Trade-off between formal and informal care in Spain

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 analyze the choice of care (formal, informal, both together or none) as well as the number of hours of care received. Given that the number of hours of care is not independent of the type of care received, we estimate, for the first time in this area of research, a sample selection model with the particularity that the first step is a multinomial logit model. With regard to the debate about complementarity or substitutability between formal and informal care, our results indicate that formal care acts as a reinforcement of the family care in certain cases: for very old care receivers, in those cases in which the individual has multiple disabilities, when many care hours are provided, and in case of mental illness and/or dementia. There exist substantial differences in long term care addressed to younger and older dependent people and dependent women are in risk of becoming more vulnerable to the shortage of informal caregivers in the future. Finally, we have documented that there are great disparities in the availability of public social care across regions.

Cost-containment in health care: The case of Spain from the eighties up to 1997

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolutionof health care expenditure in Spain during the period 1980-1997, andhenceforth to comment on the cost containment measures put forwardto control its growth. The paper is divided into three separatesections. The first offers a brief description of the Spanish HealthCare System, with emphasis placed on the issue of expenditure controland health planning targets. The second part outlines a set of costcontainment measures that has accompanied the process of extendinguniversal health care coverage which occurred during the mentionedperiod and which has helped keep public expenditure under control.Finally, the third part describes some of the more recent proposalsfor reform of the Spanish Health Care Sector.

Ethics and creative accounting: Some empirical evidence on accounting for intangibles in Spain

Recent research shows that financial reports are losing relevance. Mainly thisis due to the growing strategic importance of intangible assets in theperformance of a company. A possible solution is to modify accounting standardsso that statements include more self-generated intangible assets, taking intoaccount with their inherent risk and difficulty of valuation. We surveyed loanofficers who were asked to assess the credit-worthiness of a hypotheticalcompany. The only information given was a simplified version of financialstatements. Half the group got statements where research and development costshad been capitalized. The other half got statements in which these costs hadbeen treated as an expense. The findings show that capitalization wassignificantly more likely to attract a positive response to a loan request. Thepaper raises the question of whether accounting for intangibles might providemanagers with one more creative accounting technique and, in consequence, itsethical implications.

Report of Recommendations to the University of Northern Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Report on the University of Northern Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Finance versus costs for teaching hospitals in Spain

In this paper we analyse the observed systematic differences incosts for teaching hospitals (THhenceforth) in Spain. Concernhas been voiced regarding the existence of a bias in thefinancing of TH s has been raised once prospective budgets arein the arena for hospital finance, and claims for adjusting totake into account the legitimate extra costs of teaching onhospital expenditure are well grounded. We focus on theestimation of the impact of teaching status on average cost. Weused a version of a multiproduct hospital cost function takinginto account some relevant factors from which to derive theobserved differences. We assume that the relationship betweenthe explanatory and the dependent variables follows a flexibleform for each of the explanatory variables. We also model theunderlying covariance structure of the data. We assumed twoqualitatively different sources of variation: random effects andserial correlation. Random variation refers to both general levelvariation (through the random intercept) and the variationspecifically related to teaching status. We postulate that theimpact of the random effects is predominant over the impact ofthe serial correlation effects. The model is estimated byrestricted maximum likelihood. Our results show that costs are 9%higher (15% in the case of median costs) in teaching than innon-teaching hospitals. That is, teaching status legitimatelyexplains no more than half of the observed difference in actualcosts. The impact on costs of the teaching factor depends on thenumber of residents, with an increase of 51.11% per resident forhospitals with fewer than 204 residents (third quartile of thenumber of residents) and 41.84% for hospitals with more than 204residents. In addition, the estimated dispersion is higher amongteaching hospitals. As a result, due to the considerable observedheterogeneity, results should be interpreted with caution. From apolicy making point of view, we conclude that since a higherrelative burden for medical training is under public hospitalcommand, an explicit adjustment to the extra costs that theteaching factor imposes on hospital finance is needed, beforehospital competition for inpatient services takes place.

A new species of Glena Hulst (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from northern Chile

A new species of Glena Hulst (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from northern Chile. A new species of Glena Hulst (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) is described from two valleys of the coastal desert of northern Chile. Immature stages are associated with Trixis cacalioides (Kunth) Don. (Asteraceae). Holotype, male and female genitalia, and a sexual dimorphic feature are illustrated. This is the first record of a species of Glena from Chile.

Earnings management in Spain. Some evidence from companies quoted in the Spanish stock exchange

After the accounting scandals that have taken place mainly in the UnitedStates during the last years, some Spanish leading authorities havedefended the idea that this kind of accounting problems cannot happen inSpain. They argue that accounting regulation in Europe, and specificallyin Spain, make more difficult the use of creative accounting practices.The objective of this paper is to identify some evidence about thesituacion in Spain. The study tries to demonstrate that some accountingpractices of several of the companies quoted in the Spanish Stock Exchangecould be qualified as earnings management.To carry out this study, the authors have analysed the accounts of the 35companies included in the stock market index IBEX 35. This index iscalculated with the share prices variations of the most importantcompanies quoted in the Spanish Stock Exchange.

