High-income People Research Articles

The Gothenburg congestion charges: cost\u2013benefit analysis and distribution effects

This paper performs an ex-post cost–benefit and distribution analysis of the Gothenburg congestion charges introduced in 2013, based on observed effects and an ex-post evaluated transport model. Although Gothenburg is a small city with congestion limited to the highway junctions, the congestion charge scheme is socially beneficial, generating a net surplus of €20 million per year. From a financial perspective, the investment cost was repaid in slightly more than a year and, from a social surplus perspective, is repaid in < 4 years. Still, the sums that are redistributed in Gothenburg are substantially larger than the net benefit. In the distribution analysis we develop an alternative welfare rule, where the utility is translated to money by dividing the utility by the average marginal utility of money, thereby avoiding putting a higher weight on high-income people. The alternative welfare rule shows larger re-distribution effects, because paying charges is more painful for low-income classes due to the higher marginal utility of money. Low-income citizens pay a larger share of their income because all income classes are highly car dependent in Gothenburg and workers in the highest income class have considerably higher access to company cars for private trips. No correlation was found between voting pattern and gains, losses or net gain.

MARKETING RESEARCH OF FITNESS SERVICES MARKET IN RUSSIA AND ST. PETERSBURG

The aim of the article is a marketing research of fitness services in Russia and St. Petersburg. The object of research is the market of fitness services in Russia and St. Petersburg. The article reviews the world market of fitness services to achieve the set area. Development of the fitness sector takes place in the United States, because in this country fitness has been a public industry. In Russia, the fitness was created for high-income people at first. The increase in market capacity in Russia is due to an active promotion of sports and healthy lifestyle in the period from 2010 to 2017.The biggest players of fitness services market develop commercial offers for different segments. The article analyzes the impact of external factors on the market by means of the PEST-analysis. Carried out an audit of the marketing microenvironment by means of the Michael Porter’s model of five forces. A researching result is developed recommendations for the prevention of threats affected the market of fitness services.

Planning of public housing in modern Tianjin (1928–1945)

ABSTRACTEuropean, American, and Japanese debates on public housing served as models for those in modern China, and Chinese scholars and professionals, with the support of the KMT (Kuomintang), developed public housing as a sign of innovation in both societal reform and building typology. Using the under-researched case of Tianjin's public housing during the so-called Nanjing Decade (1928–1937) and then again during the Japanese Occupation (1937–1945) as case studies, the paper first explores how journals, books, and foreign-trained Chinese scholars introduced the concept of public housing to China. It then examines five public housing projects that municipal authorities developed for Tianjin, two in the Nanjing Decade and three during the Japanese Occupation. Analysing the sites, architectural designs, and management rules of these projects, the paper argues that the projects in the Nanjing Decade (both planned and realized) mostly targeted poor families, serving to simultaneously solve housing problems, reform society, and police the poor; while the projects during the Japanese Occupation benefited high-income people or the Japanese, and did not play a role in the relief of the local poor, who suffered most from the housing shortage.

Finclusion to Fintech: Fintech Product Development for Low-Income Markets

This paper is designed to help fintech innovators understand the unique money management strategies used by low-income people in the developing world. The paper is aimed to serve as a tool to help fintech providers design appropriate financial products that underserved individuals will want to use on a regular basis. In order to understand the needs and desires of low-income people, the paper presents detailed insights from 15 years of financial inclusion research, along with the latest industry data. In addition, through illustrative examples, informal money management techniques are compared to formal techniques used by high-income people. This comparison demonstrates why many informal financial tools are still the first choice for people in developing markets even where formal finance is available. The paper concludes by looking at some cutting-edge technological innovation in the fintech industry, and highlighting those that could better serve developing world markets.

Is there a future for sharing? A comparison of traditional and new institutions

AbstractThe sharing economy has raised hopes that online platforms will usher in a new era of sharing, even though economic theory suggests that income growth may reduce sharing in the long run. This paper presents evidence that that high-income people are less likely than low-income people to use traditional institutions for sharing goods, including carpools, multi-person households, and garage sales. While it first appears that high-income people are equally likely to use new institutions, such as Craigslist, Airbnb, and Zipcar, this partly reflects the fact that many low-income households in the US still lack an internet connection. Conditional on having internet access, this paper finds that online sharing platforms are also disproportionately used by the poor. The future of sharing likely depends on countervailing forces. Economic growth may continue to dampen incentives to share goods, but this effect could be offset by the proliferation of institutions, norms, and preferences that facilitate sharing.

