Die niederländische Gesundheitsreform 2006 – Vorbild für eine weitere Reform des Krankenversicherungswesens in Deutschland?

The health sector of many European countries has been subject of a profound process of change for years. Since the federal elections of 2009 a discussion on the direction of the German health insurance system has emerged. In this context, German neighboring countries like Switzerland or the Netherlands are considered due to their changes in health policy for decades. This work deals with the effects of the recent Dutch health care reform. Due to the combination of the two elements “Bürgerversicherung” and “Kopfpauschale”, it serves as a possible model for further reform in the German health system since its introduction in 2006. Special attention was paid to the consolidation of statutory and private insurance in a general citizens insurance in the Netherlands “three-pillar model”. Because of the medium-term time horizon, financial impacts on state and private households and changes in competition between insured individuals, insurers and providers could be analysed. Especially, positive effects in terms of increasing competition and reducing the two-tier health care became apparent.     

The effect of foreign segment location on the geographical diversification discount

We study how the countries in which foreign segments are located affect the value of globally-diversified firms. We use the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom and the World Bank's Financial Development and Structure database to characterize the locations of the foreign segments. We find that U.S. globally-diversified firms with foreign segments in countries with more entrepreneurs (i.e., Business Freedom) and a better investment environment (i.e., Investment Freedom) are associated with higher excess values. Our findings suggest that globally-diversified firms can add value by carefully selecting locations for their foreign segments in countries that rate highly on key indices of economic freedom. Our analysis of the World Bank's Financial Development and Structure factors shows that investors do not value highly U.S. globally-diversified firms with foreign segments in overseas locations that share the same “financial” characteristics as their home country. We attribute that to a lack of heterogeneity between parent- and foreign segment-country characteristics, thus nullifying the diversification benefits for the parent company's shareholders.     

Doing Right Leads to Doing Well: When the Type of CSR and Reputation Interact to Affect Consumer Evaluations of the Firm

This study investigates the efficacy of three corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives—sponsorship, cause-related marketing (CRM), and philanthropy—on consumer–company identification (C–C identification) and brand attitude and, in turn, consumer citizenship behaviors. CSR reputation is proposed as the moderating variable that affects the relationship between CSR initiatives, C–C identification, and brand attitude. A conceptual model that integrates the hypothesized relationships and the moderating effect of CSR reputation is used to frame the study. Using a between-subjects factorial designed experiment, the results showed that all three CSR initiatives have a significant effect on C–C identification and brand attitude. The level of that influence, however, varied according to a firm’s CSR reputation. Managerial implications of these findings are also discussed.     

Umgang mit Aggressionen

Herausforderndes Verhalten bei Demenz - Wenn Aggression, erh?hter Bewegungsdrang, starke Orientierungsprobleme, Selbst- und Fremdgef?hrdung oder andere „herausfordernde“ Verhaltensweisen auftreten, wird die Pflege und Begleitung von Demenzkranken als Belastung erlebt. Doch Pflegende stehen dem Problem nicht hilflos gegenüber. Eine interdisziplin?re Expertengruppe gibt mit ihren Empfehlungen ein Handlungsgerüst.