While technology and business patterns are evolving at a very high pace, new markets are developing, and so are consumer preferences and expectations. Over the past 30 years, entertainment industries have become sectors with immense profits and sustainable growth, the children segment being the greatest contender. However, the multitude of options in terms of attractions to choose from is not always accompanied by strict knowledge of operational standards, thus creating an increase in the risk of injury that children are subjected to during their play-time. Despite the fact that most playground equipment’s are not properly certified or do not comply with the specific provisions, most cases remain inconclusive, due to lack of evidence arising from a knowledge gap that the authorities must cover. In case of playground accidents, the investigators need to be well aware and up to date with the regulations, not only to determine who to hold accountable, but also to be able to take the necessary control measures in order to reduce children play-related injuries.
{"title":"Playground Safety Practices. Injury Prevention and Effective Investigation","authors":"Alexandra Ioana Curcă","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3459682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3459682","url":null,"abstract":"While technology and business patterns are evolving at a very high pace, new markets are developing, and so are consumer preferences and expectations. Over the past 30 years, entertainment industries have become sectors with immense profits and sustainable growth, the children segment being the greatest contender. However, the multitude of options in terms of attractions to choose from is not always accompanied by strict knowledge of operational standards, thus creating an increase in the risk of injury that children are subjected to during their play-time. Despite the fact that most playground equipment’s are not properly certified or do not comply with the specific provisions, most cases remain inconclusive, due to lack of evidence arising from a knowledge gap that the authorities must cover. In case of playground accidents, the investigators need to be well aware and up to date with the regulations, not only to determine who to hold accountable, but also to be able to take the necessary control measures in order to reduce children play-related injuries.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129991995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
: Finding the truth is the most difficult process, especially in a society that reveals itself as a high-speed field, whose passengers combine good and evil, honor and dishonesty, respect for the law and crime. Identification of dead bodies is one of the most common but complicated activities that the magistrate, criminal investigation dead bodies, criminalist or forensic doctor encounters, because compared to the living people who appreciate both the static signs, the dynamic signs and the functional features noted by different gestures, attitudes, etc. only the static forms and the personal objects on them or the clothing are appreciated in the case of dead bodies. Most procedures claim certain data and information to be compared, such as DNA, fingerprints, dentition, etc., but if they do not exist, comparison with the rest of the population is impossible. To identify a person, the forensic research bodies also found other methods, such as the over-projection method, the reconstruction of the skull physiognomy, the skeletal identification, dental or dental identification.
{"title":"Forensic Methods of Identifying Corpses with Unknown Identity","authors":"Ovidiu Andrei Hamburda","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3459667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3459667","url":null,"abstract":": Finding the truth is the most difficult process, especially in a society that reveals itself as a high-speed field, whose passengers combine good and evil, honor and dishonesty, respect for the law and crime. Identification of dead bodies is one of the most common but complicated activities that the magistrate, criminal investigation dead bodies, criminalist or forensic doctor encounters, because compared to the living people who appreciate both the static signs, the dynamic signs and the functional features noted by different gestures, attitudes, etc. only the static forms and the personal objects on them or the clothing are appreciated in the case of dead bodies. Most procedures claim certain data and information to be compared, such as DNA, fingerprints, dentition, etc., but if they do not exist, comparison with the rest of the population is impossible. To identify a person, the forensic research bodies also found other methods, such as the over-projection method, the reconstruction of the skull physiognomy, the skeletal identification, dental or dental identification.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129675599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: A large percentage of the wealthiest households in Bangladesh lack soap at their handwashing places, which is typically considered a problem of the poor. We sought to investigate toilet-sharing and water source along with sociodemographic characteristics as factors associated with the handwashing places missing soap in the wealthiest households of Bangladesh. Methods: Data for the study came from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) of 17300 nationally representative households. One thousand seven hundred fifty-seven (10.2%) of the households categorized in the ninth wealth decile reporting on handwashing places with or without soap were used for analysis. We used both exploratory and logistic regression analyses accounting for survey design and adjusted for sex, age, place of residence, and region to investigate how selected factors were associated with observed handwashing places without soap. Findings: We found that 40.7% (95% CI: 0.36–0.46) of the wealthiest households were observed to have no soap in their handwashing places. Of these households, those who shared their toilets with another household were 6.4 times (95% CI: 4.41–9.16; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap as compared with those who did not share their toilets. If they shared their toilet with more than nine households, they were 10.1 times (95% CI: 4.65–21.82; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap than those who did not share their toilets. Also, the wealthiest households were 4 times (95% CI: 2.22–7.25; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap if they collected water from their own yard, and 4.7 times (95% CI: 2.38–9.35; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing placed with soap if they collected water from other dwellings in comparison to the reference group that collected water from their own dwelling. Water-fetching time was not statistically significant in our analysis. Interpretation: Bangladesh has the largest number of households having handwashing places without soap in South Asian countries. Factors like toilet-sharing and water source location along with sociodemographic characteristics can explain this “no soap” observation. Cross-examined and self-reported data along with observed data on handwashing and sanitation practice–related questions are essential to understand a household’s actual soap-keeping and usage. Our study demonstrates how data from household-specific health programs can be used to inform all-inclusive hygiene initiatives coupled with sanitation policies to improve public health.
