推进新型城镇化:城市发展与治理关系的协调

在实践中,我国许多城市的建设出现了过分强调发展而忽视治理的问题,对城市的功能产生了严重不利影响,导致城市病大面积发生,大幅度增加了城市发展与治理的成本。解决城市先发展后治理带来的问题,要树立科学的城市发展观,稳定城市发展速度,提升城市内涵建设,将宜居作为城市发展和治理的核心目标;要坚持依法发展和治理城市,科学制定并严格实施城市规划,违反城市规划的施政行为,应予以追究法律责任;要赋予城市居民应有的参与权和监督权。在决策程序上充分考虑让城市居民参与讨论和决策的有效途径,并由此建立起居民和政府治理城市的合作机制。     

FDI,SECTORAL OUTPUT AND REAL EXCHANGE RATE DYNAMICS UNDER FINANCIAL OPENNESS

This paper adopts an alternative approach to the study of the impact of capital inflow on the real exchange rate by foremost, analysing the effect of FDI inflow on the ratio of tradables to nontradables, and then estimating the relationship between the tradable‐nontradable ratio and the real exchange rate, while accounting for the role of financial openness. Based on data for a group of developing countries, the findings show that an increase in FDI inflow is associated with a decrease in the tradable‐nontradable ratio, and that an increase in the tradable‐nontradable ratio leads to a depreciation of the real exchange rate; this effect being greater with an increase in financial openness. This suggests that an increase in FDI inflow could result in an expansion of the nontradable sector, which would be associated with a greater appreciation of the real exchange rate under a higher level of financial openness.     

Application of Baumol’s Cost Disease to Public Sector Services: Conceptual,theoretical and empirical falsities

This paper argues that justifying lack of productivity improvements in public services by referring to Baumol’s Cost Disease (BCD) is conceptually confused, theoretically misspecified and empirically blind. BCD misconceptualizes public services as categorically distinct from manufactured goods and is based on a theory of productivity not directly applicable to many public services, therefore failing to recognize evidence of substantial scope for improving public services’ productivity. Analysis of the structural and behavioural unbundling of value creation and decomposition of professional skills in service provision leads this paper to conclude that public services are not as technologically non-progressive as BCD asserts.     

Social and family load of Alzheimer’s disease

As the World Health Organization reports, mental illnesses have a serious impact on more than 25% of all population people worldwide at some time during their lives. Mental illnesses are universal; they affect people of any age, both women and men, the rich and the poor, no matter from which urban and rural environment they come from. Mental illnesses have an enormous economic effect on societies and on the quality of people’s life, including their families. The purpose of this study is to describe social and economic aspects of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with respect to the early diagnosis. The authors provide an analysis of costs of treatment and care in the selected countries where the data from the available studies are recalculated into comparable quantities. Furthermore, the authors analyse aspects and possibilities of care for patients with AD in the informal (home) environment in compliance with individual phases of this disease. In the article, the method of research of available sources focusing on social and economic issues of AD is used. In order to compare costs of treatment and care of the AD patients, the Qualitative Comparative Analysis Method is exploited. The analyses have shown that the metric systems for monitoring the direct and indirect costs for the individual phases of AD are different.     

Could a Resource Export Boom Reduce Workers’ Earnings? The Labour-Market Channel in Indonesia

For a decade from 2000, Indonesia underwent a natural-resource export boom. Aggregate income rose, but real labour earnings stagnated. Employment rose, too, but mainly in low-skill sectors with predominantly informal employment arrangements. In this article, we reveal causal connections from the aggregate phenomenon of Dutch disease to these labour-market outcomes. We first explain broad sectoral trends, and then, integrating data from several national surveys, investigate sources of variation in boom-era labour earnings. We use instrumental variables to address issues of endogeneity and selection in earnings equations. After controlling for individual and district features, we find that the intensity of palm oil production—palm oil having been a key booming resource export—robustly predicts diminished formal employment, and that lower formality, in turn, robustly predicts lower earnings. Our findings establish causal linkages absent from prior studies, and so provide a structural dimension to ongoing debates over persistent poverty, rising inequality, and the lack of educational progress in Indonesia.     

