Laurence Miners

Gender-Based Differences in Life Insurance Ownership

This article estimates the influence of income and the value of household production on the amount of life insurance purchases for both husbands and wives, and investigates whether the response of life insurance purchases to these two key motives differs by gender. The results indicate that there are meaningful differences between husbands and wives in their demand for life insurance functions. Although money income is the most significant determinant of life insurance holdings for both husbands and wives, there is evidence that contributions to household production also influence the purchase of life insurance.

Individual vs. household determinants of the demand for medical care: A study of rural families

This article investigates, from a household perspective, the demand for medical care. Earlier (economic) studies have typically focused on individual utilization patterns; however, the data set employed here allows for an investigation of the role of other family members on individual demand. The theoretical results suggest that the labor force status (via the wage rate) of one family member may, in addition to influencing that persons rate of medical care use, effect the utilization of other household members. Separate physician visit demand equations are estimated for husbands, wives, and the household unit. The empirical results indicate that the wifes (full) cost of receiving medical care is a significant determinant of utilization by both the husband and other family members. Overall, the findings suggest that demand studies should take the presence of other household members and family structure into consideration when analyzing the determinants of individual medical care utilization.

Economics And Electronic Spreadsheets: Interdisciplinary Economics In Education

This paper discusses a model we developed for using the computer to help introductory students learn economics. Each semester that we teach introduction to macro or micro, students inevitably make statements such as, “I know the theory but I don’t understand the graphs”, or “I understand the problems when you work them in class but I cant do them on the exams”, or even “The problems you did in class were easy, but the problems on the test were hard”. Strober and Cook (1992) carefully documented these types of student responses by viewing videotapes of students discussing course material. The authors found that difficulties were rooted in students’ inability to understand basic concepts and then to apply those concepts to graphical or mathematical constructs. Students are able to accumulate information, but cannot use it. Fels (1990) relates the story of a student who knows that a higher price means a lower quantity demanded, but when asked whether an increase in the price of gasoline will lower quantity demanded, responds “no, because people have to use their cars to get to work and school” (p. 89). These examples illustrate the difficulty that students often have when they attempt to apply economic concepts.