In this paper we concentrate on the question whether the financing structure of the health care systems converges. In a world of increasing economic integration convergence in health care financing (HCF) and, hence, decreasing differences in HCF across countries enhance individuals' (labour)...

In this paper we examine determinants of prepaid modes of health care financing in a worldwide cross-country perspective. We use three different indicators to capture the role of prepaid modes in health care financing: (i) the share of total prepaid financing as percent of total current health...

Trade-related measures aim to regulate side-effects in international environmental agreements and are expected to positively influence the level of participation in the agreements as well as their degree of stability. In this paper we examine one side-effect of the 1994 International Tropical...

This paper examines the impact of floods on firms' capital accumulation, employment growth and productivity by using a difference-in-difference approach and considering firms' asset structure. We find evidence that companies in flooding regions show higher growth of total assets and employment...

It is still an ongoing discussion whether benefits resulting from reduced mortality risk should be valuated differently, depending on the age of the beneficiaries. Theory suggests that the influence of age on the value of statistical life (VSL), which is a monetary measure for reduced/prevented...

This paper examines the influence of implicit information on willingness to pay (WTP) values for prevention of the risk of dying in an avalanche. We present the results of a contingent valuation (CV) study carried out in Austria in two different periods (fall 2004 and winter 2005). The...

Sensitivity (proportionality) of willingness to pay to (small) risk changes is often used as a criterion to test for valid measures of economic preferences. In a contingent valuation (CV) study conducted in Austria, 1,005 respondents were asked their willingness to pay (WTP) for preventing an...

This paper contributes to the empirical literature on the relationship between environmental regulation and firm behavior. In particular, we ask whether and how strongly investment decisions of firms respond to stringency in environmental regulation. Environmental stringency is measured as (i)...

Evaluation of the true relationship between costs and specialisation in hospitals is hindered by the lack of a standard measure. Specialised hospitals might produce at lower costs because their staff builds expertise and care is better organised. On the other hand specialised hospitals might be...

Since its implementation in 1990 the human development index (HDI), the flagship indicator of multidimensional development, has attracted a great deal of attention and critics in academic, political and media circles. It initiated a new stage in the discussion of appropriate indicators to...