Shervin Assari, Mohammad Reza Malek-Ahmadi, Cleopatra H Caldwell
{"title":"Parental Education or Household Income? Which Socioeconomic Status Indicator Can Better Reduce Body Mass Index Disparities among Latino Children?","authors":"Shervin Assari, Mohammad Reza Malek-Ahmadi, Cleopatra H Caldwell","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v7n1p19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v7n1p19","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>We compared the effects of parental education and household income on children's body mass index (BMI) in Hispanic White (HW) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) families.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional study, we borrowed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study and analyzed data of 5100 children between the ages of 9 and 10. The independent variables were parental education and household income. The primary outcome was BMI value. Ethnicity was the moderating variable. Confounders were age, sex, and family structure. Three mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, higher parental education and household income were associated with lower BMI levels in children. While an interaction was found between ethnicity and parental education, no interaction was noted between ethnicity and household income regarding BMI. The interaction indicated weaker protective effects of high parental education on BMI in HW children than NHW children. Household income showed similar protective effects on children's BMI in HW and NHW families.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Parental education but not household income loses some of its protective effects on childhood BMI among HW families compared to NHW families. Distal social determinants of health may be more vulnerable to the MDRs (minorities' diminished returns) than proximal ones. As a result, closing the income gap may be a good strategy towards closing the childhood BMI gap between highly educated HW and NHW families. Policies that raise the minimum wage and those that help HW families save money (e.g., earned income tax policies) maybe more promising strategies to eliminate the ethnic gap in BMI than increasing the education level of ethnic minority families.</p>","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39221410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effects of Current Account Deficits on Economic Growth: Evidence from Kenya","authors":"P. Mugo, W. Masai, K. Osoro","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v7n4p59","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v7n4p59","url":null,"abstract":"The study examines the effects of current account deficits on economic growth. It also evaluates the direction of causality between the current account deficits and economic growth. These have in the recent past been analyzed in developed and developing economies. In contributing to this ongoing debate, the study applied unit root tests, cointegration analysis, a dynamic vector error correction model and Toda-Yamamoto Granger-causality representation using annual time series data for Kenya from 1980 to 2016. There is evidence that in the long run, current account deficit has significant positive effect on economic growth in Kenya. The evidence suggests a bidirectional causality running from current account deficit to economic growth with feedback effects. The study underscores the need for the authorities to utilize current account deficits to strictly finance public investment to foster gross fixed capital formation, for shared prosperity in Kenya. The evidence underscores the need for more country specific studies in sub-Saharan Africa.","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86273686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The U.S. Coffee Market: A Competitive Profile","authors":"Y. Datta","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n3p138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n3p138","url":null,"abstract":"This paper follows the path of nine studies of U.S. consumer markets: Men’s Shaving Gel, Beer, Shampoo, Shredded/Grated Cheese, Refrigerated Orange Juice, Men’s Razor-Blades, Women’s Razor-Blades, Toothpaste, and Canned Soup.Porter associates high market share with cost leadership strategy which is based on the idea of competing on a price that is lower than that of the competition. However, customer-perceived quality—not low cost—should be the underpinning of competitive strategy, because it is far more vital to long-term competitive position and profitability than any other factor. So, a superior alternative is to offer better quality vs. the competition.In most consumer markets a business seeking market share leadership should try to serve the middle class by competing in the mid-price segment; and offering quality better than that of the competition: at a price somewhat higher, to signify an image of quality, and to ensure that the strategy is both profitable and sustainable in the long run. Quality, however, is a complex concept consumers generally find difficult to understand. So, they often use relative price, and a brand’s reputation, as a symbol of quality.In 2008 the U.S. retail sales for the Coffee market were $3.78 Billion. The market featured five varieties of coffee: Ground, Soluble (Instant), Whole Bean, Liquid, and Flavored. We have focused our analysis on Ground Coffee which had a 70% share in 2008.In 2008 the Ground Coffee market leader was the Folgers brand family with a market share of 21.8%, followed by the Maxwell House brand with 11.6%. The pack sizes varied from 1.3- to 52oz, with the 10-13 oz packs being the most popular. So, we have focused cluster analysis on this pack.The Ground Coffee market was highly competitive. In 2008 it had 450 brands.Using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, we tested two hypotheses: (1) That the market leader is likely to compete in the mid-price segment, and that (2) Its unit price is likely to be higher than that of the nearest competition. Employing U.S. retail sales data—for both 2008 and 2007—we found that the results did not support our hypothesis that the market leader would be a member of the mid-price segment. Instead, the results show that both the market leader, the Folgers flagship brand—and the runner-up Maxwell House—were members of the economy segment, although Folgers’ unit price was higher than that of Maxwell House, as we have hypothesized.This implies that both Folgers and Maxwell House were following the cost leadership strategy based on lower price than better quality, and treated coffee