This article presents a benchmarking model for measuring the efficiency of organizations that provide humanitarian aid. The model was developed and implemented in the framework of a large international aid program. The model is based on measuring the labor productivity of each organization that...

We perform an econometric analysis of the effect of new drug launches on longevity, using data from the IMS Health Drug Launches database and the WHO Mortality Database. Under conservative assumptions, our estimates imply that the average annual increase in life expectancy of the entire...

This paper develops a conceptual model to analyze how specific factors affect the compliance costs of three suboptimal policy instruments, when compared to the optimal ambient permit system (APS) benchmark. The model considers a non-uniformly mixed pollutant and explicitly incorporates the...

In an attempt to improve ecological conditions of theRhine, emission reduction targets have been set fordifferent substances. For most substances targets havebeen met. However, nutrient emission reductions arebehind schedule. It may be clear from intuition, andhas also often been described in...

The study analyzes the performance of an innovative cap-and-trade program designed to make cost-effective reductions of an ozone precursor in Chicago and finds that decentralized market incentives were undermined by the continuance of centralized traditional emission point or command-and-control...

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is an effort by nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to develop a regional, mandatory, market-based cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity sector. The initiative is expected to lead to an increase in the...

Policies to cap emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the U.S. economy could pose significant costs on the electricity sector, which contributes roughly 40 percent of total CO2 emissions in the U.S. Using a detailed simulation model of the electricity sector, we evaluate alternative ways that...

The aim of the review is to establish whether, on the basis of previous published evidence, current accepted guidance for health economic evaluation needs to be adapted to evaluate healthcare based on use of genetic information. Online literature search strategies were designed (using PubMed and...

Background: We evaluated the impact of a community-based tobacco control project that was implemented in the city of Tucson, Arizona, USA, between 1996 and 2001. Aim: The project's goal was to reduce the prevalence of youth smoking through change in social norms at schools and in communities and...