I-Ming Chiu

Too Smart to Be Selfish? Measures of Cognitive Ability, Social Preferences, and Consistency

Although there is an increasing interest in examining the relationship between cognitive ability and economic behavior, less is known about the relationship between cognitive ability and social preferences. We investigate the relationship between consequential measures of cognitive ability and measures of social preferences. We have data on a series of small-stakes dictator-type decisions, known as Social Value Orientation (SVO), in addition to choices in a larger-stakes dictator game. We also have access to the grade point averages (GPA) and SAT (formerly referred to as the Scholastic Aptitude Test) outcomes of our subjects. We find that subjects who perform better on the Math portion of the SAT are more generous in both the dictator game and the SVO measure. By contrast we find that subjects with a higher GPA are more selfish in the dictator game and more generous according to the SVO. We also find some evidence that the subjects with higher GPA and higher SAT outcomes offer more consistent responses. Our results involving GPA and social preferences complement previous work which employ measures of cognitive ability which are sensitive to the intrinsic motivation of the subject. Our results involving SAT scores are without precedent in the literature and suggest that measures of cognitive ability, which are less sensitive to the intrinsic motivation of the subject, are positively related to generosity.

Non-Communicable Diseases in Developing Countries: Causes and HealthPolicy/Program Assessments

Objectives: This study focuses on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of government public health policies on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes deaths per 100,000 population with age-standardized estimate of adults aged 25 and above of 30 South Asian and 46 African countries. Findings suggest that government policy implementation with focus on the reduction of deaths from NCDs is more efficient than general public health policy. Methods: The study employed theoretically well founded PRECEDE-PROCEED model to assess effectiveness of public health programs. Three causal factors of NCDs and three policy issues constituted the core of this model. The causal factors included: body mass index (BMI) 30 & over; systolic blood pressure; and total cholesterol. The policy issues included: health-related economics; health-related infrastructure; enabling, reinforcing and predisposing factors. Multiple regressions with robust method were used to assess effectiveness and concentration index for efficiency. The data for this study was taken from World Heath Statistics: 2008-2010. Results: One percentage increase in BMI 30&more raises 3.829 deaths from NCDs per 100,000 populations by country and the increase in NCDs depend on the size of population. One dollar per capita per year increase in government healthcare expenditures reduces NCDs by about 791 persons per 100,000 per year. An increase of 10% in government healthcare expenditures leads to 0.54% reduction in deaths from NCDs. The cost of this reduction in deaths from NCDs is

An Empirical Study on the Long-Run Determinants of Exchange Rate

12.15 per capita per year. Implementation of key activities related to NCDs management reduces deaths from NCDs by 0.073 persons per 100,000 populations. An increase of 10% in NCD management expenditures leads to a 0.21% reduction in deaths or a decrease of 8.921 million deaths from NCDs. It costs

Pharmaceutical Price Control Policy, Pharmaceutical Innovation, and Health Durability

25.72 per person per year. The estimated effect of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes management plan is 113.828 less NCD deaths per 100,000 populations than in countries without a plan to fight against NCDs. For efficiency, the concentration indices reveal that the NCDs management is more cost efficient than the government general healthcare expenditures. Conclusions: In general, government policies and programs are found effective against NCDs. However, policies and programs focused on the reduction of NCDs are more efficient than general public health initiatives. A wellconstructed tax system for financing policy/program to deal with NCDs and related deaths is required.

Evaluation of the Waste Tire Resources Recovery Program and Environmental Health Policy in Taiwan

The behavior of exchange rates has been an important issue in the international finance literature. Although exchange rate is erratic and unpredictable in the short run, its long-run behavior is believed to be guided by economic fundamentals. This paper empirically tests the long-run determinants of the exchange rate by focusing on the Taiwan/US case. After incorporating productivity differential, foreign reserves, and monetary base in the absolute Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) proposition, where the relative price is the only determinant of the exchange rate, the Johansens maximum likelihood test results indicate these determinants and the exchange rate are indeed cointegrated: thus a long-run relationship can be established.

