Exchange-rate flexibility,inflation, and structural change: Israel Under Alternative Regimes

The paper analyses the evolution of the Israeli exchange rate regime from the application of large discrete devaluations interspersed with gradual adjustments of export subsidies and import tariffs, through the adoption of a crawling peg (1975), and culminating in exchange decontrol and a float (1977). The main issues analysed in greater detail are the problem of maintaining an export-biased trade strategy, the role of devaluations in the inflationary process and the effect of alternative exchange rate regimes on expectations and capital-account transactions.     

Price formation on stock exchanges: the evolution of trading within the day

Prior analyses of prices of the NYSE and other exchanges findthat transitory price volatility is greater at the open of tradingthan at the close. We extend this line of research by using40 years of hourly Dow Jones 65 composite price index data toestimate transitory volatility throughout the trading day. Ourresults indicate that transitory volatility steadily declinesduring the trading day. We find a similar intraday decline intransitory volatility for a 2-year sample of the individualfirms in the Dow Jones 30 Industrials Index. The results areconsistent with the hypothesis that trading aids price formationand do not support the argument that particular trading mechanismsare the source of greater volatility at the open of trading.     

Achieving sustainable cost transformation

Means for hospitals and health systems to achieve necessary, sustainable cost transformation include: Using a structured approach with rigorous analysis. Understanding the organization's capital position and quantifing the shortfall. Identifing potential savings sources. Using internal and external benchmarks. Ensuring integration of cost-reduction targets with organizational plans and budget.     

Cost-utility analyses of targeted immunomodulators in rheumatoid arthritis: systematic review

Abstract

Aims: Cost-utility (CU) modeling is a common technique used to determine whether new treatments represent good value for money. As with any modeling exercise, findings are a direct result of methodology choices, which may vary widely. Several targeted immuno-modulators have been launched in recent years to treat moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which have been evaluated using CU methods. Our objectives were to identify common and innovative modeling choices in moderate-to-severe RA and to highlight their implications for future models in RA.

Materials and methods: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify CU models in moderate-to-severe RA published from January 2013 to June 2019. Studies must have included an active comparator and used quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) as the common measure of effectiveness. Modeling methods were characterized by stakeholder perspective, simulation type, mapping between parameters, and data sources.

Results: Thirty-one published modeling studies were reviewed spanning 13 countries and 9 drugs, with common methodological choices and innovations observed among them. Over the evaluated time period, we observed common methods and assumptions that are becoming more prominent in the RA CU modeling landscape, including patient-level simulations, two-stage models combining trial results and real-world evidence, real-world treatment durations, long-term health consequences, and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)-related hospitalization costs. Models that consider the societal perspective are increasingly being developed as well.

Limitations: This review did not consider studies that did not report QALYs as a utility measure, models published only as conference abstracts, or cost-consequence models that did not report an incremental CU ratio.

Conclusions: CU modeling for RA increasingly reflects real-world conditions and patient experiences which are anticipated to provide better information in the assessment of health technologies. Future CU models in RA should consider applying the observed advances in modeling choices to optimize their CU predictions and simulation of real-world outcomes.     

Decentralization and the search for policy solutions

We use mathematical and computational models to analyze theability of federated organizations to solve difficult problems.Federated organizations may have some inherent advantages forsolving difficult problems since they can empower multiple subunitsto search for policy solutions in parallel and exploit and combinethe mutual information discovered by the subunits to revealeven better solutions. We find that the benefits of these methodsof experimentation first increase and then decrease as the problemof finding good policies increases in difficulty.     

美国市政绿色建筑法令评析

美国的众多市政当局在过去的几年里纷纷出台了关于绿色建筑的法令条例.这些法令条例被编成目录,列于气候变化法律研究中心网站的市政绿色建筑法令电子表格之中,并接受审查.为了更好地理解在起草出台一个规范的绿色建筑法令过程中需要作出的决定,本文主要讨论制定出列于电子表格中的法令的市政当局所做的不同选择,并备注了谙多市政当局中意见一致的地区.