From Sickness to Health: The Twentieth-Century Development of U.S. Health Insurance

This paper explores the institutional development of health insurance in the United States. By combining a qualitative history of the development of the market with an empirical analysis of a panel of health insurance data from 1931-1955, the paper identifies a number of factors that influenced the growth of the health insurance market. While demand factors such as increasing income and improvements in medical technology certainly contributed to the growth of the market, supply side factors were also important. There is evidence that hospitals may have contributed to the growth of health insurance as a means of smoothing revenues during the Great Depression. State-level policies that allowed the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans to operate as nonprofits also spurred market growth, as did federal government policies that promoted the link between employment and health insurance.     

The role of for-profit hospitals in medical expenditures: Evidence from aggregate data in China

The health care delivery system in China, which is dominated by state hospitals, is being increasingly challenged by public concerns: it is too expensive and too inaccessible, a complaint commonly phrased as “kai bin nan, kan bin gui” in Chinese. As the penetration of for-profit hospitals has gradually increased, there is a growing need for policy research to assess their impact on medical spending from the patient perspective. Using panel data at the provincial level in China, this paper examines the impact of the penetration of for-profit hospitals on average medical expenditures for both outpatient and inpatient services in public general hospitals. Based on fixed-effect model estimates, the study shows that the penetration of for-profit hospitals has lowered the average medical expenditures for both inpatient and outpatient services across regions, especially for pharmaceuticals. Together with other results, this study finds no evidence that private for-profit hospitals drive up average medical expenditures while serving their profit-maximization objectives. Rather, they help increase the market supply of health care, which in turn better serves the increasing demand.     

论出口补贴与反补贴税对出口国福利的经济效应

本文从经济学角度分析了出口补贴与反补贴税对出口国福利和进口国福利的影响,认为补贴措施会降低出口国的总福利并容易遭到进口国的反补贴报复,反补贴税的效果受多种因素影响,具有不确定性,指出我国在实施出口补贴政策时应考虑产品市场的供求弹性,选择合适的补贴类型、数量和形式,以求在达到补贴的预期目的的同时尽量降低补贴的不利影响。     

粮食安全视野的政府与市场分工

从现阶段粮食供求的动态趋势来看,我国粮食呈现出不能自给的基本走势。有效解决我国粮食安全问题,应采取政府干预与市场相结合的原则,其中又有两个难题必须注意:一是构建可持续的粮食生产足够补贴机制,二是构建可持续的公共财力高效率使用机制。     

The development of medical consumerism in South Africa

Private medical practice is increasingly perceived as an entrepreneurial activity by private patients. Accordingly, enlightened and assertive medical consumers can be expected to demand satisfaction in exchange for their health‐care purchases. Vociferous patients, reacting to dissatisfaction and inequities, may launch an association as a countervailing force to the powerful doctors’ associations. Structural imbalances and the sophisticated yet critical nature of medical care have hitherto precluded the existence of medical consumerism. However, in an environment of individual and community sovereignty, such a force is imminent where adversarial doctor‐patient relationships develop, or where patients’ rights are infringed. Once this force has been established, its influence will spread to public health care, especially when patients believe their basic rights are being infringed. This article, therefore, enlightens practitioners and National Health Service providers on the possible areas of conflict.     

考虑政府补贴的供应链低碳减排策略研究

以一个投资低碳减排技术的制造商和零售商组成的二级供应链为研究对象,探究了不同补贴策略对供应链决策的影响。通过数值仿真发现,政府补贴低碳产品消费者策略下的低碳减排量、制造商和零售商利润均高于其他补贴策略,但该补贴策略较适合低碳减排产品投入市场初期时采用,因为有利于低碳减排产品的市场开拓。而从长期来看,政府补贴低碳减排技术策略下的评价指标体系绩效价格比最大,因而能更有力地推动企业投资低碳减排技术。     

HEALTH CARE PROVIDER CHOICE

In order to achieve an ‘optimal health system’, health policies should not only be focused on the supply of health care, but also take cognisance of the demand for health care. Studies of health care demand in South Africa are scarce due to considerable data limitations. This analysis attempts to fill this gap by combining two data sets (specifically, the GHS 2004 and IES/LFS 2000) in order to be able to utilize the wealth of information regarding health care utilization in the General Household Survey. The aim is to inform and encourage debate on how to incorporate demand side considerations in order to arrive at improved public health care in South Africa.     

