Econ Lit Research Articles

2352 Disease burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults 60+ in the United Kingdom: targeted literature review (TLR)

Abstract Introduction It is increasingly clear that RSV infections in older adults significantly impact the UKs already strained public health system. However, the true burden remains underestimated (Korsten K, Eur Respir J, 2021, 57, 2,002,688; Sharp A, Influenza Other Respir Viruses, 2022, 16, 125–131). We conducted a TLR to scrutinise the available data and reveal evidence gaps. Methods A TLR search was conducted in OVID Medline, Embase, and ECON Lit to identify existing literature from Jan 2011-Aug 2023 and grey literature. Eligibility criteria were defined based on population (intervention/comparator (no limit), outcomes (clinical, epidemiological, economic and QoL) and limited to UK-only results. Results Despite the broad criteria, only 14 out of 1013 studies were included. Nine studies reported on epidemiological outcomes, one on epidemiology and costs, and four on model outcomes. Due to the small number of studies and the heterogeneity in study design and outcomes, it was not possible to draw reliable conclusions on incidence, prevalence, and mortality. One model paper showed that a hypothetical RSV vaccine could be cost effective in the UK, depending on incidence, vaccine effectiveness and cost. All identified studies emphasise the challenges in estimating the true burden due to limitations in testing and a lack of standardised disease definition in older adults. There is a lack of evidence for risk groups, particularly clinical and economic consequences for RSV patients at a higher risk of infection and severe sequelae. Conclusion Only a limited number of studies meeting the criteria focused on RSV infection in older adults were found, with nearly no data on risk groups and related cost. It is imperative that surveillance and testing are improved to understand the true burden. This will serve as a basis for evaluating cost-effectiveness and decisions on the most effective measures to lower the burden, including vaccination programmes.

The impact of excess body weight on employment outcomes: A systematic review of the evidence

BackgroundExcess body weight has been recognised as an important factor in influencing labour market outcomes. Several hypotheses explain the causal effect of excess body weight on employment outcomes, including productivity, labour supply, and discrimination. In this review, we provide a systematic synthesis of the evidence on the causal impact of excess body weight on labour market outcomes worldwide. MethodsWe searched Econ Lit, and Web of Science databases for relevant studies published from 1st Jan 2010–20 th Jan 2023. Studies were included if they were either longitudinal analysis, pooled cross-sectional or cross-sectional studies if they used instrumental variable methodology based on Mendelian Randomisation. Only studies with measures of body weight and employment outcomes were included. ResultsThe number of potentially relevant studies constituted 4321 hits. A total of 59 studies met the inclusion criteria and were qualitatively reviewed by the authors. Most of the included studies were conducted in the USA (N=18), followed by the UK (N=9), Germany (N=6), Finland (N=4), and non-EU countries (N=22). Evidence from the included studies suggests that the effect of excess weight differs by gender, ethnicity, country, and time period. White women with excess weight in the USA, the UK, Germany, Canada, and in the EU (multi-country analyses) are less likely to be employed, and when employed they face lower wages compared to normal weight counterparts. For men there is no effect of excess weight on employment outcomes or the magnitude of the effect is much smaller or even positive in some cases. ConclusionsThis review has shown that despite ample research on the relationship between excess weight and employment status and wages, robust causal evidence of the effects of excess weight on employment outcomes remains scarce and relies significantly on strong statistical and theoretical assumptions. Further research into these relationships outside of USA and Western Europe context is needed.

The impact of overweight on employment outcomes: a review of the evidence

Abstract Background Overweight has been recognised as a significant public health issue. Several hypotheses have been posed to explain the impact of overweight on employment outcomes, including the role of productivity, labour supply, and discrimination. In this review, we provide a systematic synthesis of the evidence on the causal impact of overweight on labour market outcomes worldwide. Methods We searched Econ Lit, Medline, and Web of Science databases for relevant studies from 1st Jan 2010 to 20th Jan 2023. Studies were included if they were either longitudinal analysis, pooled cross-sectional or cross-sectional studies if they used Mendelian Randomisation methodology and have been published since 2010. Only those studies with measures of overweight and employment outcomes were included. Results The number of potentially relevant studies constituted 4,321 hits. A total of 59 studies met the inclusion criteria and were qualitatively reviewed by the authors. Most of the included studies were carried out in the USA (N = 18), followed by the UK (N = 9), Germany (N = 6), Finland (N = 4), and non-EU countries (N = 22). Evidence from the included studies suggests that the overweight effect differs by gender, ethnicity, country, and time period. White women with obesity in the USA, the UK, Germany, Canada, and in the EU (multi-country analyses) are more likely to experience overweight/obesity related labour market penalties such as reduced likelihood of employment, and when employed they also face lower wages compared to non-overweight counterparts. For men there is no evidence of an effect of overweight on employment outcomes or the magnitude of the effect is much smaller or even positive in some cases. Conclusions This review has shown that despite ample research on the impact of overweight on employment status and wages, robust causal evidence on the effects of weight status on employment outcomes remains scarce and relies significantly on strong statistical and theoretical assumptions. Key messages • The first study to evaluate the evidence base and the methodology of studies that assessed the economic consequences of overweight. • There is a need for better identification approaches and more recent datasets, especially from low-income countries.

