Preferences Toward COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Features: Results From a National Cross-Sectional Survey.

PURPOSE: Describe preferences toward COVID-19 testing features (method, location, hypothetical monetary incentive) and simulate the effect of monetary incentives on willingness to test. DESIGN: Online cross-sectional survey administered in July 2020. SUBJECTS: 1,505 nationally representative U.S. respondents. MEASURES: Choice of preferred COVID-19 testing options in discrete choice experiment. Options differed by method (nasal-swab, saliva), location (hospital/clinic, drive-through, at-home), and monetary incentive ($0, $10, $20). ANALYSIS: Latent class conditional logit model to classify preferences, mixed logit model to simulate incentive effectiveness. RESULTS: Preferences were categorized into 4 groups: 34% (n = 517) considered testing comfort (saliva versus nasal swab) most important, 27% (n = 408) were willing to trade comfort for monetary incentives, 19% (n = 287) would only test at convenient locations, 20% (n = 293) avoided testing altogether. Relative to no monetary incentives, incentives of $100 increased the percent of testing avoiders (16%) and convenience seekers (70%) that were willing to test. CONCLUSION: Preferences toward different COVID-19 testing features vary, highlighting the need to match testing features with individuals to monitor the spread of COVID-19.

The Effect of Cash Flow Problems and Resource Intermingling on Small Business Recovery and Resilience After a Natural Disaster.

This study investigated the implications that cash flow problems and resource intermingling between the family and the business had on small business recovery and resilience after a natural disaster. This study contributed to the literature by studying the impact of cash flow problems and resource intermingling on small businesses in two separate periods: right after the natural disaster (period 1) and eight years after the disaster (period 2). Period 1 determined whether the business was in operation directly following Hurricane Katrina. Period 2 investigated success of the small business after Katrina (compared to pre-Katrina success). Results showed that cash flow problems and resource intermingling did not affect operational status directly following Katrina, but did play a role in business resilience in the long run.

Bend or break? Small business survival and strategies during the COVID-19 shock.

This manuscript studies the impact of the exogenous COVID-19 pandemic shock on small businesses in the United States. We provide early evidence on how small business owners were affected by COVID-19 and the implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. We collected online survey data from a national sample of 463 small business owners across the United States. The survey was conducted in June 2020, eight weeks after the passage of the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The survey data include information about business characteristics, financial well-being, current response to the crisis, beliefs about the future of their business survival, and the business-owning family demographic information. There are three main themes that emerge from the results. First, drivers of income loss were not necessarily associated with time to recovery. Second, businesses that were undercapitalized were more likely to suffer higher income loss, longer time to recovery, and less likely to be resilient. Resilient was operationalized as a scale merging perceived success, potential for growth, and perceived profitability. Third, business model changes were necessary due to the pandemic but not all adaptive strategies led to better business outcomes. The results from this research study will lead to a better understanding of key vulnerabilities and adjustments that small businesses make to fully recover from economic shocks.

Response to Economic Shock: The Impact of Recession on Rural-Urban Suicides in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the effect of economic recession on the suicide differential between rural and urban counties. METHODS: A negative binomial regression model and county mortality data are used to estimate the effect of recession and rurality on county-level suicides from 2002-2016. RESULTS: After accounting for differences in population, urban counties have more female suicides than rural counties, but urban counties experience smaller increases in female suicide numbers during periods of recession than rural counties. Long-term factors such as high chronic poverty or unemployment have a greater impact on male suicide rates, while short-term economic crises have a larger impact on female suicides. Higher percentages of children in the county have an increasing effect on male suicides, but a decreasing effect on female suicides. Finally, farm-dependent counties have fewer suicides than non-farm-dependent counties. This holds true for both males and females. CONCLUSIONS: Periods of recession impact suicide numbers; however, this effect is most noticeable for females, with rural counties having larger increases in female suicide numbers than their urban counterparts during recession years.