{"title":"Wealthiest Households’ Handwashing Places Lack Soap in Bangladesh: An Observed, Cross-Sectional Data Analysis","authors":"M. Ahamad, M. Burbach, A. N. Islam, Fahian Tanin","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3497300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3497300","url":null,"abstract":"Background: A large percentage of the wealthiest households in Bangladesh lack soap at their handwashing places, which is typically considered a problem of the poor. We sought to investigate toilet-sharing and water source along with sociodemographic characteristics as factors associated with the handwashing places missing soap in the wealthiest households of Bangladesh. \u0000 \u0000Methods: Data for the study came from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) of 17300 nationally representative households. One thousand seven hundred fifty-seven (10.2%) of the households categorized in the ninth wealth decile reporting on handwashing places with or without soap were used for analysis. We used both exploratory and logistic regression analyses accounting for survey design and adjusted for sex, age, place of residence, and region to investigate how selected factors were associated with observed handwashing places without soap. \u0000 \u0000Findings: We found that 40.7% (95% CI: 0.36–0.46) of the wealthiest households were observed to have no soap in their handwashing places. Of these households, those who shared their toilets with another household were 6.4 times (95% CI: 4.41–9.16; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap as compared with those who did not share their toilets. If they shared their toilet with more than nine households, they were 10.1 times (95% CI: 4.65–21.82; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap than those who did not share their toilets. Also, the wealthiest households were 4 times (95% CI: 2.22–7.25; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing places without soap if they collected water from their own yard, and 4.7 times (95% CI: 2.38–9.35; p < 0.001) more likely to have handwashing placed with soap if they collected water from other dwellings in comparison to the reference group that collected water from their own dwelling. Water-fetching time was not statistically significant in our analysis. \u0000 \u0000Interpretation: Bangladesh has the largest number of households having handwashing places without soap in South Asian countries. Factors like toilet-sharing and water source location along with sociodemographic characteristics can explain this “no soap” observation. Cross-examined and self-reported data along with observed data on handwashing and sanitation practice–related questions are essential to understand a household’s actual soap-keeping and usage. Our study demonstrates how data from household-specific health programs can be used to inform all-inclusive hygiene initiatives coupled with sanitation policies to improve public health.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133090956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-01DOI: 10.31014/AIOR.1992.02.03.116
Chun‐Chen Huang, Szu-Hsien Lin, Kaiyan Zheng
This study examines the relationship between nursing staff's emotional intelligence, social support, job involvement, and turnover intention of nursing staff. The MANOVA Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to examine the aforesaid constructs. The results of the study show that while emotional intelligence has a positive impact on social support and job involvement, social support also has a positive impact on job involvement. Meanwhile, both social support and job involvement have a negative impact on turnover intention. Therefore, the underlying reasons for turnover behavior can be traced back to emotional intelligence, whereas social support and job involvement can be two tiers of mediators. These results can provide hospitals with human resource management strategies and serve as a reference for organizational management.
