most common following a T2D diagnosis. Changes are investigated for several energy-adjusted nutrients and food groups and overall adherence to dietary guidelines. Setting: We use data on diagnosis of T2D and hospitalisation in relation to T2D for a sample of adult Danes registered in the official patient register. This is combined with detailed scanner data on food purchases, which are used as a proxy for dietary intake. Participants: We included 274 individuals in Denmark who are diagnosed during their participation in a consumer panel where they report their food purchases and 16 395 individuals who are not diagnosed. Results: Results suggest some changes in dietary composition following diagnosis, as measured by a Healthy Eating Index and for specific food groups and nutrients, although the long-term effects are limited. Socio-economic characteristics are poor predictors of dietary changes following diagnosis. Change in diet following diagnosis vary with the pre-diagnosis consumption patterns, where individuals with relatively unhealthy overall diets prior to diagnosis improve overall healthiness more compared to individuals with relatively healthy diets prior to diagnosis. Conclusions: Adherence to dietary advice is low, on average, but there is large variation in behavioural change between the diagnosed individuals. Our results stress the difficulty for diagnosed individuals to shift dietary habits, particularly in the long term

The future of carbon labeling – Factors to consider

Compared to other policy instruments that aim to change consumer behavior, information provision is perhaps the least controversial. An important question is how information in the form of carbon labels can contribute to direct food consumption toward reduced climate impact. From a policy guidance perspective, there is a need to identify how the labeling strategy affects consumers’ ability to identify lower emitting food products and the behavioral change due to carbon information. Key aspects of a carbon label are discussed, as well as the implications of different labeling schemes. Drawing on economic and behavioral theories, we propose that, to assist consumers in identifying changes in consumption that contribute to significant reductions in their climate impact, a carbon label must enable comparisons between product groups and not only within narrowly defined product groups. This suggests mandatory labeling, since producers of high-emission products are less likely to display such labels. However, it is important to consider both costs and benefits of labeling schemes and to consider complementing labeling with other policy instruments

Motives, propensities and consistencies among Swedish consumers in relation to the food choice concept of clean eating

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how consumers apply clean-eating criteria to a range of food characteristics, and the extent to which individuals are consistent in how they apply clean-eating criteria across products. Further, this study investigates how the clean-eating approach relates to underlying food choice motives.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in a consumer survey (n = 666) in Sweden, where participants were prompted about the importance of a set of intrinsic food attributes of the "free-from" and "added" types, for three different food product types (bread, processed meat, ready meals). Data were analyzed using latent class cluster analysis, to explore segments of consumers that place similar importance to the food characteristics and hold similar food choice motives.FindingsClean eating can be described by two distinctly different attainment strategies: avoiding undesirable characteristics or by simultaneously approaching desirable characteristics. Notably, individuals who apply clean-eating criteria in their food choices strive for healthy, natural and environmentally friendly food, but the clean-by-approach strategy implies a stronger focus on personal health in the form of weight control.Originality/valueWhile claims and labels on food packages concerning clean eating are implemented by food manufacturers, it remains unregulated. This study provides information for future regulations on how consumers apply clean-eating criteria, and their motives thereof. Further, the results provide insights food manufacturers regarding motives for clean eating in different consumer segments

Consumer perceptions and attitudes towards climate information on food

The food sector is a major contributor to climate change, and reducing meat consumption is important to achieve significant reductions in global carbon emissions. The implementation of information policies to reduce carbon emissions from red meat consumption entails understanding of how such information is expected to be received and used by consumers. This study uses survey data from a consumer panel, and match this with data on the same respondents' actual purchase behavior based on scanner data. Individuals with lower knowledge levels about the climate impact from food purchase the highest share of red meat, and the lowest share of sustainability labelled products. This indicates that information provision has the potential to increase knowledge among in-dividuals with the highest climate impact. Four sub-groups of consumers are identified in a latent class cluster model based on their motivations for consuming or avoiding meat. It is mainly the 'meat reducers' and 'meat avoiders' that are interested in using climate information when purchasing food. However, individuals in these sub-groups already purchase the least amount of meat and the highest amount of sustainable products. These findings point to limitations with climate information as a policy instrument, and suggests that other measures are needed as complements to initiate and achieve the necessary changes in consumption patterns

Adding attenuation corrected images in myocardial perfusion imaging reduces the need for a rest study.

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and the Society of Nuclear Medicine conclude that incorporation of attenuation corrected (AC) images in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) will improve diagnostic accuracy. The aim was to investigate the value of adding AC stress-only images for the decision whether a rest study is necessary or not

Referring physicians underestimate the extent of abnormalities in final reports from myocardial perfusion imaging

BACKGROUND: It is important that referring physicians and other treating clinicians properly understand the final reports from diagnostic tests. The aim of the study was to investigate whether referring physicians interpret a final report for a myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) test in the same way that the reading nuclear medicine physician intended. METHODS: After viewing final reports containing only typical clinical verbiage and images, physicians in nuclear medicine and referring physicians (physicians in cardiology, internal medicine, and general practitioners) independently classified 60 MPS tests for the presence versus absence of ischemia/infarction according to objective grades of 1–5 (1 = No ischemia/infarction, 2 = Probably no ischemia/infarction 3 = Equivocal, 4 = Probable ischemia/infarction, and 5 = Certain ischemia/infarction). When ischemia and/or infarction were thought to be present in the left ventricle, all physicians were also asked to mark the involved segments based on the 17-segment model. RESULTS: There was good diagnostic agreement between physicians in nuclear medicine and referring physicians when assessing the general presence versus absence of both ischemia and infarction (median squared kappa coefficient of 0.92 for both). However, when using the 17-segment model, compared to the physicians in nuclear medicine, 12 of 23 referring physicians underestimated the extent of ischemic area while 6 underestimated and 1 overestimated the extent of infarcted area. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas referring physicians gain a good understanding of the general presence versus absence of ischemia and infarction from MPS test reports, they often underestimate the extent of any ischemic or infarcted areas. This may have adverse clinical consequences and thus the language in final reports from MPS tests might be further improved and standardized

Seen but not considered? Awareness and consideration in choice analysis

Consideration set formation (CSF) is a two-stage decision process in which people first select a subset of products to consider and then evaluate and choose from the selected subset of products. CSF models typically use stated consideration or infer it from choice data probabilistically. This study explores CSF by means of eye-tracking and evaluates how measures of visual consideration compare to stated consideration. We develop a model of CSF behavior, where stated and visual consideration are embedded in the specification of the utility function. We propose three different measures of visual consideration and show that one third of respondents (similar to 34%) use CSF behavior and that stated consideration diverges substantially from visual consideration. Surprisingly, many product types stated as not considered receive more visual attention, not less. Our findings suggest that stated consideration may be in part a measure of preferences rather than of consideration, implying concerns with endogeneity when including stated consideration data in choice models. Accounting for CSF in discrete choice analysis increases our understanding of the decision process, and can target concerns with biased estimates when analyzing data from two-stage decision processes