SOME EMPIRICAL METHODS OF ESTIMATING ADVERTISING EFFECTS IN DEMAND SYSTEMS: AN APPLICATION TO DRIED FRUITS

Two different methods of incorporating advertising effects into Almost Ideal Demand Systems (AIDS) are presented. Both advertising schemes are designed to allow theoretical restrictions to hold globally rather than at particular sample points. The models are estimated for California figs, prunes, and raisins. Empirical results indicate that generic advertising effects for these three dried fruits are generally weak when compared to price and total expenditure effects. Estimated cross-commodity effects also are relatively small except for the negative effect of raisin advertising on the quantity of prunes demanded.Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing,

A classification and analysis of the duties and qualifications of public relations practitioners.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Brief report: Maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms are related to adherence to their child's diabetes treatment regimen.

Although research suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in relation to physical health diagnoses may be related to poor adherence to treatment regimens, so far, whether parental posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms have an impact on their child's adherence to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus treatment has not been investigated. Using self-report questionnaires, the present study found that children of mothers who have posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in relation to their child's diagnosis of type I diabetes showed poorer adherence to treatment than the children of mothers without posttraumatic stress disorder. However, this was only the case for younger children (aged 0-8 years) where mothers played a more active role in their child's treatment

Expansionary contractions and fiscal free lunches: too good to be true?

This paper builds a framework to jointly examine the possibility of both `expansionary fiscal contractions' (austerity increasing output) and fiscal free lunches' (expansions reducing government debt), arguments supported by the austerity and stimulus camps, respectively, in recent debates. We propose a new metric quantifying the budgetary implications of fiscal action, a key aspect of fiscal policy particularly at the monetary zero lower bound. We find that austerity needs to be highly persistent and credible to be expansionary, and stimulus temporary, responsive and well-targeted in order to lower debt. We conclude that neither are likely, especially during periods of economic distress

Association between body mass index and mental health among Scottish adult population: a cross-sectional study of 37,272 participants

<b>Background:</b> The evidence is conflicting as to whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with mental health and, if so, to what extent it varies by sex and age. We studied mental health across the full spectrum of BMI among the general population, and conducted subgroup analyses by sex and age.<p></p> <b>Method:</b> We undertook a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the Scottish adult population. The Scottish Health Survey provided data on mental health, measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ), BMI, demographic and life-style information. Good mental health was defined as a GHQ score <4, and poor mental health as a GHQ score ≥4. Logistic regression models were applied. Results Of the 37 272 participants, 5739 (15.4%) had poor mental health. Overall, overweight participants had better mental health than the normal-weight group [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87–0.99, p = 0.049], and individuals who were underweight, class II or class III obese had poorer mental health (class III obese group: adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.05–1.51, p = 0.013). There were significant interactions of BMI with sex (p = 0.013) and with age (p < 0.001). Being overweight was associated with significantly better mental health in middle-aged men only. In contrast, being underweight at all ages or obese at a young age was associated with significantly poorer mental health in women only.<p></p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The adverse associations between adiposity and mental health are specific to women. Underweight women and young women who are obese have poorer mental health. In contrast, middle-aged overweight men have better mental health.<p></p&gt

Fiscal space and the procyclicality of fiscal policy: the case for making hay while the sun shines

Utilizing data from 133 countries over the period 1950-2014, we identify fiscal space - the ability to pursue active fiscal policy without undermining fiscal sustainability - as a key factor underlying the cyclicality of fiscal policies. We find that less fiscal space induces greater fiscal procyclicality; and the reduction in fiscal space in high income countries in the post-global financial crisis period prevented these economies from adopting countercyclical fiscal policies. We also show that this relationship is non-linear such that countries in the bottom tail of the fiscal space distribution need to make significant improvements before they are able to perform countercyclical policy. Taken together with the increasingly dominant role of fiscal action in downturns, as is highlighted in the context of the responses to the Covid-19 crisis, these findings clearly indicate the importance of building fiscal space in good times to provide capacity for countercyclical policy in bad times

A hazard model of the probability of medical school dropout in the United Kingdom

From individual level longitudinal data for two entire cohorts of medical students in UK universities, we use multilevel models to analyse the probability that an individual student will drop out of medical school. We find that academic preparedness—both in terms of previous subjects studied and levels of attainment therein—is the major influence on withdrawal by medical students. Additionally, males and more mature students are more likely to withdraw than females or younger students respectively. We find evidence that the factors influencing the decision to transfer course differ from those affecting the decision to drop out for other reasons