Marketization on Export: Representations of the Swedish Free School Model in English Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rönnberg, Linda

2015-01-01

This paper explores how "social democratic" Sweden initiated and implemented choice reforms that attracted the interest of "liberal" England. By studying how English media framed and portrayed the Swedish free school "export" from 2008 to 2014, this paper aims to describe and discuss how a market-oriented policy idea,…

Financing reforms of public health services in China: lessons for other nations.

PubMed

Liu, Xingzhu; Mills, Anne

2002-06-01

Financing reforms of China's public health services are characterised by a reduction in government budgetary support and the introduction of charges. These reforms have changed the financing structure of public health institutions. Before the financing reforms, in 1980, government budgetary support covered the full costs of public health institutions, while after the reforms by the middle of the 1990s, the government's contribution to the institutions' revenue had fallen to 30-50%, barely covering the salaries of health workers, and the share of revenue generated from charges had increased to 50-70%. These market-oriented financing reforms improved the productivity of public health institutions, but several unintended consequences became evident. The economic incentives that were built into the financing system led to over-provision of unnecessary services, and under-provision of socially desirable services. User fees reduced the take-up of preventive services with positive externalities. The lack of government funds resulted in under-provision of services with public goods' characteristics. The Chinese experience has generated important lessons for other nations. Firstly, a decline in the role of government in financing public health services is likely to result in decreased overall efficiency of the health sector. Secondly, levying charges for public health services can reduce demand for these services and increase the risk of disease transmission. Thirdly, market-oriented financing reforms of public health services should not be considered as a policy option. Once this step is made, the unintended consequences may outweigh the intended ones. Chinese experience strongly suggests that the government should take a very active role in financing public health services.

Why public health services? Experiences from profit-driven health care reforms in Sweden.

PubMed

Dahlgren, Göran

2014-01-01

Market-oriented health care reforms have been implemented in the tax-financed Swedish health care system from 1990 to 2013. The first phase of these reforms was the introduction of new public management systems, where public health centers and public hospitals were to act as private firms in an internal health care market. A second phase saw an increase of tax-financed private for-profit providers. A third phase can now be envisaged with increased private financing of essential health services. The main evidence-based effects of these markets and profit-driven reforms can be summarized as follows: efficiency is typically reduced but rarely increased; profit and tax evasion are a drain on resources for health care; geographical and social inequities are widened while the number of tax-financed providers increases; patients with major multi-health problems are often given lower priority than patients with minor health problems; opportunities to control the quality of care are reduced; tax-financed private for-profit providers facilitate increased private financing; and market forces and commercial interests undermine the power of democratic institutions. Policy options to promote further development of a nonprofit health care system are highlighted.

The impact of market oriented reforms on choice and information: a case study of cataract surgery in outer London and Stockholm.

PubMed

Fotaki, M

1999-05-01

In the early 1990s, a set of market-oriented reforms was introduced into health care systems of the UK and Sweden, two exemplary cases of reliance on planned budgeting and integrated provision of services. In the pursuit of increased efficiency, several County Councils in Sweden have followed the public competition model, while in the UK internal market reforms were introduced. It was expected that the separation of functions of planners and purchasers from those of providers, which were to be freely chosen by the former, would achieve higher allocative efficiency but also enhance users' satisfaction with care. This paper uses cataract surgery as a case study to trace the impact of competition among providers on choice and information. Qualitative research methods were employed to record the perception of changes in their type and amount as it was given to both purchasers and patients. A set of open ended and standardised questionnaires was designed to elicit the views of all actors involved and to measure the likely transformations. Four study sites from Outer London were selected representing the diversity of responses, and the only existing large provider of eye services to Stockholm County Council was used. The analysis of the data showed that the quasi-market reforms have resulted in a change of attitude of providers. Some improvements in the amount and type of information given to purchasers and patients could also be detected, although as far as direct users were concerned, the demand has not been fully satisfied. However, the impact on choice available to patients and purchasers alike seemed to be adverse, an effect that was particularly strong in the UK case.

Banking System Reform in China: The Challenges of Moving Toward a Market-Oriented Economy

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

The gradual nature of China’s reform process has ensured 1 International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database , April 2006, World Trade...Liabilities (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) Forex reserves –373 Forex assets +373 Capital +373 (=US$ 45 billion) (=US...CCB Assets Liabilities Assets Liabilities (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) (RMB billion) Forex assets –373 Forex assets +373 Capital

[Changes necessary for continuing health reform: I. The "external" change].

PubMed

Martín Martín, J; de Manuel Keenoy, E; Carmona López, G; Martínez Olmos, J

1990-01-01

The article analyzes the need to obtain support from all actors if the reform of the health system is to be finalized. The relevant groups are the government, professional groups, workers, the population, civil servants, managers and firms with interests in the health field. It is necessary to develop a social marketing strategy that reinforces and broadens the current supports to change. Basic elements would be: Develop new service to satisfy users' needs; orient the services to defined "market" segments; position new services or "re-position" the existing ones in order to communicate their advantages; develop a plan of marketing based on promotion, prize and place focused on the role of health professionals as the main service sellers.

[Policies encouraging price competition in the generic drug market: Lessons from the European experience].

PubMed

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2010-01-01

To describe alternative policies aimed at encouraging price competition in generic drug markets in countries with strict price regulation, and to present some case studies drawn from the European experience. Systematic literature review of articles and technical reports published after 1999. The shortcomings in consumer price competition observed in some European generic markets, including Spain, may be reduced through three types of public reimbursement or financing reforms: policies aimed at improving the design of current maximum reimbursement level policies; policies aimed at monitoring competitive prices in order to reimburse real acquisition cost to pharmacies; and, more radical and market-oriented policies such as competitive tendering of public drug purchases. The experience of recent reforms adopted in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and Sweden offers a useful guide for highly price-regulated European countries, such as Spain, currently characterized by limited consumer price competition and the high discounts offered to pharmacy purchases. Direct price regulation and/or the generic reference pricing systems used to reduce generic drug prices in many European countries can be successfully reformed by adopting measures more closely aimed at encouraging consumer price competition in generic drug markets. Copyright 2009 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Risk-adjusted capitation: recent experiences in The Netherlands.

PubMed

van de Ven, W P; van Vliet, R C; van Barneveld, E M; Lamers, L M

1994-01-01

The market-oriented health care reforms taking place in the Netherlands show a clear resemblance to the proposals for managed competition in U.S. health care. In both countries good risk adjustment mechanisms that prevent cream skimming--that is, that prevent plans from selecting the best health risks--are critical to the success of the reforms. In this paper we present an overview of the Dutch reforms and of our research concerning risk-adjusted capitation payments. Although we are optimistic about the technical possibilities for solving the problem of cream skimming, the implementation of good risk-adjusted capitation is a long-term challenge.

The Reinvention of the Comprehensive School System in Finland: How Do Market-Oriented Reforms Impact upon Equity and Equality of Opportunity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ylonen, Annamari

2009-01-01

This article examines the changing nature of comprehensive schooling in Finland since the 1990s and focuses on analysing the impact of the changes on equity and equality of opportunity. Comparisons are made between the development of "school markets" in the south of the country and the situation in the north of the country where the case…

We’re All In This Together: The US-Vietnam Defense Relationship in an Offshore-Balanced Pacific Pivot

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

doi moi” market -oriented economic reforms and began to disengage forces from Cambodia. The collapse of the Soviet Union, Communist Vietnam’s...better SCS balancer while at the same time provides another avenue to strengthen economic ties between the countries by increasing the market for the...quarter 2012), 57-58, accessed 10 September 2013. Military & Government Collection, EBSCOhost . 33 Email correspondence between the author and

Needs Assessment for Health Care Management Education in Russia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rekhter, Natalia; Togunov, Igor A.

2006-01-01

Introduction: For more than 70 years, health care management in the Soviet Union reflected a centralized directive style familiar to the Soviet political system. Market-oriented reform in post-Soviet Russia is pushing practicing physicians and physician-executives to acquire new information and skills regarding health care management. To assist…

The Effects of a Free School Choice Policy on Parents' School Choice Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altrichter, Herbert; Bacher, Johann; Beham, Martina; Nagy, Gertrud; Wetzelhutter, Daniela

2011-01-01

Recently, European school systems have seen various attempts to "modernise" their governance. Market and competition oriented reforms have not been central to governance innovation strategies in German speaking countries, however, their number and relevance is rising in recent years. A free school choice policy which abolishes…

Protect the sick: health insurance reform in one easy lesson.