Cost-effectiveness of left atrial appendage closure for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: a systematic review appraising the methodological quality

BackgroundThe increasing global prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) has led to a growing demand for stroke prevention strategies, resulting in higher healthcare costs. High-quality economic evaluations of stroke prevention strategies can play a crucial role in maximising efficient allocation of resources. In this systematic review, we assessed the methodological quality of such economic evaluations.MethodsWe searched electronic databases of PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Econ Lit to identify model-based economic evaluations comparing the left atrial appendage closure procedure (LAAC) and oral anticoagulants published in English since 2000. Data on study characteristics, model-based details, and analyses were collected. The methodological quality was evaluated using the modified Economic Evaluations Bias (ECOBIAS) checklist. For each of the 22 biases listed in this checklist, studies were categorised into one of four groups: low risk, partial risk, high risk due to inadequate reporting, or high risk. To gauge the overall quality of each study, we computed a composite score by assigning + 2, 0, − 1 and − 2 to each risk category, respectively.ResultsIn our analysis of 12 studies, majority adopted a healthcare provider or payer perspective and employed Markov Models with the number of health states varying from 6 to 16. Cost-effectiveness results varied across studies. LAAC displayed a probability exceeding 50% of being the cost-effective option in six out of nine evaluations compared to warfarin, six out of eight evaluations when compared to dabigatran, in three out of five evaluations against apixaban, and in two out of three studies compared to rivaroxaban. The methodological quality scores for individual studies ranged from 10 to − 12 out of a possible 24. Most high-risk ratings were due to inadequate reporting, which was prevalent across various biases, including those related to data identification, baseline data, treatment effects, and data incorporation. Cost measurement omission bias and inefficient comparator bias were also common.ConclusionsWhile most studies concluded LAAC to be the cost-effective strategy for stroke prevention in AF, shortcomings in methodological quality raise concerns about reliability and validity of results. Future evaluations, free of these shortcomings, can yield stronger policy evidence.

Hedging behavior of agribusiness cooperatives and investor-owned firms in Germany

While agriculture is unique with respect to the prevalence of producer owned cooperatives (coops) operating alongside and investor owned firms (IOFs), little is known about their relative reliance on futures markets to hedge commodity price risk. This study investigates factors influencing the hedging behavior of both business forms and finds that each are significantly impacted by the perspective of key influencers of their decision making units (e.g., employees, members, shareholders, board of directors, advisors, consultants, bankers). Notably, coops are found to be more likely to hedge using futures but do so more sparingly (i.e., lower hedging ratios), which may reflect an ability to conduct natural hedges internally and/or less speculative positions taken in futures markets. [Econ Lit classification: Q130].

Sick Leave Determinants in the Healthcare Sector (Part II): A Review of Organizational-Level Factors.

Background: Organizational level factors may influence and contribute to sick leave in healthcare, and particularly hospital, settings. We utilize relevant publications from recent literature to provide a useful, comprehensive and evidence-based resource for readers interested in effective human resource management and healthcare or hospital workforce planning. Methods: To ensure that pertinent papers (2004 – 2022) were identified, a systematic literature review was performed searching Google Scholar, Econ Lit, PubMed, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, Emerald Insight, Scopus, Medline, PsychInfo, and Web of Science databases. All abstracts were screened to identify papers that empirically investigated organizational level factors relevant to sickness absence in a healthcare population. A total of 452 papers were initially identified. These were reduced to 133 papers using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Key factors associated with sickness absence in healthcare staff were long hours worked, work overload, working conditions and stress, and the effects of these on personal lives; job control including lack of participation in decision making; poor social support. Other organizational-level factors such as size and type of organization reflected strong association with absence levels. Shorter distance from work and seniority of position are reported to have a strong negative association with absenteeism. Management leadership style and workload were not found to be determinants. Conclusions: Interventions that improved psychological health and levels of sickness absence used training and organizational approaches to increase participation in decision making and problem solving, increase support and feedback, and improve communication. Many of the work-related variables associated with high levels of psychosocial factors are potentially amenable to change. This is Part II of a series describing factors influencing absenteeism in the healthcare sector.

