The Challenge of Radical Political Economics

The aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for the study and integration of financial innovation in the institutional structures that support the operation of the monetary system. The background of the analysis comes from original institutional economics (Bush and Tool 2003 Bush, Paul Dale and Marc R. Tool. “Foundational Concepts for Institutionalist Policy Making.” In Institutional Analysis and Economic Policy, edited by Paul D. Bush and Marc R. Tool, pp. 1–46. Dordrecht, Germany: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Foster [1942] 1981 Foster, J. Fagg. “John Dewey and Economic Value.” Journal of Economic Issues 15, 4 ([1942] 1981): 871–879. [Google Scholar], [1949] 1981 Foster, J. Fagg. “The Relation Between Theory of Value and Economic Analysis.” Journal of Economic Issues 15, 4 ([1949] 1981): 899–905. [Google Scholar]; Veblen [1914] 1964 Veblen, Thorstein. The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts. New York, NY: Augustus M. Kelley, [1914] 1964. [Google Scholar], [1889] 1996 Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of the Leisure Clash. London: Dover, [1889] 1996. [Google Scholar]), the state theory of money (Ingham 2004 Ingham, Geoffrey. The Nature of Money. London: Polity, 2004. [Google Scholar]; Papadopoulos 2009 Papadopoulos, Georgios. “Between Rules and Power: Money as an Institution Sanctioned by Political Authority.” Journal of Economic Issues 43, 4 (2009): 951–969.[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), and a specific account of social ontology based on constitutive and normative rules as well as the notion of collective intentionality (Searle 2005 Searle, John. “What Is an Institution?” Journal of Institutional Economics 1, 1 (2005):1–22.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2010 Searle, John. Making the Social World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010. [Google Scholar]). The aim is a dynamic framework for the analysis of the institutional evolution of money, whereby institutional change comes from technology, and the state acts both as regulator of the institutional adjustment and guarantor of the stability and the efficiency of the monetary system. In that sense, the framework outlines the context and principles for the government regulation of financial innovation.     

人本主义对传统经济学的挑战

传统西方经济学的主流思想主要定位于经济福利,但往往是通过诸如物质产出的总量及成本收益等指标来衡量经济福利,而按新经济的福利经济学观点,仅有经济福利,而缺乏社会福利,总的福利水平仍然可能不高。新经济是人本主义的经济,是更人性的经济。因此,以人本主义思想重新界定经济的内涵,并以人的精神财富为根本目标,以探索社会总财富的增加为核心内容,从而形成更具创新意义的人本经济学思想。     

The Challenge of Social Economics: A Review Essay

This paper starts from the perspective that giving meaning to life is a key function of religion: through its narratives, rituals, creeds, and practices, religion clothes life in a meaningful frame. Interestingly, though, meaning of life has not yet appeared in studies on the relation between religion and economic behavior. As meaning of life may prove to be a crucial factor in understanding this relation, this paper seeks to develop a new approach to understanding the link between religion and economic behavior from the viewpoint of meaning of life.     

Humanistic economics: The new Challenge: A review essay

This paper discusses the role of social, institutional, and psychological factors in the consumption and borrowing behavior of low-income households, and makes arguments in favor of policy interventions to alleviate some of the challenges of these households. Focus group evidence and findings on the current behaviors and borrowing patterns of low-income families are provided to support and motivate this perspective on consumption and policy. While the data are drawn from a specific region, the observations and findings could be generalized to other communities after accounting for different cultural and social characteristics. This research provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges confronted by low-income individuals at achieving their economic desires for lives of basic dignity, explores both economic and non-economic motivations, and provides insights useful for policy deliberation and model development.     

