Suchergebnisse

What impact do marriage and divorce have on wealth? US data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), which tracks individuals in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, show that over time single respondents slowly increase their net worth. Married respondents experience per person net worth increases of 77 percent over single respondents. Additionally, their wealth increases on average 16 percent for each year of marriage. Divorced respondents' wealth starts falling four years before divorce and they experience an average wealth drop of 77 percent. While in percentage terms divorce hurts women more than men, the absolute difference is relatively small in the US.

Since official U.S. poverty measures are based solely on income, the amount of wealth held by a family is immaterial in determining their poverty status. This research expands the poverty definition to encompass a family's total financial resources. While most income-poor families have little or no wealth, approximately one-third have significant holdings. Using total financial resources both lowers average U.S. poverty rates over selected years from 15.2% of all families to a range between 8.8% and 11.3% and provides a measurement tool for tracking the effects of government wealth-building programs on families under the poverty line.

ObjectiveWe investigate the association between adult asthma and wealth, testing whether the disease impairs wealth accumulation (social selection model) or if wealth protects against asthma (social causation model).MethodsWe use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n = 7,644) and linear and logistic regressions to estimate the association between wealth and asthma. Changes in relative wealth following an asthma diagnosis and asthma status by increases in wealth through inheritance provide evidence on the causal direction.ResultsAsthma, particularly severe asthma, is associated with lower wealth. Wealth ranking does not change after a diagnosis of asthma, but inheriting a substantial sum is associated with a lower risk of severe asthma.ConclusionWealth appears to protect against severe asthma, supporting the social causation model of disease.

ObjectivesWe test whether the phrase "Freshman 15" accurately describes weight change among first‐year college students. We also analyze freshmen's weight change during and after college.MethodsThis is the first investigation of the "Freshman 15" to use a nationally representative random sample, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97). The data are analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, simulations, and longitudinal analysis.ResultsFreshmen gain between 2.5 to 3.5 pounds, on average, over the course of their first year of college. Compared to same‐age noncollege attendees, the typical freshman gains only an additional half‐pound. Instead of a spike in weight during the freshman year, college‐educated individuals exhibit moderate but steady weight gain during and after college.ConclusionAnti‐obesity efforts directed specifically at college freshmen will likely have little impact on obesity prevalence among young adults.

"Decision making lies at the heart of most important business and government problems. The range of business decisions is vast: Should a high-tech company undertake a promising but expensive research and development (R&D) program? Should a petrochemical manufacturer cut the price of its best-selling industrial chemical in response to a new competitor's entry into the market? Should the management of a food product company launch a new product after mixed test-marketing results? Likewise, government decisions range far and wide: Should the Department of Transportation impose stricter rollover standards for sports utility vehicles? Should a city allocate funds for the construction of a harbor tunnel to provide easy airport and commuter access? These are all economic decisions. In each case, a sensible analysis of what decision to make requires a careful comparison of the advantages and disadvantages (often, but not always, measured in dollars) of alternative courses of action. Managerial economics is the analysis of major management decisions using the tools of economics. Managerial economics applies many familiar concepts from economics-demand and cost, monopoly and competition, the allocation of resources, and economic trade-offs-to aid managers in making better decisions. This book provides the framework and the economic tools needed to fulfill this goal. In this chapter, we begin our study of managerial economics by stressing decision-making applications. In the first section, we introduce seven decision examples, all of which we will analyze in detail later in the text. Although these examples cover only some applications of economic analysis, they represent the breadth of managerial economics and are intended to whet the reader's appetite. Next, we present a basic model of the decision-making process as a framework in which to apply economic analysis. This model proposes six steps to help structure complicated decisions so that they may be clearly analyzed"--