Healthcare services accessibility of children in the USA

Background: The increase in R&D and upward trend of R&D/pharmaceutical sales has occurred despite government controlled pharmaceutical price reduction in Japan. This paper identifies the effect of the governments price control policy on pharmaceutical innovation and evaluates the influence of new chemical entities (NCE) on health durability. Method: The study employed pharmaceutical price, government approval, and new pricing adaptation policies to evaluate their influences on NCE. Quantitative and qualitative expressions of pharmaceutical innovation were analyzed to measure health durability. Results: The results show that the government pharmaceutical price and new pricing adaptation policies may have been effective in increasing NCE in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, our findings show that the optimum R&D adjustment rate for NCE (32%) would cause a downward influence of 0.4494 billion yen of NCE in the long run, while a full adjustment (i.e. 100%) of R&D would bring an increase of 0.709 billion yen in the long run. Finally, the aggregate effects of NCE reduce illness-caused death. The six leading illnesses share a 65.95% decrease in death caused by illness of those aged 65 years or older. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical price control is not intended to hamper the pharmaceutical industry. It is a price reduction of the governments approved-list of pharmaceutical drugs under the national healthcare system geared toward controlling rapid and excessive growth of pharmaceutical expenditures.

The Efficiency of Internal Capital Markets: Evidence from the Annual Capital Expenditure Survey

This paper examines the effectiveness of Taiwanese environmental health policies, whose aim is to improve environmental quality by reducing tire waste via the Tire Resource Recovery Program. The results confirm that implemented environmental health policies improve the overall health of the population (i.e. a decrease in death caused by bronchitis and other respiratory diseases). Current policy expenditures are far below the optimal level, as it is estimated that a ten percent increase in the subsidy would decrease the number of deaths caused by bronchitis and other respiratory diseases by 0.58% per county/city per year on average.

Substitution of Formal and Informal Home Care Service Use and Nursing Home Service Use: Health Outcomes, Decision-Making Preferences, and Implications for a Public Health Policy

The increase in the number of children without access to healthcare services is an increasingly urgent issue in the United States. By using data from the Community Tracking Study Household Survey 1996 to 1997, we focus this study on the determinants that cause for the widening gap of healthcare service accessibility among children, 18 years and under, in the USA. Our empirical results suggest that factors such as the out-of-pocket price of healthcare services, household income, years of education by parent (or guardian), health insurance coverage, access to healthcare provider (availability of regular provider, obtaining an appointment, and travelling time) and provider–patient interaction strongly determine the actual use of outpatient services by children as realized access (i.e. accessibility).

The Brokerage Firm Effect in Herding: Evidence from Indonesia

We empirically examine whether greater firm diversity results in the inefficient allocation of capital. Using both COMPUSTAT and the Annual Capital Expenditure Survey (ACES) we find firm diversity to be negatively related to the efficiency of investment. However once we distinguish between capital expenditure for structures and equipment, we find that while firms do inefficiently allocate capital for equipment, they efficiently allocate capital for structures. These results suggest that when the decision will have long-lasting repercussions, headquarters will, more often than not, make the correct choice.

Too smart to be selfish? Measures of intelligence, social preferences, and consistency

Objectives The purposes of this study are: (1) to empirically identify decision-making preferences of long-term health-care use, especially informal and formal home care (FHC) service use; (2) to evaluate outcomes vs. costs based on substitutability of informal and FHC service use; and (3) to investigate health outcome disparity based on substitutability. Methodology and data The methods of ordinary least squares, a logit model, and a bivariate probit model are used by controlling for socioeconomic, demographic, and physical/mental health factors to investigate outcomes and costs based substitutability of informal and formal health-care use. The data come from the 2013 Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), which is designed by Keizai-Sangyo Kenkyu-jo, Hitotsubashi University, and the University of Tokyo. The JSTAR is a globally comparable data survey of the elderly. Results There exists a complement relationship between the informal home care (IHC) and community-based FHC services, and the elasticity’s ranges from 0.18 to 0.22. These are reasonable results, which show that unobservable factors are positively related to IHC and community-based FHC, but negatively related to nursing home (NH) services based on our bivariate probit model. Regarding health-care outcome efficiency issue, the IHC is the best one among three types of elderly care: IHC, community-based FHC, and NH services. Health improvement/outcome of elderly with the IHC is heavier concentrated on IHC services than the elderly care services by community-based FHC and NH care services. Conclusion Policy makers need to address a diversity of health outcomes and efficiency of services based on providing services to elderly through resource allocation to the different types of long-term care. A provision of partial or full compensation for elderly care at home is recommendable and a viable option to improve their quality of lives.