Sick Leave Determinants in the Healthcare Sector (Part I): A Review of Contextual Factors

Background: This study aims to describe contextual factors that influence and contribute to sick leave in healthcare, especially in hospital settings. This review would provide a valuable, comprehensive, and evidence-based resource for readers interested in effective human resource management and healthcare or hospital workforce planning. This review referred to studies on the determinants of absenteeism in the healthcare setting. Methods: To ensure that pertinent papers (2004 – 2022) were identified, a literature search was performed searching Google Scholar, Econ Lit, PubMed, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, Emerald Insight, Scopus, Medline, PsychInfo, and Web of Science. All abstracts were screened to identify papers that empirically investigated contextual factors of work absence in healthcare populations. A total of 126 papers were initially identified. These were reduced to 61 papers using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Contextual factors such as nature of work, cultural expectations, economic conditions, and seasonality have moderately strong associations with absence. There is a negative relationship between high psychological demands and work-related absenteeism. The key factors associated with sickness absence in healthcare staff were long hours worked, night shifts, changing rostering patterns, work overload and stress, physically demanding roles, poor social support. Other contextual factors such as cultural norms and expectations that support poor attendance reflected strong association with absence levels. Economic conditions are negatively associated with absenteeism as a result of job security fears. Absenteeism is more pronounced during winter and school holidays. Conclusions: The review concluded that interventions such as screening the prior attendance levels of potential employees would assist greatly in terms of absenteeism rates, while monitoring current absence patterns of existing employees will negate the development of cultural norms in the workplace. Many of the contextual related variables associated with high levels of absenteeism are reducible with the development of screening and monitoring tools.

Defining Pooled' Place-Based' Budgets for Health and Social Care: A Scoping Review.

Introduction:Current descriptions of pooled budgets in the literature pose challenges to good quality evaluation of their contribution to integrated care. Addressing this gap is increasingly important given the shift from early models of integrated care targeting segments of the population, to more recent approaches that aim to target ‘places’, broader geographically defined populations. This review draws on the current international evidence to describe practical examples of pooled health and social care budgets, highlighting specific place-based approaches.Methods:We initially conducted a scoping review, a systematic database search (‘Medline’, ‘Embase’, ‘Econ Lit’ and ‘Google Scholar’) complemented by further snowballing for academic and ‘grey literature’ publications (1995 – 2020). Results were analysed thematically according to budget characteristics and macro-environment, with additional specific case studies.Results:Thirty-six primary studies were included, describing ten broad models of pooled budgets across seven countries. Most budgets targeted specific sub-populations rather than an entire geographically defined population. Specific budget structures varied and were generally under-described. The closest place-based models were for small populations and implemented in a national health system, or insurance-based with natural geographical boundaries.Conclusion:Despite their increasing relevance in the current political debate, pooled place-based budgets are still at an early stage of implementation and research. Adequate description is required for future meta-analysis of effectiveness on outcomes.

Submodular financial markets with frictions

This paper studies arbitrage-free financial markets with bid-ask spreads whose super-hedging prices are submodular. The submodular assumption on the super-hedging price, or the supermodularity usually assumed on utility functions, is the formal expression of perfect complementarity, which dates back to Fisher, Pareto, and Edgeworth, according to Samuelson (J Econ Lit 12:1255–1289, 1974). Our main contribution provides several characterizations of financial markets with frictions that are submodular as a consequence of a more general study of submodular pricing rules. First, a market is submodular if and only if its super-hedging price is a Choquet integral and if and only if its set of risk-neutral probabilities is representable as the core of a submodular non-additive probability that is uniquely defined, called risk-neutral capacity. Second, a market is representable by its risk neutral capacity if and only if it is equivalent to a market, only composed of bid-ask event securities.