Consumer Perception of the Healthfulness of Ultra-processed Products Featuring Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling Schemes

ObjectiveTo examine the influence of front-of-pack nutrition information on the perception of healthfulness of ultra-processed products across 2 income levels. DesignA between-participants design was used to compare healthfulness perception of ultra-processed products featuring different front-of-pack nutrition information schemes (guideline daily amount system, traffic light system, and monochromatic traffic light system). ParticipantsA total of 300 people (aged 18–70 years, 75% female) from Montevideo, Uruguay, participated in the study; half were middle- or high-income people and the other half were low-income people. Main Outcome MeasuresParticipants were shown the labels of each product and asked to rate their perceived healthfulness and the frequency with which each product should be consumed. AnalysisResults were analyzed using analysis of variance for statistical significance (P < .05). ResultsLow-income participants perceived ultra-processed products to be significantly (P < .05) more healthful than did middle- and high-income participants. The lowest perceived healthfulness scores for low-income participants were obtained for products featuring the colored and monochromatic traffic light system whereas no significant differences (P > .05) among schemes were found for middle- and high-income participants. Conclusions and ImplicationsNutrition education programs aimed at increasing low-income people's knowledge of the nutritional composition of these products and their potential negative effects on health seem to be necessary. Although the inclusion of semidirective front-of-pack nutrition information decreased the perceived healthfulness of low-income people, it seemed unlikely to influence how they perceive these products.

VARIABILITAS KONSUMSI PANGAN PADA MASYARAKAT NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR

The analysis intended to identify the various food consumption of the people of East Nusa Tenggara is carried out by using the data from Susenas in East Nusa Tenggara Province in 1996. There are 500 households included in the analysis those are classified according to income level (low, middle, high) and residence (rural, urban).The estimation of the consumption function is using Maximum Likelihood Method (MLE). Results of the analysis reveals that expenditure allocation for foodstuffs is 63% and 37% for non-foodstuffs. High-income people combine rice and corn to meet their carbohydrate needs while low-income people rely on corn. Protein sources including fish and meat are not affordable by the people of East Nusa Tenggara

Consumer’s food motives and seafood consumption

The role of personal factors in driving seafood choice behavior was investigated. The individual psychological factors (i.e., food motives) and socio-demographic variables were measured on a national representative sample (n=996) of French adults. The personal factors were used to predict consumption frequencies of three typical seafood products (i.e., fish, shrimp and mussels) by estimating ordered probit models. Convenience and weight control are the most important motives driving the seafood consumptions, suggesting that convenience oriented-people choose seafood as meals less regularly, while weight control oriented-people eat seafood more regularly. People who live alone are less likely to eat any type of the seafood; elderly and high income people are more likely to eat fish. Large size families avoid buying fish and shrimp probably due to the economic reason. The implications of the findings for marketers, nutritionists and health educators are discussed.

To preserve or enhance precious memories: a segmented market analysis of the history museum in Singapore

This study examines the value placed on museums by patrons and non-patrons and investigates the factors that affect this valuation with a view to boost visitorship. The total economic value of Singapore’s History Museum is at least US$57 million, and this is high relative to other countries, a fact which can be used to justify increased government funding towards museums as cultural capital. Females and high income people are the target groups for increased visitation, while among the non-patrons, the ethnic majority is another potential clientele. Somewhat surprising is the finding that neither patrons nor non-patrons see the museum as having significant tourist value, and contrary to prospect theory, there is a preference for enhancing the museum’s services over keeping the museum. These findings provide some direction for the management of the museum to improve its visitor appeal.

Determinants and Equity Evaluation for Health Expenditure Among Patients with Rare Diseases in China.

Background:China has not established social security system for rare diseases. Rare diseases could easily impoverish patients and their families. Little research has studied the equity and accessibility of health services for patients with rare diseases in China. This study aimed to explore the factors that influence health expenditure of rare diseases and evaluate its equity.Methods:Questionnaire survey about living conditions and cost burden of patients with rare diseases was conducted. Individual and family information, health expenditure and reimbursement in 2014 of 982 patients were collected. The impact of medical insurance, individual sociodemographic characteristics, family characteristics, and healthcare need on total and out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditures was analyzed through the generalized linear model. Equity of health expenditure was evaluated by both concentration index and Lorenz curve.Results:Of all the surveyed patients, 11.41% had no medical insurance and 92.10% spent money to seek medical treatment in 2014. It was suggested female (P = 0.048), over 50 years of age (P = 0.062), high-income group (P = 0.021), hospitalization (P = 0.000), and reimbursement ratio (RR) (P = 0.000) were positively correlated with total health expenditure. Diseases not needing long-term treatment (P = 0.000) was negatively correlated with total health expenditure. Over 50 years of age (P = 0.065), high-income group (P = 0.018), hospitalization (P = 0.000) and having Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) (P = 0.022) were positively correlated with OOP health expenditure. Patient or the head of the household having received higher education (P = 0.044 and P = 0.081) and reimbursement ratio (P = 0.078) were negatively correlated with OOP health expenditure. The equity evaluation found concentration indexes of health expenditure before and after reimbursement were 0.0550 and 0.0539, respectively.Conclusions:OOP health expenditure of patients with UEBMI was significantly more than that of patients without medical insurance. However, for any other medical insurance, there was no difference between OOP health expenditure of the insured patients and patients without insurance. The current reimbursement policies have increased the equity of health expenditure, but are biased toward high-income people.

