Long-Term Care Insurance and Life Insurance Demand

This article investigates the interaction between life insurance and long-term care insurance markets on the demand side. In the model utility depends on both consumption and bequest, and utility from consumption is contingent on the state of health. While the demand for life insurance increases both with decreasing income and with a rising degree of altruism, the influences of these two parameters on the demand for long-term care insurance are ambiguous. If the utility shock arising from disability declines, both insurance demands will rise.     

Why Do Some Households Save So Little? A Rational Explanation

This paper offers an explanation for the puzzle of low wealth holdings among a significant fraction of the elderly. Instead of invoking irrational, nonrational, or nonoptimal behavior to resolve the puzzle, it is shown that widespread low wealth holdings are consistent with a rational life-cycle model of saving with uncertain lifetime and borrowing constraint. When there is uncertainty about the length of life, it is optimal for some individuals to save little and exhaust their wealth early. The characteristics of these individuals are derived. The simulation results support that the model can account for low wealth holdings as well as early terminal wealth depletion. The analysis also rejects the common perception that uncertain lifetime reduces dissaving. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D11, D91, E21, I12, J14.     

The impact of cognitive age on Internet use of the elderly: an introduction to the public policy implications

Despite the growth of the Internet, one area that has not really been discussed is the elderly's use of the Internet. Given the rapid growth of this population as well as the potential the Internet holds for them, it is a subject worth consideration. However, seniors cannot be defined simply by their chronological age, but by their cognitive age. This paper discusses the impact of cognitive age of a national random sample of American elderly consumers on their Internet use. The results suggest that those seniors with a younger cognitive age use the Internet more than those seniors with an older cognitive age. Additionally, seniors with a younger cognitive age have more social contact off‐line (but not online) than those seniors with an older cognitive age. Finally, in terms of demographic variables, chronological age is positively associated with cognitive age and women report a younger cognitive age than men. These results suggest that for policy makers interested in increasing the participation of seniors, they can utilize the Internet to reach those who are younger in terms of cognitive age; however, they will not be able to reach all seniors in this manner and they need to utilize the Internet as a complementing media to their traditional communication sources.     

Performance of French intensive care units: A directional distance function approach at the patient level

By using a novel adaptation of the free-disposable hull analysis of productivity, we assess the medical and technical efficiency of patient care in 25 Parisian intensive care units (ICUs) during 2000. The robust free disposable hull (RFDH) as defined by [Cazals et al., 2002. Nonparametric frontier estimation: a robust approach. Journal of Econometrics 106, 1–25] reduces the impact outliers may have on findings by employing Monte-Carlo techniques and repeated sample selection. Among our key findings, there was no overall significant correlation between medical and technical efficiencies for all the ICUs, therefore performing well in one does not guarantee good performance in the other. We also found that over 80% of inefficiency is concentrated in less than 20% of the sampled patients.     

论历史教育的生命关怀意蕴

传统观点认为历史教育的价值在于总结经验教训，提供治国智慧，或者是以“人伦教化”来“化成天下”，历史的工具性和政治性得以最大限度地张扬，生命关怀却被严重地削弱和深度遮蔽。其实．历史教育的本真价值在于提升精神境界、凝聚意志力量，在历史熏陶中获得生命意识、情感慰藉和终极关怀，从而构建现代人的意义世界。所以，在大众文化急速转换的现代社会，彰显历史教育与生命教育的内在统一，寻求历史文化与精神家园的内在沟通，也是历史教育改革的发展方向。     

私人部门在满足医疗需求方面的作用（上）

本文就私人部门在满足医疗需求方面的作用进行分析,认为如果私人部门能够得到有效监管,并按照社会道德认同的方式进行运转,一国医疗体系就能够受益于私人部门。本部分探讨了医疗体系的基本功能及其目标,介绍了绝对平均主义、两阶层医疗体系和多阶层医疗体系三种分配医疗服务的观点,指出当前用货币价值衡量医疗产出价值是次优选择;而衡量医疗服务分配效率也存在争议。     

滨州市社会养老服务体系完善研究

滨州市人口老龄化形势非常严峻,为积极应对人口老龄化带来的压力和挑战,滨州市不断推进社会养老服务体系建设,在推行敬老院“一院两制”管理模式、发展社区村办独立型老年公寓、建立政府购买居家养老服务制度、推行“爱心时间银行”储蓄卡制度等方面取得了成功探索。为进一步推进滨州市社会养老服务体系建设,提出了鼓励社会力量兴办养老事业、加快完善养老服务机构建设、建立虚拟养老院、推行居家养老有偿服务等建议。     

农村敬老院室内公共空间形态探索——以四川遂宁地区敬老院为例

通过对四川遂宁地区敬老院的实地调研,以老年人建筑的空间构成模式和特征为核心,围绕交通空间、活动空间、就餐空间、办公空间这4类公共空间类型,对农村敬老院的公共空间特性进行分析。针对现状存在的问题,探讨并提出对现有的农村敬老院建筑室内公共空间的改进措施,适当调整各类空间的功能配置,提出空间的利用率,以便更好地满足老年人的生活需要。     

黄山市城乡养老服务体系建设情况调研

21世纪的今天,发展已经成为时代的主题,随着经济与社会的快速发展,人口老龄化的步伐也随之加大。养老是民生之本,养老问题已成为政府和全社会关注的焦点,"十二五"规划提出要坚持把完善社会养老服务体系放在经济社会发展的优先位置,因此,应把城乡养老服务体系建设作为推动社会福利事业建设的重点。城乡养老服务体系建设在加强政府的主导作用同时要引导社会力量积极参与,实现城乡养老服务体系建设的科学发展。本文以黄山市为例,分析城乡养老服务体系建设实施的现状以及所面临的问题,并根据调查结果提出相关建议。     

Audit as Leviathan: Constructing Quality Registers in Swedish Health Care

This paper explores the rise of an audit practice: the national quality registers in Swedish health care. Based on actor‐network theory, the study tells the story of an actor‐network formed by physicians in the 1970s who mobilized themselves around a common object; to develop the knowledge‐base of medical professionals. However, over time more actors became persuaded of the potential of the network and associate themselves with it, resulting in reformed registers. The study shows how the network develops into a macro‐actor, a Leviathan in health care, how this macro‐actor comes to affect health care practices and how it contributes towards maintaining a new governance regime.