Stephan F. Gohmann

Economic Freedom and Service Industry Growth in the United States

The growth of an economy depends upon entrepreneurial activities leading to the formation of new businesses and the production of new goods and services. In turn, institutions influence entrepreneurial activity. Public policy is an attribute of the institutions under which entrepreneurs operate. One element of the institutional environment is the degree of economic freedom under which entrepreneurs form and operate their business activities. The degree of economic freedom affects not only profit opportunities for entrepreneurs, but also the level and the type of economic activities they pursue. We examine how the entrepreneurial activity and level of employment in U.S. service industries respond to changes in the degree of economic freedom among states. Our findings suggest that the relationship between entrepreneurial outcomes and economic freedom varies significantly by industry. In some industries, such as business and personal services, increases in economic freedom lead to growth in the number of firms and the level of employment. However, the reverse is true for other industries, such as health, social, and legal services.

Institutions, Latent Entrepreneurship, and Self‐Employment: An International Comparison

This paper examines how the institutional environment in 18 countries affects the self–employment decision, as well as the preferences of latent entrepreneurs—individuals who prefer to be self–employed. Latent entrepreneurs fall into two groups, those who are currently self–employed and those who are not—the “truly latent entrepreneurs.” These two groups differ in their responses to changes in the institutional environment. An occupational choice model where institutions affect switching costs informs the empirical model. As institutions such as economic freedom improve, preferences for self–employment increase for both groups, but the effect is greater for those who are currently self–employed.

Test Scrambling and Student Performance.

During the past several years, as budgets have become tighter, many colleges have increased the size of the typical principles of economics class. Lecture classes of more than one hundred students have become common, and many instructors who formerly used essay exams have switched to more easily graded multiple-choice exams. Such a change troubles many faculty members because of the increased potential for cheating. One method of counteracting this potential is to use multiple forms of the same exam. Typically, a professor creates one form of the exam and then asks a secretary to create another form by rearranging the questions. This procedure produces one content-ordered exam that matches the order in which the material was presented in class and one exam that has a scrambled order. Students may perform better on a content-ordered exam because they have less test anxiety. They may also glean information about one question from previous questions and might concentrate better if they do not have to jump from one topic to another. For these reasons, some professors question whether the ordered exam and the scrambled exam are actually the same exam. If different exam formats produce different student performances, grading all students on the same curve might be inappropriate.

Emotional and Psychological Consequences of Sexual Harassment: A Descriptive Study

The emotional and psychological consequences of sexual harassment were investigated. On the basis of previous empirical evidence concerning the correlates of sexual harassment, the role of the working relationship between harasser and target, type of harassment, gender composition of the work group, duration of the harassment, and gender were examined in relation to two psychological states: feelings about work and emotional/physical condition.

Does Use of CAM for Specific Health Problems Increase With Reduced Access to Care

The objective of this paper was to determine predictors of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among individuals with specific health problems. Data were derived from the 1998 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). After adjustment for potential confounders, individuals with perceived barriers to obatining care were more likely to use any CAM treatment (OR 2.16), herbal therapy (OR 2.70) and spiritual care (OR 3.99) for a specific health problem. Individuals dissatisfied with their family’s access to care were more likely to use acupuncture (OR 3.43). Dissatisfaction with quality of care was associated with increased use of spiritual therapy (OR 4.74). Perceptions of inadequate access to health care may contribute to utilization of CAM therapies; such therapies in this instance appear to be used as an alternative to mainstream medicine.

Quality-of-Life Assessment When There Is a Loss of Income

Purpose. The current study aims to provide the first empirical evidence demonstrating whether people automatically consider morbidity costs when assessing the quality of life for a health state. Methods. One hundred eighty-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: 1) those participants who were not informed of morbidity costs and 2) those participants who were informed of morbidity costs. Students were asked to read a description of a health state and to assign an assessment of quality of life for the health state described by the use of the paper standard gamble. Results. The overall mean quality of life for the informed group was significantly lower than that of the uninformed group (P < 0.0001, F = 24.2, df = 1, 179). Similarly, there is a significant difference between illness severity levels in mean quality of life (P < 0.0001, F = 29.5, df = 2, 178). No statistically significant interaction between level of illness severity and prior knowledge was observed (P = 0.5904, F = 0.53, df = 2, 178). Therefore, the authors fit a model removing the interaction term. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that those subjects informed of morbidity costs score quality of life lower than do subjects unin-formed of morbidity costs. To accurately represent the effectiveness of an intervention, the authors argue that morbidity costs should be included in the description of health states.

Challenges and Costs Related to Recruitment of Female Adolescents for Clinical Research

Addressing health issues in adolescents is a national priority. However, recruitment of adolescents into research studies can be challenging and costly. The purpose of this article was to compare procedures, costs, and challenges in recruiting female adolescents from two hospitals and two high schools in an urban area of the southern United States. Three studies will be described. The findings indicate that the choice of recruitment procedures and sites has major implications for study budget in terms of personnel time as well as for the timeline of the study.

Salesforce automation, perceived information accuracy and user satisfaction

Purpose – This paper examines how perceptions about salesforce automation (SFA) systems are influenced by the perceived accuracy of the information the system provides.Design/methodology/approach – Three hypotheses are tested. They are as follows. Sales people who perceive that the information is inaccurate will be less likely to: have a positive perception of the system; think that their training was helpful; and think that the system improves their productivity. Chi‐square tests are used to test the association between the perceptions of information accuracy and the statements in the hypotheses.Findings – Negative perceptions about the accuracy of information leads to negative perceptions about other aspects of the SFA system.Research limitations/implications – This study examines the results for only one particular organization. The results may not be generalizable to other organizations. As similar data about other SFA systems become available, this study can be used as a basis for examining the effec...

Why are There so Few Breweries in the South

Most southern states have fewer breweries per population than the rest of the country. This paper examines why. The main outcome is that in the South, the number of breweries is negatively associated with higher campaign contributions from big breweries, the number of beer distributors per capita, and the Southern Baptist adherence rate. In the non–South, these associations are insignificant or positive. The limited number of breweries in the South follows the idea of bootleggers and Baptists where those who gain economically from limited competition—large breweries and distributors—side with groups morally opposed to alcohol to keep breweries out.

The dependent tax exemption, abortion availability, and US fertility rates

The impact of the personal income tax dependent exemption, abortion availability, and other factors on fertility rates is analyzed. US time series data for 1915–88 are used in the empirical model. The results indicate that greater abortion availability in the USA is associated with lower fertility. A higher value of the dependent exemption generally is associated with higher fertility, but the magnitude and significance of the effect is sensitive to specification choice. The results suggest that restricting abortion availability in the USA will increase the fertility rate, but a change in the tax value of the dependent exemption will have a less predictable impact on fertility.