as a commodity to gain market share. This is truly a stunning result! In all similar nine studies preceding this one, not a single market leader—or runner-up—competed in the economy segment! The spectacular success of Starbucks demonstrated in no uncertain terms that the consumers were no longer content to treat coffee as a run-of-the mill drink—but rather something special—that deserved to be ","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90444999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining Convergence Clubs in Chinese Provinces (1952-2017): New Findings from the Simplified Clustering Convergence Test","authors":"Ming-Lu Wu","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n3p90","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n3p90","url":null,"abstract":"This paper empirically investigates the convergence clustering in 31 Chinese provinces regarding the popular and important economic indicator of GDP per capita over the period 1952-2017. Using the club convergence and clustering procedure of Phillips and Sul (2007) with necessary simplifications, a few provincial clusters are identified. It is clearly verified as expected that the Chinese provincial GDP per capita series contain significant nonlinear components. It is found that there are two or three convergence clubs depending on different starting years or initial conditions, and the clustering results are somewhat stable with respect to different starting years. The results can help local and central governments to select appropriate growth promotion strategies for different groups of provinces in general and, due to the evidence that GDP per capita in China heavily inclines to a few major provinces (such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang), can also help provide useful information to relevant authorities to fight against the increasing income inequality across provinces in particular.","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88938881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Private Housing Market Cyclical Price Dynamics","authors":"Sun Jingbo, HO, Kim Hin / David","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n2p173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n2p173","url":null,"abstract":"Two types of heterogeneous investors (momentum and disposition) form a unique difference model to interpret housing price dynamics. Three parameters are crucial: auto-correlation, the rate of mean reversion and the contemporaneous adjustment towards long-term equilibrium price. For Singapore, we examine the dynamic structures that oscillate and/or diverge from equilibrium. Disposition investors predominate although the interaction between momentum and disposition investors acts as a key determinant of private housing price dynamics for a given time in a specific market. Key implication is that Singapore’s private housing market is low risk, offering stable returns owing to virtually no divergence even in the speculative 1990s. The best way to invest is to consider the momentum strategy and avoid the herd behavior for profit sustainability. For policy-makers, the Singapore private housing market is over-damped in the long run. Predominating disposition investors contribute to the market mechanism, which automatically adjusts private housing market prices. It is imperative to relax government intervention in Singapore’s private housing market to enhance its efficiency.","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81265329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Planet Mayday: COVID-19 and Global Warming","authors":"J. Lane","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n2p123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n2p123","url":null,"abstract":"Has COVID-19 changed the world forever? Is it the signal to treat Nature differently and mobilise effective policies against global warming? Well-known commentators on climate change argue thus, but this argument is wrong. COVID-19 is entirely different from global warming. And COVID-19 will ruin the states: How to pay for both lockdown and energy transformation?","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83050248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Asymmetric Shocks Patterns in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community","authors":"Hongbing Ouyang, Laetitia P. Sokeng Dongfack","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n2p56","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n2p56","url":null,"abstract":"Assessing the economic efficiency of countries’ participation to a currency union has become a relevant topic since the introduction of the Optimum Currency Area (OCA) theory by Mundell (1961). This paper attempts to evaluate the performance of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC) as a currency union in the context of exposure to asymmetric shocks. We first identify structural macroeconomic shocks within the region using the Blanchard and Quah Method. We find that aggregate demand shocks fluctuations display more symmetric patterns than those of aggregate supply shocks. Chad is the apparent outlier, as it is the only economy in the monetary union to experience negative supply shocks. This suggests that the loss of monetary sovereignty might result in significant adjustment costs.","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85254509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Youth Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in the ABCD Study: Minorities' Diminished Returns of Family Income.","authors":"Shervin Assari","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n4p1","DOIUrl":"10.22158/jepf.v6n4p1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>To investigate ethnic differences in the protective effects of family income against youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems in the US. As proposed by the Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs), family income may generate fewer tangible outcomes for ethnic minority compared to NHW families. Our existing knowledge is minimal about diminished returns of family income on parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To compare ethnic groups for the effects of family income on parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional study, data from wave 1 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were included. The ABCD, an ongoing national cohort of American youth brain development, included 10,762 American youth between ages 8 and 11 years old. The independent variable was family income. The primary outcomes were 1) anxious and depressed mood, 2) withdrawn and depressed affect, 3) somatic complaints, 4) social and interpersonal problems, 5) thought problems, 6) rule-breaking behaviors, 7) attention problems, and 8) violent and aggressive behaviors. These outcomes were generated based on parent-reported behavioral problems measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, high family income was associated with lower levels of parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems across all domains (p <0.05 for all beta coefficients across multivariable regression models). Ethnicity showed statistically significant interactions with family income on youth fewer social, emotional, and behavioral problems (all domains), net of all confounders (p <0.05 for all beta coefficients that reflected interaction terms across multivariable regression models), indicating smaller tangible gains from their family income for NHB and HW compared to NHW youth.