Equal chances, unequal outcomes? Network-based evolutionary learning and the industrial dynamics of superstar firms

With the advent of platform economies and the increasing availability of online price comparisons, many empirical markets now select on relative rather than absolute performance. This feature might give rise to the ‘winner takes all/most’ phenomenon, where tiny initial productivity differences amount to large differences in market shares. We study the effect of heterogeneous initial productivities arising from locally segregated markets on aggregate outcomes, e.g., regarding revenue distributions. Several of those firm-level characteristics follow distributional regularities or ‘scaling laws’ (Brock in Ind Corp Change 8(3):409–446, 1999). Among the most prominent are Zipf’s law describing the largest firms‘ extremely concentrated size distribution and the robustly fat-tailed nature of firm size growth rates, indicating a high frequency of extreme growth events. Dosi et al. (Ind Corp Change 26(2):187–210, 2017b) recently proposed a model of evolutionary learning that can simultaneously explain many of these regularities. We propose a parsimonious extension to their model to examine the effect for deviations in market structure from global competition, implicitly assumed in Dosi et al. (2017b). This extension makes it possible to disentangle the effects of two modes of competition: the global competition for sales and the localised competition for market power, giving rise to industry-specific entry productivity. We find that the empirically well-established combination of ‘superstar firms’ and Zipf tail is consistent only with a knife-edge scenario in the neighbourhood of most intensive local competition. Our model also contests the conventional wisdom derived from a general equilibrium setting that maximum competition leads to minimum concentration of revenue (Silvestre in J Econ Lit 31(1):105–141, 1993). We find that most intensive local competition leads to the highest concentration, whilst the lowest concentration appears for a mild degree of (local) oligopoly. Paradoxically, a level playing field in initial conditions might induce extreme concentration in market outcomes.

Prevalence of Depression among Stroke Survivors in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of depression among stroke survivors in India.ParticipantsStroke survivors diagnosed with depression.OutcomesPrevalence of Depression.MethodsCochrane systematic review methods were followed. The literature search was from 1960-2019. We searched the following electronic databases Medline, ERIC, Embase, IndMED, PsycEXTRA, Global Health, Cochrane, CENTRAL Register, Econ Lit, and conference abstracts to identify studies for inclusion. A search strategy was appropriately developed and performed from May 2019 to December 2019. All included studies were assessed for their content and methodological quality using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist.ResultsA total of 15 studies were included in this study. Prevalence of post-stroke depression in the studies varied from 24% to 90%. The pooled prevalence was 55% (95% CI 43%, 65%) with high heterogeneity (I2=94.83%). Prevalence also varied between the tools (HAMD -60%, GDS -70%, HADS -40%). The overall methodological quality of the included studies was very poor.ConclusionIt is evident from the meta-analysis that about half of those who survive a stroke experience post-stroke depression. The methods and tools used to investigate this was not rigorous and homogeneous. Hence results of this review imply the need to rigorously assess and effectively address post-stroke depression in India. Also, this review recommends future research to ensure methodological quality and generalizability of the study findings. This would help develop scalable, innovative public health intervention for post-stroke depression in the future.

Does social trust affect international contracting? Evidence from foreign bond covenants

Building on rational choice institutionalism theory and Williamson’s (J Econ Lit 38(3): 595–613, 2000) four-level social analysis framework, we investigate the influence of the informal institution of social trust on debt contract design in an international setting. Using a sample of non-U.S. firms that issue bonds in the U.S. debt market, we find that Yankee bond creditors impose fewer covenants on bond issuers domiciled in countries with a high degree of social trust. We further show that the inverse relationship between debt covenants and the informal institution of social trust is more pronounced for firms from countries with weak formal institutions, as well as for firms with poor corporate governance and greater information opacity. These findings are robust to endogeneity tests, within-country analysis, various empirical models and measures of trust, and alternative hypotheses. We also show that, while a lower level of informal social trust is associated with higher borrowing costs, this relationship weakens when formal covenants are added to the debt contract (i.e., a substitution effect). Our paper contributes to the international business literature by providing new insights into the role of informal institutions (social trust) in cross-border debt contracting.

Higher Education Students’ Mental Health Problems: Results from the Norwegian SHOT study

