Estimating the Accounting Price of Foreign Exchange: An Input–Output Approach

When adjustments in the foreign exchange market involve changes in the production of marginally traded goods, the traditional formula for calculating the accounting (shadow) price of foreign exchange assumes that domestic prices and marginal costs at efficiency prices for those goods are equal. In this paper, a method is proposed for estimating an accounting price ratio of foreign exchange in a partial equilibrium framework, abandoning that assumption. For that purpose, input–output techniques are used, to take into account the effets of changes in the production of traded goods.     

Cost-effectiveness analysis of mechanical thrombectomy with stent retriever in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in Italy

Background: Stroke has a significant disease burden in terms of acute and long-term disability in Italy and throughout the world. Endovascular treatments for the management of a stroke event have been coupled in the past years with the possibility to mechanically remove the occlusion by means of specially designed thrombectomy devices, and their exclusive use showed levels of effectiveness in line with those of the existing pharmacological treatments.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) with the Solitaire Revascularization Device (stent retriever) for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in patients with large vessel occlusions (LVOs), comparing MT plus intravenous tissue plasminogen activation (MT plus IV t-PA) vs IV t-PA alone, in Italy.

Methods: A Markov model was used to simulate costs and benefits of MT plus IV t-PA and IV t-PA alone over a 5-year time horizon and considering the perspective of the Italian National Health Service (NHS). Results are reported in terms of Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER). Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses are carried out in order to test the robustness of the results.

Results: Total costs of MT plus IV t-PA and IV t-PA alone are equal to €31,798 and €34,855, respectively. The MT allows incremental QALYs for 0.77, determining a dominant ICER. The utilities associated to the mRS health states are the parameters with the highest impact on the results. Multiway sensitivity analyses determined a 90% probability of dominance.

Conclusions: MT plus IV t-PA for AIS patients with LVO is cost-effective from year 1 through year 3, and cost-saving from year 4 onward in the Italian context, achieving better results, both in terms of efficacy and in terms of resource consumption.     

By-Products

This paper distinguishes between by-products of the activity and those associated with changes in the demand for another jointly-produced output. It attempts to define when one or more jointly-produced outputs would be by-products of the activity and others would be produced at the margin. The conditions are explored that are necessary for one or more jointly-produced outputs to be, or behave like, by-products of the activity. These conditions are expected to help in sorting out by-products from marginally produced outputs in the preparation of cost structures for analytic work.     

Relationships with managers and harassment: the Italian nurse experience

This paper examines the link between workplace relationships with management and work harassment for Italian nurses. The relationship with the supervisor was a key predictor of work harassment, and work harassment was found to have a major negative effect on engagement. There are significant differences in nurses’ perceptions of work harassment, engagement and job satisfaction for public and private sector nurses.     

Primary-input intensities under alternative measures of rent content

Different methods for measuring rent (natural-resource) content have been proposed in studies of the primary-input content of trade. In this paper, these methods are applied to obtain different industry-level estimates of the primary-input contents and the primary-input intensities of Argentina's exports of manufactures. The paper then explores the extent to which the choice of method affects these results, the classification and ranking of activities according to primary-input intensities, and Heckscher–Ohlin tests.     

Leader–member exchange,affective commitment,engagement, wellbeing,and intention to leave: public versus private sector Italian nurses

In the context of nurse shortages and budget constraints in hospitals, retaining skilled nurses is crucial. This paper investigates the impact of supervisor–nurse relationships on engagement, wellbeing, affective commitment and turnover intention for Italian private and public sector nurses. Private sector nurses in Italy were found to be more committed, engaged and had higher perceptions of wellbeing than public sector nurses. Based on these results, public managers need to do more to sustain the motivation of nurses in public sector hospitals.     

Trade liberalization and adjustment in Argentina

This paper looks at trade liberalization attempts in Argentina since 1970, with particular attention to the 1991?–?98 period, estimates the size of the adjustments required by the changes in the trade regimes, and looks at the degree of adjustment attained as manifested by the real effective exchange rate.     

Secondary Products,By-products and the Commodity Technology Assumption

A more general method for preparing commodity-by-commodity input–output tables under the commodity technology assumption is presented for the case when there are produced and non-produced by-products, originating in principal and in secondary production. Existing methods of the same family are shown to be special cases of the method presented here. An incorrect model specification is found to be a sufficient condition for unwarranted negative coefficients. Finally, the model is shown to satisfy desirable properties of an input–output system