Are share prices an economic barometer?: on the relationship between share prices and mental health

This paper investigates the relationship between share prices and mental health, exploiting the availability of interview dates in the British Household Panel Survey to match the level and changes in the FTSE All Share price index to respondents over the period 1991-2008. We present evidence that the level, 6 month and yearly changes in the share price index are associated with better mental health while greater uncertainty, as measured by index volatility, is associated with poorer mental well-being. Finally, using several proxies of investor status, we find little evidence that this relationship is confined to holders of equity based assets, suggesting that the observed relationship does not arise via wealth effects. Instead, it appears as though share prices matter to mental health because they perform the role of economic barometer

Does welfare reform affect fertility? Evidence from the UK

In 1999 the UK government made major reforms to the system of child-contingent benefits, including the introduction of Working Families’ Tax Credit and an increase in means-tested Income Support for families with children. Between 1999-2003 government spending per-child on these benefits rose by 50 per cent in real terms, a change that was unprecedented over a thirty year period. This paper examines whether there was a response in childbearing. To identify the effect of the reforms, we exploit the fact that the spending increases were targeted at low-income households and we use the (exogenously determined) education of the woman and her partner to define treatment and control groups. We argue that the reforms are most likely to have a positive fertility effect for women in couples and show that this is the case. We find that there was an increase in births (by around 15 per cent) among the group affected by the reforms

F and D Values with Explicit Flavor Symmetry Breaking and \Delta s Contents of Nucleons

We propose a new model for describing baryon semi-leptonic decays for estimating $F$ and $D$ values with explicit breaking effects of both SU(3) and SU(2) flavor symmetry, where all possible SU(3) and SU(2) breaking effects are induced from an effective interaction. An overall fit including the weak magnetism form factor yields $F=0.477\pm 0.001$ and $D=0.835\pm 0.001$ with $\chi^2=4.43/5$ d.o.f. with $V_{ud}=0.975\pm 0.002$ and $V_{us}=0.221\pm 0.002$. The spin content of strange quarks $\Delta s$ is estimated from the obtained values $F$ and $D$, and the nucleon spin problem is re-examined. Furthermore, the unmeasured values of $(g_1/f_1)$ and $(g_1)$ for other hyperon semi-leptonic decays are predicted from this new formula.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, final version to appear in PR

The London bombings and racial prejudice: evidence from housing and labour markets

This paper investigates the impact of the London bombings on attitudes towards ethnic minorities, examining outcomes in housing and labour markets across London boroughs. We use a difference-in-differences approach, specifying `treated' boroughs as those with the highest concentration of Asian residents. Our results indicate that house prices in treated boroughs fell by approximately 2.3% in the two years after the bombings relative to other boroughs, with sales declining by approximately 5.7%. Furthermore, we present evidence of a rise in the unemployment rate in treated compared to control boroughs, as well as a rise in racial segregation. These results are robust to several `falsification' checks with respect to the definition and timing of treatment

The CRA: outstanding, and needs to improve

Community Reinvestment Act of 1977

Nest-Site Selection by Female Black-Capped Chickadees: Settlement Based on Conspecific Attraction?

Female Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) solicit extrapair copulations (EPCs) from neighboring high-ranking males, and these EPCs result in extrapair young. Females might choose to locate their nests near the territory boundaries of attractive males to facilitate access to EPCs. Other hypotheses might also explain choice of nest site, namely (1) habitat characteristics, (2) prey abundance, and (3) previous experience. We tested these four hypotheses in 1996 and 1997. Out of 27 habitat characteristics measured, we found only one that was significantly different between nests and control sites in both years. The abundance of large trees was lower at nest sites than at control sites in each year and when years were pooled. Relative prey abundance did not differ between nests and control sites for either year of the study. We found no different in interyear nest placement based on female experience; experienced females nester farther than 60 m from their previous nest sites in both years of the study. In 1996, females whose neighboring males were higher ranked than their social partner located their nests significantly closer to territory boundaries than did females whose nearest neighbors were lower ranked than their social partner. In 1997, all pairs nested near territory boundaries. We conclude that choice of nest location in Black-capped Chickadees is influenced by conspecific attraction based on mating tactics

A Think Aloud Study Comparing the Validity and Acceptability of Discrete Choice and Best Worst Scaling Methods

Objectives This study provides insights into the validity and acceptability of Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) and profile-case Best Worst Scaling (BWS) methods for eliciting preferences for health care in a priority-setting context. Methods An adult sample (N = 24) undertook a traditional DCE and a BWS choice task as part of a wider survey on Health Technology Assessment decision criteria. A ‘think aloud’ protocol was applied, whereby participants verbalized their thinking while making choices. Internal validity and acceptability were assessed through a thematic analysis of the decision-making process emerging from the qualitative data and a repeated choice task. Results A thematic analysis of the decision-making process demonstrated clear evidence of ‘trading’ between multiple attribute/levels for the DCE, and to a lesser extent for the BWS task. Limited evidence consistent with a sequential decision-making model was observed for the BWS task. For the BWS task, some participants found choosing the worst attribute/level conceptually challenging. A desire to provide a complete ranking from best to worst was observed. The majority (18,75%) of participants indicated a preference for DCE, as they felt this enabled comparison of alternative full profiles. Those preferring BWS were averse to choosing an undesirable characteristic that was part of a ‘package’, or perceived BWS to be less ethically conflicting or burdensome. In a repeated choice task, more participants were consistent for the DCE (22,92%) than BWS (10,42%) (p = 0.002). Conclusions This study supports the validity and acceptability of the traditional DCE format. Findings relating to the application of BWS profile methods are less definitive. Research avenues to further clarify the comparative merits of these preference elicitation methods are identified

Infinitesimal rigidity of a compact hyperbolic 4-orbifold with totally geodesic boundary

Kerckhoff and Storm conjectured that compact hyperbolic n-orbifolds with totally geodesic boundary are infinitesimally rigid when n>3. This paper verifies this conjecture for a specific example based on the 4-dimensional hyperbolic 120-cell.Comment: 9 page

Estimation of a preference based single index from the sexual quality of life questionnaire (SQOL) using ordinal data

There is increasing interest in using ordinal methods to estimate cardinal values for health states to calculate quality adjusted life years. This paper reports the estimation of models of rank data and discrete choice experiment (DCE) data to derive a preference-based index from a condition specific measure relating to sexual health and to compare the results to values generated from time trade-off valuation (TTO). The DCE data were analysed using a random effects probit model and the DCE predicted values were rescaled according to the highest and lowest predicted TTO values corresponding to the best and worst SQOL health states respectively. The rank data were analysed using a rank ordered logit model and re-scaled using two alternative methods. Firstly, re-scaling the rank predicted values using identical methods to those employed for DCE and secondly, re-scaling the rank model coefficients by dividing each level coefficient by the coefficient relating to death. The study raises some important issues about the use of ordinal data to produce cardinal health state valuations