Efficiency analysis of emergency departments in metropolitan areas

The demand in the healthcare industry is increasing exponentially due to aging population of the world and this is leading to a rapid increase in the cost of healthcare. The emergency departments of the hospitals are the frontline of health care systems and play an additional critical role in providing an efficient and high-quality response for patients. The overcrowding at the emergency departments due to growing demand results in a situation where the demand for ED services exceeds the ability to provide care in a reasonable amount of time. This has led countries to reconsider their health policies in a way to increase their efficiency in their healthcare systems in general and in emergency departments, in particular. As in many countries, there has been a steady and significant increase in the number of patients that seek health services at the emergency departments of state hospitals of Turkey, due to the significant structural reforms in health services since 2003. While meeting this increasing demand, it is ever more important to provide these critical health services efficiently. Therefore, the efficiency of the emergency departments of seven general hospitals run by Istanbul's Beyoglu State Hospitals Association have been analyzed using categorical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. The analysis of DEA results is supported by a set of statistical methods to make it easier for the hospital administrators to interpret the analysis and draw conclusions. The analysis shows that less-equipped EDs are supported by better equipped, larger EDs, resulting in a hub-and-spoke type of structure among the EDs where “satellite” EDs serve an important referral function and thus evaluating their efficiency without taking the interoperability among these units into account would not be an accurate assessment of their performance.     

大城市户籍应该逐步放开

国家“十五”期间实施城市化战略。要推进城市化进程首要的是增加城市人口 ,有计划地减少农村人口。如何在经济社会可持续发展的同时 ,解决好几亿农民从农村到城镇的地域流动 ,是中国跨世纪城市化发展的重大问题。它的成功解决首要的是大城市和特大城市户籍制度改革。本文提出相关政策 :将户籍管理制度转变为户籍登记制度 ;建立城乡统一户口登记制度 ;积极调整户口迁移政策 ;取消城市保护就业措施 ;和逐步放开大城市户籍管理。     

上海市各区的可持续发展水平分析与评价

本文以上海市的16个区为研究对象,采用2010年上海各区的统计年鉴数据,从经济、社会、环境三个方面构建指标衡量体系,运用主成分分析与聚类分析法,对其可持续发展水平进行综合评价.我们的研究将上海市各区的可持续发展水平分为三个等级,其中浦东区是可持续发展水平最高的区,构成第一发展等级;上海郊区的闵行、松江等区位于第二发展等级;上海老城的黄浦、徐汇等区位于第三发展等级.在此评价基础上,我们分级别提出了提高上海市可持续发展水平的相关建议,具有一定的社会现实意义.     

我国大都市地区耕地保护问题分析——以上海市为例

改革开放以来,伴随经济的高速发展,我国耕地资源大幅减退,尤其是在经济发达、城市化快速推进的大都市地区,耕地的数量和质量都已接近或低于安全警戒线,耕地保护问题已成为实现区域粮食与基本农产品供给安全、社会经济稳定和可持续发展的关键控制点.以上海市为例,阐述了大都市地区耕地保护的必要性与迫切性,以及进行耕地保护的困境与挑战,在此基础上探讨了耕地保护的对策与措施.     

中国大城市发展和都市区的形成

改革开放以来,我国大城市发展迅速,出现了都市区这种新的城市空间形态.都市区将成为新世纪我国经济和城市化发展的重要地域空间形式,同时也对传统的城市发展战略、城市规划和管理提出了新的要求和挑战.分析了中国大城市的发展趋势和空间演变特征,阐述了中国都市区现象的出现及其发展前景,并对中国都市区的概念、界定标准以及都市区规划等问题进行了探讨.     

On the spatial scale of industrial agglomerations

Standard approaches to studying industrial agglomeration have been in terms of scalar measures of agglomeration within each industry. But such measures often fail to distinguish spatial scales of agglomeration. In a previous paper, Mori and Smith (2014) proposed a pair of quantitative measures for distinguishing both the scale and degree of industrial agglomeration based on an explicit method for detecting spatial clusters. The first, designated as the global extent of industrial clusters, measures the spatial spread of these clusters in terms of the areal size of their essential containment, defined to be the (convex-solid) region containing the most significant subset of these clusters. The second, designated as the local density of industrial clusters, measures the spatial extent of individual clusters within their essential containment in terms of the areal share of that containment occupied by clusters. The present paper applies this pair of measures to manufacturing industries in Japan, and the results obtained are systematically compared to those of the most prominent scalar measures currently in use. Finally, these measures are shown to support certain predictions of new economic geography models concerning the relationship between shipment distances and spatial scales of agglomeration for individual industries.     

An analysis of some short-term health effects of air pollution in the Washington,D.C. metropolitan area

This study assesses some of the short-term health effects of air pollution in Washington, D.C. Specifically, regression models are formulated to explain health-care visits to a group practice medical care plan. Primary interest is focused on the effects of mobile-source air pollutants, particularly photo-chemical oxidants. Meteorological conditions, as well as other variables thought to influence the consumption of medical services, are included in the models as explanatory variables. The study found only a small effect of air pollution levels on the health-care visits to the group practice.     

A multivariate analysis of hybrid and electric vehicles sales in Mexico

This paper presents a multivariate analysis considering economic and ecological factors that are associated with the acquisition of low emission vehicles in Mexico. We analyzed the data available in the Mexican context from its 32 states and use econometric analyses with linear regression models to determine the significant factors associated with the sales of hybrid and electric vehicles. We found that the sales of these vehicles are positively correlated with the GDP per capita, the cost of consumed electricity, the price of gasoline and an indicator variable defined for sustainable practices. This indicator variable is calculated using data on the certificates issued by the government environmental office, energy intensity, adequate disposal of waste and waste separation. Based on these results, we infer that adherence to sustainable practices has a positive correlation with the acquisition of low emission vehicles in Mexico. However, for the buyers, the affordability of these vehicles is more important than their energy efficiency. In addition, we found that the most industrialized states are adopting hybrid and electric vehicles at higher rates than states whose economy depends on commerce and tourism.     

美国都市空间蔓延中的城乡冲突与统筹

20世纪后半叶美国等西方国家经历了逆城市化和都市蔓延,分散开发建设模式致使大量的农田被侵蚀,农业生产用地和产业链的连续性遭到破坏.由于传统规划在理念和技术方法上都无法应对这一问题,所以在这一背景下一些政府和学者展开了建设开发和农业保护的城乡统筹研究.首先对城乡冲突的问题和传统规划的缺陷进行分析,然后对地块开发引导、开发权转让等城乡统筹的主要技术手段进行描述,并针对我国的城乡发展和规划问题进行剖析.通过对美国城乡统筹的研究,力求为我国目前城市化快速发展时期的城乡问题提供参考和借鉴.     

武汉都市圈结构特征与结构优化研究

中国中部地区崛起迫切需要战略支点.在分析武汉市及周边城市初步具备都市圈形态的基础上,从规模结构、职能结构和空间结构的角度对武汉都市圈进行较为系统的分析,并提出了优化思路.     

Tiebout choice and residential segregation by race in US metropolitan areas, 1980–2000

This article examines the link between local government fragmentation, or “Tiebout choice,” and segregation between black and white residents. As suggested by Tiebout [Tiebout, C., 1956. A pure theory of local public expenditures. Journal of Political Economy 64, 416–424.], fragmented local governance structures may encourage households to vote with their feet and sort into communities based on their willingness to pay for local public services. This outcome has been well documented. The nuance explored here is that, if the demand for local public services varies by race or if households have preferences for neighbors with specific racial characteristics, local government fragmentation may foster an increase in residential segregation by race across neighborhoods and jurisdictions. Results from metropolitan-level regressions suggest that increased Tiebout choice is associated with increases in black–white residential segregation within US metropolitan areas. Comparable results are obtained from household-level estimates, where the black racial composition of a household's census tract of residence is regressed on household-level controls and racially stratified measures of Tiebout choice. Results from both approaches suggest that a 10% increase in Tiebout choice would increase neighborhood segregation by no more than 1%, while segregation across jurisdictions would increase by between 4% and 7%.     

农村公共产品供给层次性分析

统筹城乡经济发展和建设社会主义新农村首要面临的问题是为农村、农民提供基本而有保障的公共物品。农村公共物品不仅存在供给总量的短缺问题,而且存在需求层次与供给结构之间的脱节。因此,解决现阶段农村公共物品供给矛盾的有效途径是抓住"工业反哺农业"这一契机,优化农村公共物品的供给结构,不断提高公共财政资金的利用效率。     

和谐社会与城市规划公共性的回归

公共性的建构是和谐社会的必然诉求,城市是人类社会公共性的实现空间,城市规划先天地具有公共关怀的优良传统。转型期利益分配格局的调整和与之对应的制度缺陷造成了城市规划公共性的缺失及规划的价值危机,公共性传统的回归与复兴将有助于实现和谐的规划目标与和谐的规划过程,从而为和谐社会的构建做出有益的尝试。     

An empirical model of residential location and the journey-to-work in a metropolitan area

In this paper we present and estimate a single equation model designed to explain the residential location behaviour of individuals living in a multi-centered metropolitan area. We test the model for heads of households and non-heads of households separately, as well as for the total working population, in order to isolate differences in commuting behaviour between primary and secondary wage earners. The relationships are estimated from 1971 Census, cross-section data using least squares multiple regression. The data pertain to the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and sixty-three designated zones therein.The estimation results reveal that although location-rents prove to be significant in the individual's residential location decision-making process, their effect was limited to discouraging those employed in or near the central business district (CBD) from living close to work. The existence of secondary employment centres did not have the same significant effect in bidding up location-rents. Furthermore, contrary to the standard theory, the results suggest that residential location decisions are made in response to the availability of collective residential opportunities and workers' preferences for specific residential attributes rather than by reference to the “transportation cost—housing cost” trade-off. Among the socio-economic variables, age of the worker is found to be most significant in affecting journey-to-work distance. The results provide some evidence that non-heads are, to a certain extent, more sensitive to urban structural constraints in their commuting behaviour.     

Geographical Information Systems, Spatial Analysis and Public Policy: the British Experience

Geographic information systems (GIS) have received considerable academic and practitioner attention in the last ten years. It is our view that these tools have been considerably oversold to public sector organisations-particularly local government-many of whom have failed to achieve the benefits they expected. In our paper, we attempt to develop a broad definition of GIS and discuss the relationship between GIS and policy analysis, spatial decision support systems, spatial analysis and spatial modelling. We also seek to explore how GIS fits into the management information systems and information architectures of public sector organisations and examine some of the human and organisational tensions which GIS adoption and use have brought about. Where possible, we have used examples of how GIS has been used to inform public development in several areas though these have generally been in academic settings and not in public sector organisations.     

京津冀都市区统计与当前城市统计的比较研究

近年来,随着京津冀地区城市化进程的快速推进,中心城区不断向外扩张,加上周边农村地区的发展,城乡之间的经济与社会联系加强,都市区逐渐形成并发展。对京津冀都市区发展状况进行分析,在此基础上将都市区统计和当前城市统计进行对比,发现都市区是人口和经济活动的主要聚集地,是真正具备城市功能的地域;都市区代表了区域内更高的产业结构和发展水平;都市区统计能够更好地反映城市化快速发展的状况。最后总结了中国建立规范的都市区统计制度的必要性和迫切性,并从都市区的视角提出了促进京津冀区域内产业协调发展和统筹城乡发展的策略建议。     

著名风景区"边围地区"旅游开发研究——以桂林市灌阳县为例

灌阳具有丰富的自然和人文旅游资源.由于经济原因灌阳大部分旅游资源没有得到很好的开发.针对发展灌阳的优势、劣势、机遇和挑战,提出对灌阳进行全面科学系统的旅游资源考察,合理开发灌阳旅游资源,分时期分阶段地进行景点开发,加大对外宣传力度,在政府主导下引导多方投资,解决景区交通瓶颈,实施区域旅游协作的发展战略以及及时培养旅游人才等旅游开发措施.     

国际大都市服务业结构与功能特征

在信息技术革命及全球经济服务化的背景下,国际大都市服务业快速发展,服务业内部结构变化及特征出现了新的特点.在分析国际大都市1990-2000年间服务业就业结构变化的基础上,总结出不同层次国际大都市服务业的结构特征;结合国内外相关研究,概括了国际大都市的主要功能特征及未来的发展趋势.     

山东省区域城市化水平综合测度研究

在建立区域城市化水平测度指标体系的基础上,运用因子分析方法,以山东省17个地级市为研究地域单元,对山东省区域城市化水平进行了综合测度,并通过聚类分析将其划分为4种类型,同时分析了山东省城市化水平的地域差异特征、各类城市发展所面临的问题及其发展方向.