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Individual Utility (individual + utility)
Selected AbstractsOptimal Redistribution with Heterogeneous Preferences for LeisureJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 4 2002Robin Boadway This paper examines the properties of the optimal nonlinear income tax when preferences are quasi,linear in leisure and individuals differ in their ability and their preferences for leisure. The government seeks to redistribute income. It can perfectly observe the level of endogenous income but cannot observe either ability or preferences. The heterogeneity of preferences leads to problems of comparability between individual utilities which challenge the design of redistributive schemes. We analyze the consequences of adopting a utilitarian social welfare function where the government is allowed to give different weights to individuals with different preferences. Under this particular social objective and given the quasi,linearity of preferences, we are able to obtain closed,form solutions for the marginal tax rates and to examine the progressivity of the tax system according to the weights used. [source] WHAT FEATURES DRIVE RATED BURGER CRAVEABILITY AT THE CONCEPT LEVEL?JOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 1 2004JACQUELINE BECKLEY ABSTRACT This paper deals with the analysis of drivers for self-defined craveability assessed in an Internet-based, conjoint analysis task. The stimuli comprised 36 descriptions of restaurant hamburgers, including product features, benefits, restaurant names, and emotional reactions that might ensue after eating the hamburger. Elements were combined into concepts by experimental design, and the resulting concepts evaluated by 145 respondents, on the attribute of craveability. Models relating the presence/absence of concept elements to ratings revealed that statements about the hamburger itself were the most powerful, but that no single element was highest across all the respondents. Segmentation of the 145 individuals by the pattern of their individual utilities revealed four key segments. These are Elaborates who may be sensory-oriented and respond strongly to product descriptions; Classics who like the notion of a grilled hamburger; Imaginers who respond to restaurant name and advertising copy; and Emotionals who respond to statements about food to descriptions how the eater feels after consumption. [source] LONG-TERM CARE AND FAMILY BARGAINING*INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2002MAXIM ENGERS We present a structural model of how families decide who should care for elderly parents. We use data from the National Long-Term Care Survey to estimate and test the parameters of the model. Then we use the parameter estimates to simulate the effects of the existing long-term trends in terms of the common but untested explanations for them. Finally, we simulate the effects of alternative family bargaining rules on individual utility to measure the sensitivity of our results to the family decision-making assumptions we make. [source] Stopping antipsychotic drug therapy in demented nursing home patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled study,,The Bergen District Nursing Home Study (BEDNURS)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 9 2008Sabine Ruths Abstract Background Despite modest efficacy, unpredictable individual utility, and a high rate of adverse effects, behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are common determinants for antipsychotic drug therapy in nursing home patients. Aims To explore the impact on BPSD of stopping long-term antipsychotic treatment in nursing home patients with dementia. Methods Fifty-five patients (43 women; mean age 84.1) taking haloperidol, risperidone, or olanzapine for BPSD were randomly assigned to cessation (intervention group, n,=,27) or continued treatment with antipsychotic drugs (reference group, n,=,28) for 4 consecutive weeks. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Questionnaire was used to examine changes in behavioural and psychological symptoms. Results By study completion, 23 of the 27 intervention group patients were still off antipsychotics. Symptom scores (NPI) remained stable or even improved in 42 patients (intervention group, 18 out of 27; reference group, 24 out of 28; p,=,0.18). As compared to patients with stable or improved symptom scores, patients with behavioural deterioration after antipsychotic cessation used higher daily drug doses at baseline (p,=,0.42). Conclusion A large share of elderly nursing home patients on long-term treatment with antipsychotics for BPSD, do well without this treatment. Standardized symptom evaluations and drug cessation attempts should therefore be undertaken at regular intervals. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Factor Endowments and the Private Provision of Public GoodsBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004Simon Vicary H4 Abstract The paper examines the consequences of increasing the size of the community in the standard model of the private provision of public goods when costs are variable. In contrast to an economy with fixed costs, the provision of the public good can fall with a larger community, and an increased provision of the public good is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for individual utility to rise. The paper also contributes to the literature on immiserizing growth in that it shows that capital accumulation can possibly result in lower utility for all individuals. [source] | ||||||||||