The Impact of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax on Prices and Product Availability

In recent years, numerous cities in the U.S. have enacted taxes on beverages to promote health and raise revenue. This paper examines the impact of Philadelphia's beverage tax, enacted in 2017, on the prices and availability of both taxed and untaxed beverages. Using original data we collected in late 2016 and again one year later, we estimate difference-in-differences regressions of the change over time in beverage prices and availability in stores in Philadelphia relative to stores in nearby counties. We find that, on average, distributors and retailers fully passed through the tax to consumers. Pass-through is higher for individual servings than for larger sizes. There is also heterogeneity in the pass-through rate among stores; it is greater among stores that are in higher-poverty neighborhoods, located farther from untaxed stores outside Philadelphia, and that are independent as opposed to part of national chains. We also find that the tax reduced the availability of taxed beverages and increased the availability of untaxed beverages, particularly bottled water, in Philadelphia stores.     

Compensating victims of international aviation terrorism: A short flight through relevant literature

The history of international air carrier liability for passenger death and injury is long and complex, predating the Warsaw Convention of 1929. The intervening years have witnessed protracted political and legal battles involving airlines, governments and lawyers intent on securing, through global agreement, adequate protection for the industry, tax‐payers and passengers. Two decades of aviation terrorism have heightened the risks faced by travellers, many of whom are inadequately protected against personal ruin in the event of terrorist attack.     

Project Appraisal for the Keynesian Investment Planner

This paper outlines a theory of project appraisal wherein the neoclassical premises of conventional cost-benefit analysis are replaced by their Keynesian counterparts. The paper shows how the social rate of return on public and private investment, the private and social discount rates, and other concepts used in cost-benefit analysis may be modified to take account of the income externalities generated by the multiplier, mark-up pricing, and the causal priority of investment over saving.     

'Perspiration' vs 'Inspiration' in Asian Industrialisation: Indonesia Before the Crisis

This article examines trends in and determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) in 28 manufacturing industries in Indonesia over the period 1975-93. The reforms of the mid-1980s appeared to have resulted in a significant acceleration of TFP growth. Among the inter-industry determinants of TFP growth, trade policy and orientation, domestic competitive pressures and ownership factors are singled out for scrutiny. The trade regime and one measure of domestic competition emerge as consistently important explanatory factors.     

Book reviews

Social Policy Research, Martin Bulmer (ed.), London, Macmillan, 1978, pp. 373, £5.95.

Making Budgets, James N. Danziger, Sage Publications, 1978, pp. 255, £8.50 cloth edition and £4.25 paperback.

Universality, Selectivity and Effectiveness in Social Policy, Bleddyn Davies (in association with Mike Reddin), Heinemann, London, 1978, pp. viii &; 264, £9.50.

Implementation in a Bureaucracy, Control in a Bureaucracy, Andrew Dunsire, Oxford, Martin Robertson, 1978, pp. Vol.1260, Vol. II 263, £15 each.

Planning the Social Services, N. Falk and J. Lee, Saxon House, Farnborough, 1978, pp. x &; 113, £7.50.

Policy Analysis: A Political and Organisational Perspective, W. I. Jenkins, London, Martin Robertson, 1978, pp. 278, £8.95.

Interactions and Interventions in Organizations, Iain L. Mangham, John Wiley &; Sons, 1978, pp. 150, price not known.     

Fostering Student Engagement in Negotiation Role Plays

Student engagement occurs when students are significantly motivated to invest in their learning behaviorally, cognitively, and emotionally. Although research has shown that higher engagement leads to deeper learning, the importance of student engagement in role plays has been underestimated in negotiation pedagogy. More specifically, role plays that fail to provide authentic experiences or to capture students' interest may lead to suboptimal learning due to a lack of engagement. To help foster learning from role plays, we propose two frames of reference for improving their design: ecological validity and vested interest. Using these frameworks, we suggest strategies to create more authentic and interesting role plays and thus promote richer learning for students.