Analyzing the Decision to Get Flu Shot: An Empirical Study

Influenza vaccination has been shown to be cost effective in reducing morbidity and mortality and in decreasing work absenteeism and use of health-care resources. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors and beliefs regarding people's vaccination decision against the influenza. It was hypothesized that Health Belief Model (HBM) categories, such as severity of illness, vaccine effectiveness and side effects of the vaccine, affect the decision to get flu shot. In addition, we examined psychological effects, such as time preference, subjective probability of flu, and attitude toward risk. A questionnaire surveys was conducted in the USA, in 2004. The questions included HBM categories and the psychological effects. The results indicate that the main predictors of past immunization against influenza are: the estimated effectiveness of the vaccination, periodic blood test, perceived severity of flu illness, side effects of vaccine (negative effect), having health anxieties, and subjective probability of being infected. Based upon these results, it is recommended to enlarging people's knowledge regarding the influenza illness, its potential risks, and the potential benefits of the vaccine.

Economic Evaluation Of Multiple Research Innovations On An Eel Farm

An approach for evaluating multiple innovations of an aquaculture farm is proposed, based on a model of induced innovations, supplemented with a bio-economic table for the calculation of pro- duction function. Data gathered from a model eel farm were used as an example. The proposed approach enables evaluating each innovation to determine which is the most profitable

Herbaceous peony in warm climate: Modelling stem elongation and growers profit responses to dormancy conditions

We analysed the data collected for herbaceous peony cultivated in a warm climate region and stored in winter under three constant chilling temperatures. We used the quadratic regression model to describe the stem elongation responses to winter dormancy conditions, and the logistic function to describe the weekly stems elongation. The predicted maximal stem length from the first model was used as the input parameter for the second model. More than 4000 data for various (a) chilling constant temperatures during dormancy, (b) dormancy duration, and (c) germination duration, were used. The models were applied to determine the optimal number of chill units. For this purpose, two criteria were used in different versions of the model: the maximal stem length and the maximal profit of farmers. For the two chilling temperatures of 2 °C and 6 °C, the optimal values of chill units (in the models of a maximal stem length and maximal profit of farmers) are close to one another, and the values of a maximal stem length and maximal profit are significantly different. In the case of the third chilling temperature of 10 °C, the model failed to determine the optimal number of chill units. The method of inverse confidence intervals for testing the significance of the optimal number of chill units was used

Academic Research, Higher Education, and Peripheral Development: The Case of Israel

The aims of this study are to identify possible socioeconomic impacts of MIGAL (Galilee Research Institute) and TH (Tel Hai Academic College) on the peripheral northeast’s development. We discuss the effects of academic research and institutions of higher education on mitigating differences between the center and the periphery of the country. MIGAL is a regional R&D center in the northeast peripheral region of Israel. An internationally recognized applied research institute, MIGAL specializes in biotechnology, computational sciences, plant sciences, precision agriculture, and environmental sciences, as well as food, nutrition, and health. Most of MIGAL’s researchers serve as the core faculty at TH. Despite the country’s small surface area, socioeconomic inequality in Israel is high by OECD standards, with wage differences between rich and poor regions reaching up to 400%. In this article, a new type of dataset for the study of the socioeconomic impact of academic research and higher education on peripheral development is proposed—the regional socioeconomic indices (SEIs). Data for MIGAL, TH, and the northeastern peripheral region were collected from the yearly reports of the two institutions and the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. MIGAL was found to serve as a link between research, academic teaching, and socioeconomic development in the northeast periphery. Several variables related to this link and describing MIGAL–TH and northeastern periphery development were analyzed over time: MIGAL’s budget, total number of employees and number of employees with PhDs; number of TH graduate students; and the socioeconomic index (SEI) of the northeastern periphery and its position on the Israeli list of regional SEIs. The signs and significance levels of most of the trends indicate a potential socioeconomic impact of academic research and higher education on peripheral development in the northeast of the country. Research budgets and the creation of jobs for academics living in the region are just a few examples of this impact. The results of the study are useful for academics and policymakers in improvement of the contribution of academic research and higher education to the country’s economic and innovation development

Modeling Influence of Product Quality and Grower Reputation on Prices in Dutch Flower Auctions

The purposes of this study are to examine differences in prices that safari sunset flower growers from Israel receive on the Dutch flower bursa, suggest factors that influence such differences, and examine strength and significance of each factor. We show that price differences between growers can reach 36 %- 47%. In the regression model price differences are regressed on explanatory variables that include proxies for flower quality and grower reputation. The model ex-plains 58 %- 59 % of the price variability and enables to compare elasticity of price by the studied factors. Subsequent ordered probit analysis confirmed the relevance of the chosen variables and their ability to explain also the growers clustering by received prices. Analysis of marginal effects shows that changes in the probability of belonging to a spe-cific price group of growers are consistent with the regression model results