{"title":"The Relationship among Emotional Intelligence, Social Support, Job Involvement, and Turnover Intention – A Study of Nurses in Taiwan","authors":"Chun‐Chen Huang, Szu-Hsien Lin, Kaiyan Zheng","doi":"10.31014/AIOR.1992.02.03.116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31014/AIOR.1992.02.03.116","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the relationship between nursing staff's emotional intelligence, social support, job involvement, and turnover intention of nursing staff. The MANOVA Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to examine the aforesaid constructs. The results of the study show that while emotional intelligence has a positive impact on social support and job involvement, social support also has a positive impact on job involvement. Meanwhile, both social support and job involvement have a negative impact on turnover intention. Therefore, the underlying reasons for turnover behavior can be traced back to emotional intelligence, whereas social support and job involvement can be two tiers of mediators. These results can provide hospitals with human resource management strategies and serve as a reference for organizational management.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125514995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We read with great interest the recent work in PNAS by Shover et al. revisiting the relationship between medical cannabis laws and opioid overdose mortality. They expand the 2014 Bachhuber et al. by adding 7 recent years of mortality data to cover a longer study period 1999-2017. They suggest that the reduction in opioid overdose mortality following medical cannabis laws became statistically indistinguishable from 0 when data in 2013-2016 are added and reversed after data in 2017 are added. The authors interpret the sensitivity of the results to the study endpoint to suggest that the association is spurious. We agree that the associations found in ecological studies should not be interpreted as causal relationships. However, we argue that the sensitivity of the results could be likely attributable to the recent spike in overdose mortality related to synthetic opioids.
{"title":"Synthetic Opioids Should Be Excluded When Examining the Association Between Cannabis Laws and Opioid Overdose Mortality","authors":"Yuyan Shi, Di Liang","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3421272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3421272","url":null,"abstract":"We read with great interest the recent work in PNAS by Shover et al. revisiting the relationship between medical cannabis laws and opioid overdose mortality. They expand the 2014 Bachhuber et al. by adding 7 recent years of mortality data to cover a longer study period 1999-2017. They suggest that the reduction in opioid overdose mortality following medical cannabis laws became statistically indistinguishable from 0 when data in 2013-2016 are added and reversed after data in 2017 are added. The authors interpret the sensitivity of the results to the study endpoint to suggest that the association is spurious. We agree that the associations found in ecological studies should not be interpreted as causal relationships. However, we argue that the sensitivity of the results could be likely attributable to the recent spike in overdose mortality related to synthetic opioids.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"129 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114088604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yoga has existed for centuries in the East, beginning in India, as a religious practice of meditation and mindfulness. In the West, however, yoga is more often a popular exercise-based practice with little to no emphasis on its religious or spiritual foundations. Curiously, the mindfulness aspect of yoga has become increasingly popular within the United States, particularly as a method for therapeutic treatments, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapies (MBCT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These therapies have been useful for patients in the early stages of psychiatric disorders (e.g. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Type 1 Bipolar Disorder), as some patients can supplement their medication in exchange for these forms of therapy. This paper investigates the origins of yoga from a Hindu perspective, explaining how recent trends in the U.S. have extracted elements of the traditional practice while adding other elements with a Western influence. This paper also investigates current symptoms and treatments for psychiatric disorders and explores how mindfulness can play an important role in future forms of therapy.
{"title":"Meditative Cognitive Therapies: A Literature Review","authors":"Rebecca Bhik-Ghanie","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3434130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3434130","url":null,"abstract":"Yoga has existed for centuries in the East, beginning in India, as a religious practice of meditation and mindfulness. In the West, however, yoga is more often a popular exercise-based practice with little to no emphasis on its religious or spiritual foundations. Curiously, the mindfulness aspect of yoga has become increasingly popular within the United States, particularly as a method for therapeutic treatments, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapies (MBCT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These therapies have been useful for patients in the early stages of psychiatric disorders (e.g. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Type 1 Bipolar Disorder), as some patients can supplement their medication in exchange for these forms of therapy. This paper investigates the origins of yoga from a Hindu perspective, explaining how recent trends in the U.S. have extracted elements of the traditional practice while adding other elements with a Western influence. This paper also investigates current symptoms and treatments for psychiatric disorders and explores how mindfulness can play an important role in future forms of therapy.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126740456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the last third of the 19th century, the germ theory of infection had been reliably proved and widely accepted, new principles of microbiological research were laid down and many infectious diseases explained. But medicine was not ready yet to explain all the illnesses. Despite the thorough work of many scientists, substantial facts were still unknown – e.g. existence of most viruses, autoimmunity processes or micronutrients. The effort to explain all the diseases with existent knowledge gave rise to half-true concepts and mistakes. This paper deals with two interesting mistakes, found in the textbook of pathological anatomy and medical microbiology by Hlava and Obrzut, published in 1900-1901 in Austria-Hungary: the concept of scurvy as an infection caused by Bacillus scorbuti, and the causative role of the so-called "Pfeiffer’s bacillus" - Bacillus influenzae, presently Haemophilus infuenzae, in the flu. These were not only theories but expert opinions based on the results of scientific research. Unfortunately, the methods were imperfect and performed/interpreted properly either, so they didn’t allow the scientists to realize the erroneousness of their conclusions. The real causes of the diseases mentioned above were proven much later.
