Funding in Irish hospitals is partially based on case mix, whereby resources are redistributed annually to hospitals with greater efficiency. Accurate measurement of efficiency is essential, so in this paper, we use Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis to measure technical...

Over a quarter of households receive fuel allowances, amounting to some £56 million, annually. The state distributes these allowances because fuel is regarded as a ?merit? good. We must question whether the allowances as they stand are the most efficient way alleviating fuel difficulties among...

This paper investigates the simulation of common policy reforms across different countries. Changes to the equivalence scales of social assistance systems in favour of pensions and children in Germany, Ireland and the UK were modelled. Unlike a number of previous studies of this kind such as...

The role of expectations in influencing long-term interest rates in Ireland is examined. In the case of long-term securities, interest rate risk is added to exchange rate risk as a barrier to arbitrage between yields at home and abroad. Nevertheless, we find that fluctuations in world interest...

offered significant incentives in order to attract foreign direct investments (FDI), being motivated to do so by expectations of possible spillover benefits. Using an unbalanced panel of firm level data in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania over the 1995-2003 period, we examine the impact of foreign...

It is widely recognised that knowledge and highly skilled individuals as “carriers” of knowledge (i.e. knowledge spillover agents) play a key role in impelling the development and growth of cities and regions. In this paper we discuss in a conceptual way the relation between spatial...

We use a model of domestic and international tourist numbers and flows to estimate the impact of the EU-US Open Skies agreement that is to take effect in March 2008. The Open Aviation Area will result in increased competition between transatlantic carriers and consequently falls in the cost of...

This working paper outlines a set of forecasts for the likely development of energy demand in Ireland over the next 15 years. The Central Forecast, based on the ESRI Medium-Term Review: 1999-2006, published last year, represents the scenario that we consider to be the most likely. However,...

Research has shown that older individuals are far more likely to avail of health care and there is concern in a number of countries that the trend toward population ageing may mean that health care expenditures increase to unsustainable levels. However, there is a growing body of evidence that...