Product Safety and Harm-Mitigation Incentives When Mitigation Lowers Consumption Benefits

Author(s):  
Florian Baumann ◽  
Tim Friehe

Abstract To reduce the expected harm its product causes to consumers, a firm can invest in a product’s safety before sale or mitigate harm after sale in the event product risks materialize. After-sale harm mitigation interferes with consumers’ product use and reduces consumption benefits. We describe a firm’s incentives for safety investments and harm mitigation as a function of the level of the firm’s liability. Whereas post-sale mitigation incentives are scaled up by liability, pre-sale product safety is a U-shaped function of liability, making the two harm reduction instruments substitutes at low levels of liability and complements at high levels. To induce efficient harm mitigation, liability must be less than full. Further reducing the level of liability improves product safety at the cost of the firm’s profits. (JEL K13, D42).

Addiction ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna Guinness ◽  
Peter Vickerman ◽  
Zahidul Quayyum ◽  
Anna Foss ◽  
Charlotte Watts ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Kenneth R. Laughery ◽  
David R. Lovvoll ◽  
Michael S. Wogalter

Three studies were carried out to explore how people allocate responsibility for safety during product use. In Study 1 29 consumer products were named and subjects apportioned safety responsibility to the manufacturer, the retailer, the user, and a potentially relevant organization not in the stream of commerce (e.g., FDA, CPSC, Underwriters Laboratories). The mean percent responsibility allocated to these four alternatives was 43%, 9%, 27% and 21% respectively. A significant interaction indicated that the allocation varied across products. In Study 2 safety responsibility for the same products was allocated to the manufacturer, retailer and user, but the “outside” organization was omitted. The mean percent allocated was 51%, 20% and 30% respectively. In this study, additional questions assessed various perceptions of the products and the subject's familiarity with the products. The results indicated that responsibility allocation was a function of perception of product hazardousness; the more hazardous a product is perceived to be, the more responsibility is allocated to the user. Study 3 investigated some of the attributes of high hazard products which are associated with various allocations of product safety. For high hazard products with open and obvious risks (chain saws, cutting torches), more responsibility was allocated to consumers as opposed to manufacturers. On the other hand, for those high hazard products with “hidden” risks (pesticides, antifreeze), manufacturers were typically allocated a much higher degree of responsibility.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-353
Author(s):  
Esuna Dugarova

Social protection is an important strategy to protect people from livelihood risks, develop human capital and promote economic growth. Decent work is a core element of social protection and a critical condition for eradicating poverty. Despite high labor force participation and low unemployment, Russia’s labor market shows several negative trends, including working poverty and growing informality. Both are exacerbated by gender disparities and unfavorable demographic shifts. Over the past decade the Russian government has implemented active labor market interventions, and enhanced targeted social protection aimed at promoting employment and reducing poverty. Based on the analysis of key data and programs, the article finds that the country achieved stability in the labor market, but at the cost of deteriorating living standards caused by low levels of productivity and wages.


1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-234
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Morris

This paper deals with one of the many aspects of controlling air pollution–equity. The equity issue discussed concerns the fact that areas with high and low levels of air pollution are subjected to many of the same controls under current legislation. The equity issue is, of course, only one of several imperative questions that should be addressed and fully researched before society embarks on an abatement program of great magnitude. In fact, comparisons between expected cost outlays by firms and individuals to control air pollution, and the cost of allowing the pollution to continue, indicate that it may be less costly for firms and individuals to do nothing.


2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Devlin

This article analyses the status and future of bilingual education programs using Indigenous languages and English in remote Northern Territory schools. It explains why this educational approach is so contested at present, resulting in an unresolved situation which can best be regarded as an uneasy compromise on the ground and a stalemate at higher levels of political decision making. If the bilingual education approach was better understood by the current NT Government, there would a strong impetus now to refine and effectively implement a model of schooling that is appropriate for students in remote areas. Instead, current politicians debunk the bilingual approach, thereby robbing schools and literacy plans of any momentum and distracting attention away from the work that needs to be done. Meanwhile, student attendance rates have fallen away to worryingly low levels (Dickson, 2010). The current regime may well resolve the impasse, but in the absence of any meaningful, open negotiation the future looks uncertain. It is too soon to judge the cost of this uncertainty, but it may well result in further alienation and the emergence of non-government alternatives.


