A DISTRIBUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE COSTS OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS: WHO ULTIMATELY PAYS?

This paper traces the economic impact of the costs of foodborne illness on the U.S. economy using a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework. Previous estimates of the costs of seven foodborne pathogens are disaggregated by type, and distributed across the population using data from the National Health Interview Survey. Initial income losses resulting from premature death cause a decrease in economic activity. Medical costs, in contrast, result in economic growth, though this growth does not outweigh the total costs of premature death. A SAM accounting of how the costs of illness are diffused through the economy provides useful information for policy makers.Cost of illness, Foodborne illness, Social Accounting Matrix, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Economics of Food Safety and International Trade in Food Products

This paper discusses the issue of foodborne disease and international trade in food products from an economic perspective. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that each year diseases caused by food in the United States may cause an estimated 325,000 serious illnesses resulting in hospitalizations, 76 million cases of gastrointestinal illnesses, and 5,000 deaths each year. These diseases pose an economic burden on society: Medical costs and productivity losses from in the U.S. diseases caused by four major microbial pathogens alone are $8.3 billion annually. Food safety concerns may also affect trade in food products. Foodborne disease outbreaks may have lead to significant economic losses in some segments of the food sector, and lead to calls for increased protection from imported food safety risks through application of more stringent sanitary and phytosanitary rules. The new framework for adjudicating trade disputes under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade allows measures to protect the public from food safety risks on imported foods, but not to if such measures create unnecessary trade barriers. Creating multinational trading rules that accommodate the diverse economic, cultural, and political concerns of trading partners is difficult, but new approaches to risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of trade policies can help promote both free trade and safer food supplies

Deaths due to Unknown Foodborne Agents

The number of U.S. deaths by unknown foodborne agents warrants additional efforts to identify causal agent

Thriving Nebraska: Key Drivers for Community Economic Vitality

Thriving Nebraska: Key Drivers for Community Economic Vitality When we think about community vitality, we consider the factors that influence the quality of life and the prosperity of life for people in those communities. We have a responsibility in our research and discovery agenda to push the bounds and discover new information. Then, we put this new information to work in our state

Toward a theory of repeat purchase drivers for consumer services

The marketing discipline’s knowledge about the drivers of service customers’ repeat purchase behavior is highly fragmented. This research attempts to overcome that fragmented state of knowledge by making major advances toward a theory of repeat purchase drivers for consumer services. Drawing on means–end theory, the authors develop a hierarchical classification scheme that organizes repeat purchase drivers into an integrative and comprehensive framework. They then identify drivers on the basis of 188 face-to-face laddering interviews in two countries (USA and Germany) and assess the drivers’ importance and interrelations through a national probability sample survey of 618 service customers. In addition to presenting an exhaustive and coherent set of hierarchical repeat-purchase drivers, the authors provide theoretical explanations for how and why drivers relate to one another and to repeat purchase behavior. This research also tests the boundary conditions of the proposed framework by accounting for different service types. In addition to its theoretical contribution, the framework provides companies with specific information about how to manage long-term customer relationships successfully

Issues in Rural Health: How Will Measures to Control Medicare Spending Affect Rural Communities?

The Federal Medicare program provides subsidized health insurance for one in every seven Americans. Medicare covers a higher proportion of rural than urban residents because rural residents are more likely to be elderly or disabled persons entitled to benefits. The rapid growth of Medicare expenditures has prompted legislative proposals to control the increase in spending. This report finds that the proposals may have a greater effect on rural than urban communities due to the higher proportion of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas

Rural Areas Gained Doctors During the 1980's

The nonmetro physician supply grew by 18 percent during the 1980's, increasing from 83 to 97 physicians per 100,000 persons. Despite the rapid increase, nonmetro areas continued to have less than half as many physicians as metro areas have. Nonmetro physicians were also unevenly distributed, preferring to locate in counties with larger urban populations that were not adjacent to metro areas. By 1988, these urbanized remote counties had become major centers of primary and specialized medical care

How Will Measures to Control Medicare Spending Affect Rural Communities?

The Federal Medicare program provides subsidized health insurance for one in every seven Americans. Medicare covers a higher proportion of rural than urban residents because rural residents are more likely to be elderly or disabled persons entitled to benefits. The rapid growth of Medicare expenditures has prompted legislative proposals to control the increase in spending. This report finds that the proposals may have a greater effect on rural than urban communities due to the higher proportion of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas