Summary Food retail strategies to improve the healthiness of food and beverage options may increase purchasing of healthier options and improve diets. Consumer demand for healthier options is an important determinant of the successful implementation and maintenance of healthy food retail interventions. A systematic review of peer‐reviewed literature was undertaken to explore whether consumers are willing to pay more for healthier foods and to determine the key factors that influence willingness to pay. Fifteen studies reported the results of 26 experiments providing willingness to pay estimates for healthier food products across a range of food retail environments. Twenty three out of the 26 experiments included in this review (88.5%) found consumers would pay a 5.6% to 91.5% (mean 30.7%) price premium for healthier foods. Studies consistently found a positive willingness to pay for foods with reduced fat and wholegrains with additional fruit and vegetables, while willingness to pay for foods with reduced salt or a combination of low fat and sugar, or salt showed mixed results. Adults over 60 years, females, those living with obesity, and consumers who aim to maintain a healthy lifestyle were more likely to pay a price premium for healthier food, whereas younger consumers, consumers with healthy weight, and consumers with higher levels of education were less likely to pay higher prices. The results of this review contribute to our understanding of consumer preferences for healthier products and provide information to retailers on consumer surplus (benefits) associated with the provision of healthier food alternatives.

No abstract

Purpose of the study: Evidence suggested that inefficiency is a significant problem for many health systems around the world and, in particular, in developing countries. Oman's health system increasingly faces critical resource constraints to deliver the same or better health services. Better utilization of hospital resources will enable more services to be provided and allow the redistribution of potential resources to ensure equity, accessibility, and the delivery of sustainable quality care. Therefore, this study aims to assess the technical efficiency, productivity, and determinates of technical inefficiency of local hospitals in Oman. Methodology: Input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was used to assess the technical efficiency of 29 local hospitals in Oman under constant return to Scale (CRS), variable returns to scale (VRS) and scale efficiency (SE) using 2018 data. Tobit model was used to assess the determinants of hospital inefficiency. The DEA based Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) was applied to the panel data to measure the Total Factor Productivity Change (TFPCH) between 2015 and 2018. The STATA IC 16 software was used to conduct this evaluation. Main Findings: 75.8% of local hospitals were technically efficient under VRS and SE assumptions, and 79.3% achieved technical efficiency under CRS assumption. The average technical efficiency score under CRS, VRS and SE were 96%, 97% and 99%, respectively. Tobit's model suggested that the number of physicians and pharmacists negatively correlated with the VRS score at p level < 0.05 and < 0.01, respectively. Furthermore, the Tobit model suggested that the number of outpatient’s visits positively correlated with the VRS efficiency score at p level < 0.01. Local hospitals showed a productivity growth by 18.1% during 2015-2018, mainly attributed to the increase in technological change by 42.6%. Research Implications: The results suggested that one-quarter of local hospitals in Oman were technically inefficient. This study identifies opportunities for improving local hospital performance through efficient utilization of health resources and proper redistribution of human resources. The novelty of the study: This is the first study to assess the technical efficiency, productivity, and determinants of technical inefficiency of local hospitals in Oman. It is hoped that the findings of this study can inform decision-makers to tailor their policies towards better and more efficient utilization of the existing resources.