Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Local officials face strong pressures to replace lost jobs, to diversify local economies, and compete with other locations, to attract and nurture business development. The mix of deals a community can offer a private business is most often a function of their own predilection, with little oversight. However, nationwide, incidents of corruption in the process have been exposed. The tendency in these instances is to believe public officials are motivated by self-benefit, both personal and political. We hypothesize, public officials, see procedural oversight and accountability in economic development as a hindrance to quick, positive outcomes. A national survey of public official is examined to test our hypothesis. We begin to make the assumptions necessary to form an agent-based model of public official corruption in local economic development.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper investigates the conditions under which developing and transition nations engage in currency redenomination. Given that many governments of developing countries experience high levels of inflation and deterioration in their currency’s value against other currencies, why do some elect to redenominate, while others do not? And why do some governments wait many years after a bout of hyperinflation, or after their currency is priced at 1000 or 5000 units to the dollar, to redenominate, while others do so relatively quickly? I suggest that the explanations rest in a combination of economic and political factors, including inflation, governments’ concerns about credibility, and the effect of currencies on national identity. I employ survival analysis to test these expectations, using a set of data for developing and transition nations, covering the 1960-2003 period. I find, not surprisingly, that inflation is an important predictor of redenomination. Redenomination also is related to political variables, including governments’ time horizons, the governing party’s ideology, the fractionalization of the government and legislature, and the degree of social heterogeneity.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Public policy initiatives in the 1950s and 1960s including Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity law have helped to mitigate explicit
discrimination in pay, and the expansion of higher education and training programs have advanced the employment fortunes of many women. By the early
1980s some scholars proclaimed near equity in pay between black and white women, particularly among young, highly skilled women. More recent policy
initiatives and labor market conditions have been arguably less progressive for black women's employment and earnings and through the 1980s and 1990s the
racial wage gap between black and white women widened considerably. This paper documents the racial wage gap among women in the U.S and examines the
extent to which demographic characteristics and institutional conditions affect selection into the labor force of black and white women. The paper
considers how the composition of the labor force affects estimates of the race gap in wages within the U.S. and discusses the persistence of racial
inequality in the labor market.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Previous studies show that parental status affects health, well-being, and some health behaviors but we know little about how parental status influences change in weight gain or loss over the life course. This is an important issue in that overweight and obesity are major concerns in the United States and social factors that accelerate or slow this trend may have implications for population health. Moreover, significant weight loss late in life is associated with subsequent mortality. The present study relies on growth curve analysis of national, longitudinal data to consider how parental status influences trajectories of change in body weight over a fifteen year period in the United States. Our results suggest that age and living arrangements of children, as well as age of parents, are associated with patterns of weight gain and loss over the life course. While having children is typically associated with weight gain, it appears that living with adult children may slow weight loss of parents in late life.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Rationale: Adverse drug events (ADE) have an impact on health utility, and individuals are willing to pay to reduce the risk of suffering such events.
Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the consistency between the willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing the risk of adverse drug events and the associated health-related utility gain. The study quantifies the monetary value of reducing the risk of incidence of mild ADE and measure the health-related utility gain for such a reduction.
Methodology: Personal interviews were completed for 174 people in Madrid (Spain). Upon definition of a payment card, individuals were asked for the amount of money they would be willing to pay to reduce the risk of incidence of ADE. Using Standard Gamble, individuals were also asked for the health-related utility gain they would derive from a reduction in the probability (p) of occurrence of ADE. Consistency among the preference relation, the willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce the risk of ADE and the health-related utility gains was assessed. Consistency between the WTP for different risk reductions and the level of risk reduction of the same ADE was also evaluated.
Results: Gastrointestinal distress and heartburn (GI) was ranked as less preferred than skin rash (SR) by 99.4% of interviewees. Interviewees were willing to pay annually an average of 379.51€ to avoid GI (CI 325.40€ - 433.62€) and 148.40€ (CI 118.58€ - 178.22€) to avoid SR. Interviewees were willing to pay 223.49€ (CI 187.34€ - 259.64€) for an 80% GI risk reduction, and 79.37€ (CI 57.20€ - 101.55€) for an 80% SR risk reduction. Interviewees were willing to pay 162.45€ (CI 128.94€ - 195.96€) for a 50% GI risk reduction and 49.25€ (CI 30.47€ - 68.03€) for a 50% SR risk reduction. Interviewees considered the health-related utility gain (1-p) derived from the avoidance of GI 0.67 (CI 0.28- 0.35) higher than the health-related utility gain attributed to the avoidance of SR 0.09 (CI 0.07- 0.12). The WTP and the stated health-related utility were consistent for SR (Pearson correlation coefficient = -0.283, p-value <0.01). The Pearson correlation coefficient was not statistically significant in the case of GI.
Conclusions: The willingness to pay amount was consistent with the stated preference relation, and it was also consistent for different levels of risk reduction in the incidence of ADE. The willingness to pay was not proportional to the size of the risk reduction. The value of a health gain may differs depending on the method applied for each assessment.