scholarly journals Browsing versus Studying: A Pro-Market Case for Regulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Heidhues ◽  
Johannes Johnen ◽  
Botond Kőszegi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Shopping Behavior ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Competitive Effect ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Insurance Choice ◽  
Total Price

Abstract We identify a competition-policy-based argument for regulating the secondary features of complex or complexly-priced products when consumers have limited attention. Limited attention implies that consumers can only “study” a small number of complex products in full, while—by failing to check secondary features—they can superficially “browse” more. Interventions limiting ex-post consumer harm through safety regulations, caps on certain fees, or other methods induce consumers to do more or more meaningful browsing, enhancing competition. We show that for a pro-competitive effect to obtain, the regulation must apply to the secondary features, and not to the total price or value of the product. As an auxiliary positive prediction, we establish that because low-value consumers are often more likely to study—and therefore less likely to browse—than high-value consumers, the average price consumers pay can be increasing in the share of low-value consumers. We discuss applications of our insights to health-insurance choice, the European Union’s principle on unfair contract terms, food safety in developing countries, and the shopping behavior of (and prices paid by) low-income and high-income consumers.

The Evolution of the Digital Divide across Developing Countries

2013 ◽  
pp. 1554-1570
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Corrocher ◽  
Anna Raineri
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Emerging Patterns

This chapter aims at investigating the evolution of the digital divide within a set of developing countries between the years 2000 and 2005. In doing so, it moves away from the traditional analysis of the digital divide, which compares developed countries and developing countries, and examines the existing gap within a relatively homogeneous group of countries. On the basis of the theoretical and empirical contributions from scholars in different disciplines, we select a series of socioeconomic and technological indicators and provide an empirical assessment of the digitalization patterns in a set of 51 low income and lower-middle income countries. By means of cluster analysis techniques, we identify three emerging patterns of the digital divide and derive a series of policy implications, related to the implementation of an effective strategy to reduce digital backwardness. The characteristics of each pattern of digitalization can be also usefully employed to understand whether past interventions, especially in the area of competition policy, have been successful in addressing country-specific issues.

“At Your Service”: Sexual Harassment of Female Bartenders and Its Acceptance As “Norm” in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052096774
Author(s):  
Richard A. Aborisade
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Working Women ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Sexual Objectification ◽  
Sexual Crimes ◽  
Objectification Of Women ◽  
Unwanted Sexual Behavior

Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the bar and restaurant industry, limited attention has been paid to empirically examining the dynamics of sexual crimes committed in the industry. To address this, a qualitative study was conducted with female bartenders in drinking bars within Lagos metropolis to explore the nature and patterns of sexual harassments they experienced, as well as their response, coping measures and bar management’s positions. Forty-seven interviews were conducted, and a thematic analysis of the narratives was carried out. Findings indicated that participants experienced a variety of unwanted sexual behavior from customers, coworkers and managers, including verbal expressions, signs, gestures and physical harassment that are sexual in nature. Although sexual harassment is ubiquitous, there was appreciable recognition of it as being undesirable and problematic with feelings of anger, fear, humiliation, shame, guilt, violation, powerlessness and loss of control. Participants hinged their vulnerability to being harassed on gender inequality, discrimination, feminization of poverty and sexual objectification of women in Nigerian society. These findings have important practical and policy implications if the sexual maltreatments of working women in Nigeria, especially in the low-income earning occupations, are to be acknowledged and addressed.

Confined Shopping Behavior among Low Income Consumers: An Empirical Test

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arieh Goldman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Main Tool ◽  
Shopping Behavior ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Herfindahl Index ◽  
Low Income Consumers

The study investigates whether lower income consumers show a greater tendency to confine their furniture and ladies’ shoes purchases to a subset of the retailing system. The Herfindahl index of concentration is the main tool used to measure confinement. The study finds that the lower income consumers do not confine their purchases to a small subset nor are their purchases restricted to the smaller and lower quality stores.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF RENT-SEEKING ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LOW-INCOME ECONOMIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-220
Author(s):  
Zi Wen Vivien Wong ◽  
Fanyu Chen ◽  
Thian Hee Yiew
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Low Income ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Method Of Moments Estimator

Sluggish growth in low-income countries, despite the high performance in other economic indicators, motivates the literature to switch attention to institutions. Despite its crucial economic implications, there is limited attention on rent-seeking as a driver of economic growth in low-income countries. This paper investigates the effect of rent-seeking on growth in low-income countries from 2004 to 2017using the system generalized method of moments estimator. The empirical results reveal that rent-seeking negatively affects growth, implying that it obstructs the pace of economic development in low-income countries. Hence, it is necessary for policymakers in these countries to adopt anti-rent-seeking policies to promote a rapid and sustainable growth.