Home ownership and residential satisfaction: Evidence from Hangzhou, China

This paper studies the relationship and mechanism between home ownership and residential satisfaction in urban China using a large-sample survey data from Hangzhou city. It is found that home ownership does impact residential satisfaction. The paper identifies important differences in residential satisfaction across gender, generation, and economic status. Females seem to value owning a house much more than males. The older generation and high-income people have a higher residential satisfaction of owning a home than their counterparts. The research also identifies and examines the specific channels linking home ownership and residential satisfaction. Homeowners have a higher sense of belonging, more participation in social affairs and more right to education at a nearby school for their children than renters, and thus increase the likelihood of residential satisfaction.

An analysis of the viability of micro health takaful in Malaysia

Purpose – This research aims to examine the viability of micro-health takaful in Malaysia. Current practices in the takaful industry in Malaysia reveal that takaful operators (TOs) are keen on offering products that are affordable for middle- to high-income people. However, the concept of takaful is based on mutual help, and, hence, it is believed that TOs should offer products affordable by the poor and lower income people. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this objective, the interest of the poor to participate in this product is examined by sending the questionnaire. In addition, TOs were approached to understand why micro-health takaful products have not been offered as yet. The regulator was also interviewed to gauge whether the government is supportive of this scheme. Findings – From the survey, it was noted that the poor people are interested to participate in such a scheme. However, most of them are only willing to contribute about RM5 per month, while some of the respondents, especially, zakat recipients are unable to afford to pay at all. The zakat authority when interviewed stated they were unable to contribute on behalf of the zakat recipients. To a certain extent, zakat authority is required to obtain an approval from the National Fatwa Council with regard to that issue. The regulator views that the micro takaful is still in an experimental stage. From the perspective of TOs, it might be viable if the product is offered as part of the corporate social responsibility, rather than by individual operators. Therefore, it could be summed up that micro-health takaful will be viable if and only if TOs collectively offer it as a part of their corporate social responsibility, and it must be subsidized by the zakat or waqf authorities. Research limitations/implications – Particularly, this study only considers a limited geography in Malaysia to understand the viability of micro-health. On the same note, the current focus of the study is on micro-health takaful in which it has not tapped other potential micro takaful products. Originality/value – This study is a pioneering effort in understanding the viability of the micro health takaful in Malaysia.

Preferences and willingness to pay for organic pears among high-income people in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile

The aim of this study is to determine the preferences and willingness to pay for organic pears among high-income people in the Metropolitan area of Santiago de Chile. To do this, the methods of conjoint analysis and contingent valuation were used. The study population was the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile. For the conjoint analysis, four attributes of pears were studied (variety, price, body, and production). For contingent valuation, subjects received a description of the organic production process vs. the conventional process and were then asked about their willingness to pay more per kilogram for pears produced organically. Both methodologies revealed a positive willingness to pay for pears. The estimated utility of each attribute level indicates that the Packham variety of pears, which are produced organically with a juicy body and lower price, are the characteristic attributes consumers preferred most. The relative importance of the attributes was as follows, in descending order: price (55.8%), external characteristics (20.6%), production type (13.5%), and body (10.1%). The mean willingness to pay was CLP 233 (USD 0.50) when using contingent valuation, whereas the marginal willingness to pay was CLP 31.6 when using conjoint analysis. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo determinar las preferencias y la disposicion a pagar por peras organicas. Para ello se utilizo el metodo de analisis conjunto y valoracion contingente. La poblacion de estudio fue la region Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile, donde se encuestaron 504 individuos. Para el analisis conjunto se utilizaron cuatro atributos (variedad, precio, cuerpo y produccion) de la pera, y para la valoracion contingente se describio la situacion de produccion organica versus convencional donde se preguntaba la disposicion a pagar adicional por kilo de peras. Como resultado de ambas metodologias utilizadas se obtuvo una disposicion a pagar positiva por peras producidas organicamente. La estimacion de las utilidades de cada atributo indica que las caracteristicas como variedad Pakhma’s, metodo produccion organica, cuerpo jugoso y precio mas bajo, son los que tienen mayor preferencia por parte de los consumidores. La importancia relativa de los atributos son, por orden de importancia, precio (55,8%), variedad (20,6%), tipo de produccion (13,5%) y cuerpo (10,1%). La disposicion a pagar media alcanza a 233 pesos usando valoracion contingente mientras que la marginal alcanza 31,6 pesos chilenos, usando analisis conjunto.

