MEASURING FARM INCOME UNDER CONDITIONS OF INFLATION: THE GAINS FROM BORROWING

Progress made in applying the principles of Current Cost Accounting (CCA) to measuring farming income is reviewed. Attention is focussed on the absence of any adjustment to farming income figures to incorporate the gains accruing from borrowing where the real burden of debt is eroded by inflation. A procedure based on deducting implied real interest charges, instead of nominal interest payments, is proposed. Revised values for U.K. farming income are estimated for the years 1974 to 1980. The revised figures range from values for income which are 29% greater than values which exclude the gains (or losses) from borrowing to values which are 25% lower.     

Outcomes and cost analysis of the impact of unit-level nurse staffing on post-discharg utilization

Under a proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hospitals would no longer be reimbursed for 30-day re-admissions or emergency department (ED) visits. Increasing RN staffing to reduce post-discharge utilization is one possible solution, but one that is not financially attractive to hospitals. This study demonstrates the impact of fluctuating staffing levels on ED visits within 30 days of discharge. RN overtime and RN vacancies also affected subsequent ED visits. It is important for nurse managers, directors, and administrators to recognize the impact of RN staffing on patient outcomes. Reimbursement models will need to be realigned to benefit both hospitals and payers.     

Poverty as we never knew it: THE source of vulnerability for most of humankind

ABSTRACT

Most of humankind lives in poverty. Over 1.2 billion people survive on less than $1.25 per day, and around 2.7 billion people survive on less than $2.50 per day. Of course, these statistics do not take into account those living in relative poverty within the very highest development nations in the world. Yet few within entitled sectors of the global economy have had much to do with people living in poverty, except for occasional and indirect contact. Even basic ideas about poverty lack clarity; for example, what is the line between poor and not poor both within and among countries? Is it only about income or do other resources matter or act as substitutes for money when impoverished consumers engage their markets? Is poverty in the USA the same or different than poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? Answers to such questions are provided in this commentary through an examination of three different research projects conducted in poverty communities. Together, they reveal distinct patterns of results between more affluent and more impoverished consumers across the globe.     

Immigration Wage Effects by Origin

We estimate the direct partial wage effects of immigrant‐induced increases in labor supply, using the national skill cell approach with longitudinal records drawn from Norwegian administrative registers. The results show overall negative but heterogeneous wage effects, with larger effects on immigrant wages than on native wages and with native wages more responsive to inflows from Nordic countries than from developing countries. These patterns are consistent with natives and Nordic citizens being close substitutes, while natives and immigrants from developing countries are imperfect substitutes. Estimates are sensitive to accounting for effective immigrant experience, selective native participation, and variation in demand conditions and native labor supply.     

An inspector calls: farm accommodation providers' attitudes to quality assurance schemes in the county of Devon

Estimates suggest that 10 000 farms in the UK offer bed and breakfast (B and B) serviced accommodation. A thorough review of the existing literature indicates over 50% of Devon and Cornwall's farmhouse B and B sector operate without participating in any form of quality assurance inspection scheme. This research executes a stratified postal survey to gain a comprehensive understanding of Devon's farmhouse B and B product, with particular interest in extracting providers' attitudes towards quality assurance inspection schemes. The very representative results suggest a divergence of attitudes towards the notion of quality inspections for all farmhouse B and B providers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.