3,492 research outputs found
Are public sector workers motivated by money?
No full textCarol Propper reviews recent evidence, drawn from a series of case studies that have been undertaken on individuals employed deep into the traditional public sector – in secondary education, government administration and public hospitals – which shows that incentives schemes can bring about increased productivity and that policy makers ignore the important of financial rewards at their peril
The Impact of Competition on Management Quality: Evidence from Public Hospitals
No full textWe analyze the causal impact of competition on managerial quality (and hospital performance). To address the endogeneity of market structure we analyze the English public hospital sector where entry and exit are controlled by the central government. Because closing hospitals in areas where the governing party is expecting a tight election race ("marginals") is rare due to the fear of electoral defeat, we can use political marginality as an instrumental variable for the number of hospitals in a geographical area. We find that higher competition is positively correlated with management quality, measured using a new survey tool. Adding a rival hospital increases management quality by 0.4 standard deviations and increases survival rates from emergency heart attacks by 8.8%. We confirm the validity of our IV strategy by conditioning on marginality in the hospital's own catchment area, thus identifying purely off the marginality of rival hospitals. This controls for "hidden policies" that could be used in marginal districts to improve hospital management. We also run placebo tests of marginality on schools, a public service where the central government has no formal influence on market structure.management, hospitals, competition, productivity
Portrait of the family of David Stern and Bernice Stern nee Propper.
No full textSeated: David Stern, Bernice Stern, and Jessica Agosti; left to right: Doreen Stern, her husband Michael Stern, Carol Richardson, her husband Blake Richardson, John Agosti. The baby is Katherine SternDigital Imagedonated by David SternDavid Stern, born 1926; Bernice Stern nee Propper, born 1928, died 2001; Jessica Agosti nee Stern, born 1961; Doreen Stern nee Dalfol, born 1957; Michael Stern, born 1956; Carol Richardson nee Stern, born 1958; Blake Richardson, born 1955; John Agosti, born 1960; Katherine Stern, born 199
The role of income in marriage and divorce transitions among young Americans
No full textThe paper investigates the importance of income in young Americans’ decisions to form and dissolve households. Using data on young American men and women from the NLSY, an important role for income in both these transitions is found. There are significant differences between young men and women. High earnings capacity increases the probability of marriage and decreases the probability of divorce for young men. High earnings capacity decreases the probability of marriage for young women, and has no impact on divorce. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2003Marriage, divorce, income effects, J12,
Death by Market Power. Reform, Competition and Patient Outcomes in the National Health Service
No full textThe effect of competition on the quality of health care remains a contested issue. Most empirical estimates rely on inference from non experimental data. In contrast, this paper exploits a pro-competitive policy reform to provide estimates of the impact of competition on hospital outcomes. The English government introduced a policy in 2006 to promote competition between hospitals. Patients were given choice of location for hospital care and provided information on the quality and timeliness of care. Prices, previously negotiated between buyer and seller, were set centrally under a DRG type system. Using this policy to implement a difference-in-differences research design we estimate the impact of the introduction of competition on not only clinical outcomes but also productivity and expenditure. Our data set is large, containing information on approximately 68,000 discharges per year per hospital from 160 hospitals. We find that the effect of competition is to save lives without raising costs. Patients discharged from hospitals located in markets where competition was more feasible were less likely to die, had shorter length of stay and were treated at the same cost.competition, hospitals, quality
Employment, family union and childbearing decisions in Great Britain
No full textThe paper investigates the life-cycle relationship of work and family life in Britain based on the British Household Panel Survey. Using hazard regression techniques we estimate a five-equation model, which includes birth events, union formation, union dissolution, employment and non-employment events. We find that transitions in and out of employment for men are relatively independent of other transitions. In contrast, there are strong links between employment of females, having children and union formation. By undertaking a detailed microsimulations analysis, we show that different levels of labour force participation by females do not necessarily lead to large changes in fertility events. Changes in union formation and fertility events, in contrast, have larger effects on employment
Expenditure on healthcare in the UK: a review of the issues
No full textThis review examines the performance of the UK healthcare system. After presenting data on the level and distribution of resources, three topics are examined. The first is the lessons from international comparisons of evidence on expenditure, equity and healthcare outcomes. The second is the lessons from the recent internal market reforms. The third is the lessons from an analysis of the role for private finance in UK healthcare. The review concludes that economists and policymakers need to focus more attention on the relationship between healthcare inputs — expenditure — and health outcomes, and, within this, on the incentives facing suppliers and demanders of healthcare.
A study to determine if in-house training staff in organizations possess the key skills necessary to author web-based and computer-based training programs
No full textIncludes bibliographical references
Shakespeare and child's play : performing lost boys on stage and screen
No full text'Childness' - the essential nature of being a child - remains a vital critical issue for us today. In this text, Carol Rutter shows how recent performances on stage and film have used the range of Shakespeare's insights in order to re-examine and re-think these issues in terms of today's society and culture.
Shakespeare wrote more than fifty parts for children, amounting to the first comprehensive portrait of childhood in the English theatre. Focusing mostly on boys, he put sons against fathers, servants against masters, innocence against experience, testing the notion of masculinity, manners, morals, and the limits of patriarchal power. He explored the nature of relationships and ideas about parenting in terms of nature and nurture, permissiveness and discipline, innocence and evil. He wrote about education, adolescent rebellion, delinquency, fostering, and child-killing, as well as the idea of the redemptive child who 'cures' diseased adult imaginations. 'Childness' - the essential nature of being a child - remains a vital critical issue for us today. In Shakespeare and Child's-Play Carol Rutter shows how recent performances on stage and film have used the range of Shakespeare's insights in order to re-examine and re-think these issues in terms of today's society and culture
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