Abstract Highly educated people have better health than those without education. The number of young adults pursuing higher education is increasing; In 2015 almost half the Norwegian adult population had completed higher education (1). Studies have investigated horizontal stratification (i.e. differentiation within higher education) effects on labor market outcomes, but few have studied health returns from education (2). Data stem from a recent national student health survey from 2018 for higher education in Norway (the SHoT2018-study; N = 50 054, response rate = 30.8%). We examined the associations between level of ongoing education (One-year program, Bachelor, Master, longer professional education) and mental health problems measured with Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-25; 3. There was a pattern of decreasing symptoms of mental health problems with level of study program, F (5,49782) = 103,34, p < .001. The results formed a monotonic relationship; each level of increased education was associated with significantly less mental health problems. There was no difference between the Masters and professional programs. We found evidence of horizontal stratification of mental health problems in this large sample of Norwegian college and university students. The observed association may have three explanations; causality may run from schooling to health (4), it may run from health to schooling (5), or both may be determined third factors. Further studies should investigate mechanisms such as stigma and social status in relation to the observed associations (6,7). 1 OECD. (OECD Publishing, 2015), 2 Conti, G. et al. Am. Econ. Rev. 100, 234-238 (2010), 3 Derogatis, L. et al. Behavioral science 19, 1-15 (1974), 4 Grossman, Michael et al. in Handbook of the Economics of Education (eds. Eric A Hanushek & F. Welch) 1, (Elsevier, 2006), 5 Currie, J. J Econ Lit 47, 87-122 (2009), 6 Marmot, M. (Bloomsbury, 2004), 7 Hagquist, C. E. I. Eur J Public Health 17, 21-26 (2007) Key messages Increasing numbers of young adults pursue higher education, it is therefore important to investigate educational inequalities within higher education. College students pursuing higher education (masters or professional programs) have fewer mental health problems relative to college students enrolled in higher education, but at lower levels.

A Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal of the Quality of Studies Looking into the Economic Evaluation of Control Strategies for Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis and Schistosomiasis

Objectives. This research study aims to conduct a systematic review and critical appraisal of the quality of the existing peer-reviewed journal literature looking into the economic evaluation of control strategies used in parasitic diseases (i.e., STH and schistosomiasis).
 Methods. Database searches were conducted in Embase, Science Direct, Medline, CINAHL, Econ Lit, and Academic Search Elite, by using search keywords or phrases. Using the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, a review of published online articles between January 1990 and December 2012 was conducted. Aside from the set of good practice guidelines in conducting economic evaluations, assessment of the quality of economic evaluations was also carried out following the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist.
 Results. Given the inclusion and exclusion criteria set by this review, we systematically reviewed thirteen shortlisted samples of economic analysis studies. The current systematic review shows a wide variety of methodological approaches across studies, including differences in the type of economic evaluation, perspective, time horizon, approach, and adjustments for timing and certainty used.
 Conclusions. In general, the economic evaluation studies that have been examined in this review have complied with the set of criteria of good practice in conducting an economic evaluation and that it can be considered helpful in making decisions and in understanding the economics of controlling these parasitic diseases.

Aggregation biases in empirical Euler consumption equations: evidence from Spanish data

This paper investigates the implications of aggregation in empirical analyses of Euler equations for consumption. We compare the results obtained after estimating the same model using total and non-durable microeconomic consumption data, from the maximum aggregation level (Spanish National Accounts) to household data from the Spanish Expenditure Survey (Encuesta Continua de Presupuestos Familiares). We use this survey to build cohort and aggregate data to test the model using different aggregate measures for consumption. The results we obtain confirm the theoretical predictions summarised in Blundell and Stoker (J Econ Lit 43:347–391, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1257/0022051054661486) as well as in previous empirical evidence, i.e. aggregation turns out to be crucial to empirically study Euler equations for consumption (Attanasio and Weber in Rev Econ Stud 60:631–649, 1993. https://doi.org/10.2307/229812) or when simulating real business cycle models (Guvenen in J Monet Econ 53:1451–1472, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2005.06.001). The estimated elasticity of intertemporal substitution (EIS) with aggregated data is biased as compared with the corresponding estimate using microeconomic data. Further, we find that the size of the bias increases with the level of aggregation. Finally, our estimates confirm Hall (J Polit Econ 96:339–357, 1988. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2704067) result that the EIS is not statistically different from zero, unless panel data are used.

The Grecian horse: does immigration lead to the deterioration of American institutions?

Concerns about the institutional impact of immigration, particularly in the United States, are not new. We can trace them back to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. More recently, in response to a literature that questions the desirability of current immigration restrictions, Borjas (J Econ Lit 53:961–974, 2015) speculates that immigrants coming from countries with poor institutions could reduce substantially the institutional quality in the United States to a point where it could negate all economic gains associated with immigration in terms of GDP and income. Using the Economic Freedom of North America index since 1980, we find no evidence to corroborate Borjas’s concerns. However, we find mixed evidence that immigration increases minimum wages and union density.

