Cost of hospital care for elderly at risk of falling

The variables that relate to cost of hospital care for a large sample of elderly patients at risk for falling are examined. The chief predictors of cost of hospitalization were medical, pharmacy, and nursing interventions. Use of nursing interventions, on average, raised the median hospital cost less than use of medical or pharmacy interventions. Using a standardized nursing language with the hospital's information system can provide nurses with information that demonstrates the cost effectiveness of their interventions.     

是时候向银行说再见了

最近大银行受到的指责不少,从金融危机的责难到对其他各方的恐吓,从止赎混乱到摩根大通银行交易失态。当然这些都过于宏观,对于大多数人来说,大银行最让世人戳脊梁的应该是高收费和相当差的服务质量。幸运的是,这个时候出现了银行的替代品。信用社VS大银行大型商业银行归其股东所有,显然是一个以营利为目的的企业,而信用社是存户所共同拥有的,不以营利为目,但这并不意味着信用社不盈利,它们也在寻求超额收益的业务以保证存款人的利益。     

Mapping your innovation strategy

In the complex sport of American football, teams rely on playbooks as thick as the Manhattan phone directory. But when it comes to creating innovative growth businesses-which is at least as complicated as professional football--most companies have not developed detailed game plans. Indeed, many managers have concluded that a fog enshrouds the world of innovation, obscuring high-potential opportunities. The authors believe that companies can penetrate that fog by developing growth strategies based on disruptive innovations, as defined by Clayton Christensen. Such innovations conform to a pattern: They offer an entirely new solution; they perform adequately along traditional dimensions and much better along other dimensions that matter more to target customers; and they are not initially appealing to powerful incumbents. Companies can develop customized checklists, or playbooks, by combining this basic pattern with analysis of major innovations in their markets. The key early on is to focus not on detailed financial estimates--which will always guide companies toward the markets most hostile to disruptive innovations--but on how well the innovation fits the pattern of success. It's also crucial to encourage flexibility: Companies must be willing to kill projects that are going nowhere, exempt innovations from standard development processes, and avoid burdening project teams with extra financing, which can keep them heading in the wrong direction. Companies can create competitive advantage by becoming champions at defining the pattern of successful innovations and executing against it. But as that pattern becomes obvious--and others emerge-building a sustainable advantage on innovation competencies will again prove elusive.     

The new retirement reality: calculating the true cost of retirement income adequacy

Recognizing that 401(k) plans are emerging as many employees' sole source of employer-sponsored retirement income, plan sponsors are increasingly adding paternalistic plan features to increase the amount--and effectiveness--of dollars invested in 401(k) accounts. The authors describe the results of a study they prepared for Hewitt Associates that assesses retirement income adequacy for individuals represented in a plan participant database of 1.8 million individuals. The study includes analysis of retirement income adequacy for the aggregate population as well as the results for different subgroups, reflecting factors such as whether individuals actively contribute; the impact of different levels of retiree medical coverage; and the presence of a defined benefit pension. Finally, the authors discuss how plan sponsors can bolster the adequacy of retirement income from 401(k) plans, depending on employer objectives.     

Minimum nurse staffing ratios for nursing homes

The authors explored minimum nurse staffing ratios for nursing homes using production function simulations. Minimum levels of registered nurse hours per resident day were 0.31, 1.83, and 3.3 at 50%, 75%, and 90% levels of quality respectively. These results suggest that efficiency-oriented minimum nurse staffing points exist, and could be used to inform policymakers and nursing home administrators on better resource allocation and health care delivery.     

Another look at the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the black-white health benefit inequality

This paper illustrates the black-white disparity in health benefit coverage and the socioeconomic variables-unemployment, income, and education. The health benefit disparity is strongly related to the disparity in underlying socioeconomic variables. Moreover, the time-series examination reveals that the change in white workers' health insurance coverage is largely determined by its year-to-year persistence and the labor market tightness (or the business cycle), while that of black workers is largely determined by the change in their earnings with a slight persistence. The effect of the change in annual earnings seems to dominate the effect of the labor market condition (unemployment rate) and other variables. Finally, although marginally significant, an increase in the attainment of higher education (college) has a positive effect on the black-white health benefit disparity.     

矿产资源经济学的发展与展望

1矿产资源经济学的学科特点 矿产资源经济学是一门与矿产资源发现、开采、加工、使用、回收利用和处置有关的经济、政策问题研究与教育的学科.它的起源可以追溯到经济学作为一门正式学科的早期发展阶段,在"Ricardo法则"(李嘉图定律)第三章中就有"矿山地租理论"的介绍.此后,Malthus(马尔萨斯)对资源的担忧也是后来资源悲观主义者常引用的预防措施.同时专家也提到Jevons(杰文斯)于1865年的研究成果,该成果描述了英国煤炭枯竭的可怕后果. 尽管早期开展了大量的工作,但本文关注的是1945年以后的发展.因为仅在二战后矿产资源经济学才在学术界作为独立的课程兴起,而在此之前,并不被认为是一个独立的研究领域.