An exploratory study of inactive health information seekers

PurposeThis study aims to identify people who do not actively seek out health information and the demographic characteristics of Inactive Seekers. The possible determinants of inactive seeking behaviors are also explored. Design and measurementsA total of 14,420 survey respondents were drawn from the 2009 Annenberg National Health Communication Survey (ANHCS) data. K-means clustering was used to discriminate Inactive Seekers from Active Seekers. The inactive information seeker group was formed based on their experience with health information seeking. The potential determinants that were tested to predict inactive seeking included the following: health condition, health service use, health media exposure, and computer/Internet activities. ResultsWithin this national survey data, the respondents were more likely to be included in the Inactive Seekers (N=8312, 58.5%) compared to Active Seekers (N=5908, 41.5%). The demographic characteristics indicated that the Inactive Seekers were identified as younger, male, highly educated, White, and high household income people. The binary logistic regression results from the study model indicated that healthier people were less likely to seek out health information than their counterparts. In addition, those who were exposed to various media were almost 1.6 times more likely to seek out health information than those who were not exposed to such media. Within this study data, the statistically significant determinants identified were health condition and health media exposure while computer/Internet activities did not show strong indications in predicting inactive seeking behavior. ConclusionThe development of more generalizable measures for health literacy or behavioral patterns will bolster advanced study on inactive seeking relating to knowledge of technology and health context. Further study should be directed at estimating the negative aspects of information seeking such as information ignorance or information avoidance.

SMALL CONCENTRIC CONSTRUCTED WETLAND FOR TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC WASTEWATER IN A TEA ESTATE IN SRI LANKA

Water pollution due to indiscriminate discharge of domestic wastewater is one of the major issues limiting access to safe water. A study was conducted to characterize water use and effluent in communities in a tea estate in the upper watershed in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire survey, field visits and focus group discussions were conducted to quantify water consumption. At a pilot scale, concentric rings with diameters of 0.3, 0.75 and 1.5 m were used for constructed wetland. Aggregates and soil were used to fill the rings. Scirpus grossus and Nasturtium officinale were planted in the middle and outer rings respectively. Wastewater from a collection tank was fed into the inner ring and treated wastewater was discharged through the outer ring. Water was sampled at the inlet – at the inner ring, middle ring and outer ring for analysis of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and other quality parameters. Domestic water usage varied with income, education and access to water. Per capita daily water use was higher in high-income and medium-level educated people. Per capita daily water usage of stream water users and pipe-borne water users were 246 and 194 L, respectively. Major consumption was for bathing followed by laundry. BOD5 of greywater varied from 20-55 mg/L and was highly contaminated with total coliform and E coli. The pilot-scale constructed wetland showed higher removal efficiency of BOD5, SS and TDS at 85, 65 and 55%, respectively. The constructed wetlands were in concentric rings. The hydraulic retention time of 2.3 days increased the pathways and facilitated the filtration, biodegradation and plant uptake of nutrients. This system can be recommended for small communities in the upper watershed in Sri Lanka.

Accessing Justice in the Contemporary USA: Findings from the Community Needs and Services Study

