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We analyze effects of noneconomic damages caps and attorney fee limits (AFLs) on the ability of people injured by negligent physicians to retain qualified lawyers to represent them. We employ survey data from 965 plaintiffs' attorneys who reported likelihoods of accepting hypothetical meritorious cases described by scenarios. We estimate how willingness to accept such cases increases with the expected hourly fees associated with them, and the estimates suggest substantial effects and plausible tradeoffs. We conclude that caps and AFLs make it harder to retain counsel in various circumstances, and we present policy simulations elucidating how several factors combine to determine these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some states use physicians' histories of medical malpractice payments to try to reduce the incidence of medical malpractice (and for other reasons). At least two types of policies fall into this category: using payments to decide which physicians will be investigated, and possibly sanctioned, by the state medical board; and making information about individual physicians' payment histories available to the public. Previous literature suggests that such policies will not be very effective because the link between medical malpractice and medical malpractice payments appears weak. Unlike previous researchers, we examine this issue directly and quantitatively. To do so, we develop a micro-simulation model of the random processes determining medical outcomes, claiming rates, and payment rates, using information from several strands of literature to calibrate its parameters. To examine sensitivity of our predictions to changes in assumptions, we also consider 14 alternative models. For each of the 15 cases, we simulate data for a population of 100,000 physicians and analyze the simulated data. We find that neither type of policy will substantially reduce the population rate of malpractice and that the policy of publicizing payment histories could, in principle, backfire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Documents the detrimental effects of human recreation on the North American wood turtle in Connecticut. Decline of population of wood turtles; Impact of opening of habitat for recreation; Increase in mean turtle age; Reduction in number of adult females.

Analyzes the determinants of relative price changes in recessions. Role of cost and demand shifts, backlogs of unfilled orders and unanticipated events; Equilibrium model of industrial pricing in recession and recovery; Model of recessionary relative price movements across manufacturing industries; Identification of the parameters.

Examines the administered-price hypothesis that short-run price movements in all the U.S. manufacturing industries do not conform to the predictions of the theory of perfect competition. Evolution of the administered-price hypothesis; Short-run model of perfect competition; Econometric analysis of the conventional price-change equation; Empirical evidence concerning the competitive hypothesis.

Argues against the claim that the automobile safety legislation in the United States has failed to produce the desired outcome of saving lives. Reasons for the criticisms against the legislation; Negative aspects of using statistical results in the analysis of the policy's effectiveness.

Although the empirical findings of the two studies are not strictly comparable, it is interesting to contrast the major findings of each. The following generalizations are based on only the four regressions estimated by Agapos and Gallaway, using total assets as the profit base (before and after taxes, with and without the Renegotiation dummy). These regressions yield exclusively negative coefficients for the D/GNP variable (significant only for BTI/TA). This differs sharply from the results of the present study (summarized in the preceding section). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replies to the comment of A.M. Agapos and Lowell E. Gallaway of an article on the profit of the aerospace industry from 1951 to 1971. Performance of multivariate analysis; Estimation of adjusted profit rate trends; Representation of the profitability of defense contracting.