scholarly journals Future accessibility impacts of transport policy scenarios: equity and sensitivity to travel time thresholds for Bus Rapid Transit expansion in Rio de Janeiro

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Henrique Moreas Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Boundary Effect ◽  
Income Levels ◽  
Partial Operation ◽  
Time Threshold ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Policy Scenarios

The accessibility impacts of transport projects ex-post implementation are generally evaluated using cumulative opportunity measures based on a single travel time threshold. Fewer studies have explored how accessibility appraisal of transport plans can be used to evaluate policy scenarios and their impacts for different social groups or examined whether the results of project appraisals are sensitive to the time threshold of choice. This paper analyzes how different scenarios of full and partial implementation of the TransBrasil BRT project in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) will likely impact the number of jobs accessible to the population of different income levels. The analysis is conducted under various travel time thresholds of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes to test whether the results are sensitive to the boundary effect of the modifiable temporal unit problem (MTUP). Compared to a partial operation scenario, the full implementation of TransBrasil that extends this corridor into the city center would lead to higher accessibility gains due to network effects of connecting this BRT to other transport modes. Nonetheless, the size of the accessibility impacts of the proposed BRT as well as its distribution across income classes would significantly change depending on the time threshold chosen for the accessibility analysis. Considering cut-off times of 30 or 60 minutes, both scenarios of TransBrasil would lead to higher accessibility impacts in general and particularly for low-income groups, moving Rio towards a more equitable transportation system. However, under longer thresholds of 90 and 120 minutes, an evaluation of this project would find much smaller accessibility gains more evenly distributed by income levels. The paper highlights how time threshold choice in cumulative opportunity measures can have important but overlooked implications for policy evaluation and it calls for further research on the MTUP in future transport and mobility studies.

scholarly journals Energy transition and social justice: Do renewable energy levies have an impact on income distribution and energy poverty?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Priesmann ◽  
Saskia Spiegelburg ◽  
Reinhard Madlener ◽  
Aaron Praktiknjo
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Gini Coefficient ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
The Gini Coefficient ◽  
Ex Post

Abstract Energy systems are decidedly the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Therefore, transitioning them from fossil to renewable systems is a top priority for societies committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, such transitions involve substantial costs. In many cases, these costs are proportionally passed on to final energy consumers through levies on their electricity consumption. In our paper, we investigate the impacts of renewable support levies on social justice or, more specifically, on income inequality. For our study, we chose Germany where inflation-adjusted electricity prices for private households increased substantially because of such a levy for renewables. We base our analyses on representative household panel data with over 40,000 households from 2003 to 2018. Our results indicate that indiscriminate renewable support levies on electricity consumption increase income inequality and energy poverty. For our case in 2018, renewable support levies alone led to a relative increase of ~0.23% of the Gini coefficient and ~11.31% of the high cost low income (HCLI) energy poverty indicator measuring energy poverty intensity. Based on our findings, we propose a reform of the renewable support levy and analyze three options: (1) the abolition of the levy, (2) levies which are income-progressive proportionally to the income taxes, and (3) a high and flat levy in conjunction with an income-degressive compensation payment. Our ex-post analyses for 2018 indicate that a reformed levy system would have slightly decreased overall income inequality with relative decreases of ~0.23%, ~0.32%, and ~0.59% of the Gini coefficient for options (1), (2), and (3), respectively. But more importantly, such a system would have substantially decreased energy poverty by ~11.31%, ~30.45%, and ~31.45% for the HCLI energy poverty indicator for options (1), (2), and (3), respectively.

‘After I've Done the Mum Things’: Women, Care and Transitions’

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Innes ◽  
Gill Scott
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Male Breadwinner ◽  
More Care ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Changes in the relationship of paid work, care and welfare have most impact on women, particularly those who are affected by welfare-to-work policies. A study of care in relation to transitions to the labour market made by women with dependent children in Glasgow suggests that women in low-income households face additional difficulties in achieving a balance of work and care. They may have more care responsibilities than other families but fewer material and social resources with which to carry them out. Neither the male-breadwinner model of family arrangements for the care and costs of children nor the adult-worker model that is replacing it in policy logic, takes into account their social and economic circumstances or the need for both formal and informal care to support successful transitions to further education and employment. Care is neither as straightforward to organise, nor as readily substituted for, as employment and welfare policies, in their limited attention to it, imply. The practices and meanings of care must be considered in depth if it is to be adequately understood and not further marginalised.

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