A new study of the civil justice experiences of the American public, the Community Needs and Services Study, finds widespread incidence of events and situations that have civil legal aspects, raise civil legal issues and are potentially actionable under civil law. Most are handled outside the context of the formal justice system. These events are common and can be severe in their impacts. People experiencing these situations typically do not receive assistance from lawyers or other formal third parties. In 2013, two-thirds (66%) of a random sample of adults in a middle-sized American city reported experiencing at least one of 12 different categories of civil justice situations in the previous 18 months. For the whole sample, the average number of situations was 2.1; for people who reported situations, the average number reported was 3.3. The most commonly reported kinds of situations involved bread and butter issues with far-reaching impacts: problems with employment, money (finances, government benefits, debts), insurance, and housing. Poor people were more likely to report civil justice situations than were middle-income or high-income people. African Americans and Hispanics were more likely to report such situations than Whites. People reported that almost half (47%) of the civil justice situations they experienced resulted in a significant negative consequence such as feelings of fear, a loss of income or confidence, damage to physical or mental health, or verbal or physical violence or threats of violence. Adverse impacts on health were the most common negative consequence, reported for 27% of situations.Typically, people handled these situations on their own. For only about a fifth (22%) of situations did they seek assistance from a third party outside their immediate social network, such as a lawyer, social worker, police officer, city agency, religious leader or elected official. When people who did not seek any assistance from third parties outside their social circles were asked if cost was one barrier to doing so, they reported that concerns about cost were a factor in 17% of cases. A more important reason that people do not seek assistance with these situations, in particular assistance from lawyers or courts, is that they do not understand these situations to be legal.

Facebook Users in United Arab Emirates

This study examined the use of Facebook in United Arab Emirates. There were two objectives of this study. The first purpose was to identify the motive for the use of Facebook among people in U.A.E. This study conducted the survey using both qualitative and quantitative methods. One hundred eighty-three working people were used from the survey. Thirty-five questions identified from the interviews were used for the questionnaire design in quantitative method. Factor analysis showed six factors namely usefulness, usage, reliability, making new friends, ethical issue and openness of information. The total variance explained by all the factors was fifty-two percent. This study also examined the demographic variables whether they would play an important role in using the social network site. The study included two more variables, income and married status, which were not frequently examined by previous studies. MANOVA showed statistical significant differences (p < .01) across six factors. ANOVA results showed that gender variable affected only the factor of openness of information. Males were more likely to share their information compared to females. Income variable affected all the factors except the openness of information. The results showed that high-income people had the highest meanscores on three factors (usage, reliability, making new friends) while low-income people had the highest means on usefulness and ethical factors.Marital status had significant effects on usefulness, reliability, and ethical factors. Married people had the low scores on reliability and ethical factors. Lastly, education variable had no effect on all the factors examin

The Study of Differences in Public Acceptability Towards Urban Road Pricing

Road pricing was regarded as an effective instrument to reduce traffic congestion and environmental-related problems in metropolitan areas. However the low public acceptability was always one of the biggest barriers to implement this measure. In order to solve the problem above, this paper uses cluster analysis approach to identify groups of car users with a similar background in relevant socioeconomic variables and compares their responses to road pricing. Four groups are identified: short-distance travel and low-income people, long-distance travel and low-income people, short-distance travel and high- income people, long-distance travel and high-income people. Those groups indeed differ in their acceptability towards urban road pricing and factors affecting their acceptability. While there were no significant difference in acceptability among four groups from the results. Finally, this paper proposes various suggestions towards different groups to improve their acceptability by analyzing characteristics and attitude to charging practices in those groups.

Money, Emotions, and Ethics Across Individuals and Countries

This article presents two separate but closely related studies. We used a first sample to investigate the relationships among individuals’ reports of their income and their subjective well-being, and their approval of unethical behavior in 27 countries and a second sample to investigate the relationship between corruption in 55 countries and their populace’s aggregated feelings of subjective well-being (happiness). Analysis of data from 27,762 working professionals showed that, although reported feelings of subjective well-being were negatively related to their approval of unethical behaviors, income was positively related to their approval of unethical behaviors. In addition, the effects for feelings of subjective well-being were particularly strong for high-income people. Analyses also showed that, after controlling for economic development and other country-level factors, corruption was negatively related to a country’s feelings of happiness. These findings suggest that feelings of subjective well-being may lead to more ethical, less corrupt behavior and that the tolerance of unethical, corrupt behavior may lead to less collective happiness and subjective well-being.

구미 지역 노인의 주관적 건강상태 및 구강건강상태 수준비교

Objectives : Rapid aging is a big social issue and aging influences on the quality of life in elderly people. Oral health in elderly people related to the general health condition and it is necessary to improve the quality of life in the elderly people. The aim of the study is to investigate the influencing factors of oral health in the elderly people. Methods : Self-reported questionnaire included general characteristics, subjective health and oral condition and denture use. Subjects were 177 elderly people in Gumi, Korea. SAS (Ver.9.2) Program was used for the collected data to perform frequency analysis, cross tabulation, t-test and ANOVA. Results : Higher subjective oral health score were found in younger age, highly educated, high income, and married elderly people. Elderly people who were older and had low education and low income tended to use denture Conclusions : It is necessary to develop oral health care management and prevention program for the elderly people.