{"title":"Scurvy and Flu in 1900: The Truth Lost in Evidence","authors":"Tereza Kopecká","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3434131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3434131","url":null,"abstract":"In the last third of the 19th century, the germ theory of infection had been reliably proved and widely accepted, new principles of microbiological research were laid down and many infectious diseases explained. But medicine was not ready yet to explain all the illnesses. Despite the thorough work of many scientists, substantial facts were still unknown – e.g. existence of most viruses, autoimmunity processes or micronutrients. The effort to explain all the diseases with existent knowledge gave rise to half-true concepts and mistakes. This paper deals with two interesting mistakes, found in the textbook of pathological anatomy and medical microbiology by Hlava and Obrzut, published in 1900-1901 in Austria-Hungary: the concept of scurvy as an infection caused by Bacillus scorbuti, and the causative role of the so-called \"Pfeiffer’s bacillus\" - Bacillus influenzae, presently Haemophilus infuenzae, in the flu. These were not only theories but expert opinions based on the results of scientific research. Unfortunately, the methods were imperfect and performed/interpreted properly either, so they didn’t allow the scientists to realize the erroneousness of their conclusions. The real causes of the diseases mentioned above were proven much later.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126488687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Prieger, M. Kleiman, Jonathan Kulick, Alberto Aziani, M. Levi, Sam Hampsher, Clarissa Manning, Richard Hahn
This appendices to this report can be found at: (https://ssrn.com/abstract=3435260). In regulating tobacco products, governments seek to promote public health by discouraging consumption. However, imposing regulatory costs and taxes on licit producers and consumers presents an economic opportunity to criminal actors to profit from skirting these laws. Illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP) thus frustrates the goals of tobacco regulation. We estimate that a 10% increase in the price of licit cigarettes (which might result, for example, from a tax increase) leads to a 3.6 percentage-point increase in the illicit share of the market, which averages about 11% in the EU. However, e-cigarettes and their apparent health advantages over traditional tobacco products present regulators with an opportunity to increase taxes without swelling the flow of illicit goods: By allowing consumers a third choice as an alternative to either paying higher prices or buying illicit products, e-cigarettes could serve as a “safety-valve” allowing for higher taxes (and stricter regulations) on traditional tobacco products without encouraging the illicit market. This study tests and find support for that hypothesis and seeks to investigate the effects of law and policy on the extent of that substitution. We begin by analyzing the current policies of European Union Member States toward tobacco products and e-cigarettes and reviewing the literature on the factors that drive consumers to use illicit tobacco products and the evidence that e-cigarettes substitute for conventional cigarettes. We then assemble a dataset of volumes and prices for legally sold conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and for illicit or smuggled products. An econometric analysis of those data generates a model relating the size of the ITTP market to e-cigarette policies and market penetration. The results show that higher taxes and prices for licit cigarettes are positively associated with higher ITTP shares and illicit-cigarette quantity. When the e-cigarette market is small, increases in cigarette prices have a positive and statistically significant effect on ITTP. The elasticity remains positive throughout the range of the data, although it decreases with the size of the e-cigarette market. However, the availability of e-cigarettes moderates the effect of conventional-cigarette prices on ITTP volumes: the more available e-cigarettes become, the less ITTP market share rises in response to tax-driven price increases for conventional cigarettes. In the presence of sufficiently robust e-cigarette markets, cigarette prices have no measured effect on ITTP volumes. Thus, as e-cigarettes become more available, the positive association between cigarette prices and taxes is attenuated. This suggests that e-cigarettes are substitutes for illicit cigarettes. Conversely, demand for e-cigarettes responds positively to cigarette prices while demand for conventional cigarettes responds positi
