Demand for private health insurance: Is there a quality gap?

Quality of care is qualified as a main determinant of the demand forvoluntary private health insurance (PHI) in National Health Systems(NHS). This paper provides new evidence on the influence of the qualitygap between public and private health insurance and other demanddeterminants in the demand for PHI in Catalonia. The demand for PHI ismodelled as a demand for health care quality. Unlike previous studies, the database employed allows for the development of a link between thetheoretical and the empirical model dealing with unobserved heterogeneityand endogeneity issues. Results suggest that a rise in PHI qualityenhances an equivalent influence in the demand for PHI as an equalreduction of NHS quality. Income and price elasticity estimates areconsistent with the observed feature that PHI appears to be a luxurygood and individuals tend to be relatively insensible to tax relief'sand monetary co-payments in insurance contracts.

Audit report on the Iowa State Center Business Office of Iowa State University of Science and Technology for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the Iowa State Center Business Office of Iowa State University of Science and Technology for the year ended June 30, 2007

Targeted Small Business Program Report, 2008

Targeted Small Business (TSB) compliance is authorized by Iowa Code Chapter 19B.7. Iowa Code Chapters 73.16-73.19 requires the establishment of TSB procurement provisions through the Departments of Management, Inspections and Appeals and Economic Development. This report will provide an overview of the State of Iowa’s Targeted Small Business Program and efforts to assure equal opportunity through targeted small business procurement during FY 2007.

Is lumpy investment really irrelevant for the business cycle?

New-Keynesian (NK) models can only account for the dynamic effects of monetary policy shocks if it is assumed that aggregate capital accumulation is much smoother than it would be the case under frictionless firm-level investment, as discussed in Woodford (2003, Ch. 5). We find that lumpy investment, when combined with price stickiness and market power of firms,can rationalize this assumption. Our main result is in stark contrast with the conclusions obtained by Thomas (2002) in the context of a real business cycle (RBC) model. We use our model to explain the economic mechanism behind this difference in the predictions of RBC and NK theory.

Prime property institutions for a subprime era: Toward innovative models of homeownership

This Article breaks new ground toward contractual and institutional innovation in models of homeownership, equity building, and mortgage enforcement. Inspired by recent developments in the affordable housing sector and other types of public financing schemes, we suggest extending institutional and financial strategies such as time- and place-based division of property rights, conditional subsidies, and credit mediation to alleviate the systemic risks of mortgage foreclosure. Two new solutions offer a broad theoretical basis for such developments in the economic and legal institution of homeownership: a for-profit shared equity scheme led by local governments alongside a private market shared equity model, one of "bootstrapping home buying with purchase options".

On the sources of business cycles in the G-7

This paper examines sources of cyclical movements in output, inflation and the term structure of interest rates. It employs a novel identification approach which uses the sign of the cross correlation function in response to shocks to catalog orthogonal disturbances. We find that demand shocks are the dominant source output, inflation and term structure fluctuations in six of the G-7 countries. Within the class of demand disturbances, nominal shocks are dominant, but their importance declined after 1982. Furthermore, there are no significant differences in the proportion of term structure variability explained by different structural sources at different horizons.

Disability, capacity for work and the business cycle: An international perspective

An important policy issue in recent years concerns the number of people claimingdisability benefits for reasons of incapacity for work. We distinguish between workdisability , which may have its roots in economic and social circumstances, and healthdisability which arises from clear diagnosed medical conditions. Although there is a linkbetween work and health disability, economic conditions, and in particular the businesscycle and variations in the risk of unemployment over time and across localities, mayplay an important part in explaining both the stock of disability benefit claimants andinflows to and outflow from that stock. We employ a variety of cross?country andcountry?specific household panel data sets, as well as administrative data, to testwhether disability benefit claims rise when unemployment is higher, and also toinvestigate the impact of unemployment rates on flows on and off the benefit rolls. Wefind strong evidence that local variations in unemployment have an importantexplanatory role for disability benefit receipt, with higher total enrolments, loweroutflows from rolls and, often, higher inflows into disability rolls in regions and periodsof above?average unemployment. Although general subjective measures of selfreporteddisability and longstanding illness are also positively associated withunemployment rates, inclusion of self?reported health measures does not eliminate thestatistical relationship between unemployment rates and disability benefit receipt;indeed including general measures of health often strengthens that underlyingrelationship. Intriguingly, we also find some evidence from the United Kingdom and theUnited States that the prevalence of self?reported objective specific indicators ofdisability are often pro?cyclical that is, the incidence of specific forms of disability arepro?cyclical whereas claims for disability benefits given specific health conditions arecounter?cyclical. Overall, the analysis suggests that, for a range of countries and datasets, levels of claims for disability benefits are not simply related to changes in theincidence of health disability in the population and are strongly influenced by prevailingeconomic conditions. We discuss the policy implications of these various findings.