Safety ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Jägerbrand ◽  
Ing-Marie Gren

This study examined whether the rising trends of wild boar (Sus scrofa)-vehicle accidents in Sweden are accompanied by a higher amount of personal injuries and costs. Temporal trends in accident frequencies and the number of persons injured in wild boar-vehicle accidents were examined for 2003–2016, and the cost of wild boar-vehicle accidents was calculated. Results show increases in the number of personal injuries, and increased costs, particularly after 2010–2012. The total number of wild boar accidents correlated with the number of injured persons as well as with the number of accidents with personal injuries. Approximately one person (1.13%) is injured per 100 wild boar-vehicle accidents, and approximately one accident per 200 wild boar-vehicle accidents will result in one or more persons with injuries (0.5%). However, most of the persons injured have slighter injuries. Although the number of wild boar-vehicle accidents and the number of persons injured in the accidents have increased, the frequency of accidents resulting in personal injuries is still at low levels in comparison with, for example, frequencies of personal injuries for moose accidents. The cost for wild boar-vehicle accidents has increased between 2003 to 2016 and is currently estimated to vary between approximately EUR 9.66–12.31 million per year.


2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 829-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa K. Hamilton ◽  
Robert D. Schweitzer

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between dimensions of perfectionism and suicide ideation in a tertiary student population in Australia. Method: The methodology involved 405 students completing the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) which includes a subset of questions which can be used to assess suicide ideation, and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Results: The presence of suicide ideation was associated with higher scores on total perfectionism and two perfectionism dimensions, and total GHQ scores. There were significant differences between participants with high levels of perfectionism and participants with moderate to low levels of perfectionism on a measure of suicide ideation. Neither gender nor age were associated with differences in the scores, with results indicating high levels of perfectionism may indicate a vulnerability to suicide ideation. Conclusions: Perfectionism is a valued attribute in high-achieving populations. The question needs to be asked, however, at what cost? The findings indicate that high levels of perfectionism may be associated with an increased vulnerability to suicide ideation. Future research is needed to gain a better understanding of the complex interrelationship between personality and temperament, environmental factors and self-destructive behaviour.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (10) ◽  
pp. E1362-E1371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary R. Newman ◽  
Janet M. Young ◽  
Nicholas T. Ingolia ◽  
Gregory M. Barton

The innate immune system detects diverse microbial species with a limited repertoire of immune receptors that recognize nucleic acids. The cost of this immune surveillance strategy is the potential for inappropriate recognition of self-derived nucleic acids and subsequent autoimmune disease. The relative expression of two closely related receptors, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and TLR9, is balanced to allow recognition of microbial nucleic acids while limiting recognition of self-derived nucleic acids. Situations that tilt this balance toward TLR7 promote inappropriate responses, including autoimmunity; therefore, tight control of expression is critical for proper homeostasis. Here we report that differences in codon bias limit TLR7 expression relative to TLR9. Codon optimization of Tlr7 increases protein levels as well as responses to ligands, but, unexpectedly, these changes only modestly affect translation. Instead, we find that much of the benefit attributed to codon optimization is actually the result of enhanced transcription. Our findings, together with other recent examples, challenge the dogma that codon optimization primarily increases translation. We propose that suboptimal codon bias, which correlates with low guanine-cytosine (GC) content, limits transcription of certain genes. This mechanism may establish low levels of proteins whose overexpression leads to particularly deleterious effects, such as TLR7.


NALARs ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Saeful Bahri ◽  
Ari Widyati Purwantiasning