浅谈锡盟草原公路常见的病害及养护方法

就锡盟草原地区公路常见病害产生的原因进行归纳分析,并提出养护整治方法。锡盟草原地区公路地处蒙古高原低山丘陵地,气候属中温带半干旱大陆性气候,多大风,冷暖多变,日温差大,形成的病害种类繁多,为养好公路设下了种种屏障。本人根据多年来进行草原地区公路养护的经验,对病害形成的原因、规模、出现的频率、种类等进行观察,归纳为以下几种类型并提出养护整治方法。     

特发性肺间质纤维化合并肺癌

特发性肺纤维化是常见的肺间质性疾病,发病率逐年上升,且近年来出现了大量关于特发性肺纤维化合并肺癌肺的报道。多项研究证实,肺纤维化患者的肺癌发病率高而且预后差。本文复习了近期相关的文献,对于特发性肺纤维化合并肺癌的流行病学、发病机理、临床与影像学特点、病理学特点及预后等进行文献复习,旨在提高临床工作者对该病的认识,提高警觉,以期达到特发性肺纤维化合并肺癌肺的早期发现和诊疗。     

Is transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) a cost-effective treatment in patients who are ineligible for surgical aortic valve replacement? A systematic review of economic evaluations

Objectives:

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) agencies often undertake a review of economic evaluations of an intervention during an appraisal in order to identify published estimates of cost-effectiveness, to elicit comparisons with the results of their own model, and to support local reimbursement decision-making. The aim of this research is to determine whether Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) compared to medical management (MM) is cost-effective in patients ineligible for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), across different jurisdictions and country-specific evaluations.

Methods:

A systematic review of the literature from 2007–2012 was performed in the MEDLINE, MEDLINE in-process, EMBASE, and UK NHS EED databases according to standard methods, supplemented by a search of published HTA models. All identified publications were reviewed independently by two health economists. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) 35-point checklist for economic evaluations was used to assess study reporting. To compare results, incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were converted to 2012 dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) techniques.

Results:

Six studies were identified representing five reimbursement jurisdictions (England/Wales, Scotland, the US, Canada, and Belgium) and different modeling techniques. The identified economic evaluations represent different willingness-to-pay thresholds, discount rates, medical costs, and healthcare systems. In addition, the model structures, time horizons, and cycle lengths varied. When adjusting for differences in currencies, the ICERs ranged from $27K–$65K per QALY gained.

Conclusions:

Despite notable differences in modeling approach, under the thresholds defined by using either the local threshold value or that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold value, each study showed that TAVI was likely to be a cost-effective intervention for patients ineligible for SAVR.     

Indirect and non-medical economic burden,quality-of-life,and disabilities of the myelofibrosis disease in Spain

Introduction:

Myelofibrosis is a non-frequent chronic myeloproliferative Philadelphia-negative chromosome neoplasm. It is a heavy incapacitating orphan disease and associated with high morbidity and mortality. In this context, indirect and non-medical costs are expected to be high. The main objective of this project is to estimate the economic burden of this disease in Spain.

Methods:

Thirty-three patients with a diagnosis of myelofibrosis for at least 1 year participated in a questionnaire in three Spanish centers. The study consisted of analyzing in various aspects the cost and impact of the disease; indeed, daily life time limitations with a need of informal care, symtomatology. Additionally, information concerning the clinical management of the disease was collected through a focus group of eight experts.

Results:

The mean age was 65 years. 15 of 33 patients were at their productive stage. Six had difficulties at work and eight have received informal care. Bone and muscular pain were the main symptoms of patients (72%). The estimated global indirect and non-medical costs of the disease were 86,315€ per patient (20% working and 80% informal care), which reached 104,153€ at productive stage patients (45%) and 168,459€ for more symptomatic patients.

Conclusions:

The economic burden of indirect and non-medical costs of myelofibrosis are important (15,142€/annual) as a result, and should be considered in economic evaluation, as well as in preventive plans for patients and caregivers, despite the fact that studies with larger numbers of patients should be done.     

Combining Risk Assessment and Economics in Managing a Sanitary–Phytosanitary Risk

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures provides guidelines for countries to protect domestic production from pests and diseases. The guidelines permit consideration of consumer welfare. We find an optimal set of SPS measures considering total welfare and mitigation strategies. Our model suggests that it is optimal and less restrictive to apply mitigation strategies first and then an additional smaller tariff if necessary. Relative cost of mitigation determines the amount of the mitigation strategies applied in the importing and exporting countries.