知识资源对传统经济学的挑战

在一个“不确定”是唯一可确定之因素的经济环境中,知识资源无疑是获得持续竞争优势的源泉。[1]文章从知识的内涵出发,尝试着对知识资源的定义加以阐述,创造性地论述了两者之间的关系,分析了知识资源与传统经济资源的共同点和不同点,然而正是由于这些不同点,从而对传统经济学提出了挑战。     

National Identity and the Challenge of Health Reform in Canada

Health reform remains the most contentious policy issue in Canada. Medicare is subject to the same political forces that demand state retrenchment in other areas, but it has escaped wholesale reorganization because of the commitment of Canadians to the principles of medicare, because the provinces and the federal government remain locked in a battle about provincial autonomy, and because the existing system serves the interests of various professional groups including organized medicine. Nevertheless, reform and, especially, expansion of coverage is essential if the existing system is to be sustained. The most encouraging aspect of current debate is the recognition that we can look beyond the U.S. for reforms more consistent with the underlying values of Canadians than is the U.S. system.     

Hospital patients with severe wounds: early evidence on the impact of Medicare payment changes on treatment patterns and outcomes

Aims: This study examines the effects of recent changes in Medicare long-term care hospital (LTCH) payments on treatment patterns and outcomes for severe wound patients discharged from short-term acute care hospitals (STACHs).

Materials and methods: The rolling implementation of a new Medicare payment policy was used to develop a difference-in-difference model. The study population consisted of Medicare beneficiaries subjected to the payment policy changes and hospitalized for stage 3, 4, or unstageable wounds; non-healing surgical wounds; and fistula. Using 2015-Q1-2017 Medicare claims data, changes in outcomes were examined for severe wound patients exposed to the new policy (treatment) and those that were not (comparison). All outcomes were modeled using linear regressions and adjusted for patient clinical characteristics. Analysis was conducted in a full sample and a sample with high-LTCH-use propensity.

Results: Severe wound patients exposed to the new policy experienced 4.1 and 7.5 percentage point (pp) reductions in LTCH use relative to the comparison group in the full sample and high-LTCH-propensity sample, respectively (p?p?=?.039). No statistically significant change was found in 60-day mortality or Medicare spending after the policy change in the treatment group as compared to the comparison group (p?>?.10). However, among severe wound patients who are exposed to the new policy in the high-LTCH-propensity sample, readmission and post-discharge sepsis rates increased after the policy change relative to the comparison group (readmission rate = 8.1 pp, p?=?.075; sepsis rate = 7.0 pp, p?=?.033).

Limitations: The findings are based on data from a limited timeframe around the policy change and, thus, provide only early evidence on the effects of the new policy.

Conclusion: The new LTCH payment policy is associated with no changes in Medicare spending and mortality, but higher readmissions and post-discharge sepsis rates among severe wound patients with a high likelihood to use an LTCH.     

Health care resource utilization and burden of disease in a U.S. Medicare population with a principal diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the knee

Abstract

Aims

To assess the prevalence, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and economic burden of disease among Medicare beneficiaries with a principal diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.     

Reimbursement schemes for hospitals: the impact of case and firm characteristics

We contribute to the debate on high-powered versus low-powered incentives in regulation by studying their heterogeneous impacts on different subpopulations, using data from the introduction of a high-powered prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital reimbursement in Germany. While no overall effect on quality or cost saving is found, our results support hypotheses drawn from an incentive and selection perspective: PPS reduces the length of stay of older relative to younger patients, of more severe relative to less severe cases, and in smaller relative to larger hospitals. Hospitals which adopted PPS earlier provide higher quality under PPS as proxied by the case-specific readmission rate. Our study also contributes to the health economic literature on hospital reimbursement as our data permits us to identify the treatment effect via different timings of adoption of PPS and to use a more accurate quality measure by following patients even when readmitted to other hospitals.     

新古典经济学及公司合同理论质疑

以新古典经济学为基础,波斯纳对法律制度进行了全面的经济分析。而伊斯特布鲁克和费希尔则是公司法经济分析的代表。其缔造的公司合同理论,贯彻了市场本位的价格理论,认为公司是合同的联结,法律制度无关紧要。新古典经济学及公司合同理论远离经济现实,受到新制度经济学及其他学派的挑战。     

Procedural volume,cost, and reimbursement of outpatient incisional hernia repair: implications for payers and providers

Objective: This analysis aimed to evaluate trends in volumes and costs of primary elective incisional ventral hernia repairs (IVHRs) and investigated potential cost implications of moving procedures from inpatient to outpatient settings.

