Expectation Damages, Divisible Contracts, and Bilateral Investment

This paper examines the efficiency of expectation damages as a breach remedy in a bilateral trade setting with renegotiation and relationship-specific investment by the buyer and the seller. As demonstrated by Edlin and Reichelstein (1996), no contract that specifies only a fixed quantity and a fixed per-unit price can induce efficient investment if marginal cost is constant and deterministic. We show that this result does not extend to more general payoff functions. If both parties face the risk of breaching, the first best becomes attainable with a simple price-quantity contract

Expectation Damages, Divisible Contracts, and Bilateral Investment

This paper examines the efficiency of expectation damages as a breach remedy in a bilateral trade setting with renegotiation and relationship-specific investment by the buyer and the seller. As demonstrated by Edlin and Reichelstein (1996), no contract that specifies only a fixed quantity and a fixed per-unit price can induce efficient investment if marginal cost is constant and deterministic. We show that this result does not extend to more general payoff functions. If both parties face the risk of breaching, the first best becomes attainable with a simple price-quantity contract.breach remedies; renegotiation; hold-up

Stages of Change in the Trajectory of Postpartum Weight Self-Management

Objective To identify women\u27s patterns of readiness to engage in weight self-management behaviors during the postpartum period. Design Prospective, longitudinal design with repeated measures, guided by the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM). Setting A tertiary perinatal center in an urban setting in the midwestern United States with approximately 3,000 births annually. Participants One hundred ninety-one (191) adult postpartum women. Methods Participants were surveyed in person during their postpartum hospitalizations, and by telephone at 4 and 8 weeks postpartum using the Stages of Change for Weight Management (SOCWM) and the Decisional Balance for Weight Management (DBWM) tools. Results There was a significant effect of time on stage of change for women in the postpartum period, with women in a higher stage of change at 8 weeks than during the postpartum hospitalization. There were no significant differences in stage of change at any of the three time points by prepregnant weight category or by race. Nearly one half of the sample was in the contemplation stage during the postpartum hospitalization, and more than 80% were in action or maintenance stages by 8 weeks postpartum. Conclusions The early postpartum period is an opportune time to influence stage of change in women\u27s weight management behaviors. Assessment of readiness to engage in or continue weight management behaviors will allow providers to use stage-matched interventions guided by the TTM to facilitate women\u27s self-management of weight

The Influence of Religiosity on Contraceptive Use and Abortion in the United States

The CDC has conducted the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) every three to seven years between 1973 and 2002 to describe contraceptive use among women in the U.S. The data from these surveys are available to researchers to examine trends in contraceptive use and sexual behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine data from the 2002 NSFG in order to determine the influence of religiosity on abortion and abortifacient contraceptive use, i.e., the use of the oral contraceptive pill (OC), the injected hormone Depoprovera (IC), the IUD, and hormonal emergency contraception (EC), among American women between the ages of 15-44. The NSFG is a population-based selection of 7,676 women. The 2002 data set contains variables on whether the woman had ever used abortion, the above methods of family planning, and variables on the importance of religion, church attendance, and attitudes on sexuality. We found (based on statistical odds ratios) that those women who viewed religion as very important attended church frequently (i.e., at least once a week) and held traditional attitudes on religion were less likely to have had an abortion in the past twelve months and less likely to use OCs, ICs, and ECs. There was no difference in the likelihood of ever having used IUDs. We concluded that religiosity has a suppressing effect on abortion and abortifacient contraceptive use

Signaling an Outside Option

We consider the case of an upstream seller who works to improve an asset that has been specialized to a downstream buyer's needs. The buyer then makes a take it or leave it offer to the seller about how the future surplus should be split. We assume that the seller from the outset has private information about the fraction of the surplus that he can realize on his own, and show that this leads to higher investment compared to the complete information case. This positive effect on investment is countervailed by the occurrence of inefficient separations, which result when the buyer mistakenly tries to call the seller's bluff with a low offer

The Influence of Religiosity on Contraceptive Use among Roman Catholic Women in the United States

This study uses data from National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to determine the effect of religious belief among Roman Catholics on contraceptive use and to make recommendations for catechesis and education

The Influence of Religiosity on Contraceptive Use among Roman Catholic Women in the United States

This study uses data from National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to determine the effect of religious belief among Roman Catholics on contraceptive use and to make recommendations for catechesis and education

Frequency and duration of low-wind-power events in Germany

In the transition to a renewable energy system, the occurrence of low-wind-power events receives increasing attention. We analyze the frequency and duration of such events for onshore wind power in Germany, based on 40 years of reanalysis data and open software. We find that low-wind-power events are less frequent in winter than in summer, but the maximum duration is distributed more evenly between months. While short events are frequent, very long events are much rarer. Every year, a period of around five consecutive days with an average wind capacity factor below 10% occurs, and every ten years a respective period of nearly eight days. These durations decrease if only winter months are considered. The longest event in the data lasts nearly ten days. We conclude that public concerns about low-wind-power events in winter may be overrated, but recommend that modeling studies consider multiple weather years to properly account for such events.Comment: This is an update version after peer revie

Signaling an Outside Option

We consider the case of an upstream seller who works to improve an asset that has been specialized to a downstream buyer's needs. The buyer then makes a take it or leave it offer to the seller about how the future surplus should be split. We assume that the seller from the outset has private information about the fraction of the surplus that he can realize on his own, and show that this leads to higher investment compared to the complete information case. This positive effect on investment is countervailed by the occurrence of inefficient separations, which result when the buyer mistakenly tries to call the seller's bluff with a low offer.signaling; relationship-specific investment; incomplete contracts; outside options

Predictors of Engagement in Postpartum Weight Self-management Behaviours in the First 12 Weeks After Birth

Aim To explore factors that influence postpartum weight self-management behaviours. Transitions Theory and the Integrated Theory of Health Behaviour Change guided selection of variables. Transition conditions, level of patient activation and social facilitation were examined for association with postpartum weight self-management behaviours. Background Retention of pregnancy weight increases risk of overweight and obesity later in life. Little is known about what women do to self-manage return to pre-pregnant weight and how providers can influence their behaviours. Design Prospective, longitudinal, correlational. Methods Data collection occurred from March through October, 2013. One hundred and twenty-four women completed surveys during postpartum hospitalization; telephone interviews were completed by 91 women at 6 weeks and 66 women at 12 weeks. Standard and hierarchical multiple regression methods were used for analyses. Results Transition difficulty was negatively associated with patient activation and immediate postbirth patient activation was positively associated with eating behaviours at 6 weeks, eating behaviours at 12 weeks and physical activity at 12 weeks. Social support and social influence were not significant predictors in the regression models. Conclusion Patients experiencing a difficult postpartum transition have lower activation levels; those less activated are less probably to engage in weight self-management behaviours in the 12 weeks following their baby\u27s birth. Patient activation level should be considered in tailoring promotion of healthy postpartum weight management