Vehicle crash tests mitigate an informational market failure and provide substantial benefits to consumers. Consumers cannot accurately assess vehicle safety leading automakers to provide it ...suboptimally. Crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety represent an attempt to mitigate this market failure. This paper presents evidence that automakers responded by producing safer vehicles and that consumers increased purchases of highly rated vehicles. A novel identification strategy using the year of vehicle redesign is used to evaluate the tests' safety impact. A lower‐bound estimate of program benefits is $3000 per vehicle resulting in an annual reduction of 1650 fatalities.
This study evaluates whether hospital costs are lower when hospitals integrate with physician practices. It addresses a common element in policy attempts to contain healthcare costs, which is to ...encourage greater coordination in healthcare delivery. Despite a clear trend toward greater hospital‐physician integration, there is little direct evidence about whether integration lowers hospital costs. The results in this paper show that hospital costs increase by one to three percent after hospital‐physician integration. We also do not find consistent evidence that hospital‐physician integration is associated with higher quality but potentially more costly hospital care. The modest increase in hospital costs appears to derive from an increase in outpatient visits, rather than from higher costs of inpatient care. These findings do not support the hypothesis that increased coordination between hospitals and physicians has led to lower hospital costs.
ABSTRACT
Policies to reduce carbon emissions by vehicles, such as fuel economy standards and gasoline taxes, have impacts on vehicle weight and thus on safety. This paper develops a model that ...separately identifies the impact of vehicle weight on mortality and selection effects that impact accident propensity. The main results are that (1) the safety externalities associated with heavy vehicles are greater than the environmental ones; (2) under fuel economy standards, vehicle weights have recently decreased with little likely effect on accident deaths; and (3) similar environmental benefits could be combined with substantial reductions in deaths by implementing higher gasoline taxes. (JEL H23, D62)
Physical activity interventions have been shown to decrease anxiety in children with ASD. There is little known regarding the effects of an exercise program on anxiety in both home and school ...settings and the optimal dosage to reduce anxiety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of a 16-week exercise program on the anxiety levels of children with moderate to severe symptoms of ASD in home and school settings, and to compare the effects at 8 and 16 weeks. This study was a within-subject, non-controlled design, intervention study. Twenty-four children (5−18 years) with moderate to severe ASD were included. A school-based exercise program was implemented three days a week for 16 weeks. Parents and teachers completed the Anxiety Scale for Children for ASD (ASC-ASD) at baseline, week 8, and week 16. A one-way repeated-measure ANOVA with post hoc analysis using Bonferroni adjustment was used to test for a significant effect for time (p < 0.05), with Cohen’s d used to calculate the effect size. For teacher-reported anxiety, there were significant decreases from baseline to week 16 for total ASC-ASD (p < 0.001), performance anxiety (p < 0.001), anxious arousal (p < 0.001), and uncertainty (p < 0.001). There was no significant decrease in parent-reported anxiety. The findings demonstrate that a 16-week exercise program can reduce anxiety in children with ASD in school settings. Results demonstrate that 16 weeks, as opposed to 8, may be necessary to have a significant effect on in-school anxiety.
Low physical fitness is associated with reduced physical activity and increased cardiovascular diseases. To date, limited research has compared physical fitness levels between children with and ...without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the primary aim was to investigate if differences in fitness levels exist between children with ASD and age‐matched neurotypically developing children (ND). The second aim was to examine if age, sex, height and weight could be used to predict potential fitness levels. The third aim was to examine if the developmental trajectory of fitness is comparable between children with ASD and ND children. The modified Eurofit test battery was used to compare fitness levels between 244 children aged 4–13 years old (n = 152 ND and n = 92 ASD). Independent samples t tests and regression analyses were used to investigate differences in fitness levels between the two groups. The results indicated that statistically significant differences exist in fitness levels between children with ASD when compared to ND children across all ages, favoring the ND children, with small to large effect sizes noted (p < 0.05, d = 0.36–1.13). Regression analysis could not accurately predict fitness measurements in children with ASD but could for ND children. The developmental trajectories were significantly delayed on the 20 m sprint and standing broad jump for children with ASD when compared to ND children. Future studies should seek to address the disparities in physical fitness experienced by children with ASD by using relevant neuromuscular interventions.
Lay Summary
The purpose of this study was to review fitness levels between children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study displayed that children with ASD are less physically fit than their neurotypically developing peers and develop at different rates, especially in terms of running speed and lower body strength. Highlighting these developmental differences allows coaches, teachers and parents to provide targeted interventions during early childhood to reduce the discrepancy in physical fitness.
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