{"title":"The Impact of E-Cigarette Regulation on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in the European Union","authors":"J. Prieger, M. Kleiman, Jonathan Kulick, Alberto Aziani, M. Levi, Sam Hampsher, Clarissa Manning, Richard Hahn","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3435177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3435177","url":null,"abstract":"This appendices to this report can be found at: (https://ssrn.com/abstract=3435260). \u0000 \u0000In regulating tobacco products, governments seek to promote public health by discouraging consumption. However, imposing regulatory costs and taxes on licit producers and consumers presents an economic opportunity to criminal actors to profit from skirting these laws. Illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP) thus frustrates the goals of tobacco regulation. We estimate that a 10% increase in the price of licit cigarettes (which might result, for example, from a tax increase) leads to a 3.6 percentage-point increase in the illicit share of the market, which averages about 11% in the EU. \u0000 \u0000However, e-cigarettes and their apparent health advantages over traditional tobacco products present regulators with an opportunity to increase taxes without swelling the flow of illicit goods: By allowing consumers a third choice as an alternative to either paying higher prices or buying illicit products, e-cigarettes could serve as a “safety-valve” allowing for higher taxes (and stricter regulations) on traditional tobacco products without encouraging the illicit market. This study tests and find support for that hypothesis and seeks to investigate the effects of law and policy on the extent of that substitution. \u0000 \u0000We begin by analyzing the current policies of European Union Member States toward tobacco products and e-cigarettes and reviewing the literature on the factors that drive consumers to use illicit tobacco products and the evidence that e-cigarettes substitute for conventional cigarettes. We then assemble a dataset of volumes and prices for legally sold conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and for illicit or smuggled products. An econometric analysis of those data generates a model relating the size of the ITTP market to e-cigarette policies and market penetration. \u0000 \u0000The results show that higher taxes and prices for licit cigarettes are positively associated with higher ITTP shares and illicit-cigarette quantity. When the e-cigarette market is small, increases in cigarette prices have a positive and statistically significant effect on ITTP. The elasticity remains positive throughout the range of the data, although it decreases with the size of the e-cigarette market. \u0000 \u0000However, the availability of e-cigarettes moderates the effect of conventional-cigarette prices on ITTP volumes: the more available e-cigarettes become, the less ITTP market share rises in response to tax-driven price increases for conventional cigarettes. In the presence of sufficiently robust e-cigarette markets, cigarette prices have no measured effect on ITTP volumes. Thus, as e-cigarettes become more available, the positive association between cigarette prices and taxes is attenuated. This suggests that e-cigarettes are substitutes for illicit cigarettes. \u0000 \u0000Conversely, demand for e-cigarettes responds positively to cigarette prices while demand for conventional cigarettes responds positi","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129562834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using data on the registration of clinical trials and the disclosure of trial results, we examine how firms respond to peer disclosures. We find that firms are less likely to disclose their own trial results if the results of a larger number of closely related trials are disclosed by their peers. This relation is stronger if the firms face higher competition (as measured by the number of competing trials). It is weaker if the firms are further along in their research than the peers (as measured by the trials’ phase) and if the peers’ disclosures convey more negative news (as measured by the firms’ stock price reaction). We also find that firms are more likely to abandon ongoing trials if a larger number of peers disclose the results of closely related trials. Additional tests suggest that this real effects channel does not drive the impact on the firms’ disclosure decisions.