PubMed

Stone, Deborah

2008-01-01

In thinking about how to expand insurance coverage, the issue that matters is whether insurance enables sick and high-risk people to get medical care. Over the course of three decades, market-oriented insurance reforms have shifted more costs of illness onto people who need and use medical care. By making the users of care pay for it (or even some of it), cost-sharing discourages sick people from getting care, even if they have insurance, and for people with low-incomes and tight budgets, cost-sharing can effectively deny them access to care. Thus, covering or not covering sick people is the core issue of health insurance reform, both as a determinant of support and opposition to proposals, and as the proper yardstick for evaluating reform ideas.

Shyness-Sensitivity, Aggression, and Adjustment in Urban Chinese Adolescents at Different Historical Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Junsheng; Chen, Xinyin; Li, Dan; French, Doran

2012-01-01

The market-oriented economic reform in China over the past two decades has resulted in considerable changes in social attitudes regarding youth's behaviors. This study examined the relations of shyness and aggression to adjustment in Chinese adolescents at different historical times. Participants came from two cohorts (1994 and 2008) of…

Competition, Choice and Pupil Achievement. CEE DP 56

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Stephen; Machin, Stephen; Silva, Olmo

2006-01-01

The expansion of school choice and greater competition between schools is currently the centrepiece of government educational policy in the UK. There is an increasing emphasis on parents' right to choose their preferred schools, and whilst many parents may value choice itself, the advocates of these market oriented reforms usually argue that the…

Education Policies for Raising Student Learning: The Finnish Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahlberg, Pasi

2007-01-01

This article argues that system-wide excellence in student learning is attainable at reasonable cost, using education policies differing from conventional market-oriented reform strategies prevalent in many other countries. In this respect, Finland is an example of a nation that has developed from a remote agrarian/industrial state in the 1950s to…

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PAYMENT REFORM AND PROVIDER CONSOLIDATION

PubMed Central

Neprash, Hannah T.; Chernew, Michael E.; McWilliams, J. Michael

2017-01-01

Provider consolidation has been associated with higher health care prices and spending. Prevailing wisdom assumes that payment reform will accelerate consolidation, especially between physicians and hospitals and among physician groups, as providers position themselves to bear financial risk for the full continuum of patient care. Drawing from a number of data sources from 2008 onward, we examined the relationship between Medicare’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs and provider consolidation. According to multiple measures, consolidation was underway in 2008–2010, before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established the ACO programs. While the number of hospital mergers and specialty-oriented physician group size increased after the ACA, we found minimal evidence associating consolidation with ACO penetration at a market level or with ACO participation by physicians within markets. We conclude that payment reform has been associated with little acceleration in consolidation apart from trends already underway, but with some evidence of potential defensive consolidation in response to new payment models. PMID:28167725

Drug policy in China: pharmaceutical distribution in rural areas.

PubMed

Dong, H; Bogg, L; Rehnberg, C; Diwan, V

1999-03-01

In 1978, China decided to reform its economy and since then has gradually opened up to the world. The economy has grown rapidly at an average of 9.8% per year from 1978 to 1994. Medical expenditure, especially for drugs, has grown even more rapidly. The increase in medical expenditure can be attributed to changing disease patterns, a higher proportion of older people in the population and fee-for-service incentives for hospitals. Due to the changing economic system and higher cost of health care, the Chinese government has reformed its health care system, including its health and drug policy. The drug policy reform has led to more comprehensive policy elements, including registration, production, distribution, utilization and administration. As a part of drug policy reform, the drug distribution network has also been changed, from a centrally controlled supply system (push system) to a market-oriented demand system (pull system). Hospitals can now purchase drugs directly from drug companies, factories and retailers, leading to increased price competition. Patients have easier access to drugs as more drugs are available on the market. At the same time, this has also entailed negative effects. The old drug administrative system is not suitable for the new drug distribution network. It is easy for people to get drugs on the market and this can lead to overuse and misuse. Marketing factors have influenced drug distribution so strongly that there is a risk of fake or low quality drugs being distributed. The government has taken some measures to fight these negative effects. This paper describes the drug policy reform in China, particularly the distribution of drugs to health care facilities.

Nurse education in competitive markets: the case for relationship marketing.

PubMed

Roberts, P M

1998-10-01

Since the National Health Service reforms of the late 1980s, nurse education has been increasingly subject to market forces. This new competitive environment presents not only threat, but also challenge and opportunity. Providers of nurse education who recognize the need for market orientation and develop responsive marketing strategies will maximize their potential for market retention and growth. Traditional marketing strategies have considerable limitations for public sector services. The new and growing field of relationship marketing offers nurse education an opportunity to retain and develop profitable relationships with both internal and external markets. This paper reviews the marketing arena in nurse education and proposes context-based qualitative research to ascertain definitive constructs of service quality. Such constructs might then be rooted in a theoretical framework of service quality measurement, and be measured within the disconfirmation paradigm of relationship marketing.

Two Decades of Curricular Reforms in the Spanish University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troiano, Helena; Masjuan, Josep M.; Elias, Marina

2007-01-01

In this article we present the topic of the orientation of university curricula, the pressures that exist today as a response to the demands of the market, and we examine specifically the transformation that has developed in Spain during the last two decades. We have tried to base the statements and analyses that are presented on empirical data…

Electricity reform and sustainable development in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, James H.; Kahrl, Fredrich

2008-10-01

Reducing the environmental impact of supplying electricity is a key to China's sustainable development, and a focus of both domestic and international concerns with greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental performance of the electricity sector is strongly affected by its institutional arrangements: regulatory frameworks, wholesale markets, pricing mechanisms, planning and coordination, and enforcement and incentive mechanisms. These arrangements are set to change as electricity reforms inaugurated in 2002, but sidetracked by several years of supply shortages, are being resumed. In this paper we examine the impact of electricity reform on environmental sustainability by analyzing case studies of four environmental initiatives in the electricity sector: retirement of inefficient generators, installation of pollution control equipment, renewable energy development, and efforts to promote energy efficiency. We find that implementation of these policies falls short of objectives for two main underlying reasons: conflicting priorities between central and provincial governments, and ineffective regulation. Sustainability will be best served not by redoubling short-term supply-oriented, market-based reforms, but by better aligning central and provincial government incentives, and by developing competent, independent regulation at the provincial level. China's central government and sub-national governments in industrialized countries can both contribute to the latter goal.

Commissioning healthcare for people with long term conditions: the persistence of relational contracting in England's NHS quasi-market.

PubMed

Porter, Alison; Mays, Nicholas; Shaw, Sara E; Rosen, Rebecca; Smith, Judith

2013-01-01

Since 1991, there has been a series of reforms of the English National Health Service (NHS) entailing an increasing separation between the commissioners of services and a widening range of public and independent sector providers able to compete for contracts to provide services to NHS patients. We examine the extent to which local commissioners had adopted a market-oriented (transactional) model of commissioning of care for people with long term conditions several years into the latest period of market-oriented reform. The paper also considers the factors that may have inhibited or supported market-oriented behaviour, including the presence of conditions conducive to a health care quasi-market. We studied the commissioning of services for people with three long term conditions - diabetes, stroke and dementia - in three English primary care trust (PCT) areas over two years (2010-12). We took a broadly ethnographic approach to understanding the day-to-day practice of commissioning. Data were collected through interviews, observation of meetings and from documents. In contrast to a transactional, market-related approach organised around commissioner choice of provider and associated contracting, commissioning was largely relational, based on trust and collaboration with incumbent providers. There was limited sign of commissioners significantly challenging providers, changing providers, or decommissioning services.In none of the service areas were all the conditions for a well functioning quasi-market in health care in place. Choice of provider was generally absent or limited; information on demand and resource requirements was highly imperfect; motivations were complex; and transaction costs uncertain, but likely to be high. It was difficult to divide care into neat units for contracting purposes. As a result, it is scarcely surprising that commissioning practice in relation to all six commissioning developments was dominated by a relational approach. Our findings challenge the notion of a strict separation of commissioners and providers, and instead demonstrate the adaptive persistence of relational commissioning based on continuity of provision, trust and interdependence between commissioners and providers, at least for services for people with long-term conditions.

Commissioning healthcare for people with long term conditions: the persistence of relational contracting in England’s NHS quasi-market

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Since 1991, there has been a series of reforms of the English National Health Service (NHS) entailing an increasing separation between the commissioners of services and a widening range of public and independent sector providers able to compete for contracts to provide services to NHS patients. We examine the extent to which local commissioners had adopted a market-oriented (transactional) model of commissioning of care for people with long term conditions several years into the latest period of market-oriented reform. The paper also considers the factors that may have inhibited or supported market-oriented behaviour, including the presence of conditions conducive to a health care quasi-market. Methods We studied the commissioning of services for people with three long term conditions - diabetes, stroke and dementia - in three English primary care trust (PCT) areas over two years (2010-12). We took a broadly ethnographic approach to understanding the day-to-day practice of commissioning. Data were collected through interviews, observation of meetings and from documents. Results In contrast to a transactional, market-related approach organised around commissioner choice of provider and associated contracting, commissioning was largely relational, based on trust and collaboration with incumbent providers. There was limited sign of commissioners significantly challenging providers, changing providers, or decommissioning services. In none of the service areas were all the conditions for a well functioning quasi-market in health care in place. Choice of provider was generally absent or limited; information on demand and resource requirements was highly imperfect; motivations were complex; and transaction costs uncertain, but likely to be high. It was difficult to divide care into neat units for contracting purposes. As a result, it is scarcely surprising that commissioning practice in relation to all six commissioning developments was dominated by a relational approach. Conclusions Our findings challenge the notion of a strict separation of commissioners and providers, and instead demonstrate the adaptive persistence of relational commissioning based on continuity of provision, trust and interdependence between commissioners and providers, at least for services for people with long-term conditions. PMID:23735008

[Human resources for health in the context of the reform of the health system in Mexico: professional training and labor market].

PubMed

Nigenda, Gustavo; Magaña-Valladares, Laura; Ortega-Altamirano, Doris Verónica

2013-01-01

The role that human resources for health should play in future stages of the Mexican Health System reform is discussed. The following dimensions are considered to guide the discussion: the orientation of training, the institutions responsible for training, the mechanisms to link graduates to health institutions and the ways health workers should respond to the current managerial modifications. Changes should be based on a pre-defined strategic planning exercise based on institutional agreements which allow defining common objectives as well as clear procedures to attain those objectives.

How did China's foreign exchange reform affect the efficiency of foreign exchange market?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ning, Ye; Wang, Yiming; Su, Chi-wei

2017-10-01

This study compares the market efficiency of China's onshore and offshore foreign exchange markets before and after the foreign exchange reform on August 11, 2015. We use the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of the onshore and offshore RMB/USD spot exchange rate series as basis. We then find that the onshore foreign exchange market before the reform has the lowest market efficiency, which increased after the reform. The offshore foreign exchange market before the reform has the highest market efficiency, which dropped after the reform. This finding implies the increased efficiency of the onshore foreign exchange market and the loss of efficiency in the offshore foreign exchange market. We also find that the offshore foreign exchange market is more efficient than the onshore market and that the gap shrank after the reform. Changes in intervention of the People's Bank of China since the reform is a possible explanation for the changes in the efficiency of the foreign exchange market.

Competition in the German pharmacy market: an empirical analysis

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Pharmaceutical products are an important component of expenditure on public health insurance in the Federal Republic of Germany. For years, German policy makers have regulated public pharmacies in order to limit the increase in costs. One reform has followed another, main objective being to increase competition in the pharmacy market. It is generally assumed that an increase in competition would reduce healthcare costs. However, there is a lack of empirical proof of a stronger orientation of German public pharmacies towards competition thus far. Methods This paper analyses the self-perceptions of owners of German public pharmacies and their orientation towards competition in the pharmacy markets. It is based on a cross-sectional survey (N = 289) and distinguishes between successful and less successful pharmacies, the location of the pharmacies (e.g. West German States and East German States) and the gender of the pharmacy owner. The data are analysed descriptively by survey items and employing bivariate and structural equation modelling. Results The analysis reveals that the majority of owners of public pharmacies in Germany do not currently perceive very strong competitive pressure in the market. However, the innovativeness of the pharmacist is confirmed as most relevant for net revenue development and the profit margin. Some differences occur between regions, e.g. public pharmacies in West Germany have a significantly higher profit margin. Conclusions This study provides evidence that the German healthcare reforms aimed at increasing the competition between public pharmacies in Germany have not been completely successful. Many owners of public pharmacies disregard instruments of active customer-orientated management (such as customer loyalty or an offensive position and economies of scale), which could give them a competitive advantage. However, it is clear that those pharmacists who strive for systematic and innovative management and adopt an offensive and competitive stance are quite successful. Thus, pharmacists should change their attitude and develop a more professional business model. PMID:24112461

Competition in the German pharmacy market: an empirical analysis.

PubMed

Heinsohn, Jörg G; Flessa, Steffen

2013-10-10

Pharmaceutical products are an important component of expenditure on public health insurance in the Federal Republic of Germany. For years, German policy makers have regulated public pharmacies in order to limit the increase in costs. One reform has followed another, main objective being to increase competition in the pharmacy market. It is generally assumed that an increase in competition would reduce healthcare costs. However, there is a lack of empirical proof of a stronger orientation of German public pharmacies towards competition thus far. This paper analyses the self-perceptions of owners of German public pharmacies and their orientation towards competition in the pharmacy markets. It is based on a cross-sectional survey (N = 289) and distinguishes between successful and less successful pharmacies, the location of the pharmacies (e.g. West German States and East German States) and the gender of the pharmacy owner. The data are analysed descriptively by survey items and employing bivariate and structural equation modelling. The analysis reveals that the majority of owners of public pharmacies in Germany do not currently perceive very strong competitive pressure in the market. However, the innovativeness of the pharmacist is confirmed as most relevant for net revenue development and the profit margin. Some differences occur between regions, e.g. public pharmacies in West Germany have a significantly higher profit margin. This study provides evidence that the German healthcare reforms aimed at increasing the competition between public pharmacies in Germany have not been completely successful. Many owners of public pharmacies disregard instruments of active customer-orientated management (such as customer loyalty or an offensive position and economies of scale), which could give them a competitive advantage. However, it is clear that those pharmacists who strive for systematic and innovative management and adopt an offensive and competitive stance are quite successful. Thus, pharmacists should change their attitude and develop a more professional business model.

75 FR 28004 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Notice Establishing Date for Comments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-19

... Proposed Rulemaking on Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets.\\1\\ Specifically, the... counterparty to transactions in their markets \\1\\ Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets, 130... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RM10-13-000] Credit Reforms...

Economic Interdependence and a Cooperative China: U.S. Policy Choices

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-04-01

industry provides a perfect example. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Nike increasingly shifted production of athletic shoes from Korea and other Asian...from the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward, Deng Xiaoping endorsed and encouraged rural development through a three-pronged strategy of land reform...should continue this trend. As China has moved towards a more market -oriented economy, it has experienced greater prosperity and freedoms. Unfortunately

The influence of a market-oriented primary care reform on family physicians' working conditions: A qualitative study in Turkey.

PubMed

Çiçeklioğlu, Meltem; Öcek, Zeliha Aslı; Turk, Meral; Taner, Şafak

2015-06-01

Turkey has undergone a 'Health transformation programme' putting emphasis on the reorganization of primary care (PC) services towards a more market-oriented system. To obtain a deep understanding of how family physicians (FPs) experienced the process of the reforms by focusing on working conditions. This phenomenological and qualitative research used maximum variation sampling and 51 FPs were interviewed in 36 in-depth and four focus-group interviews. Thematic analysis of interviews provided seven themes: (1) change in the professional identity of PC physicians (physician as businessperson); (2) transformation of the physician-patient relationship in PC (into a provider-customer relationship); (3) job description and workload; (4) interpersonal relationships; (5) remuneration of FPs, (6) uncertainty about the future and (7) exhaustion. Most FPs felt that the Family medicine model (FMM) placed more emphasis on the business function of family practice and this conflicted with their professional characteristics as physicians. FPs complained that some of their patients behaved as extremely demanding consumers. Continuously increasing responsibilities and extremely high workload were commonly reported problems. Most participants described the negative incentives in the performance scheme as a degrading method of punishment. The main factor was job insecurity caused by contract-based employment. FPs described the point at which they are with terms such as exhaustion. By increasing workload and creating uncertainty about the future and about income, the PC reforms have led to working conditions, which has led to changes in the professional attitudes of physicians and their practice of medicine.

Drug policy in China. Transformations, current status and future prospects.

PubMed

Liu, X; Li, S

1997-07-01

The pharmaceutical sector in China developed rapidly with the implementation of the market-oriented economic reforms, which began at the end of the 1970s. From 1980 to 1988 the production of drugs quadrupled, subsequently increasing at an annual rate of 20%, and consumption of drugs correspondingly increased. The increase in drug production was largely a result of the increase in the number of pharmaceutical companies, particularly the number of private joint ventures, of which there were none in 1980 and 1900 in 1994, accounting for 37% of the total number of pharmaceutical companies. With the transformation of the Chinese pharmaceutical market, some new problems have appeared. The low efficiency of pharmaceutical companies, poor-quality drugs, unfair competition and misuse of drugs have been of great concern to the Chinese government. Some countermeasures have been taken, but the problems remain. Increases in the age of the Chinese population, increases in income and changes in disease patterns, together with membership of the World Trade Organization will promote the development of the pharmaceutical market. However, health-insurance reform, an essential drug list, the separation of drugs from services, and controls on the increases in hospital revenue will reduce the demand for drugs. Pharmaceutical companies in China face both opportunities and challenges. The trend in development of the pharmaceutical market depends on the outcome of the interaction between the factors that increase, and those that decrease, the demand for drugs. While the general trend is towards an increase in the demand for drugs and the expansion of the pharmaceutical market, downward fluctuation is inevitable if effective health reforms of cost control are introduced nationwide.

