Perceived quality of public services, liquidity constraints, and the demand of private specialist care

In this article we offer direct evidence on the role of perceived quality differences in publicly provided health care services, in determining the incentive to opt out for private services and, for poor individuals, short-run credit constraints in the access to these services. We concentrate on private specialist care, a category of services for which disparities in the access are highest. We use Bank of Italy—SHIW data to first study the determinants of demand for private and public specialist care, estimating probit and bivariate probit models, and ZIP models. We then apply the Carneiro–Heckman procedure to identify the share of people constrained and study how perceived quality of public services affects the percentage of people short run constrained. Our estimates suggest the presence of large territorial differences, as for the role of income and the quality of public services.     

A green Lewis development model

This paper develops an environmental extension of a Lewis dual economy model, in which the interaction between environmental quality and economic growth, in one of its several dimensions, is explicitly modeled to explore long-run effects of a pollution abatement rule in developing economies. The government requires the modern sector to dedicate a fraction of its output to pollution abatement, with such profitability-reducing fraction being endogenous to the level of environmental quality. Meanwhile, the level of environmental quality positively affects labor productivity, profits and, therefore, savings, which has a positive impact on capital accumulation. It is shown that this pollution abatement requirement, by affecting profitability in the modern sector both negatively and positively, makes for the emergence of an ecological development trap from which a developing dual economy, if left to the free play of its structural forces, never escapes. Fortunately, however, this economy can be released from such a trap not only through a standard Big Push, in the spirit of Rosenstein-Rodan, but also by means of what we call an Environmental Big Push.     

The reputation of underwriters: A test of the bonding hypothesis

In the spirit of the Bonding Hypothesis proposed by Stulz (1999) and Coffee (1999, 2002), I find that foreign firms that cross-list in the U.S. and undertake IPOs are more likely to employ reputable underwriters if the firms come from countries with poor shareholder protection. The additional monitoring provided by reputable underwriters may help overcome the skepticism of U.S. investors, and partially explains the higher valuation these firms obtain after the offering. There is, however, a price to pay for this bonding benefit. I find that issuers from countries with weaker shareholder protection tend to be more underpriced if they are sponsored by prestigious underwriters.     

The Latin American World Model (a.k.a. the Bariloche model): three decades ago

Almost twenty five years ago, “Catastrophe and New Society. A Latin American World Model” was published [Herrera AO et al. Catastrophe or New Society? A Latin American World Model. Canada: DRC, 1976]. It described the work of a group of Latin American researchers, led by the late Amilcar O. Herrera, and it represented both a response to the diagnostic and proposal embodied in World 3, the first world model sponsored by the Club of Rome [Meadows D, et al. The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books, 1972], and a new proposal for the global system. It remains to date the only global model made in the South.The present paper is a personal reflection by one of the authors of the Latin American World Model (LAWM) on what the model meant (and what it may still mean) in the context of the limits debate and the more general issue of the future(s) of the world system.     

Efficiency of Junior High Schools and the Role of Proprietary Structure

Abstract: In this paper we deal with the role of proprietary structure in explaining efficiency within the Italian school industry. We analyze a sample of 497 schools located in Piemonte, a region in the North‐Western part of the country, distinguishing between public, private for‐profit and private nonprofit schools. In stage one of the analysis, we provide robust estimates of efficiency scores, using the two most widely known techniques in applied works, namely Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontiers (SF). In stage two, we suggests that proprietary structure matters in explaining efficiency. Nonprofit schools are more efficient than public ones, whereas for‐profit counterparts are outperformed by public producers. Moreover, we find that foreign and disabled students affects negatively efficiency, raising concerns for cream‐skimming practices among private producers. Finally, school size is another important determinant of efficiency.     

Exchange Rate,Income Distribution and Technical Change in a Balance-of-Payments Constrained Growth Model

This article develops a formal model that accounts for the net effect of an exchange rate devaluation on the long-term balance-of-payments constrained growth rate. Such a model investigates how a currency devaluation impacts on the home country non-price competitiveness via changes in income distribution and the rate of technological innovation. The model is built upon two plausible hypotheses. First, it is assumed that the rate of technological innovation is directly related to the income elasticity of demand for exports and inversely related to the income elasticity of demand for imports. Second, it is assumed that a redistribution of income between labor and capital has an ambiguous direct impact on the income elasticities ratio. The model shows that the net impact of a currency devaluation on growth can go either way depending on the institutional framework of the economy.     

一个标谁一次检验全球接受

标准与检验携手并进,缺一不可,已成为推动全球大市场发展的重要力量.标准为产品、服务、相关体系、生产过程及相关材料等提供了相应的技术规范和质量要求.检验则是验证这些标准是否可靠地得到实现.一旦标准在国际上得到广泛的认可,它就成为相关产品或服务的国际市场的发展依据,这就表明这个市场建立在可靠的质量基础之上,有较高的消费者信任度.