Within the triangle of healthcare legacies: comparing the performance of South-Eastern European health systems

Objective: Inter-regional comparison of health-reform outcomes in south-eastern Europe (SEE).

Methods: Macro-indicators were obtained from the WHO Health for All Database. Inter-regional comparison among post-Semashko, former Yugoslavia, and prior-1989-free-market SEE economies was conducted.

Results: United Nations Development Program Human Development Index growth was strongest among prior-free-market SEE, followed by former Yugoslavia and post-Semashko. Policy cuts to hospital beds and nursing-staff capacities were highest in post-Semashko. Physician density increased the most in prior-free-market SEE. Length of hospital stay was reduced in most countries; frequency of outpatient visits and inpatient discharges doubled in prior-free-market SEE. Fertility rates fell for one third in Post-Semashko and prior-free-market SEE. Crude death rates slightly decreased in prior-free-market-SEE and post-Semashko, while growing in the former Yugoslavia region. Life expectancy increased by 4 years on average in all regions; prior-free-market SEE achieving the highest longevity. Childhood and maternal mortality rates decreased throughout SEE, while post-Semashko countries recorded the most progress.

Conclusions: Significant differences in healthcare resources and outcomes were observed among three historical health-policy legacies in south-eastern Europe. These different routes towards common goals created a golden opportunity for these economies to learn from each other.     

The Impact of Survey Methodology and Context on Central Tendency,Nonresponse and Associations of Subjective Indicators of Government Performance

A comparison is given of (ordinal) measures of trust in government institutions that were collected with the aim of facilitating comparisons between different modes and contexts of data collection. Statistical analyses reveal that the mode effect could amount upto a 10% change of item nonresponse and a 9% change of the level of trust, whereas the context effect could lead upto a 19% change of the bivariate associations of trust. The observed changes of both measures of central tendency and of associations affect conclusions of social scientific research in isolated studies, which implies that comparative studies are seriously hampered by bias related to mode and context, two sources of obscurity adding to the two other threats which are differences of sample source and differences of question phrasing.     

基于G1法的高校财务风险预警指标体系权重确定

随着近几年高校招生规模的扩大、投资的增加、举债经营风险和校办产业风险的加大等新问题对高校总体财务状况的影响越来越大。针对这些问题,文章根据高校财务风险评价指标构建原则,构建一套高校财务风险预警指标体系。在此基础上,运用G1法确定指标权重,建立财务风险预警指数计算模型,使管理者能方便、快捷计算出风险综合指数,判断财务状况,作出正确决策。     

检视都市永续发展指针的发展历程与内涵:从指针系统建构到政策评估

本文回顾国际上相关的都市永续发展指针系统,探讨指针系统架构与内涵之间的差异,进而说明永续台湾评量系统中"都市台湾"指针系统的重要特色,以及指针项目选定的理论基础.藉由永续台湾评量系统中22个范畴的型态辨识,本文分析了都市在台湾永续发展中所扮演的角色,确认都市生产与生活型态对于整体永续发展的重要性,也验证了生态系统观点中都市对于环境的依存与影响.考量都市发展决策过程需要永续性的评量机制,本文利用都市永续发展指针作为政策评估的重要变量,应用交互式计算机软件<感受性系统模型(Sensitivitv Model Tools)>以系统性观点进行都市发展政策永续性的评析.透过系统软件功能掌握变量结构的完整性以及系统变量之间的相互影响关系,并藉助于团体咨询与讨论的沟通方式建构半量化的(semi-quantitative)系统变量,配合概念化及模糊化的方式界定变量水准以及函数关系进行系统仿真工作.籍由系统仿真了解变量之间的互动关系,而政策评估案例分析显示台北市硬件建设政策较空间调整政策发挥较大的效果.永续指针与系统工具的结合整体而言提供了都市政策永续性评估的沟通与预测接口.     

