External debt,growth and investment for developing countries: some evidence for the debt overhang hypothesis

Portuguese Economic Journal - We investigate the effect of total, public, and private external debt stocks on the growth rate and also on total, government, and private investment by using data for...     

Dynamics of Wheat Prices in the Wake of Market Reforms: The Case of Pakistan

Using Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (ARCH) method, this paper examines the effects of market reforms on the distribution of real mean prices and their variability before and after reforms. It is found that market-oriented reforms benefited producers and consumers alike. Empirical evidences, generally, support theoretical assertion that mean prices decline in most urban areas and increase in those markets that are located in surplus producing areas. The results also showed that market reforms lead to more price volatility.     

Bias-corrected estimates of reduction of post-surgery length of stay and corresponding cost savings through the widespread national implementation of fast-tracking after liver transplantation: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Fast-tracking is an approach adopted by Mayo Clinic in Florida’s (MCF) liver transplant (LT) program, which consists of early tracheal extubation and transfer of patients to surgical ward, eliminating a stay in the intensive care unit in select patients. Since adopting this approach in 2002, MCF has successfully fast-tracked 54.3% of patients undergoing LT.

Objectives: This study evaluated the reduction in post-operative length of stay (LOS) that resulted from the fast-tracking protocol and assessed the potential cost saving in the case of nationwide implementation.

Methods: A propensity score for fast-tracking was generated based on MCF liver transplant databases during 2011–2013. Various propensity score matching algorithms were used to form control groups from the United Network of Organ Sharing Standard Analysis and Research (STAR) file that had comparable demographic characteristics and health status to the treatment group identified in MCF. Multiple regression and matching estimators were employed for evaluation of the post-surgery LOS. The algorithm generated from the analysis was also applied to the STAR data to determine the proportion of patients in the US who could potentially be candidates for fast-tracking, and the potential savings.

Results: The effect of the fast-tracking on the post-transplant LOS was estimated at approximately from 2.5 (p-value?=?0.001) to 3.2 (p-value?Conclusion: The fast-track program was found to be effective in reducing post-transplant LOS, although the reduction appeared to be less than previously reported. Nationwide implementation of fast-tracking could result in substantial cost savings without compromising the patient outcome.     

Pilgrims to the Eurozone: How far,how fast?

In our analysis, we re-examine the nominal and real convergence of all recent 10 European Union (EU) members to EU standards. Testing for monetary convergence has significant implications for interim optimal exchange rate and monetary policies before a formal and permanent link to the euro, while real convergence is the ultimate objective of economic integration. Novel features of the paper include broader measures of real convergence in both euro as well as local currencies, an examination of inflation and interest rate convergence with respect to the Maastricht benchmarks, and employment of more appropriate tests of convergence allowing for structural breaks. The results indicate slow but steady per-capita real income convergence towards EU standards. On the other hand, evidence indicates significant strong inflation and interest rate convergence. Policy implications of the paper are also discussed.     

The effects of transition and political instability on foreign direct investment inflows

This paper examines the effects of transition and of political instability on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the transition economies of Central Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans. We find that FDI flows to transition economies unaffected by conflict and political instability exceed those that would be expected for comparable West European countries. Success with stabilization and reform increased the volume of FDI inflows. In the case of Balkan counties, conflict and instability reduced FDI inflows below what one would expect for comparable West European countries, and reform and stabilization failures further reduced FDI to the region. Thus, we find that the economic costs of instability in the Balkans in terms of foregone FDI have been quite high.     

Optimization of size and timing of base salary increases

Salary administration research mostly examines the compensation guides in a subjective manner and lacks quantitative approaches. Recent failure instances of salary administration demonstrate the exiguity and/or inapplicability of scientific research in this area. This research considers the core aspects of theoretical salary administration while complying with the recent competitive working environment. In this article, a mathematical optimization approach that recognizes the significance of performance and potential to future promotions of employees is proposed to find the optimal salary increase amounts and to set an advantageous schedule for salary increases. The two objectives are combined with a weight, and a sensitivity analysis shows the impact of the weight on both objectives to provide managerial guidance. The resulting raise amounts satisfy both internal alignment and external competitiveness conditions and represent employee performance and potential for promotion. The proposed mixed integer programming problem can be solved with commercial solvers quickly, even for rather large instances. The short computational time directly addresses the challenge raised by the current trend that more enterprises hire a large number of exempt employees. Additionally, two cases are presented with detailed data collection to illustrate the applications and limitations of the proposed model.     

Governance and sustainable development: How effective is governance?1

Sustainable development argues that the current use of resources should minimize the level of harm to the future use of resources. Governance is capable of common sense and the versatile planning that is required for sustainable development. In the literature, the relationship between governance and sustainability has been empirically examined in terms of the rule of law, bureaucratic quality and corruption. However, governance is a versatile variable that contains such variables as pluralism, accountability, political stability and the absence of violence and government effectiveness. According to the results from estimates obtained in the study, governance has an important and positive effect on sustainable development. This powerful effect applies to all developed and developing countries. Thus, to prevent resources from becoming scarce, countries should increase their governance levels. Accordingly, the level of welfare will be protected.     

European integration,productivity growth and real convergence: Evidence from the new member states

We estimate the determinants of labor productivity growth in 8 new European Union (EU) member states that joined the Union in 2004. Our focus is on the impact of globalization and EU integration efforts on labor productivity growth. Previous studies test the impact of trade using either exports or trade openness. We also test the impact of imports separately on labor productivity growth. Using panel data for 1995–2006 period, we find that globalization has mixed effects. FDI and exports improve productivity, but imports hurt it. Regarding domestic variables, we find that human capital is the most important source of labor productivity growth in the new member states. There is also considerable adjustment of labor productivity towards EU15 levels, indicating significant “catching up” and hence real convergence. Policy implications of the findings are also discussed.