Does health insurance decrease health expenditure risk in developing countries? The case of China

This article studies the impact of health insurance on individual out‐of‐pocket health expenditures in China. Using China Health and Nutrition Survey data between 1991 and 2006, we apply two‐part and sample selection models to address issues caused by censored data and selection on unobservables. We find that, although the probability of accessing health care increases with the availability of health insurance, the level of out‐of‐pocket health expenditure decreases. Our results from a selection model with instrumental variables suggest that having health insurance reduces the expected out‐of‐pocket health expenditure of an individual by 29.42% unconditionally. Meanwhile, conditional on being subjected to positive health expenditure, health insurance helps reduce out‐of‐pocket spending by 44.38%. This beneficial effect of health insurance weakens over time, which may be attributable to increases in the coinsurance rates of health insurances in China.     

A note on estimating the divisional cost of capital for diversified companies: an empirical evaluation of heuristic-based approaches

This note provides an empirical analysis of the potential for heuristic-based approaches to derive a divisional cost of equity from a firm's total cost of capital. Since an empirical relationship between fundamental information and systematic risk has previously been shown in other studies, idiosyncratic information on risk and performance ought to serve as a good proxy to calculate divisional adjustments. Two practically used, heuristic-based approaches are tested and a significant relationship is found between one of the measures and CAPM beta. This method may offer a plausible and comparatively uncomplicated method for adjusting a firm's total cost of capital for divisional use.     

The determinants of federal and state enforcement of workplace safety regulations: OSHA inspections 1990–2010

We explore the determinants of inspection outcomes across 1.6 million Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) audits from 1990 through 2010. We find that discretion in enforcement differs in state and federally conducted inspections. State agencies are more sensitive to local economic conditions, finding fewer standard violations and fewer serious violations as unemployment increases. Larger companies receive greater lenience in multiple dimensions. Inspector issued fines and final fines, after negotiated reductions, are both smaller during Republican presidencies. Quantile regression analysis reveals that Presidential and Congressional party affiliations have their greatest impact on the largest negotiated reductions in fines.     

German dominance in the EMS

The paper assesses the merit of the view according to which the Bundesbank dominates monetary policy-making in the European Monetary System. Our tests give a strong rejection of German dominance and suggest, instead, that monetary policymaking in the EMS is interactive. There is evidence that the Bundesbank pursues her own policy goals in the longer run. But German independence does not imply German dominance.     

The economic effects of agricultural policy in West Germany

Zusammenfassung Die ?konomischen Wirkungen der Agrarpolitik in Westdeutschland. - In diesem Aufsatz wird ein Modell des allgemeinen Gleichgewichts benutzt, um die Wirkungen der Agrarprotektion auf die gesamte Volkswirtschaft abzusch?tzen bzw. zu ermitteln, wie sich eine Liberalisierung auswirkt. Dabei werden die nationalen, aber auch die von der EG gew?hrten Subventionen berücksichtigt. Es wird simuliert, da? alle an Auflagen gebundenen Subventionen und der implizite Zoll auf Agrareinfuhren in H?he von 54 vH abgeschafft werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, da? nach einer Liberalisierung die gesamte Besch?ftigung um rund 4 vH und das Einkommen um etwa 3 vH zunehmen würden. Die Importe landwirtschaftlicher Erzeugnisse würden ebenso steigen wie die Exporte von Sektoren wie der Elektroindustrie und des Maschinenbaus, bei deren Produkten die Bundesrepublik einen komparativen Vorteil hat. Der Agrarprotektionismus verursacht also viel h?here Kosten als nur die, die sich im ?ffentlichen Haushalt und in den Preissteigerungen für die Verbraucher zeigen.

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Résumé Les effets économiques de la politique agricole en Allemagne de l’Ouest. - Dans cet article les auteurs appliquent un modèle de l’équilibre générale pour évaluer les conséquences de la protection agricole ou d’une libéralisation. Les subventions sur le niveau national et international sont considérées. Les auteurs simulent une élimination de toutes les subventions liées à un but spécifique et du tarif implicite sur les importations agricoles de 54 pourcent. Les résultats démontrent qu’après une libéralisation l’emploi agrégé accro?traient à peu près par 4 pourcent et le revenu par 3 pourcent. Les importations agricoles accroissent aussi bien que les exportations des secteurs - comme par example de la construction des machines électriques et mécaniques - où l’Allemagne de l’Ouest possède un avantage comparatif. La protection agricole implique des co?ts beaucoup plus hauts que ceux qui sont reflétés dans le budget publique et dans les augmentations des prix au consommateur.

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Resumen Los efectos económicos de la política agraria en Alemania Occidental. - En este trabajo se utiliza un modelo aplicado de equilibrio general para investigar las consecuencias de la protección al sector agrario y de una liberalizatión sobre toda la economía. Se toman en cuenta subsidios tanto a nivel nacional cómo a nivel de la Comunidad. Se simula la eliminación de todos los subsidios condicionales y del arancel implícito sobre las importaciones agrarias del 54%. Los resultados muestran que bajo una liberalizatión el empleo agregado incrementaría en un 4 % y el ingreso en un 3 %. Las importaciones de productos agrarios aumentarían, como también las exportaciones de sectores como ingeniería eléctrica y mecánica, en los cuales Alemania goza de ventajas comparativas. Se concluye que la protección al sector agrario genera más costos que aquellos que se reflejan en el presupuesto nacional y en incrementos de los precios al consumidor.

     

The extension of social security coverage in developing countries

We study the dynamic general equilibrium effects of introducing a social pension program to elderly informal sector workers in developing countries who lack formal risk sharing mechanisms against income and longevity risks. To this end, we formulate a stochastic dynamic general equilibrium model that incorporates defining features of developing countries: a large informal sector, private transfers as an informal safety net, and a non-universal social security system. We find that the extension of retirement benefits to informal sector workers results in efficiency losses due to adverse effects on capital accumulation and the allocation of resources across formal and informal sectors. Despite these losses recipients of social pensions experience welfare gains as the positive insurance effects attributed to the extension of a social insurance system dominate. The welfare gains crucially depend on the skill distribution, private intra-family transfers and the specific tax used to finance the expansion.