{"title":"Do Firms Respond to Peer Disclosures? Evidence from Disclosures of Clinical Trial Results","authors":"V. Capkun, Yun Lou, Clemens A. Otto, Yin Wang","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3344942","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3344942","url":null,"abstract":"Using data on the registration of clinical trials and the disclosure of trial results, we examine how firms respond to peer disclosures. We find that firms are less likely to disclose their own trial results if the results of a larger number of closely related trials are disclosed by their peers. This relation is stronger if the firms face higher competition (as measured by the number of competing trials). It is weaker if the firms are further along in their research than the peers (as measured by the trials’ phase) and if the peers’ disclosures convey more negative news (as measured by the firms’ stock price reaction). We also find that firms are more likely to abandon ongoing trials if a larger number of peers disclose the results of closely related trials. Additional tests suggest that this real effects channel does not drive the impact on the firms’ disclosure decisions.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127132890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Problem definition: The recent trend in the U.S. hospital closures can have important impacts on the healthcare sector by changing the operational efficiency and quality of care of the remaining hospitals. We investigate the impact of hospital closures on the surrounding hospitals’ operational efficiency and quality, and study how such hospitals respond to the closure of their neighboring hospital. Academic/Practical Relevance: Understanding how hospital closures impact the way the remaining hospitals operate can allow policymakers to utilize more effective policy levers in order to mitigate the negative consequences of hospital closures. Methodology: We analyze more than 14 million inpatient visits made during 11 years to over 3,000 hospitals in the U.S. (before and after various closures), and utilize causal methods to evaluate the spillover effect of hospital closures on the nearby hospitals. We also conduct counterfactual analyses to evaluate policy interventions that could have been used by policymakers. Results: Hospital closures have both positive and negative spillover effect. When a hospital closes, its nearby hospitals improve their operational efficiency. However, they do so via a speed-up response (i.e., by reducing their service durations to accommodate the increased demand) instead of an effort to lower their average bed idle time. This speed-up response negatively affects some important aspects of the care quality provided, including the 30-day mortality rate. The spillover effect of a hospital closure is highly heterogeneous: hospitals in markets where patients have limited choices of hospitals (e.g., less competition, fewer resources) and hospitals that are more desirable (e.g., high-quality, urban, teaching, and large) tend to experience greater spillover effects. Managerial Implications: Our analyses suggest two effective policy levers: (a) bailing out specific hospitals (e.g., rural or less desirable than neighbors) from potential closures, and (b) eliminating the speed-up response of specific hospitals (e.g., rural or more desirable hospitals). In addition to helping policymakers, our results help hospital administrators: our findings help them to better understand the consequences (or the absence) of their strategic responses to a neighboring hospital closure, and thereby, adopt more suitable management strategies.
{"title":"The Spillover Effects of Hospital Closures on the Efficiency and Quality of Other Hospitals","authors":"Lina Song, S. Saghafian","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3318609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3318609","url":null,"abstract":"Problem definition: The recent trend in the U.S. hospital closures can have important impacts on the healthcare sector by changing the operational efficiency and quality of care of the remaining hospitals. We investigate the impact of hospital closures on the surrounding hospitals’ operational efficiency and quality, and study how such hospitals respond to the closure of their neighboring hospital. \u0000 \u0000Academic/Practical Relevance: Understanding how hospital closures impact the way the remaining hospitals operate can allow policymakers to utilize more effective policy levers in order to mitigate the negative consequences of hospital closures. \u0000 \u0000Methodology: We analyze more than 14 million inpatient visits made during 11 years to over 3,000 hospitals in the U.S. (before and after various closures), and utilize causal methods to evaluate the spillover effect of hospital closures on the nearby hospitals. We also conduct counterfactual analyses to evaluate policy interventions that could have been used by policymakers. \u0000 \u0000Results: Hospital closures have both positive and negative spillover effect. When a hospital closes, its nearby hospitals improve their operational efficiency. However, they do so via a speed-up response (i.e., by reducing their service durations to accommodate the increased demand) instead of an effort to lower their average bed idle time. This speed-up response negatively affects some important aspects of the care quality provided, including the 30-day mortality rate. The spillover effect of a hospital closure is highly heterogeneous: hospitals in markets where patients have limited choices of hospitals (e.g., less competition, fewer resources) and hospitals that are more desirable (e.g., high-quality, urban, teaching, and large) tend to experience greater spillover effects. \u0000 \u0000Managerial Implications: Our analyses suggest two effective policy levers: (a) bailing out specific hospitals (e.g., rural or less desirable than neighbors) from potential closures, and (b) eliminating the speed-up response of specific hospitals (e.g., rural or more desirable hospitals). In addition to helping policymakers, our results help hospital administrators: our findings help them to better understand the consequences (or the absence) of their strategic responses to a neighboring hospital closure, and thereby, adopt more suitable management strategies.","PeriodicalId":137980,"journal":{"name":"Public Health eJournal","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126903615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}