Methods: A time series study was conducted using the Premier Hospital Perspective^® Database (Premier database) for elective IVHR identified by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth revision, Clinical Modification codes. IVHR procedure volumes and costs were determined for inpatient, outpatient, minimally invasive surgery (MIS), and open procedures from January 2008–June 2015. Initial visit costs were inflation-adjusted to 2015?US dollars. Median costs were used to analyze variation by site of care and payer. Quantile regression on median costs was conducted in covariate-adjusted models. Cost impact of potential outpatient migration was estimated from a Medicare perspective.

Results: During the study period, the trend for outpatient procedures in obese and non-obese populations increased. Inpatient and outpatient MIS procedures experienced a steady growth in adoption over their open counterparts. Overall median costs increased over time, and inpatient costs were often double outpatient costs. An economic model demonstrated that a 5% shift of inpatient procedures to outpatient MIS procedures can have a cost surplus of?～?US $1.8 million for provider or a cost-saving impact of US $1.7 million from the Centers for Medicare &; Medicaid Services perspective.

Limitations: The study was limited by information in the Premier database. No data were available for IVHR cases performed in free-standing ambulatory surgery centers or federal healthcare facilities.

Conclusion: Volumes and costs of outpatient IVHRs and MIS procedures increased from January 2008–June 2015. Median costs were significantly higher for inpatients than outpatients, and the difference was particularly evident for obese patients. A substantial cost difference between inpatient and outpatient MIS cases indicated a financial benefit for shifting from inpatient to outpatient MIS.     

论先进文化与优秀人文医院塑造

一个优秀的医疗要发展、壮大,离不开深厚的文化底蕴。医院一方面要不断地引进先进的文化,另一方面要不断培育、弘扬自己的文化特色,形成自身的文化理念;同时还要加强学习和教育,克服文化陋习。通过长期的文化积淀,塑造优秀的人文医院。     

再论网络经济对传统经济理论的挑战

文章从五个方面论述了网络经济与传统经济理论所不同的经济规律,分析了网络经济与传统经济理论的逻辑关系,提出应该建立专门研究网络经济的网络经济学的观点。     

Observations on the Use of Textbooks in the Teaching of Principles of Economics: A Comment

The usual substitution effect of a price change between goods is extended to substitution among differentiated products within a heterogeneous good in a manner useful for the introductory and intermediate courses. The example of student choice of course load is used.     

以人为本的生态意蕴

以人为本是科学发展观的核心，它蕴含着丰富而深刻的生态思想。除了物质需要和精神需要外，人还具有基础性和复合性的生态需要；实现生态公平是解决当前生态危机的重要条件，人力资源的生态化是实现科学发展和建设高层次生态文明的核心所在。     

施米特的挑战--读《议会民主制的危机》

简单地说,魏玛共和国的自由主义宪法有可能为宪法的敌人打开通向国家权力的道路,这是施米特的核心论点。     

大学校园文化建设与人文素质教育的互动

校园文化是学校在长期育人过程中形成的独特的价值观念、社会心理、审美情趣、思维模式、行为方式以及与此相关的校风、学风。人文素质教育是一种发展人性、完善人格的教育。大学校园文化与人文素质教育的互动,对塑造大学生人格、培养大学生素质起着十分重要的作用。     

独立审计质量的经济学透视

本文从需求和供给两方面分析了独立审计市场中的审计质量均衡状况及其成因,研究发现:一方面,由我国公司治理不完善而引发的对独立审计的代理需求不足,以及特定融资制度下对低质量审计的融资需求强劲,使得我国独立审计的自愿性需求严重匮乏,从而审计师缺乏提高审计质量的内在经济动机;另一方面,现有法规对审计师的激励不足、约束不够,因此目前审计师提供的审计服务质量难于达到社会公众的期望-《独立审计准则》的要求.最后,笔者针对出现的问题提出相应的政策建议.