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Despite mixed evidence, researchers often suggest that married adults tend to live generally healthier lifestyles than their unmarried counterparts. In this chapter, we propose and test a reconceptualization of the health lifestyle that distinguishes between “homebody” risks and “hedonic” risks that may help to make sense of previous findings concerning marriage and health-related behavior.

Using data from the 2004 Survey of Adults (n = 1,385), we employ ordinary least squares regression to model indices of normative and conventional homebody risks (greater body mass, infrequent exercise, poorer diet, and abstinence from alcohol) and unconventional and potentially dangerous hedonic risks (smoking, heavy drinking, going out to bars, eating out, inadequate sleep, and driving without seatbelts) as a function of marital status.

Our key findings indicate that married adults tend to score higher on homebody risks and lower on hedonic risks than never married adults, net of controls for age, gender, race/ethnicity, citizenship, interview language, education, employment status, household income, and religious involvement.

Research limitations include cross-sectional data, restricted indicators of health-related behavior, and narrow external validity.

Contrary to previous research, we conclude that the lifestyle of married adults is not uniformly healthy.

This paper identifies and models the effect of eight attributes that influence hotel room rents in India. These attributes are conceptually grouped into three factors: (1) site factors including the presence or absence of a “swimming pool,” “free breakfast,” and the “hotel capacity”; (2) situational factors including, “distance from the airport,” “weekend/weekday,” “city population,” “cost of living”; and (3) a reputation factor indicated by “star rating.” Our regression model uses secondary data collected from a hotel booking website for 570 hotels across 18 cities of India. The results indicate that six out of these eight variables namely, presence of swimming pool, free breakfast, hotel capacity, distance from the airport, city population, and hotel star rating have a significant impact on hotel room rents in India.

Experiential tourism has surged before the COVID-19 pandemic, and all signs are pointing out to a rapid increase postpandemic. However, it is no longer a question of whether to provide an experience or not, but rather which experience to provide. Travellers are demanding, and the forced pause in travel is fueling the concept of revenge travel but with consumers seeking unique experiences with nature as the center stage. The concept of glass igloo hotel (GIH) taps into the unique experience within a natural setting, offering guests the opportunity to reconnect with panoramic views of the natural surroundings. This research investigates consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for such experience at a GIH. Results collected from 127 participants present hypothetical WTP which appears to be lower than actual rates published at some existing GIHs. Specific attributes sought after by guests in regards to the GIH experience were also investigated. The closeness to nature, view from the igloo, and proximity of the bathroom are particularly important. And while the igloo hotel experience offers the possibility to disconnect form the modern world, the availability of Wi-Fi was deemed important nevertheless. The research was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic which may yet further influence the WTP for such an experience.

This paper presents a mixture of linear models (or hedonic regressions) for defining housing submarkets. Two different mixture models are considered: the first model allows all the regression coefficients to vary among the clusters (random coefficients); and the second model allows only the intercept term to change (random intercept). The model with a random intercept can be seen as a linear mixed model where the random effects distribution is estimated via non-parametric maximum likelihood (NPML). The models are illustrated using a real data set of 293 properties in Pamplona, Spain. These mixture models provide a classification of the dwellings into homogeneous groups that determine the structure of the submarkets.

We propose a method for analyzing mergers that uses product characteristics to identify products that compete with each other. Products that compete with one another are termed competitive-neighbors. This method does not require aggregation or complicated econometric modeling and is based on sound economic theory. The treatment emphasizes the difference between characteristics that are differentiated by their level of quality (vertical differentiation) and characteristics for which tastes differ across consumers (horizontal differentiation).

In class action antitrust litigation, the standards for acceptable economic analysis at class certification have continued to evolve. The most recent event in this evolution is the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1435 (2013). The evolution of pre-Comcast law on this topic is presented, the Comcast decision is thoroughly assessed, as are the standards for developing reliable economic analysis. This article explains how economic evidence of both antitrust liability and damages ought to be developed in light of the teachings of Comcast, and how liability evidence can be used by economists to support a finding of common impact for certification purposes. In addition, the article addresses how statistical techniques such as averaging, price-dispersion analysis, and multiple regressions have and should be employed to establish common proof of damages.

This study assesses the effects of flood hazard on property price, which focus on residential property. The growth in the population has resulted in more areas being explored, including areas that are prone to flooding. The exploration of a new area for housing development also brings vulnerability to flood hazard. This research employed hedonic regression method to assess the impact of flood to property price between low-flood and non-flood areas. The case study areas are residential properties along Langar River, Selangor, Malaysia. The findings reveal that residential price in case study areas have only little impact in terms of price impact from the flood events. This study also establishes a new valuation model by considering flood hazard. It is expected that the impact from the flood to property price will be significant in future due to changes in property demand patterns as well as the increase in environmental issues.

We investigate how online price dispersion has evolved since the bursting of the Internet bubble by comparing price dispersion levels in years 2000, 2001, and 2003 and between multi-channel and pure play e-tailers. The results show that although online price dispersion declined between 2000 and 2001 when there was a shakeout in Internet retailing, it increased from 2001 to 2003, the post bubble period, in particular, for desktop computers, laptop computers, PDAs, electronics and software. The proportion of items for which price dispersion at multi-channel retailers was higher than that at pure play e-tailers, increased steadily during 2000–2003. These findings suggest that online price dispersion is persistent even as Internet markets mature.

Using archival and primary source evidence, this chapter introduces the first real wage series from 1891 to 1930 for Brazil’s most important immigrant and industrial city, São Paulo. This is the first price series, nominal wage series, and real wage series for the city that covers the duration of the Old Republic. While scholars look to Rio de Janeiro evidence to compare Brazil’s cost of living to other southern cone and immigrant-receiving countries, it is preferable to use evidence from the primary destination city. Price deviations between the two cities underscore the need for these series. The results show foodstuff prices increased steadily over the period and more dramatically in the period during and after World War I. Hedonic wage regressions show hourly wages for unskilled, low-skilled, and medium-skilled workers did not increase accordingly. While the decline in real wages tapered off in the 1920s, real wages across skill levels did not recover to prewar levels. This new index suggests the city of São Paulo’s labor market was more integrated with Buenos Aires’s than with Rio de Janeiro’s and that Paulistano real wages did not recover in the 1920s to the extent that they did in other southern cone cities. Given these results, the puzzle as to why migrants continued to flock to the city prove more intriguing. The results also suggest that Vargas-era labor legislation had the potential to greatly improve the lives of the city’s working class, perhaps more so than in other cities.