This paper extends the study of nonmarket work activities to explain the impact of household characteristics on grocery shopping behavior. A constrained utility maximization model is developed and the equilibrium conditions of the model are derived. These conditions and the hypotheses implied by them relating to the determinants of time spent in a grocery shopping trip, the size of a purchase, and the number of such trips within a given period of time were tested using data from a sample which identified the household characteristics of grocery shoppers. In these tests, using two‐stage least squares, the theoretical implications of our simultaneous equations model are significantly supported.

This study uses a step-wise regression model to identify the socioeconomic variables most significant in explaining COVID-19 death rates on a state-level basis. The regression tests cover the 1/1/2020 to 12/1/2020 period as well as the first and second halves of 2020. This study also uses the Oxford stringency index to measure more precisely the efficacy of governmental mandates at the state level. The results in this study rigorously showed that while the density variables were the most significant explanatory variables during the first half of the year, their significance fell during the second half. Use of the Oxford stringency index revealed that more stringent mandates led to significant reductions in COVID-19 death rates, especially during the second half of the year. The study’s findings also reveal that a higher poverty rate in a state is significantly associated with higher COVID-19 death rates during all three periods tested.

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This paper develops a statistical model over the 1992 to 2002 period to measure the forces that lead colleges and universities to price discriminate. Identifying those forces makes it possible to determine the kinds of schools that are better or less able to effectively price discriminate. The empirical findings strongly suggest that schools with lower student selectivity need to give back a high proportion of tuition increases to students in the form of discounts (financial aid) than do higher selectivity schools. This result is consistent with economic theory that suggests price discrimination is more effective when demand is inelastic.