When Size Matters: Sensitivity to Missed Opportunity Size Increases With Stronger Assessment.

This research shows that the strength of assessment orientation, defined as the "aspect of self-regulation concerned with critically evaluating entities or states," increases a person's sensitivity to the size of a missed opportunity. Study 1 revealed that the experimental induction of an assessment orientation reduced the likelihood to act on a present offer after missing out on a large opportunity. Following a small missed opportunity, on the contrary, seizing the present offer was more likely. Studies 2 and 3 generalized this effect to chronic assessment orientations. In Study 4, the findings were replicated in a field study, which also demonstrated that differential value judgments explain assessors' sensitivity to the size of a missed opportunity.

How Business Cycles Affect the Healthcare Sector: A Cross-country Investigation.

The long-term relationship between the general economy and healthcare expenditures has been extensively researched, to explain differences in healthcare spending between countries, but the midterm (i.e., business cycle) perspective has been overlooked. This study explores business cycle sensitivity in both public and private parts of the healthcare sector across 32 countries. Responses to the business cycle vary notably, both across spending sources and across countries. Whereas in some countries, consumers and/or governments cut back, in others, private and/or public healthcare buyers tend to spend more. We also assess long-term consequences of business cycle sensitivity and show that public cost cutting during economic downturns deflates the mortality rates, whereas private cut backs increase the long-term growth in total healthcare expenditures. Finally, multiple factors help explain variability in cyclical sensitivity. Private cost cuts during economic downturns are smaller in countries with a predominantly publicly funded healthcare system and more preventive public activities. Public cut backs during contractions are smaller in countries that rely more on tax-based resources rather than social health insurances. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.