Values in Time Discounting

Controversies about time discounting loom large in decisions about climate change. Prominently, a particularly controversial debate about time discounting in climate change decision-making has been conducted within climate economics, between the authors of Stern et al. (Stern review on the economics of climate change, 2006) and their critics (most prominently Dasgupta in Comments on the Stern review’s economics of climate change, 2006; Tol in Energy Environ 17(6):977–981, 2006; Weitzman in J Econ Lit XLV:703–724, 2007; Nordhaus in J Econ Lit XLV:686–702, 2007). The article examines the role of values in this debate. Firstly, it is shown that time discounting is a case in which values are key because it is at heart an ethical problem. Secondly, it is argued that time discounting in climate economics is a case of economists making frequent and routine references to ethical values and indeed conduct ethical debates with each other. Thirdly, it is argued that there is evidence for deep and pervasive entanglement between facts and values in the prevalent methodologies for time discounting. Finally, it is argued that this means that economists have given up the ‘value-free ideal’ concerning time discounting, and discussed how the current methodology of time discounting in economics can be improved.

Do You Enjoy Having More Than Others or More Than Another? Exploring the Relationship Between Relative Concerns and the Size of the Reference Group

There are ample evidences that individual satisfaction does not depend exclusively on individual situation (namely on individual income and leisure) but also on one’s relative position, namely on how one’s situation lies relatively to the situation of other referent agents (Clark and Oswald in J Public Econ 61(3):359–381, 1996. doi: 10.1016/0047-2727(95)01564-7 ; Solnick and Hemenway in J Econ Behav Organ 37(3):373–383, 1998. doi: 10.1016/S0167-2681(98)00089-4 ; Luttmer in Q J Econ 120(3):963–1002, 2005. doi: 10.1162/003355305774268255 ). The study of relative concerns is rich (Clark et al. in J Econ Lit 46(1):95–144, 2008. doi: 10.1257/jel.46.1.95 ; Clark and Senik in Econ J 120(544):573–594, 2010. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02359.x ; Solnick and Hemenway 1998) but still the relationship between relative concerns and the size of the reference group is still unexplored. In this paper, we elicit individuals’ relative concerns and we manipulate the size of the reference group (single reference agent vs. multiple reference agents). We conduct two studies, one in which we manipulate the size of the reference group (Study One) and another one in which we control for the identity of the reference group and modulate the size (Study Two). In both studies, we find that the size of the reference group modulates relative preferences. Interestingly, we show that individuals are more likely to prefer Pareto efficient situations and less likely to exhibit relative concerns when the reference group is of small size.

Impacts of Falling Crude Oil Prices and Reduction of Energy Subsidies on the Indian Economy: A CGE Modelling Approach

This study analyzes the impacts of international crude oil fluctuations and energy subsidy (on LPG, petrol and diesel) removals on Indian economy. We have applied computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling as our relevant methodology, following Shoven and Whalley ( J Econ Lit XXII: 1007–1051, 1984) based on energy social accounting matrix (ESAM) of India for the year 2007–2008. It is seen that the international crude oil price fluctuations has a greater effect in determining gross domestic product (GDP) and exchange rate as compared to the effect of energy subsidy removal. With decrease in international crude oil price, GDP increases and exchange rate appreciates. On the other hand, with decrease in energy subsidy, GDP decreases and exchange rate appreciates. Moreover, with introduction of direct cash transfer scheme in lieu of subsidy for LPG, it is seen that the impact on demand of LPG (substitution effect) is negligible indicating that LPG is an essential commodity.

The Impact of Environmental Policy Stringency on Industrial R&D Conditional on Pollution Intensity and Relocation Costs

Stringent environmental regulations may encourage industrial innovation, as technological advancements lower the cost of pollution abatement (Popp et al. in Handbook of the economics of innovation, vol II. Academic Press, Burlington, pp 873–938, 2010). The pollution-havens hypothesis, on the other hand, indicates that, rather than innovating, dirty industries may relocate to countries with less stringent environmental regulations (Copeland and Taylor in J Econ Lit 42(1):7–71, 2004). Thus, more stringent environmental regulations may increase or decrease innovative activities. This paper examines empirically the impact of environmental regulations on R&D intensities and R&D expenditures in 21 manufacturing industries in 28 OECD countries from 2000 to 2007. I consider pollution intensity and the relative ease of relocation (immobility) as industry characteristics that determine the optimal industry response to increased environmental policy stringency. I find that more pollution intensive industries innovate less as regulatory environments become more restrictive relative to less pollution intensive industries. At the same time, more immobile industries innovate more than more mobile industries as environmental regulations become more stringent, illustrating innovation as an alternative to relocation.