Control costs, enhance quality, and increase revenue in three top general public hospitals in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Lue-Ping; Yu, Guo-Pei; Liu, Hui; Ma, Xie-Min; Wang, Jing; Kong, Gui-Lan; Li, Yi; Ma, Wen; Cui, Yong; Xu, Beibei; Yu, Na; Bao, Xiao-Yuan; Guo, Yu; Wang, Fei; Zhang, Jun; Li, Yan; Xie, Xue-Qin; Jiang, Bao-Guo; Ke, Yang

2013-01-01

With market-oriented economic and health-care reform, public hospitals in China have received unprecedented pressures from governmental regulations, public opinions, and financial demands. To adapt the changing environment and keep pace of modernizing healthcare delivery system, public hospitals in China are expanding clinical services and improving delivery efficiency, while controlling costs. Recent experiences are valuable lessons for guiding future healthcare reform. Here we carefully study three teaching hospitals, to exemplify their experiences during this period. We performed a systematic analysis on hospitalization costs, health-care quality and delivery efficiencies from 2006 to 2010 in three teaching hospitals in Beijing, China. The analysis measured temporal changes of inpatient cost per stay (CPS), cost per day (CPD), inpatient mortality rate (IMR), and length of stay (LOS), using a generalized additive model. There were 651,559 hospitalizations during the period analyzed. Averaged CPS was stable over time, while averaged CPD steadily increased by 41.7% (P<0.001), from CNY 1,531 in 2006 to CNY 2,169 in 2010. The increasing CPD seemed synchronous with the steady rising of the national annual income per capita. Surgical cost was the main contributor to the temporal change of CPD, while medicine and examination costs tended to be stable over time. From 2006 and 2010, IMR decreased by 36%, while LOS reduced by 25%. Increasing hospitalizations with higher costs, along with an overall stable CPS, reduced IMR, and shorter LOS, appear to be the major characteristics of these three hospitals at present. These three teaching hospitals have gained some success in controlling costs, improving cares, adopting modern medical technologies, and increasing hospital revenues. Effective hospital governance and physicians' professional capacity plus government regulations and supervisions may have played a role. However, purely market-oriented health-care reform could also misguide future healthcare reform.

75 FR 27330 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Notice of Agenda for Technical Conference

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-14

... Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets Notice of Proposed Rulemaking\\1\\ regarding whether... Credit Reforms in Organized Electric Markets May 11, 2010 Commission Meeting Room Agenda 9-9:05 a.m... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RM10-13-000] Credit Reforms...

Perceptions of Turkish dentists of their professional identity in a market-orientated system.

PubMed

Ocek, Zeliha Asli; Vatansever, Kevser

2014-01-01

This study explores the perceptions of Turkish dentists of their professional identity and of the effects of market orientation in dentistry. This phenomenological study used a qualitative approach using a group of Turkish dentists, who were selected based on the principle of maximum variation. Four focus groups and 31 in-depth interviews were conducted. Forty-nine dentists were interviewed using a semi-structured form. The data analysis yielded three themes: (a) dentistry as a business; (b) dentistry as a profession; and (c) professional status of dentistry in the health care system and in the community. The participants' statements reflected that the dominance of market mechanisms in dentistry inevitably forces dentists to adopt the characteristics of a business person and prevents them from fulfilling the basic requirements of professionalism. All participants explained that with the transformation of the dental care market, dentists have become a cheap labor force and have lost their professional autonomy. Our study has confirmed previous reports pointing out the conflict between dentistry as a profession and dentistry as a commercial operation. The study also showed that in Turkey, as a country experiencing rapid reform processes, dentists' control over their professional practices and identities has decreased.

The role of independent agents in the success of health insurance market reforms.

PubMed

Hall, M A

2000-01-01

The impact of reforms on the health insurance markets cannot be understood without more information about the role played by insurance agents and a closer analysis of their contribution. An in-depth, qualitative study of insurance-market reforms in seven illustrative states forms the basis for this report on how agents help to shape the efficiency and fairness of insurance markets. Different types of agents relate to insurers in their own ways and are compensated differently. This study shows agents to be almost uniformly enthusiastic about guaranteed-issue requirements and other components of market reforms. Although insurers devise strategies for manipulating agents in order to avoid undesirable business, these opportunities are limited and do not appear to be seriously undermining the effectiveness of market reforms. Despite the layer of cost that agents add to the system, they play an important role in making market reforms work, and they fill essential information and service functions for which many purchasers have no ready substitute.

The Role of Independent Agents in the Success of Health Insurance Market Reforms

PubMed Central

Hall, Mark A.

2000-01-01

The impact of reforms on the health insurance markets cannot be understood without more information about the role played by insurance agents and a closer analysis of their contribution. An in-depth, qualitative study of insurance-market reforms in seven illustrative states forms the basis for this report on how agents help to shape the efficiency and fairness of insurance markets. Different types of agents relate to insurers in their own ways and are compensated differently. This study shows agents to be almost uniformly enthusiastic about guaranteed-issue requirements and other components of market reforms. Although insurers devise strategies for manipulating agents in order to avoid undesirable business, these opportunities are limited and do not appear to be seriously undermining the effectiveness of market reforms. Despite the layer of cost that agents add to the system, they play an important role in making market reforms work, and they fill essential information and service functions for which many purchasers have no ready substitute. PMID:10834080

Consumer-oriented health care reform strategies: a review of the evidence on managed competition and consumer-directed health insurance.

PubMed

Buchmueller, Thomas C

2009-12-01

For many years, leading health care reform proposals have been based on market-oriented strategies. In the 1990s, a number of reform proposals were built around the concept of "managed competition," but more recently, "consumer-directed health care" models have received attention. Although price-conscious consumer demand plays a critical role in both the managed competition and consumer-directed health care models, the two strategies are based on different visions of the health care marketplace and the best way to use market forces to achieve greater systemwide efficiencies. This article reviews the research literature that tests the main hypotheses concerning the two policy strategies. Numerous studies provide consistent evidence that consumers' health plan choices are sensitive to out-of-pocket premiums. The elasticity of demand appears to vary with consumers' health risk, with younger, healthier individuals being more price sensitive. This heterogeneity increases the potential for adverse selection. Biased risk selection also is a concern when the menu of health plan options includes consumer-directed health plans. Several studies confirm that such plans tend to attract healthier enrollees. A smaller number of studies test the main hypothesis regarding consumer-directed health plans, which is that they result in lower medical spending than do more generous plans. These studies find little support for this claim. The experiences of employers that have adopted key elements of managed competition are generally consistent with the key hypotheses underlying that strategy. Research in this area, however, has focused on only a narrow range of questions. Because consumer-directed health care is such a recent phenomenon, research on this strategy is even more limited. Additional studies on both topics would be valuable.

Consumer-Oriented Health Care Reform Strategies: A Review of the Evidence on Managed Competition and Consumer-Directed Health Insurance

PubMed Central

Buchmueller, Thomas C

2009-01-01

Context: For many years, leading health care reform proposals have been based on market-oriented strategies. In the 1990s, a number of reform proposals were built around the concept of “managed competition,” but more recently, “consumer-directed health care” models have received attention. Although price-conscious consumer demand plays a critical role in both the managed competition and consumer-directed health care models, the two strategies are based on different visions of the health care marketplace and the best way to use market forces to achieve greater systemwide efficiencies. Methods: This article reviews the research literature that tests the main hypotheses concerning the two policy strategies. Findings: Numerous studies provide consistent evidence that consumers’ health plan choices are sensitive to out-of-pocket premiums. The elasticity of demand appears to vary with consumers’ health risk, with younger, healthier individuals being more price sensitive. This heterogeneity increases the potential for adverse selection. Biased risk selection also is a concern when the menu of health plan options includes consumer-directed health plans. Several studies confirm that such plans tend to attract healthier enrollees. A smaller number of studies test the main hypothesis regarding consumer-directed health plans, which is that they result in lower medical spending than do more generous plans. These studies find little support for this claim. Conclusions: The experiences of employers that have adopted key elements of managed competition are generally consistent with the key hypotheses underlying that strategy. Research in this area, however, has focused on only a narrow range of questions. Because consumer-directed health care is such a recent phenomenon, research on this strategy is even more limited. Additional studies on both topics would be valuable. PMID:20021587

75 FR 10059 - Money Market Fund Reform

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-04

... Part III Securities and Exchange Commission 17 CFR Parts 270 and 274 Money Market Fund Reform...; File Nos. S7-11-09, S7-20-09] RIN 3235-AK33 Money Market Fund Reform AGENCY: Securities and Exchange...'') is adopting amendments to certain rules that govern money market funds under the Investment Company...