Supply response under market liberalisation: A case study of Malawian agriculture

In order to analyse the effects of policy reforms, output supply and factor demand responses to input and output prices for Malawian agriculture are estimated in this article in a multiple-output, multiple-input framework. The implications of various structural adjustment policies implemented in Malawi are analysed using the model results for their impact on the smallholder agricultural sector. The results of the analysis indicate that removal of fertiliser subsidy – a major component of market reform policies – does not substantially reduce the production of maize, the major staple food in Malawi. However, when implemented in appropriate sequence along with other output market liberalisation policies and increased investment in infrastructure, such a policy is likely to increase the productivity of smallholder agriculture.     

Performance signals in the public sector: the case of health care

Although there are no traditional markets and money prices inthe public sector, consumers and providers may respond to signalsof organisational performance. We present a simple dynamic modelof the demand and supply for elective surgery in the UK NationalHealth Service in which waiting time acts as the prime indicatorof performance. The model is tested using a panel of quarterlydata for 123 English health authorities over an eight-year period.We find that supply is increasing and demand is decreasing inmeasures of the previous period waiting time. The results implythat health care systems which are rationed by waiting do respondto indicators of waiting times. The paper adds to the smallbut consistent body of research which demonstrates that publicsector systems respond to important aspects of reported performance.     

北京市医药健康产业政策分析——基于2014—2021年的政策文本

大力发展医药健康产业对于助推区域加快构建高精尖产业结构具有重要意义。文章以2014-2021年北京市医药健康产业政策文本为样本，从“政策工具-医药健康产业价值链”两个维度，采用政策文本分析法对政策条目进行了量化分析。得出结论：北京市医药健康产业政策总体上符合产业发展需求，起到了促进产业发展的作用，但也存在着供给面政策工具应用过溢、环境面政策工具中管制类占比过高、需求面政策工具应用不足等问题，研究提出了完善和优化北京市医药健康产业政策的对策建议，包括适当降低供给面政策工具使用频率、调整环境面政策工具分布以及突破需求面政策工具应用的局限性等，为完善北京市医药健康产业政策提供参考。     

我国建立炼焦煤期货市场的可行性研究

我国是世界第一产煤大国,也是煤炭消费的大国。从我国煤炭产量、消耗量、运输量及进出口情况看,近年来我国煤炭供需形势一度趋紧,煤炭价格波动较大,煤炭交易双方都有规避风险的需求。文章认为,炼焦煤作为现阶段我国市场化程度较高的煤种,从其储量、生产市场、需求市场、企业集中度和价格走势来看,已经具备了上市期货的基本条件。作为炼焦煤一焦炭一钢铁产业链中的首要一环,考虑推出煤炭期货,对于该产业链的金融化发展有很重要的现实意义。     

Maternal Depression and the Production of Infant Health

Depression is most prevalent among women of childbearing age and among low-income women, and the medical literature shows it to have adverse effects on infant health. Yet maternal depression has been overlooked in economic studies of infant health production. This research incorporates maternal depressive symptoms into a standard infant health production model and estimates both structural and reduced-form birth weight equations using samples of non-Hispanic white and black women from the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. A byproduct of this research is an empirical investigation into factors associated with maternal depressive symptoms. All results show that depressive symptoms have a negative effect on birth weight and that they may operate through several channels such as smoking and prenatal care.     