ABSTRACT One of the problems that occurs within city centres, particularly within capital cities, is the existence of many historical old buildings. Historical old buildings within city centres, that have abandoned for years because of their condition, suffer from a lack of utilities, infrastructure and facilities [2][3]. These conditions occur because of low levels of maintenance arising as a consequence of a lack of finance of the owner of a building, be they government or private sector. To solve the problem of abandoned historical old buildings, the concept of adaptive reuse can be adopted and applied. This concept of adaptive reuse may continously cover the cost of building maintenance. The adaptive reuse concept usually covers the interior of a building and its utilities, though the need for utilities depends on the function of a building [4]. By adopting a concept of adaptive reuse, new building functions will be designed as the needs and demand of the market dictate, and which is appropriate for feasibility study. One utility element that has to be designed for historical old buildings is the provision of lighting within a building. To minimize the cost of building maintenance, one of the solutions is to optimize natural lighting and to minimize the use of artificial lighting such as lamps. This paper will discuss the extent to which artificial lighting can be minimized by using automatic lighting; the automatic lighting types discussed in this paper are lighting controlled by motion sensor and lux sensor.Keywords: Natural lighting, automatic lighting, motion sensor, lux sensor, historical old buildingsABSTRAK Salah satu permasalahan yang muncul dalam sebuah kota metropolitan, khususnya sebuah ibukota adalah keberadaan dari banyaknya bangunan-bangunan tua bersejarah. Bangunan-bangunan tua bersejarah dalam sebuah kota besar terutama yang diabaikan selama bertahun-tahun biasanya disebabkan karena kondisinya yang menua, minimnya utilitas bangunan, infrastruktur bangunan dan juga fasilitas-fasilitas yang mendukungnya [2][3]. Kondisi ini muncul karena rendahnya tingkat pemeliharaan yang biasanya muncul sebagai akibat dan konsekuensi karena minimnya dana anggaran dari pihak pemilik bangunan baik pemerintah daerah, pusat maupun sector swasta. Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, konsep adaptive reuse dapat diadopsi dan diaplikasikan pada kawasan yang memiliki bangunan-bangunan tua bersejarah ini. Konsep adaptive reuse dapat secara berkelanjutan memenuhi dan mengatasi permasalahan pemeliharaan bangunan dalam hal finansial. Konsep ini biasanya meliputi ruang dalam bangunan dan utilitas yang ada di dalam bangunan tersebut tergantung dari kebutuhan dan fungsi dari bangunan yang akan diaplikasikan konsep tersebut [4]. Dengan mengadopsi konsep adaptive reuse, fungsi bangunan baru dapat direncanakan sesuai kebutuhan dan permintaan pasar sehingga sesuai dengan studi kelayakan yang dilakukan. Salah satu elemen utilitas bangunan yang dapat dirancang untuk bangunan-bangunan tua bersejarah adalah kebutuhan pencahayaan di dalam sebuah bangunan. Untuk meminimalisir biaya pemeliharaan bangunan, salah satu solusinya adalah dengan mengoptimalkan pencahayaan alami dan meminimalisir penggunaan cahaya buatan seperti lampu. Tulisan ini akan mendiskusikan seberapa jauh pencahayaan buatan dapat diminimalisir dengan menggunakan pencahayaan otomatis, dimana dalam tulisan ini akan dibahas mengenai control pencahayaan dengan menggunakan motion sensor atau sensor gerak dan lux sensor atau sensor cahaya.Kata Kunci: pencahayaan alami, pencahayaan otomatis, motion sensor, lux sensor, bangunan tua bersejarah


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e026298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier A Cepeda ◽  
Jose Luis Burgos ◽  
James G Kahn ◽  
Rosario Padilla ◽  
Pedro Emilio Meza Martinez ◽  
...  

ObjectiveFrom 2011 to 2013, the Global Fund (GF) supported needle and syringe programmes in Mexico to prevent transmission of HIV among people who inject drugs. It remains unclear how GF withdrawal affected the costs, quality and coverage of needle and syringe programme provision.DesignCosting study and longitudinal cohort study.SettingTijuana, Mexico.ParticipantsPersonnel from a local needle and syringe programme (n=6) and people who inject drugs (n=734) participating in a longitudinal study.Primary outcome measuresProvision of needle and syringe programme services and cost (per contact and per syringe distributed, in 2017 $USD) during GF support (2012) and after withdrawal (2015/16). An additional outcome included needle and syringe programme utilisation from a concurrent cohort of people who inject drugs during and after GF withdrawal.ResultsDuring the GF period, the needle and syringe programme distributed 55 920 syringes to 932 contacts (60 syringes/contact) across 14 geographical locations. After GF withdrew, the needle and syringe programme distributed 10 700 syringes to 2140 contacts (five syringes/contact) across three geographical locations. During the GF period, the cost per harm reduction contact was approximately 10-fold higher compared with after GF ($44.72 vs $3.81); however, the cost per syringe distributed was nearly equal ($0.75 vs $0.76) due to differences in syringes per contact and reductions in ancillary kit components. The mean log odds of accessing a needle and syringe programme in the post-GF period was significantly lower than during the GF period (p=0.02).ConclusionsWithdrawal of GF support for needle and syringe programme provision in Mexico was associated with a substantial drop in provision of sterile syringes, geographical coverage and recent clean syringe utilisation among people who inject drugs. Better planning is required to ensure harm reduction programme sustainability is at scale after donor withdrawal.


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