A new species of Lioptilodes Zimmerman (Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae) from northern Chile

Male and female adults of a new species of Lioptilodes Zimmerman (Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae) are described and illustrated. Immature stages are associated with Baccharis scandens (Ruiz & Pav.) Pers. (Asteraceae). The species was collected in two localities of northern Chile: near sea level in the Azapa valley, in the coastal desert of Arica Province and at 3000 m elevation in Socoroma, Parinacota Province.

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the University of Northern Iowa’s tuition and fees system for the period May 24, 2007 through July 3, 2007

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the University of Northern Iowa’s tuition and fees system for the period May 24, 2007 through July 3, 2007

Social spending and demographics: The role of public policies in the intergenerational redistribution of income. Empirical evidence from Spain and Catalonia

The demographic shift underway in Southern Europe requires a revision of some of thefundamental principles of the traditional welfare state. We analyze the evolution of several aspects of welfare and social expenditure over the last two decades. We find that in the context of the present demographic changes and real estate boom current social and pension policy leads to a new distribution of benefits and burdens which is highly intergenerationally unequal. We argue for a revised definition of public policy based on Musgrave's proposition as a possible rule for an intergenerationally fair distribution.

Serial defaults, serial profits: Returns to sovereign lending in Habsburg Spain, 1566-1600

Philip II of Spain accumulated debts equivalent to 60% of GDP. He also defaulted four times onhis short-term loans, thus becoming the first serial defaulter in history. Contrary to a commonview in the literature, we show that lending to the king was profitable even under worst-casescenario assumptions. Lenders maintained long-term relationships with the crown. Lossessustained during defaults were more than compensated by profits in normal times. Defaultswere not catastrophic events. In effect, short-term lending acted as an insurance mechanism,allowing the king to reduce his payments in harsh times in exchange for paying a premium intranquil periods. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Organisational innovations and health care decentralisation: A perspective from Spain

Recent policy developments in public health care systems lead to a greater diversity in health care. Decentralisation, either geographically or at an institutional level, is the key force, because it encourages innovation and local initiatives in health care provision. The devolution of responsibilities allows for a sort of de-construction of the status quo by changing both organizational forms and service provision. The new organizations enjoy greater freedom in the way they pay their staff, and are judged according to their results. These organizations may retain financial surpluses, develop spin-off companies and commission a range of specialised services (such as Diagnostic and Treatment Centres in UK) from providers outside the institutional setting in order to have more access to capital markets. However this diversity may generate a feeling of lack of commitment to a national health service and ultimately a loss of social cohesion. By fiscal decentralisation to regional authorities or planned delegation of financial agreements to the providers, financial incentives are more explicit and may seem to place profit-making above a commitment to better health care. An evaluation of the myths and realities of the decentralization process is needed. Here, I offer an assessment pros and cons of the decentralization process of health care in Spain, drawing on the experience of regional reforms from the pioneering organisational innovations implemented in Catalonia in 1981, up to the observed dispersion of health care spending per capita among regions at present.

The choice of the form of representation in multinational banking: Evidence from Spain

This paper investigates foreign direct investment in the bankingsector. The attention has been addressed to test the importanceof OLI advantages as the determinants of the bank's decisionto invest in foreign locations. Nevertheless, since banks canexpand their activities abroad through different organizationalforms that imply different levels of foreign involvement, theissue of the form of representation has been tackled. Theresults show the importance of OLI advantages in the form ofrepresentation in multinational banking.

A new species of Eccopsis Zeller (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) from the coastal valleys of northern Chile, with the first continental record of E. galapagana Razowski & Landry

A new species of Eccopsis Zeller (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) from the coastal valleys of northern Chile, with the first continental record of E. galapagana Razowski & Landry. Eccopsis Zeller, 1852 is reported for the first time from Chile. Eccopsis razowskii Vargas, n. sp. is described and illustrated based on specimens reared from larvae collected on native Acacia macracantha Willd. (Fabaceae) in the coastal valleys of the northern Chilean desert. Eccopsis galapagana Razowski & Landry, 2008, previously known only from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, is recorded for the first time from continental South America. Larvae of the latter were collected in northern Chile feeding on Prosopis alba Griseb (Fabaceae).

Incentives and pharmaceutical reimbursement reforms in Spain

The aim of this paper is to assess whether cost-containment has beenaffected by recent pharmaceutical reimbursement reforms that have beenintroduced in the Spanish health care system over the period 1996-2002,under the conservative Popular Party government. Four main reimbursementpolicies can be observed in the Spanish pharmaceutical market after1996, each of them largely unintegrated with the other three. First, asecond supplementary negative list of excluded pharmaceutical productswas introduced in 1998. Second, a reference pricing system wasintroduced in December 2000, with annual updating and enlargement.Third, the pharmacies payment system has moved from the traditionalset margin on the consumer price to a margin that varies according tothe consumer price of the product, the generic status of the product,and the volume of sales by pharmacies. And fourth, general agreementsbetween the government and the industry have been reached with costcontainment objectives. In the final section of this paper we presentan overall assessment of the impact of these pharmaceuticalreimbursement policies on the behaviour of the agents in thepharmaceutical market.