In this paper I give a critical commentary on the paper by Wiseman, "The political economy of federalism: a critical appraisal". Wiseman's paper has originality which has stood it well over time. I comment briefly on the equity - efficiency debate but concentrate on the aspects of political...

Energy and the environment are inextricably linked: all decisions concerning energy consumption and production have implications for the environment, and environmental policy can impinge on the exploitation of energy resources. In this paper a general agenda is identified for this field of...

The remarkable growth of older population has moved long term care to the front ranks of the social policy agenda. Understanding the factors that determine the type and amount of formal care is important for predicting use in the future and developing long-term policy. In this context we jointly...

It is evaluated that, each year, 35% out of the 10 million hospital admissions in Italy take place outside the LHAs of residence. In our paper we try to give an explanation of this phenomenon making reference to the social gravity model of spatial interaction. We estimate gravity equations using...

This paper considers a regression model with a log-transformed dependent variable. The log transformed model is estimated by simple least squares, but computing the conditional mean of the dependent variable on the original scale given the explanatory variables analytically requires knowing the...

Internationally comparable panel data from the full eight waves of the ECHP are used to study the effects of health on retirement in nine EU countries. Self-reported retirement is compared to a broader measure of inactivity. Measures of health include two latent stock measures, one that is...

This paper introduces a new approach to measuring the association between health and socioeconomic status. Measuring inequalities in health is difficult when health is measured qualitatively, specifically on an ordinal scale. This paper demonstrates a rank-based dependence measure - the copula -...

The main goal of Seguro Popular is to improve the financial protection of the uninsured population against excessive health expenditures. Seguro Popular (SP) covers a variety of preventive and curative procedures, as well as medicines, and hospital care for the poorest segment of the Mexican...

This paper considers the simultaneous explanation of mortality risk, health and lifestyles, using a reduced-form system of equations in which the multivariate distribution is defined by the copula. A copula approximation of the joint distribution allows one to avoid usually implicit...

This paper empirically investigates the distribution dynamics of resource allocation decisions across Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), in a continuing Prospective Payment System (PPS) . The theoretical literature suggests a PPS could lead to moral hazard effects, where hospitals have an...