Leading and lagging indicators in fundraising management: A Canadian case study

Fundraisers, managers, and boards in the charitable sector are faced with an ongoing concern: how do they produce sustainable, predictable financial returns for their causes while minimizing the cost of fundraising? One way to address this is to improve the measurement of fundraising activities and this study asks how fundraising results should be communicated within organizations to support sustainability. This case study focuses on the fundraising program from one Canadian charity with a large, diversified fundraising program to examine how fundraisers can move beyond simple end-of-year financial ratios and implement one managerial technique, leading and lagging indicators, to improve long-term financial performance. A literature review, internal interviews, and internal document review are used to identify 81 potential leading and lagging indicators that fundraisers can use to develop a suite of indicators that fit their context, activities, and goals and to identify potential challenges with implementing indicators. The role of organizational context and characteristics in selecting an appropriate suite of indicators is also discussed.     

Disparities in the financial performance of agricultural entities according to the legal form: the case of Slovakia

Financial management in agricultural enterprises is affected by a range of factors that are not present in other sectors. One of the factors that affect the performance of enterprises is the legal or organizational form of the business. In Slovakia, the specific structure of farms is different from that of almost any other member state of the European Union. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the disparities in the financial performance of agricultural enterprises according to the legal form. We analysed and compared two groups of agricultural entities, agricultural cooperatives and business companies, for the period from 2005 to 2014. Based on an analysis of the differences using mathematical and statistical methods, we can conclude that the legal forms are distinguished in all monitored parameters and our hypothesis on the differences in economic performance of agricultural entities according to legal form was confirmed.     

Micro evidence on international patenting

Globalization, high growth rates in high-tech industries, growing emerging markets and harmonization of patent institutions across countries have stimulated patenting in foreign markets. We use a simple model of international patenting, where the decision to patent in a foreign country depends on country characteristics and the quality of the patented invention. With access to a detailed database on individual patents owned by small Swedish firms and inventors, we are able to estimate some of these relationships and test their validity. Our results indicate that the propensity to apply for international patent protection increases with indicators of the quality of the invention, technological rivalry and market size in the host market.     

河北省制造业竞争力测评与实证研究

河北省制造业近年来有了非常大的发展,但也存在盲目投资、重复建设、产业竞争力资源极度分散、高技术产业含量严重偏低等问题。构建河北省制造业竞争力模型分析得出:制定河北省制造业发展规划时应加大对固定资产的投入和对外商直接投资的引进力度,加快城市化建设和提高工人报酬等。     

Political booms and currency crises

This paper shows evidence that political booms, defined as the rise in governments’ popularity, are associated with a higher likelihood of currency crises. The reasoning behind this finding is that prudent economic policies to address underlying weaknesses in the economy may be political costly for incumbent governments in the short-term. Hence, popularity-concerned governments may not have enough incentives to take such corrective actions in a timely manner. This approach, in turn, can deteriorate economic fundamentals and increase related risks in the economy which can eventually lead to crises. This paper sheds light on this phenomenon in the case of currency crises, suggesting that currency crises can be viewed as “political booms gone bust” events. Moreover, it finds that higher international reserves, higher exports, and a higher degree of financial openness alleviate the effect of political booms on currency crises.     

市场择时理论的中国适用性--基于1998～2003年上市公司的实证分析

自2002年Baker和Murgler明确提出市场择时理论以来,传统资本结构理论的解释力度受到一定程度的质疑,国外学者围绕这一新兴的资本结构理论展开激烈的争论.文章运用1998年1月1日～2003年12月31日间中国沪深两市IPO公司财务数据试图第一次较为全面地检验市场择时理论在中国的适用性.实证结果表明在样本期内中国上市公司确实存在着股票融资和债务融资的市场择时行为;债务融资的市场择时行为并不显著影响中国上市公司的资本结构,而股票融资的市场择时行为短期内显著影响公司的资本结构;股票融资的市场择时行为不具有持久影响资本结构的效应,总的说来,市场择时理论并不适用于中国的上市公司.