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The protective effects of family income against behavioral problems are systematically diminished for HW and NHB youth compared to NHW youth. To minimize the ethnic gap in youth social, behavioral, and emotional problems, diminished returns of family income should be addressed. There is a need for programs and interventions that equalize not only SES but also the marginal returns of SES for ethnic groups. Such efforts require addressing structural and societal barriers that hinder HW and NHB families from translating their SES resources into tangible outcomes. There is a need for studies that can minimize MDRs for NHB and HW families. Thus, SES can similarly secure tangible outcomes in the presence of SES resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9121051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neighborhood Poverty and Amygdala Response to Negative Face.","authors":"Shervin Assari","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v6n4p67","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v6n4p67","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Considerable research has established a link between socioeconomic status (SES) and brain function. While studies have shown a link between poverty status and amygdala response to negative stimuli, a paucity of knowledge exists on whether neighborhood poverty is also independently associated with amygdala hyperactive response to negative stimuli.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Using functional brain imaging data, this study tested the association between neighborhood SES and the amygdala's response to negative stimuli. Considering race as a sociological rather than a biological construct, we also explored racial heterogeneity in this association between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White youth.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We borrowed the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The sample was 2,490 nine to ten year old non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White adolescents. The independent variable was neighborhood income which was treated as a continuous measure. The primary outcomes were the right and left amygdala response to negative face during an N-Back task. Age, sex, race, marital status, and family SES were the covariates. To analyze the data, we used linear regression models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Low neighborhood income was independently associated with a higher level of amygdala response to negative face. Similar results were seen for the right and left amygdala. These effects were significant net of race, age, sex, marital status, and family SES. An association between low neighborhood SES and higher left but not right amygdala response to negative face could be observed for non-Hispanic Black youth. No association between neighborhood SES and left or right amygdala response to negative face could be observed for non-Hispanic White youth.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>For American youth, particularly non-Hispanic Black youth, living in a poor neighborhood predicts the left amygdala reaction to negative face. This result suggested that Black youth who live in poor neighborhoods are at a high risk of poor emotion regulation. This finding has implications for policy making to reduce inequalities in undesired behavioral and emotional outcomes. Policy solutions to health inequalities should address inequalities in neighborhood SES.</p>","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39000340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maen Yousef Khalaf Hijazin, Saeed Mikhled Ahmad Al-naimat
{"title":"The Impact of the Application of International Accounting Standard 34 (IAS 34) on the Industrial Public Shareholding Companies’ Sector in Jordan","authors":"Maen Yousef Khalaf Hijazin, Saeed Mikhled Ahmad Al-naimat","doi":"10.22158/jepf.v5n4p404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/jepf.v5n4p404","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims at identifying the extent to which IAS 34 (Interim financial reporting) is applied in the Jordanian public shareholding companies, along with highlighting the impact of its application on individual investors at these companies. Study population consists of all Jordanian public shareholding industrial companies (45 companies) listed at Amman Stock Exchange. Due to the large number of the study population, preparers of financial statements (employees of companies), and individual investors, we have selected a simple random sample. The total number of preparers of financial statements (employees), and individual investors were (500) individuals who were selected for the sample. The results showed that all companies are committed to issue and publish interim financial reports within the period specified for that purpose. There is a statistically significant relationship between the variables relevant to the company including (the firm's nature, profitability, and age) and the compliance with issuing the reports and the information content of the financial statements. Moreover there are statistically significant differences in the extent to which IAS 34 is applied in the Jordanian public shareholding companies. These differences arise due to the personal and occupational characteristics of the preparers of financial statements (gender, age, qualification, position, and experience).","PeriodicalId":73718,"journal":{"name":"Journal of economics and public finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83401453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}