Latin American petroleum sector at crossroads

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, B.

1992-07-06

This paper reports that Latin America's petroleum industry stands at a precarious crossroads of change. Fundamental changes of democratization, privatization, and economic reform that have marked South America's petroleum sectors since the late 1980s are seeping into other Latin American regions. An unprecedented return of capital that had fled the region in the 1980s - Latin America's lost decade - is under way in full force. That demonstrates the improved credibility of the region's economic reform programs, reports the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Even as those reform efforts marked progress in South America in 1991, however, that progress has beenmore » threatened in 1992 by political scandal, government crisis, and environmental controversy. Just as the fitful transition to capitalism in the former U.S.S.R. has threatened to collapse the former Soviet republics into chaos because of its economic fallout, so has economic reform in such nations as Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela stumbled. On the other hand, privatization continues apace in Argentina and Mexico. Those Latin American nations and others caught in the rising tide of privatization pulled by an increasingly market oriented global economy continue to avow their commitment to economic reform.« less

Change sweeping South American oil sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-01-14

Change is sweeping South America's petroleum industry. In each of the continent's major oil and gas producing countries, efforts are under way to boost activity in all petroleum sectors. It is part of a wave of change involving democratization, privatization, economic reform, and pursuit of free market principles that began in earnest in South America during the 1980s. Moreover, South America's rapidly changing petroleum industry is the vanguard for similar changes likely to spread throughout Latin America and the Caribbean Sea. State oil companies are being buffeted by reform and restructuring, often clashing with government leaders, as they seek tomore » exploit a massive indigenous petroleum resource second only to the Middle East. Most of these countries look to their petroleum sectors as the engine of economic growth in the 1990s, through revenues from exports and/or reduced outlays for imports. Critical to that effort is the push to attract foreign participation in the form of capital and technology. Barriers are falling all over South America as new market oriented governments reform fiscal regimes and petroleum laws to improve their countries' attractiveness for foreign investment. At the same time, subsidies for domestic fuel prices, long the bane of state oil companies, are being selectively phased out to improve the state companies' bottom line.« less

Medicare payment reform and provider entry and exit in the post-acute care market.

PubMed

Huckfeldt, Peter J; Sood, Neeraj; Romley, John A; Malchiodi, Alessandro; Escarce, José J

2013-10-01

To understand the impacts of Medicare payment reform on the entry and exit of post-acute providers. Medicare Provider of Services data, Cost Reports, and Census data from 1991 through 2010. We examined market-level changes in entry and exit after payment reforms relative to a preexisting time trend. We also compared changes in high Medicare share markets relative to lower Medicare share markets and for freestanding relative to hospital-based facilities. We calculated market-level entry, exit, and total stock of home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities from Provider of Services files between 1992 and 2010. We linked these measures with demographic information from the Census and American Community Survey, information on Certificate of Need laws, and Medicare share of facilities in each market drawn from Cost Report data. Payment reforms reducing average and marginal payments reduced entries and increased exits from the market. Entry effects were larger and more persistent than exit effects. Entry and exit rates fluctuated more for home health agencies than skilled nursing facilities. Effects on number of providers were consistent with entry and exit effects. Payment reform affects market entry and exit, which in turn may affect market structure, access to care, quality and cost of care, and patient outcomes. Policy makers should consider potential impacts of payment reforms on post-acute care market structure when implementing these reforms. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Medicare Payment Reform and Provider Entry and Exit in the Post-Acute Care Market

PubMed Central

Huckfeldt, Peter J; Sood, Neeraj; Romley, John A; Malchiodi, Alessandro; Escarce, José J

2013-01-01

Objective To understand the impacts of Medicare payment reform on the entry and exit of post-acute providers. Data Sources Medicare Provider of Services data, Cost Reports, and Census data from 1991 through 2010. Study Design We examined market-level changes in entry and exit after payment reforms relative to a preexisting time trend. We also compared changes in high Medicare share markets relative to lower Medicare share markets and for freestanding relative to hospital-based facilities. Data Extraction Methods We calculated market-level entry, exit, and total stock of home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities from Provider of Services files between 1992 and 2010. We linked these measures with demographic information from the Census and American Community Survey, information on Certificate of Need laws, and Medicare share of facilities in each market drawn from Cost Report data. Principal Findings Payment reforms reducing average and marginal payments reduced entries and increased exits from the market. Entry effects were larger and more persistent than exit effects. Entry and exit rates fluctuated more for home health agencies than skilled nursing facilities. Effects on number of providers were consistent with entry and exit effects. Conclusions Payment reform affects market entry and exit, which in turn may affect market structure, access to care, quality and cost of care, and patient outcomes. Policy makers should consider potential impacts of payment reforms on post-acute care market structure when implementing these reforms. PMID:23557215

Reforming the health care system: implications for health care marketers.

PubMed

Petrochuk, M A; Javalgi, R G

1996-01-01

Health care reform has become the dominant domestic policy issue in the United States. President Clinton, and the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have all proposed legislation to reform the system. Regardless of the plan which is ultimately enacted, health care delivery will be radically changed. Health care marketers, given their perspective, have a unique opportunity to ensure their own institutions' success. Organizational, managerial, and marketing strategies can be employed to deal with the changes which will occur. Marketers can utilize personal strategies to remain proactive and successful during an era of health care reform. As outlined in this article, responding to the health care reform changes requires strategic urgency and action. However, the strategies proposed are practical regardless of the version of health care reform legislation which is ultimately enacted.

Service Providers’ Experiences and Perspectives on Recovery-Oriented Mental Health System Reform

PubMed Central

Piat, Myra; Lal, Shalini

2016-01-01

Objective With the use of a qualitative approach, this study focuses on service providers’ experiences and perspectives on recovery-oriented reform. Methods Nine focus groups were conducted with a sample of 68 service providers recruited from three Canadian sites. Results Three major themes were identified: 1) positive attitudes towards recovery-oriented reform; 2) skepticism towards recovery-oriented reform; and 3) challenges associated with implementing recovery-oriented practice. These challenges pertained to conceptual uncertainty and consistency around the meanings of recovery; application of recovery-oriented practice with certain populations and in certain contexts; bureaucratization of recovery-oriented tools; limited leadership support; and, societal stigma and social exclusion of persons with mental illnesses. Conclusions and Implications for Practice The findings point towards challenges that might arise as system planners move ahead in their efforts toward implementing recovery within the mental health system. In this regard, we offer several recommendations for the planning of organizational and educational practices that support the implementation of recovery-oriented practice. PMID:22491368

Health insurance reform and HMO penetration in the small group market.

PubMed

Buchmueller, Thomas C; Liu, Su

This study uses data from several national employer surveys conducted between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s to investigate the effect of state-level underwriting reforms on HMO penetration in the small group health insurance market. We identify reform effects by exploiting cross-state variation in the timing and content of reform legislation and by using mid-sized and large employers, which were not affected by the legislation, as within-state control groups. While it is difficult to disentangle the effect of state reforms from other factors affecting HMO penetration in the small group markets, the results suggest a positive relationship between insurance market regulations and HMO penetration.

Values Orientations of Hong Kong's Reform Proposals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Che, Fok Shui

2004-01-01

Hong Kong has put forward a package of education reform proposals in 2000. The education reform is to set the blueprint for Hong Kong's development of education for the 21st century. An analysis of the values orientation of the reform proposals shows that the impact of globalization and the economic restructuring are the guiding forces. The main…

Little Evidence Exists To Support The Expectation That Providers Would Consolidate To Enter New Payment Models.

PubMed

Neprash, Hannah T; Chernew, Michael E; McWilliams, J Michael

2017-02-01

Provider consolidation has been associated with higher health care prices and spending. The prevailing wisdom is that payment reform will accelerate consolidation, especially between physicians and hospitals and among physician groups, as providers position themselves to bear financial risk for the full continuum of patient care. Drawing on data from a number of sources from 2008 onward, we examined the relationship between Medicare's accountable care organization (ACO) programs and provider consolidation. We found that consolidation was under way in the period 2008-10, before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established the ACO programs. While the number of hospital mergers and the size of specialty-oriented physician groups increased after the ACA was passed, we found minimal evidence that consolidation was associated with ACO penetration at the market level or with physicians' participation in ACOs within markets. We conclude that payment reform has been associated with little acceleration in consolidation in addition to trends already under way, but there is evidence of potential defensive consolidation in response to new payment models. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

A critical commentary on management science in relation to reforms after institutional National Health Service failures.