Quality safeguards and regulation of online pharmacies

Using econometric evidence, this article confirms that distribution ofmedicines online is split into two market segments of very diversequality, and identifies the factors that drive quality and qualityassurance in this activity. Unlike fraudulent, rogue, websites, whichoffer scant guarantees and usually sell just a few medicines withoutprescription, online pharmacies offering insurance coverage and linkedto conventional pharmacies typically sell a wholerange of drugs, require third-party medical prescriptions and provideabundant information to patients. It is shown that, where onlinepharmacies are allowed to act legally, market forces enhance quality,as private insurers require professional standards, and specialized thirdparties make a business of certifying them. Furthermore, older onlinepharmacies and those running conventional operations offer higherquality, probably because of reputational investments. Overall, this evidence supports licensing online pharmacies, especiallyconsidering that prohibiting them is ineffective against fraudulent sites.

Inequality over the business cycle: Estimating income risk using micro-data on consumption

We use CEX repeated cross-section data on consumption and income, to evaluate the nature of increased income inequality in the 1980s and 90s. We decompose unexpected changes in family income into transitory and permanent, and idiosyncratic and aggregate components, and estimate the contribution of each component to total inequality. The model we use is a linearized incomplete markets model, enriched to incorporate risk-sharing while maintaining tractability. Our estimates suggest that taking risk sharing into account is important for the model fit; that the increase in inequality in the 1980s was mainly permanent; and that inequality is driven almost entirely by idiosyncratic income risk. In addition we find no evidence for cyclical behavior of consumption risk, casting doubt on Constantinides and Duffie s (1995) explanation for the equity premium puzzle.

Leasing como alternativa de financiamento de empresas em Cabo Verde - Análise prática de efeitos económicos, financeiros e contabilísticos

