Economics Research Works
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9
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Item M&A and technological expansion(Wiley, 2023-06-13) Jin, Ginger Zhe; Leccese, Mario; Wagman, LiadWe examine how public firms listed in North American stock exchanges acquire technology companies during 2010–2020. Combining data from Standard and Poor's (S&P), Refinitiv, Compustat, and Center for Research in Security Prices, and utilizing a unique S&P taxonomy that classifies tech mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by tech categories and business verticals, we show that 13.1% of public firms engage in any tech M&A in the S&P data, while only 6.75% of public firms make any (tech or nontech) M&A in Refinitiv. In both data sets, the acquisitions are widespread across sectors of the economy, but tech acquirers in the S&P data are on average younger, more investment efficient, and more likely to engage in international acquisitions than general acquirers in Refinitiv. Within the S&P data, deals in each M&A-active tech category tend to be led by acquirers from a specific sector; the majority of target companies in tech M&As fall outside the acquirer's core area of business; and firms are, in part, driven to acquire tech companies because they face increased competition in their core areas.Item Impact of Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards on Foodborne-Disease Hospitalizations in Los Angeles County(National Environmental Health Association, 2005-03) Simon, Paul A.; Leslie, Phillip; Run, Grace; Jin, Ginger Zhe; Reporter, Roshan; Aguirre, Arturo; Fielding, Jonathan E.Although health departments routinely inspect restaurants to assess compliance with established hygienic standards, few data are available on the effectiveness of these efforts in preventing foodborne disease. The study reported here assessed the impact on foodborne-disease hospitalizations in Los Angeles County of a restaurant hygiene grading system that utilized publicly posted grade cards. The grading system was introduced in January 1998. Hospital discharge data on foodborne-disease hospitalizations were analyzed for Los Angeles County and, as a control, for the rest of California during the period 1993–2000. Ordinary least-squares regression analysis was done to measure the effect of the grading program on these hospitalizations. After baseline temporal and geographic trends were adjusted for, the restaurant hygiene grading program was associated with a 13.1 percent decrease (p < .01) in the number of foodborne-disease hospitalizations in Los Angeles County in the year following implementation of the program (1998). This decrease was sustained over the next two years (1999–2000). The results suggest that restaurant hygiene grading with public posting of results is an effective intervention for reducing the burden of foodborne disease.Item Direct to Consumer Advertising and Prescription Choice(Blackwell Publishing, 2006-06) Iizuka, Toshiaki; Jin, Ginger ZheThis paper examines the effect of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on doctor choice of prescription drugs. Using antihistamines as an example, we show that DTCA has a small and insignificant effect on the choice of brand despite the massive DTCA ex- penditure incurred in this class. In contrast, direct-to-physician advertising (i.e., detailing and medical journal advertising) has a larger and long-lasting effect on prescription choice. These results, together with the market expanding results shown in Iizuka and Jin (2005), support the view that DTCA is effective in increasing the number of outpatient visits per therapeutic class but has little impact on the choice of prescription once the patient arrives at the physician office. As a result, DTCA may be viewed as a public good for all drugs in the same class.Item The Case in Support of Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards(American Agricultural Economics Association, 2005) Jin, Ginger Zhe; Leslie, PhilipItem Information and Consumer Choice: The Value of Publicized Health Plan Ratings(Elsevier, 2005) Jin, Ginger Zhe; Sorensen, Alan T.We use data on the enrollment decisions of federal annuitants to estimate the influence of publicized ratings on health plan choice. We focus on the impact of ratings disseminated by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and use our estimates to calculate the value of the information. Our approach exploits a novel feature of the data—the availability of nonpublic plan ratings—to correct for a source of bias that is inherent in studies of consumer responsiveness to information on product quality: since publicized ratings are correlated with other quality signals known to consumers (but unobserved by researchers), the estimated influence of ratings is likely to be overstated. We control for this bias by comparing the estimated impact of publicized ratings to the estimated impact of ratings that were never disclosed. The results indicate that NCQA’s plan ratings had a meaningful influence on individuals’ choices, particularly for individuals choosing a plan for the first time. Although we estimate that a very small fraction of individual decisions were materially affected by the information, for those that were affected the implied utility gains are substantial.Item The Effect of Information on Product Quality: Evidence from Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards(MIT Press, 2003-05) Jin, Ginger Zhe; Leslie, PhilipThis study examines the effect of an increase in product quality information to consumers on firms’ choices of product quality. In 1998, Los Angeles County introduced hygiene quality grade cards to be displayed in restaurant windows. We show that the grade cards cause (i) restaurant health inspection scores to increase, (ii) consumer demand to become sensitive to changes in restaurants’ hygiene quality, and (iii) the number of foodborne illness hospitalizations to decrease. We also provide evidence that this improvement in health outcomes is not fully explained by consumers substituting from poor hygiene restaurants to good hygiene restaurants. These results imply the grade cards cause restaurants to make hygiene quality improvements.