PubMed

Regan, Paul; Ball, Elaine

2017-03-01

A discussion paper on the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) market reforms. NHS market reforms reliance on management science methods introduced a fundamental shift in measuring care for commissioning. A number of key reports are discussed in relation to NHS market reforms and management science. NHS market reforms were influenced through a close alliance between policy makers, the department of health, free market think tanks and management consultancies. The timing of reforms coincided with reports on NHS failings and the evolution of measurement methods to focus on finance. The balance in favour of measurement practises is of concern. Management science methods are criticised in the Francis Report yet promoted as the solution to some of the key findings; why may be explained by the close alliance. A return to principles of management involving consensus, trust and involvement to promote quality care and use management science methods to this end. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Coping With Concentration.

PubMed

Greaney, Thomas L

2017-09-01

Provider market power is a powerful driver of high health care costs in the United States. Despite decades of antitrust litigation and regulatory interventions, the problem has worsened and threatens to undermine the benefits of market-based policies. A critical but neglected challenge for all health care reform proposals relying on market competition to address costs is finding effective tools to address the extant market power of dominant hospitals, hospital systems, and many specialty physician practices. This article analyzes the principal market-oriented approaches that have been used in the past and proposed for the future. It argues that antitrust law has an important but constrained role to play and has proved to be especially inept in dealing with extant market power. It finds serious deficiencies in the conduct decrees imposed by some courts and in open-ended regulatory regimes such as those established by Certificate of Public Advantage laws. Although not without administrative complications, policies that target providers who possess market power by capping prices may be the most effective means to control costs and retain the benefits of a competitive delivery system. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

The Political Economy of Market-Based Educational Policies: Race and Reform in Urban School Districts, 1915 to 2016

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Janelle; Holme, Jennifer Jellison

2016-01-01

The authors situate the emergence and effects of contemporary market-based reforms within a framework of urban political economy that centers on racial inequality. They discuss how and why market-based reforms have evolved alongside racialized political and economic trends that have transformed cities over the past century, and they critically…

Electricity market reforms: Institutional developments, investment dynamics and game modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pineau, Pierre-Olivier

The reform trend of the 1990's in electricity markets recreates, to some extent, the institutional framework from which they developed one century ago. Although these reforms do not endeavor to completely remove regulation, the basic objectives of deregulation dwell on limiting central and governmental control over the industry in order to promote free competition at all possible levels. To assess whether the electricity industry is or is not moving back to a 19th century structure is not the goal of this thesis. We will rather try to understand on what grounds deregulation reforms stand and review how different countries and large utilities have reacted to this trend. The special nature of electricity (non-storable basic good, centrally produced) creates different obstacles in the restructuring of electricity markets, compared to other industries like the airline or telecommunication ones. For example, the dominant positions of some utilities, the production structure and the importance of electricity in modern life could transform these reforms in a threatening move for consumers. Another specific issue arising from deregulation, now that national energy policy goals no longer rule the behavior of utilities, is how investment will be coordinated in the new market. A key element to keep in sight is the competition level targeted by these reforms. To which extent full competition can really occur in electricity markets remains an unanswered question. Indeed, the oligopolistic structure of the market could prevent such an outcome. An investigation of the investment dynamics in such a context seems therefore appropriate, and this will be an important theme of the thesis. This work offers an analysis of deregulated electricity markets and studies the oligopolistic market dynamics that could prevail in the new structure. Two complementary approaches are used for these purposes. The first is institutional and presents a thorough illustration of the economic arguments advanced to support market reforms and an industry view of the actual strategic actions undertaken by important utilities. Legislative changes will be reviewed for different countries with a discussion on the assessment procedures for these reforms. A detailed example of the reform process in the Finnish electricity market is presented. The investment issue will emerge as an interesting challenge to focus on, due to its importance for the market. The second approach is more analytical and develops on the market equilibria that could result from the new structure. A dynamic model of investment for the electricity market is built and applied to the Finnish market. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms*

PubMed Central

Cooper, Zack; Gibbons, Stephen; Jones, Simon; McGuire, Alistair

2011-01-01

Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after these reforms came into force in 2006. We find that after the reforms were implemented, mortality fell (i.e. quality improved) for patients living in more competitive markets. Our results suggest that hospital competition can lead to improvements in hospital quality. PMID:25821239

78 FR 36833 - Money Market Fund Reform; Amendments to Form PF

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-19

...-9408, IA-3616; IC-30551; File No. S7-03-13] RIN 3235-AK61 Money Market Fund Reform; Amendments to Form... govern money market mutual funds (or ``money market funds'') under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The two alternatives are designed to address money market funds' susceptibility to heavy redemptions...

Orientation to the patient as a marketing strategy in the Romanian healthcare system.

PubMed

Coculescu, B I; Coculescu, E C; Purcărea, V L

2016-01-01

In the context of the European political and socio-economic changes of the early 90s, health care reform in Romania has become inevitable, both for patients and for health professionals in the system. The first stage of the health care reform in Romania is focused on decentralization and improving primary health care. The Romanian medical system is currently in the process of changing the mentality, which requires time, patience, and perseverance, despite the unforeseeable or resistance inevitably faced. It is a commonly known and recognized fact that in this painful period of transition, Romanian medicine, like other fields too, has traveled a winding road, with obstacles (medical malpractices, scandals in the press related to the misappropriation of funds or underfunding of the public health system, etc.) often hard to overcome.

Orientation to the patient as a marketing strategy in the Romanian healthcare system

PubMed Central

Coculescu, BI; Coculescu, EC; Purcărea, VL

2016-01-01

In the context of the European political and socio-economic changes of the early 90s, health care reform in Romania has become inevitable, both for patients and for health professionals in the system. The first stage of the health care reform in Romania is focused on decentralization and improving primary health care. The Romanian medical system is currently in the process of changing the mentality, which requires time, patience, and perseverance, despite the unforeseeable or resistance inevitably faced. It is a commonly known and recognized fact that in this painful period of transition, Romanian medicine, like other fields too, has traveled a winding road, with obstacles (medical malpractices, scandals in the press related to the misappropriation of funds or underfunding of the public health system, etc.) often hard to overcome. PMID:27974940

Restructuring of labor markets in the Philippines and Zambia: the gender dimension.

PubMed

Floro, M S; Schaefer, K

1998-01-01

This paper critically examines labor market changes accompanying the process of structural adjustment in the Philippines and Zambia and, in particular, the resulting impact on women's economic participation. The changes in the labor market occurring during the process of economic restructuring in Zambia and the Philippines are similar in some respects but very different in others. Zambia's economic performance has not been sufficient to generate wide-based employment and has been characterized by rising unemployment. The Philippines has also unfortunately been characterized by a growth in joblessness, specifically with regard to skilled and semiskilled employment. Global integration of labor markets in the Philippines give some employment opportunity to workers who are willing to seek jobs overseas but not to those in Zambia. Both in the Philippines and Zambia, the informal sector has shifted its agricultural reforms to female labor toward agricultural wage work (which is seasonal and low paid). In the Philippines, specifically in urban areas, certain export-oriented industries have created some jobs, predominantly for young women, but only a small proportion of total females are employed. Much of the female job growth has occurred in sales and service sectors, including sex work, domestic service, and petty trade. International labor migration in the Philippines has become more feminized, because a majority of overseas contract workers are women, who are employed in the service sector as entertainers and domestic helpers. Access to paid work in some cases may empower women, yet in other cases their power may be diminished. Both the specific character of labor market development and the nature of the accompanying economic reform alter the ability of the women and men to take advantage of the opportunity. Reform shifts patterns of production organization and location of employment and can either reinforce the prevailing distribution of power or provide tension, thereby challenging the governing pattern of income control and decision making. Thus, the economic restructuring of the Philippines and Zambia did not necessarily bring about significant changes in the labor market such that gender equality would be promoted.

Taking It with You: Teacher Education and the Baggage of Cultural Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frkovich, Ann

2015-01-01

This case study contributes to counterpoints made to world culture theory and underscores that at the micro, classroom-level, rural Chinese teachers in a reform-oriented professional development course, and reform-oriented U.S. teacher trainers, understand educational reform, and the realities of education in these two cultures, very differently.…

Effects of payment reform in more versus less competitive markets.

PubMed

Sood, Neeraj; Alpert, Abby; Barnes, Kayleigh; Huckfeldt, Peter; Escarce, José J

2017-01-01

Policymakers are increasingly interested in reducing healthcare costs and inefficiencies through innovative payment strategies. These strategies may have heterogeneous impacts across geographic areas, potentially reducing or exacerbating geographic variation in healthcare spending. In this paper, we exploit a major payment reform for home health care to examine whether reductions in reimbursement lead to differential changes in treatment intensity and provider costs depending on the level of competition in a market. Using Medicare claims, we find that while providers in more competitive markets had higher average costs in the pre-reform period, these markets experienced larger proportional reductions in treatment intensity and costs after the reform relative to less competitive markets. This led to a convergence in spending across geographic areas. We find that much of the reduction in provider costs is driven by greater exit of "high-cost" providers in more competitive markets. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Payment Reform in More versus Less Competitive Markets

PubMed Central

Sood, Neeraj; Alpert, Abby; Barnes, Kayleigh; Huckfeldt, Peter; Escarce, José J.

