Brady P. Horn

Consumer Preferences for Socially Responsible Production Attributes Across Food Products

This study examines consumer preferences for three socially responsible products: minimal-pesticide strawberries, fair-trade bananas, and milk from pasture-fed cows. In-person survey data were collected in four states. Understanding preferences for these characteristics is difficult because they may appeal to different individuals depending on their personal attitudes and values. To address this issue, health, environmental and other attitudes are measured based on survey questions. Responses to these questions are used to produce explanatory factor scores. Stated preference models, both with and without factor scores, are estimated to evaluate the relative strengths of consumer preferences and motivations to purchase these products.

A cost comparison of travel models and behavioural telemedicine for rural, Native American populations in New Mexico.

Objective The purpose of this study was to model the cost of delivering behavioural health services to rural Native American populations using telecommunications and compare these costs with the travel costs associated with providing equivalent care. Methods Behavioural telehealth costs were modelled using equipment, transmission, administrative and IT costs from an established telecommunications centre. Two types of travel models were estimated: a patient travel model and a physician travel model. These costs were modelled using the New Mexico resource geographic information system program (RGIS) and ArcGIS software and unit costs (e.g. fuel prices, vehicle depreciation, lodging, physician wages, and patient wages) that were obtained from the literature and US government agencies. Results The average per-patient cost of providing behavioural healthcare via telehealth was US

Benefit-cost analysis of SBIRT interventions for substance using patients in emergency departments

138.34, and the average per-patient travel cost was US

DO MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES INFLUENCE WORKER HEALTH

169.76 for physicians and US

Reductions in Healthcare Costs Following Alcohol Treatment: Moving Toward Low-Risk Drinking End Points in Alcohol Clinical Trials.

333.52 for patients. Sensitivity analysis found these results to be rather robust to changes in imputed parameters and preliminary evidence of economies of scale was found. Conclusion Besides the obvious benefits of increased access to healthcare and reduced health disparities, providing behavioural telehealth for rural Native American populations was estimated to be less costly than modelled equivalent care provided by travelling. Additionally, as administrative and coordination costs are a major component of telehealth costs, as programmes grow to serve more patients, the relative costs of these initial infrastructure as well as overall per-patient costs should decrease.

Quantifying Bias in Driving‐Under‐The‐Influence Enforcement

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) has been widely implemented as a method to address substance use disorders in general medical settings, and some evidence suggests that its use is associated with decreased societal costs. In this paper, we investigated the economic impact of SBIRT using data from Screening, Motivational Assessment, Referral, and Treatment in Emergency Departments (SMART-ED), a multisite, randomized controlled trial. Utilizing self-reported information on medical status, health services utilization, employment, and crime, we conduct a benefit-cost analysis. Findings indicate that neither of the SMART-ED interventions resulted in any significant changes to the main economic outcomes, nor had any significant impact on total economic benefit. Thus, while SBIRT interventions for substance abuse in Emergency Departments may be appealing from a clinical perspective, evidence from this economic study suggests resources could be better utilized supporting other health interventions.

The economic costs of jail-based methadone maintenance treatment

This study investigates whether minimum wage increases impact worker health in the United States. We consider self-reported measures of general, mental, and physical health. We use data on lesser-skilled workers from the 1993 to 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Among men, we find no evidence that minimum wage increases improve health; instead, we find that such increases lead to worse health outcomes, particularly among unemployed men. We find both worsening general health and improved mental health following minimum wage increases among women. These findings broaden our understanding of the full impacts of minimum wage increases on lesser-skill workers. (JEL I1, I11, I18)

What Happens to High-Cost Patients? An Analysis of the Trajectories of Billed Charges Over Time

ALDRIDGE AND COLLEAGUES (2016) provide an exciting health economic analysis of the healthcare costs in the COMBINE study (Zarkin et al., 2008) by examining drinking during the last 30 days of treatment as the primary predictor of healthcare costs at 1 and 3 years following treatment. Consistent with other recent studies (Falk et al., 2010; Kline-Simon et al., 2013; Witkiewitz, 2013), the authors found that either abstinence or low-risk drinking (defined as fewer than 4 drinks per day for women and fewer than 5 drinks per day for men) produced similar long-term outcomes. Importantly, the paper also found that any heavy drinking days (HDDs; defined as 4+/5+ drinks for women/ men) were associated with significantly lower healthcare costs if HDDs were combined with low-risk drinking days (non-HDD). Those individuals who had only HDDs, without any non-HDD, had the highest healthcare costs. These findings are consistent with Witkiewitz (2013) who found that the combination of HDD and non-HDDwas associated with significantly fewer drinking consequences, as compared to those individuals who only had HDDs. The findings of the Aldridge and colleagues (2016) study are critically important and will hopefully be influential in 3 major areas: (i) regulatory guidance; (ii) measurement of outcomes in alcohol clinical trials and the importance of economic evaluation; and (iii) acceptability of nonabstinence goals in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The current commentary elaborates on how results from Aldridge and colleagues (2016) might inform each of these areas. REGULATORYGUIDANCE

The impact of behavioural risk-reduction interventions on willingness to pay to avoid sexually transmitted infections: a stated preference study of justice-involved youth

As the marginal suspect and propensity to commit crime are unobserved across racial categories, it is difficult to quantify racial bias with law enforcement outcomes data. We test for racial bias in driving‐under‐the‐influence of alcohol enforcement. The assessment outcome variable, blood alcohol content (BAC), provides information about motorists choices and allows for a more refined test for racial bias compared with other law enforcement outcome data. We find no evidence of racial bias in the relevant range where our model applies. However, we do find differences in find rates at the lowest levels of BAC, where there should be no impairment.

Valuation of Internal Quality Characteristics Across Apple Cultivars

ABSTRACT Background: The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world and spends