Criar mecanismos que produzam e dinamizem o alcance de novos produtos financeiros surge como uma condição necessária para estimular o investimento. Além das condições intrínsecas próprias de uma economia o financiamento é quase que a espinha dorsal para favorecer o desenvolvimento e crescimento económicos. Diversificar as fontes de financiamento para que estas se adaptem à realidade económico-financeira das empresas é essencial, pois não só possibilita o crescimento das empresas nacionais, mas também cria um ambiente de negócios propício ao investimento externo. Convicto da relevância, o presente trabalho tem como escopo uma temática que a nível nacional pouco se tem abordado: trata-se locação financeira que na gíria financeira é entendida por leasing - que de forma sintética se traduz num contrato pelo qual uma das partes concede à outra o gozo temporário de uma coisa contra uma retribuição, e que posteriormente pode ser adquirida, num prazo convencionado, mediante pagamento de um preço determinado ou determinável, nos termos do próprio contrato. O enfoque está em estudar a relevância assumida pelo leasing enquanto fonte de financiamento de médio e longo prazo, no contexto cabo-verdiano, comparativamente à outra fonte – empréstimo bancário de médio e longo prazo. O trabalho reveste-se de uma componente teórica e uma prática. Na componente teórica trata-se do tema no geral, abrangendo uma resenha histórica, o enquadramento legal, das sociedades de locação financeira e dos contratos de locação financeira, tratamento contabilístico, as características específicas que se associam ao tema em apreço e igualmente uma breve análise fiscal. A parte prática desenvolve uma análise comparativa do leasing com o empréstimo bancário de médio e longo prazo onde foram retiradas as conclusões chegadas com o estudo. Resumidamente, pode-se que o leasing é certamente uma das melhores opções de financiamento não só para empresas como igualmente para clientes particulares, sendo, uma opção rápida, simples e vantajosa para o cliente bancário, especialmente se o facto de a propriedade do bem não pertencer ao titular do leasing não causar qualquer incómodo. Create mechanisms that produce and streamline the range of new financial products emerges as a necessary condition to stimulate investment. In addition to its own intrinsic conditions of an economy funding is almost the backbone to promote economic development and growth. Diversify the sources of funding for these adapt to the reality of the economic-financial firms is essential because not only enables the growth of domestic companies, but also creates a business environment conducive to foreign investment. Convinced of the relevance, this work is scoped to a theme that nationally there has been little discussed: it is leasing in slang that is understood by financial leasing - which synthetically translates into a contract whereby one party grants to the another the temporary enjoyment of a thing against retribution, and that can later be acquired within the agreed upon payment of a specified or ascertainable under the contract. The focus is on studying the relevance assumed by leasing as a source of financing medium and long term, the Cape Verdean context, compared to other sources - bank loan of medium and long term. The work has a theoretical and a practical component. In the theoretical part it is the theme in general, covering a historical perspective, the legal framework, the leasing companies and financial leasing contracts, accounting treatment, specific characteristics that are associated to the topic at hand and equally a brief fiscal analysis. The practical part develops a comparative analysis of leasing with bank loan of medium and long term which were withdrawn with the conclusions reached with the study. Briefly, it may be that leasing is certainly one of the best financing options not only by companies as also by private customers, being a fast, simple and profitable for the bank customer, especially if the fact that the ownership of the property does not belong the holder of the lease does not cause any discomfort.

Review of Targeted Small Business (TSB) procurement activities for the period July 1, 2007 through September 30, 2007

Review of Targeted Small Business (TSB) procurement activities for the period July 1, 2007 through September 30, 2007

Property enforcement as organized consent

This article develops and tests a theory of the institutions that makeproperty rights viable, ensuring their enforcement, mobilizing thecollateral value of assets and promoting growth. In contrast tocontractual rights, property rights are enforced in rem, being affectedonly with the consent of the right holder. This ensures enforcement butis costly when multiple, potentially colliding rights are held in thesame asset. Different institutions reduce the cost of gathering consentsto overcome this trade-off of enforcement benefits for consent costs:recording of deeds with title insurance, registration of rights and evena regimen of purely private transactions. All three provide functionallysimilar services, but their relative performance varies with the numberof transactions, the risk of political opportunism and regulatoryconsistency. The analysis also shows the rationality of allowingcompetition in the preparation and support of private contractswhile requiring territorial monopoly in recording and registrationactivities, this to ensure independence and protect third parties.

Crossing the Rio Grande: Migrations, business cycles and the welfare state

In this paper we study the macroeconomic effects of an inflow oflow-skilled workers into an economy where there is capital accumulation and two types of agents. We find that there are substantial dynamic effects following unexpected migrations with adjustments that resemble those triggered by a sudden disruption of the capital stock. We look at the interrelations between these dynamic effects and three different fiscal systems for the redistribution of income and find that these schemes can change the dynamics and lead to prolonged periods of adjustments. Theaggregate welfare implications are sensitive to the welfare system: while there are welfare gains without redistribution, these gains may be turned into costs when the state engages in redistribution.

Does money matter in shaping domestic business cycles? An international investigation (with appendices)

We study the contribution of money to business cycle fluctuations in the US,the UK, Japan, and the Euro area using a small scale structural monetary business cycle model. Constrained likelihood-based estimates of the parameters areprovided and time instabilities analyzed. Real balances are statistically importantfor output and inflation fluctuations. Their contribution changes over time. Models giving money no role provide a distorted representation of the sources of cyclicalfluctuations, of the transmission of shocks and of the events of the last 40 years.