2017-01-01

Policymakers are increasingly interested in reducing healthcare costs and inefficiencies through innovative payment strategies. These strategies may have heterogeneous impacts across geographic areas, potentially reducing or exacerbating geographic variation in healthcare spending. In this paper, we exploit a major payment reform for home health care to examine whether reductions in reimbursement lead to differential changes in treatment intensity and provider costs depending on the level of competition in a market. Using Medicare claims, we find that while providers in more competitive markets had higher average costs in the pre-reform period, these markets experienced larger proportional reductions in treatment intensity and costs after the reform relative to less competitive markets. This led to a convergence in spending across geographic areas. We find that much of the reduction in provider costs is driven by greater exit of “high-cost” providers in more competitive markets. PMID:28073062

Institutional and Regulatory Economics of Electricity Market Reforms: the Evidence from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Bipulendu

Five South Asian countries-- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka -- embarked on electricity market reforms in the 1990's. The dissertation uses the framework of New Institutional Economics to assess the effects on electricity sector performance of both observables elements of reform (i.e. privatization, unbundling, establishment of independent regulatory agencies etc.) as well as the unobservable elements (informal beliefs, habit, norms and culture of the actors involved in reforms). The first part of the dissertation -- econometric analysis of the relationship between observable electricity market reform measures and performance indicators -- finds that for the most part electricity market reforms in South Asia are having a positive impact on the performance of the sector. This is particularly the case for reforms that have increased private sector participation in generation and distribution and have vertically unbundled utilities into generation, transmission and distribution entities. Many of the reforms are positively correlated with higher tariffs, indicating a cost to the consumers from the reforms. The relationship between independent regulation and performance indicators , however, is not established. The second part of the dissertation - analytical narrative of the reform experiences of Gujarat and Nepal -- examines the informal elements (such as beliefs, norms, culture) that motivate behavior and explains how and why reform outcomes differed in these two places. The dissertation finds that the strength of formal institutions rules and the nature of social norms and customs have a significant influence on the outcome of reforms. Aided by the strength of its formal institutional framework and more evolved social norms and customs that encouraged people to follow formal rules, reforms in the Indian state of Gujarat were a success. The weakness of the formal institutional framework and the predominance of relation-based norms and customs in Nepal that led to limited compliance with formal rules, by contrast, limited the success of power sector reforms there. Efforts to reform the electricity sector in South Asia undertaken by governments with the assistance of development agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have focused to a large extent on getting the content of electricity market reform measures such as unbundling, privatization, and establishment of a power market right. The analysis in this dissertation suggests that such measures will be more successful in places with relatively robust formal rule based systems. Countries that are planning to carry out significant reforms in the electricity sector will benefit from the explicit consideration of the informal norms, habits and customs of the actors that will be affected by the reforms.

Economic potential of market-oriented water storage decisions: Evidence from Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan, Donna

2010-08-01

Significant reforms made to Australian irrigation property rights in recent years have enabled the development of an active seasonal water market. In contrast, decisions regarding the allocation of water across time are typically based on central decisions, with little or no opportunity offered to irrigators to manage risk by physically transferring their water access right between years by leaving it in the public dam. An empirical examination of the economics of water storage is presented using a case study of the Goulburn Valley, a major irrigation region in the state of Victoria. It is shown that, compared to the historically used, centrally determined storage policy, a market-based storage policy would store more water, on average, and would also allocate more water in periods of low rainfall. The analysis indicates that the costs associated with a recent prolonged drought were $100 million more than they would have been if water storage decisions had been guided by the market and prices were 3 times higher.

The Socialist Market Economy and Education Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yixian, Li

2006-01-01

The [Chinese Communist] Party's Fourteenth Congress unequivocally confirmed the building of a socialist market system. The Third Plenary Session of the Party's Twelfth Congress in 1984 propounding the market led to economic reforms and the advancing of the theory of a socialist market economy. It constitutes a deepened understanding of the…

Price elasticities in the German Statutory Health Insurance market before and after the health care reform of 2009.

PubMed

Pendzialek, Jonas B; Danner, Marion; Simic, Dusan; Stock, Stephanie

2015-05-01

This paper investigates the change in price elasticity of health insurance choice in Germany after a reform of health insurance contributions. Using a comprehensive data set of all sickness funds between 2004 and 2013, price elasticities are calculated both before and after the reform for the entire market. The general price elasticity is found to be increased more than 4-fold from -0.81 prior to the reform to -3.53 after the reform. By introducing a new kind of health insurance contribution the reform seemingly increased the price elasticity of insured individuals to a more appropriate level under the given market parameters. However, further unintended consequences of the new contribution scheme were massive losses of market share for the more expensive sickness funds and therefore an undivided focus on pricing as the primary competitive element to the detriment of quality. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 4145 - Proposed Recommendations Regarding Money Market Mutual Fund Reform

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-18

... FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL Proposed Recommendations Regarding Money Market Mutual Fund Reform AGENCY: Financial Stability Oversight Council. ACTION: Proposed recommendation; extension of...'') published in the Federal Register proposed recommendations regarding money market mutual funds (``MMFs...

Health Reform Redux: Learning From Experience and Politics

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

The 2008 presidential campaign season featured health care reform proposals. I discuss 3 approaches to health care reform and the tools for bringing about reform, such as insurance market reforms, tax credits, subsidies, individual and employer mandates, and public program expansions. I also discuss the politics of past and current health care reform efforts. Market-based reforms and mandates have been less successful than public program expansions at expanding coverage and controlling costs. New divisions among special interest groups increase the likelihood that reform efforts will succeed. Federal support for state efforts may be necessary to achieve national health care reform. History suggests that state-level success precedes national reform. History also suggests that an organized social movement for reform is necessary to overcome opposition from special interest groups. PMID:19299668

Unpacking Resistance to Change within-School Reform Programmes with a Social Justice Orientation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hynds, Anne

2010-01-01

Previous research in the area of resistance has inadequately described opposition to change within-school reform initiatives with a social justice orientation. A lack of attention to, and agreement on, the nature and causes of resistance may explain why so many equity-minded educational reforms fail to be sustained. This article highlights various…

Science Teaching Orientations and Technology-Enhanced Tools for Student Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Todd; Longhurst, Max; Duffy, Aaron M.; Wolf, Paul G.; Shelton, Brett E.

2013-10-01

This qualitative study examines teacher orientations and technology-enhanced tools for student learning within a science literacy framework. Data for this study came from a group of 10 eighth grade science teachers. Each of these teachers was a participant in a professional development (PD) project focused on reformed and technology-enhanced science instruction shaped by national standards documents. The research is focused on identifying teacher orientations and use of technology-enhanced tools prior to or unaffected by PD. The primary data sources for this study are drawn from learning journals and classroom observations. Qualitative methods were used to analyze learning journals, while descriptive statistics were used from classroom observations to further explore and triangulate the emergent qualitative findings. Two teacher orientation teacher profiles were developed to reveal the emergent teacher orientation dimensions and technology-enhanced tool categories found: "more traditional teacher orientation profile" and "toward a reformed-based teacher orientation profile." Both profiles were founded on "knowledge of" beliefs about the goals and purposes for science education, while neither profile revealed sophisticated beliefs about the nature of science. The "traditional" profile revealed more teacher-centered beliefs about science teaching and learning, and the "towards reformed-based" profile revealed student-centered beliefs. Finally, only technology-enhanced tools supportive of collaborative construction of science knowledge were found connected to the "towards reformed-based" profile. This research is concluded with a proposed "reformed-based teacher orientation profile" as a future target for science teaching and learning with technology-enhanced tools in a science literacy framework.

Education and the Market: A Response to "Imagined Evidence and False Imperatives"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, Mark

2009-01-01

While Merrifield is correct in his basic argument that so-called "market reforms" in el/sec schooling are far from being pure market, he is incorrect to suggest that purer market projects are needed together with simulations of pure market reforms. There are two fundamental problems in that thesis. First, it is not clear that school choice in…

Ignoring the Market.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chubb, John E.

