Social Entrepreneurs as Responsible Leaders: ‘Fundación Paraguaya’ and the Case of Martin Burt

A country known for its longstanding struggle with corruption and dubious governments may not be the obvious venue for a socio-economic revolution that is expected to play an important role in the elimination of global poverty. However, Paraguay, an ??island without shores??, as the writer Augusto Roa Bastos once described it, is home to one of the world??s most innovative social enterprises??the Fundación Paraguaya. While its achievements and success are the result of a team effort, its remarkable development can be largely attributed to Martín Burt, the founder and chief executive. We study the case of Fundación Paraguaya??the first and longest-running non-governmental organisation in Paraguay??with two primary research objectives: (1) to analyse the organisation??s pioneering way of solving social problems under difficult socioeconomic circumstances and its increasingly global outreach to eradicate poverty; (2) and to analyse the responsible leadership of Martín Burt.     

Developing enterprise collaboration: a methodology to implement and improve interoperability

The aim of this article is to present a methodology for guiding enterprises to implement and improve interoperability. This methodology is based on three components: a framework of interoperability which structures specific solutions of interoperability and is composed of abstraction levels, views and approaches dimensions; a method to measure interoperability including interoperability before (maturity) and during (operational performances) a partnership; and a structured approach defining the steps of the methodology, from the expression of an enterprise’s needs to implementation of solutions. The relationship which consistently relates these components forms the methodology and enables developing interoperability in a step-by-step manner. Each component of the methodology and the way it operates is presented. The overall approach is illustrated in a case study example on the basis of a process between a given company and its dealers. Conclusions and future perspectives are given at the end of the article.     

Geldpolitik im heterogenen Währungsraum und die offene Frage der Konvergenz

From the beginning of EMU, it has been obvious that the currency area does not constitute an optimum currency area. Instead, hope was put on further convergence after its start. Yet, thus far there is no sign of area -wide convergence. In light of the continuing crisis, which is above all a crisis of missing competitiveness, the claim for convergence is also obsolete, because the divergent development of earlier years must first be equalised via divergent development in the opposite direction..     

MitraClip therapy in mitral regurgitation: a Markov model for the cost-effectiveness of a new therapeutic option

Introduction Mitral regurgitation is a heart condition resulting from blood flowing from the left ventricle towards the left atrium, increasing the risk of heart failure and mortality. While surgery can greatly reduce these risks, some patients are not eligible, resulting in medication being their only therapeutic alternative. The MitraClip (Abbot Vascular) is a medical device that is percutaneously implanted and designed to eliminate leaking of the mitral valve.

Methods The efficacy of the MitraClip strategy vs medical management was assessed using a 4-state Markov model based on the mitral regurgitation grade (mitral regurgitation grade 0, I/II, and III/IV, and death). At each 1-month cycle, patients were or were not hospitalized. The model analyzed a fictional population of 1000 patients over a 5-year period from a national Health Insurance perspective. The primary end-point was the number of deaths avoided. Data from the EVEREST II High Risk Study patients were used along with a literature review.

Results At 5 years, among the 1000 patients, 276 deaths were found to be avoidable with the MitraClip strategy. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was €93,363 per death avoided. The annual ICER was calculated to take into consideration excess costs resulting from the MitraClip over the first year (€29,984 vs €8557 for the reference strategy) and the reduction of costs in following years (€3122 for MitraClip vs €8557 for reference strategy). Thus, the mean ICER was calculated to be €20,720 per death avoided.

Conclusion The MitraClip is a novel alternative therapy for mitral insufficiency in patients ineligible for surgery that may offer a medico-economic advantage.     

Bequest Motives and the Demand for Life Insurance in East Germany

Empirical studies of household saving remain inconclusive about the role of bequest motives. This may be due to the diluting effect of different tax regimes across countries and time on estimates of bequest motives. Relative to market‐based economies, the former German Democratic Republic can be viewed as an experimental institutional setting where life‐insurance demand was not influenced by tax considerations. This allows isolating bequest motives from other life‐cycle and precautionary savings motives. Analyzing the demand for life insurance, we find a significantly higher ownership probability among households with children and a high regard for the family, confirming bequest motives in life‐insurance demand.     

On the impact of macroeconomic news surprises on Treasury-bond returns

This paper investigates the impact of surprises associated with monthly macroeconomic news releases on Treasury-bond returns, by paying particular attention to the moment at which the information is published in the month. Implementing an event study on intraday data, we show that (1) the main bond market movers are based on economic activity and inflation indicators, (2) long-maturity bonds are slightly more impacted by surprises than short-maturity ones, and (3) the bond market is more sensitive to negative surprises than to positive ones. Finally, we find evidence of an empirical monotonic relationship between the surprises’ impact and their corresponding news’ publication date and/or their sign.     

Ethical Consumerism: A View From the Food Industry in Morocco

Both consumers and firms are now more concerned about ethics as a way to make business transactions a win–win deal. As consumers ensure profitability to businesses, they expect fair practices and honest behaviors toward society. The study reported here attempts to investigate Moroccans’ perceptions and attitudes toward ethical consumerism of food. Consumers’ willingness to buy those products and their motives for such purchases as well as factors preventing ethical purchases is investigated. Besides price, which drives most their decision to buy a food or not, Moroccans are driven by ethical claims such as “healthy,” “no fat,” “pasteurized,” etc. It was shown that consumers trust information on the labels of products besides information provided by consumer authorities. In relation to ethical aspects, Moroccans are mostly concerned about the environment and religion. Older men with high income are shown to be a good target for the ethical food market.     

AIDS,Economic Growth and the Epidemic Trap in Africa

Most studies find that AIDS has a relatively weak impact on economic growth because they assume that it affects only one flow variable and only in the short term (the flow of labour available and capable of working at a time t in the economy). But AIDS also has a long-term impact on stock variables that existing models do not take into account, specifically, on both human and physical capital. Integrating these two impacts in a growth model with multiple accumulation factors reverses the findings of standard impact evaluations. A fairly wide range of epidemic effects modifies the economy's long-term growth regime, creating what we might call an epidemic or regressive “trap”. Government action should be designed in view of this risk and should intervene preferentially in favour of human capital, through health and educational spending. Finally, this model changes the cost-efficiency calculations about expanding antiretroviral therapies to a large part of the working population and indicates that such treatment is substantially more cost-efficient than initially thought.