日本政府促进风险投资发展的市场增进性制度安排

日本政府针对由于创新项目对风险投资需求不足所造成的日本风险投资发展缓慢的问题,制定了对风险投资市场具有增进作用的政策,试图通过提升风险投资市场的供求水平,实现在供给和需求的相互作用下风险投资的自律性发展。     

General health conditions and medical insurance issues concerning black women

In the last 30 years the health status of black women has improved. However, the likelihood of health problems from complications of pregnancy and childbirth or prolonged illness from combined effects of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity remains. The need for continuity of care for these conditions and the low economic status of black women suggest that current policy shifts away from emphasis on increased access to medical care will adversely affect the health status of black women. Policies to contain health-care costs should therefore be designed to assure appropriate access to needed care for black women and other low-income groups.     

四川省住宅市场非均衡性分析

根据住宅市场供求和供求非均衡性的基本理论,结合四川省住宅市场的实际情况,对四川省商品住宅一级市场的供给和需求的非均衡性从总量上和结构上进行了实证研究,并分析了产生非均衡性的原因,最后提出了地方政府针对住宅市场非均衡性的几点建议。     

中国清洁能源产品偷吃美国政策福利了吗

在补贴强度一致的情况下,不管补贴方式有何差异,清洁能源产品生产者和消费者获得的补贴分享是相同的。美国对消费环节补贴会流入中国生产企业,中国对生产环节的补贴同样也流入了美国消费环节。从整个清洁能源产业来看,中国是否"偷吃"了美国的政策福利取决于该产业的供求函数。     

A dilemma of Chinese healthcare reform: How to re-define government roles?

This paper discusses the government's roles in the healthcare sector in China. The paper begins with an introduction to the Chinese healthcare sector (supply and demand side) and to the current government's roles. It then reviews the recent transformation of the healthcare sector, with an emphasis on the change in the government's roles and the problems resulting from this transformation. The following is an examination of the latest healthcare reform policies and an exploration of pending government roles. Contrary to the opinion that problems existing in Chinese healthcare are primarily caused by market failure, this paper argues that the historically ambiguous and inappropriate roles of government in the provision of health care should be reexamined. This paper concludes that the most important issue facing the Chinese healthcare sector is finding the optimal balance between market and government.     

How Big is the Crowding-Out Effect of User Fees in the Rural Areas of Ethiopia? Implications for Equity and Resources Mobilization

Using a nested multinomial logit model, this study investigates the demand “reduction” and “diversion” effects of user fees in rural areas of Ethiopia. The results reveal that an increase in user fees of public clinics, which are the most widely used alternative, can have a significant demand reduction effect on the poorest of the poor. This implies that despite cost recovery has been advocated as an alternative means of health care financing in most of the developing world, increasing user fees may drive the poorest segment of the population out of the health care market unless some protective measures are taken.     

论中国石化产品市场分析方法

文章论述了中国石化产品市场分析方法和市场的中国特色。分析方法分三个层面：供需分析、市场分析和竞争力分析。供需分析主要论述了供应和需求两个方面如何分析,重点讨论了需求的结构分析和供需分析的核心工具一供需平衡表的应用。市场分析分为宏观层面和微观层面。宏观层面论述了宏观经济、政府政策和行业趋势三个因素;微观层面讨论了新增产能、价格变化、替代品、营销模式和突发事件五个因素。竞争力分析从企业战略层面分析产品的竞争力,讨论了成本和技．术两个因素。最后探讨了中国石化产品市场有中国特色的三个特点：现货市场、国营特色和进口产品的两面性。     

Subsidizing Non-Polluting Goods vs. Taxing Polluting Goods for Pollution Reduction

Pigovian taxes on polluters are politically unpopular, but subsidies for non-polluting sources are politically attractive. This paper presents a linear demand and supply model and numerical example to explore the trade-offs between taxing polluting sources of a good versus subsidizing non-polluting sources of the same good. While the model (along with the associated numerical example) shows the optimality of Pigovian taxes, it also shows how much welfare is reduced if subsidies for nonpolluters are employed instead. Further, it shows the optimal tax, given any level of subsidy and the optimal subsidy, given any level of tax.