Length of stay comparisons for private and public hospitals.

This analysis uses average length of stay as a proxy for efficiency, to compare the Australian private and public hospital sectors. We conclude that private hospitals are more efficient than public hospitals in providing the range of care provided by private hospitals. However, public hospitals are more efficient in handling the casemix of the public hospital sector. The picture is more complicated when particular types of care (such as obstetric and psychiatric) are excluded.

Public-private partnerships and efficiency in public procurement of primary healthcare infrastructure: a qualitative research in the NHS UK

Aim There is growing interest in the contribution of public-private partnerships (PPPs) bridging the shortage of financial resources and management expertise in developing public healthcare infrastructure. However, few studies have evidenced PPPs’ ability in increasing efficiency in public procurement of primary healthcare infrastructure. The aim of this study was to assess to what extent PPPs would increase efficiency in public procurement of primary healthcare facilities. Subject and Methods A qualitative analysis, adopting a realistic research evaluation method, used data collected from a purposive sample of public (n=23) and private sector staff (n=2) directly involved in the UK National Health Service Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT). Results We find a positive association of LIFT helping to bridge public sector capital shortages for developing primary care surgeries. LIFT is negatively associated with inefficient procurement because it borrows finance from private banks, leaving public agencies paying high interest rates. The study shows that some contextual factors and mechanisms in LIFT play a major part in obstructing public staff from increasing procurement efficiency. Conclusion PPP’s ability to increase efficiency may be determined by contextual factors and mechanisms that restrict discretion over critical decisions by frontline public sector staff. Developing their capacity in monitoring PPP activities may make partnerships more efficient.

Fleet dynamics in multispecies trawlers: a study based on fisheries-dependent data

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências do Mar, da Terra e do Ambiente (Avaliação e Gestão de Recursos), Faculdade das Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, 2013

The Private Life due date card

This is a due date card for the book titled The Private Life of Helen of Troy with stamped dates from 1939-1941.

Using official data sources to analyse the light goods vehicle fleet and operations in Britain

Report produced as part of the Green Logistics project (EPSRC and Department for Transport funded). Light goods vehicles play a key role in providing goods and services to businesses and other organisations in Britain. In order to better understand the relationship between costs and benefits of LGV operations it is necessary to gain a more detailed appreciation of the roles that these vehicles are fulfilling. This report aims to provide a better understanding of this sector by examining LGV fleet and operations in terms of their characteristics, utilisation and efficiency and purpose. Important potential external impacts of LGVs are also considered.

The causal relationship between private and public investment in Zimbabwe

Aims: The study examines the relationship between private and public investment in Zimbabwe utilizing yearly time series data for the period 1967 to 2004. Study Design: Time Series Study. Place and Duration of Study: Zimbabwe, May 2011 to July 2011. Methodology: Emphasis is placed on the direction of causality and the long run and short run effect of the two types of investment on each other. The paper constructs empirical models for both private and public investment, based on the flexible accelerator theory. Private investment is found to be cointegrated with public investment. A cointergration and VEC models are employed to assess the long and short run relationship existing between public and private investment. Conclusion: The relationship between private and public investment is found to be insignificant and the direction of causality found to be unidirectional. The results support the notion that private investment precedes public investment.

Private school quality in Italy

Private school enrolment may lead to worse subsequent performance in further education or in the labour market. If students differ in their ability not only to pay but to take advantage of educational opportunities (“talent” for short), private schools attract a worse pool of students when publicly funded schools are better suited to foster progress by more talented students. In the data we analyze, the impact of observable talent proxies on educational and labour market outcomes is indeed more positive for students who (endogenously) choose to attend public schools than for those who choose to pay for private education.