We develop a game-theoretical model to examine the implications of the introduction of a non-profit "public option" in the U.S. health insurance market, in which a continuum of heterogeneous consumers, each facing unknown medical expenditures and differing in their expectations of such...

¿ Las Empresas Públicas funcionan en general con una menor eficiencia que sus equivalentes Privadas, como reza el tópico al respecto? Se trata de un lugar común utilizado profusamente como un axioma indiscutible, principalmente desde posiciones políticas conservadoras. Aunque también...

Activity-based financing (ABF) was implemented in the Norwegian hospital sector from 1 July 1997. A fraction (30 to 50 per cent) of the block grant from the state to the county councils has been replaced by a matching grant depending upon the number and composition of hospital treatments. As a...

We analyse the relationship between the quality of a GP practice in England and the degree of competition that it faces (as indicated by the number of nearby rival GP practices). We find that those GP practices that are located close to other rival GP practices provide a higher quality of care...

I explore the relationship in partnering strategy [exploration – based on weak ties vs. exploitation – based on strong ties], national culture and and firms’ organizational model in the context of global ICT Industry. In the highly uncertain global environment, partnering is the one of the...

The bulk of the global innovative effort takes place in 5 countries: USA, Japan and China as leaders, with France and United Kingdom as immediate followers, which all display, on the long run, a negative marginal value added on innovation. The present paper attempts to answer the following...

This paper examines the effect of publishing hospital charges on healthcare costs. We compare hospital charges before and after Singapore's Ministry of Health started publishing the statistics of hospital charges on its website in the late 2003. We do not find evidence of a decrease in...

In order to analyze the privatization policies undertaken by the national and regional governments, we consider a horizontal differentiation model with price competition in which a country consists of two regions of different sizes. We show that public-sector intervention by either the national...

Transformation of energy systems is influencing economic policy agendas all over the world, particularly so in industrialized countries. In this process, Germany has taken a pioneering role. Technical innovations, institutional frameworks, and business models established there are of interest...

Analysis of the economic activity in the pre-crisis period of 2000-2008. shows a steady decrease in the efficiency of actual production in Russia. Many businesses come to a threshold of bankruptcy: the profitability and financial strength are low, their products are not competitive, sources of...