Nicolas Gérard Vaillant

Origin differences in self-reported health among older migrants living in France

OBJECTIVES Little is known about the health status of older migrants living in Europe. Using detailed data collected in 2003, this study investigated differences in health status by country of origin within the older immigrant population living in France using a self-rated health measure. STUDY DESIGN The database used in this research was the Passage à la Retraite des Immigrés survey, conducted from November 2002 to February 2003 on a sample of 6211 migrants aged 45-70 years and living in France at the time of the survey. METHODS A difficulty with a self-rated outcome is that it may not be comparable between different origin groups, particularly because of cultural and linguistic differences. Therefore, generalized ordered Probit models were estimated, and an indicator of health, net of cross-cultural effects was constructed for each respondent. RESULTS This study found that male immigrants from southern Africa and Asia, and female immigrants from northern Europe, southern Africa and Asia are more likely to be in good health, while the health status is lower among immigrants from Eastern Europe living in France. CONCLUSION The diversity in health status within the immigrant population is large in France. These results are helpful in order to target the more disadvantaged origin groups and to adjust the provision of health care.

Are “Legal Highs” Users Satisfied? Evidence from Online Customer Comments

This article describes the results of a clustering analysis of more than 2,100 comments posted by online purchasers of “Legal Highs” on five websites in 2012. The aim is to investigate the reasons for satisfaction/dissatisfaction on the part of legal highs users. Our results show that the reasons for satisfaction depend on the price/quality ratio and the real effects of the product (compared to illicit drugs). Dissatisfaction seems to stem from the disparity between the advertising of the product and its real quality. We conclude that online purchasers are certainly illicit drug users who consider legal highs as substitution products.

Efficiency of purchasing and selling agents in markets with quality uncertainty: The case of illicit drug transactions

Since Akerlof’s theory of lemons, economists have viewed quality uncertainty as an informational advantage for sellers. Drawing on frontier techniques, we propose in this paper a simple method for measuring inefficiency of both sellers and buyers in markets for goods with different levels of quality. We apply a non-parametric robust double-frontier framework to the case of illicit substance markets, which suffer from imperfect information about drug quality for purchasers and to a lesser extent for sellers. We use unique data on cannabis and cocaine transactions collected in France that include information about price, quantity exchanged and purity. We find that transactional inefficiency does not really benefit either dealers or purchasers. Furthermore, information influences the performance of agents during market transactions.

On the reliability of self-reported health: Evidence from Albanian data

This paper investigates the reliability of self-assessed measures of health using panel data collected in Albania by the World Bank in 2002, 2003 and 2004 through the Living Standard Measurement Study project. As the survey includes questions on a self-assessed measure of health and on more objective health problems, both types of information are combined with a view to understanding how respondents change their answers to the self-reported measures over time. Estimates from random effects ordered Probit models show that differences in self-reported subjective health between individuals are much more marked than those over time, suggesting a strong state dependence in subjective health status. The empirical analysis also reveals respondent consistency, from both a subjective and an objective viewpoint. Self-reported health is much more influenced by permanent shocks than by more transitory illness or injury.

The role of family incomes in cigarette smoking: Evidence from French students

In this paper, we study the smoking behavior of students aged from 18 to 25 using four cross-section data sets collected in France from 1997 to 2006. We focus on the role played by student income and parental resources. We find that both the probability of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked are positively correlated to family resources. Among students, only wages earned and transfers received from parents increase smoking participation. However, sensitivity to income remains weak since a rise of 1% in income of either the students or their parents leads to an increase in smoking prevalence of about 0.15-0.20%.

Price elasticity of demand for cannabis: does potency matter?

Abstract Using high-quality data collected in France in 2005 from more than 250 regular cannabis users, we estimate both quantity discount and price elasticity of cannabis net of the effect of perceived quality and real potency. We find evidence of substantial price discount and obtain a short-term price consumption elasticity ranging from −1.7 to −2.1, meaning that the demand for cannabis is elastic. Controlling for potency, either real or perceived, has little effect on the magnitude of the discount effect – even if customers are ready to pay more when their perception of the product quality is high – and no impact on price elasticity.

The use of expert opinion, quality and reputation indicators by consumers: evidence from the French vaulting stallion semen market

We build a model inspired by the standard hedonic approach developed by Rosen (1974) and completed by Landon and Smith (1997, 1998) to analyse the price of French vaulting stallion semen in 2004. We show that reputation, modelled as an endogenous factor, plays a less important role than information on true quality for the explanation of price dispersion. This result is explained by the fact that information on studhorses is not only available but also reliable, insofar as the quality of a stallion is stable over time, contrary to nondurable products like wine or cigars. This explains also why consumers on this market do not use expert opinions to make their choices.

Is injury compensation inequitable? Evidence from road accidents victims in France

This article analyses the heterogeneous character of compensation amounts awarded by insurance companies and the courts. The information source – the Association for Insurance Risk Information (AGIRA) database – covers all surviving victims of injuries resulting from road accidents in France over the period 2002 to 2008. Three results emerge: first, compensation amounts awarded under different headings – Partial Permanent Incapacity (PPI), solatium (emotional harm), disfigurement and loss of amenity – are not determined independently of each other; second, victim characteristics, notably age and sex, play a major part; and third, inequalities of treatment across the country are strikingly low.

Understanding how experts rate cigars: a 'havanometric' analysis

Drawing on data from an annual French guidebook published in 2004, this article focuses on the determinants of experts’ ratings on Cuban cigars. We find that high quality cigars are more likely to be recommended to more experienced cigar lovers. Both the self-assessed quality and recommendation depend on the length and diameter of the cigars, but also on more subjective characteristics like number and type of aromas. Results from a Fields’ decomposition show that the quality of cigars is much more sensitive to the presence of a defect and number of aromas than the experts’ recommendation, which is more influenced by the rarity of cigars. Finally, it is essentially the cigars’ objective characteristics that have an influence on their prices, meaning that consumers truly benefit from additional qualitative information when reading experts’ advice and ratings.

New Firm Survival: Isolating the Role of Founders' Human Capital in Accounting for Firm Longevity

The effect of the stock of human capital of entrepreneurs on business longevity is not clear-cut. Our study is based on a wide and comprehensive data set of more than 200,000 entrepreneurs settled in France over three cohorts (1994, 1998, and 2002). We highlight a positive correlation of both general (education) and specific (training) components of the stock of human capital with survival and show that these components appear to be substitutes. Our results also indicate that the magnitudes of the education and training effects seem to be considerably lower for necessity-driven entrepreneurs.