2003-01-01

Argues that market-driven education (charter schools, vouchers) is the most effective, albeit overlooked, reform strategy since publication of "A Nation at Risk." Describes corresponding growth of for-profit school management. Offers several recommendations to improve effectiveness of market-based reforms, such as state' continuing…

The market effectiveness of electricity reform: A case of carbon emissions trading market of Shenzhen city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yongli; Wang, Gang; Zuo, Yi; Fan, Lisha; Xiao, Yao

2017-03-01

In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government proposed to achieve the national carbon emission trading market established by 2017. The establishment of carbon emission trading market is the most important one in power reform, which helps to promote the power reform and achieve the goal of energy saving and emission reduction. As the bond of connecting environment energy issues and the economic development, carbon emissions trading market has become a hot research topic in the related fields, by market means, it incentive the lower cost subject emissions to undertake more reductions and therefore to benefit, the body of the high cost finished the task by buying quota reduction, to achieve the effect of having the least social total cost. Shenzhen has become the first city in China to start carbon trading pilot formally on June 16, 2013, online trading on June 18. The paper analyzes the market effectiveness of electricity reform in China, which takes carbon emissions trading market of Shenzhen city for example, and gives some suggestions for future development.

The Political Economy of India’s Economic Reforms: Three Periods from 1947-2016

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

eventual adoption of free- market principles in 1991 under Narsimha Rao’s leadership. What drove Indian economic policy decisions from independence to...three different eras of Indian economic policy, this one is characterized by a gradual shift toward free- market principles . Economic reforms, which...Margaret Thatcher in India: reform was a very pragmatic process.”126 There were no leaders in India who championed free- market economic principles

75 FR 27552 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Further Notice Concerning Technical...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RM10-13-000] Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Further Notice Concerning Technical Conference May 10, 2010... technical conference related to the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Credit Reforms in...

The reform of energy subsidies for the enhancement of marine sustainability: An empirical analysis of energy subsidies worldwide and an in-depth case study of South Korea's energy subsidy policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shim, Jae Hyun

This dissertation seeks to raise awareness about harmful effects of fossil fuel and nuclear energy subsidies that have blocked transition from conventional energy to a decarbonized, renewable energy system. Today, humans face daunting challenges in the form of global warming, which results mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. To avoid catastrophe, the transition to a renewable energy regime should be an urgent priority; however, the reality is that the progress of renewable energy is very slow due to the various political and economic factors when compared to conventional energy resources. A chief factor is that the energy subsidy for fossil fuel and nuclear energy obstructs the "level playing field" for renewable energy. Energy subsidies for conventional energy can be understood in the context of the commodification paradigm, which regards nature as an object of conquest and supports the principle of more is better. Although fossil fuel energy damages the environment, economy, and social equity, all countries subsidize such energy, no matter the country's state of development. This holds true as much in the U.S. and the EU as in China, India and South Korea. The oceans, which cover 71% of the earth, are threatened by the activities of conventional energy, which are underpinned by subsidies. These subsidies have contributed to the destruction of the marine ecosystem through increased GHG emissions like CO2 and NOx which cause a sea temperature increase and coral bleaching. Subsidies also significantly affect fishery overexploitation, oil pollution, and thermal pollution. In-depth empirical analysis of South Korea showed how fossil fuel and nuclear energy activities have threatened marine sustainability through thermal pollution, algae bloom (red tides), overexploitation, and oil-related marine pollution. Reforming subsidies of fossil fuel and nuclear energy should be a global priority because of imminent of global warming. As strategies for energy subsidy reforms, first of all, humans need a new energy paradigm to replace the hitherto dominant commodification paradigm. On an international level, creation of an international renewable energy agency and creation of renewable funds will spur on energy subsidy reforms of all nations, especially developing countries. On a national level, government's role should change from growth-oriented economic policy to sustainable development that includes environmentally friendly energy systems. In terms of social welfare, energy subsidies should be transformed to direct income policy, which is more effective for the welfare of the poor. The South Korean government should exchange its current supply-oriented fishery policy, which relies heavily on energy subsidies, to a Marine Reserves policy and direct income policy. For successful energy subsidy reforms, the government, NGOs, and private market should cooperate. Specifically, NGOs' role in monitoring and pushing government's energy subsidy reform is invaluable, considering the limits of modern bureaucracy and the profit-oriented market character. Most environmental problems, including global warming, have a close relation with fossil fuel and nuclear energy use. Historically, these energy systems have become entrenched deeply in society through energy subsidy policy. Energy subsidy reforms are a key to the environmental problem and accelerated transition to renewable energy.

Finding Jobs: Work and Welfare Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Card, David E., Ed.; Blank, Rebecca M., Ed.

This book contains 13 papers on labor market and welfare reform, with special emphasis on the demand for low-wage workers, wages and job characteristics in the less skilled labor market, public politics to increase employment and earnings of less skilled workers, and the impact of welfare reform. The following papers are included: "The Labor…

Social Justice and Resisting Neoliberal Education Reform in the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Au, Wayne

2016-01-01

Efforts to reform public education along free-market, corporate-styled models have swept across many nations. In the USA these reforms have included an intense focus on the use of high-stakes, standardized tests to quantify students, teachers, and schools for market comparisons, the deprofessionalization of teaching, and the establishment of…

Market reforms and public incentives: finding a balance in the Republic of Macedonia.

PubMed

Nordyke, Robert J; Peabody, John W

2002-03-01

The Republic of Macedonia is undertaking sweeping reforms of its health sector. Funded by a World Bank credit, the reforms seek to improve the efficiency and quality of primary health care (PHC) by significantly strengthening the role of the market in health care provision. On the supply-side, one of the key reform proposals is to implement a capitation payment system for PHC physicians. By placing individual physicians on productivity-based contracts, these reforms will effectively marketize all PHC provision. In addition, the Ministry of Health is considering the sale or concessions of public PHC clinics to private groups, indicating the government's commitment to marketization of health care provision. Macedonia is in a unique position to develop a new role for the private sector in PHC provision. The private provision of outpatient care was legalized soon after independence in 1991; private physicians now account for nearly 10% of all physicians and 22% of PHC physicians. If the reforms are fully realized, all PHC physicians-over 40% of all physicians-will be financially responsible for their clinical practices. This study draws on Macedonia's experience with limited development of private outpatient care starting in 1991 and the reform proposals for PHC, finding a network of policies and procedures throughout the health sector that negatively impact private and public sector provision. An assessment of the effects that this greater policy environment has on private sector provision identifies opportunities to strategically enhance the reforms. With respect to established market economies, the study finds justification for a greater role for government intervention in private health markets in transition economies. In addition to micro-level payment incentives and administrative controls, marketization in Central and Eastern Europe requires an examination of insurance contracting procedures, quality assurance practices, public clinic ownership, referral practices, hospital privileges, and capital investment policies.

Mandate-Based Health Reform and the Labor Market: Evidence from the Massachusetts Reform*

PubMed Central

Kolstad, Jonathan T.; Kowalski, Amanda E.

2016-01-01

We model the labor market impact of the key provisions of the national and Massachusetts “mandate-based” health reforms: individual mandates, employer mandates, and subsidies. We characterize the compensating differential for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESHI) and the welfare impact of reform in terms of “sufficient statistics.” We compare welfare under mandate-based reform to welfare in a counterfactual world where individuals do not value ESHI. Relying on the Massachusetts reform, we find that jobs with ESHI pay $2,812 less annually, somewhat less than the cost of ESHI to employers. Accordingly, the deadweight loss of mandate-based health reform was approximately 8 percent of its potential size. PMID:27037897

Educational Reforms and Coping Strategies under the Tidal Wave of Marketization: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong and the Mainland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, David; Mok, Ka-ho

This report compares and contrasts the educational reforms and coping strategies that have been adopted by socialist China and capitalist Hong Kong as they face the challenges of global marketization (the introduction of market competition and other private initiatives). It charts marketization's influence on decision-making and social policies…

Confessions of a serial entrepreneur: a conversation with Alfred E. Mann. Interview by Molly Joel Coye.

PubMed

Mann, Alfred E

2006-01-01

In this wide-ranging interview, Alfred Mann describes the activities of several medical technology enterprises with which he is engaged. Several of them are companies that he formed; one is a nonprofit foundation, the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering, founded to establish research-oriented institutes on a dozen university campuses and support their work in developing marketable innovations. Mann discusses the need to consider the cost implications of technology, in the context of U.S. health system reform, and describes several important innovations that have emerged from his companies over the years.

Health-based risk adjustment: is inpatient and outpatient diagnostic information sufficient?

PubMed

Lamers, L M

Adequate risk adjustment is critical to the success of market-oriented health care reforms in many countries. Currently used risk adjusters based on demographic and diagnostic cost groups (DCGs) do not reflect expected costs accurately. This study examines the simultaneous predictive accuracy of inpatient and outpatient morbidity measures and prior costs. DCGs, pharmacy cost groups (PCGs), and prior year's costs improve the predictive accuracy of the demographic model substantially. DCGs and PCGs seem complementary in their ability to predict future costs. However, this study shows that the combination of DCGs and PCGs still leaves room for cream skimming.

Health policy in the concertación era (1990-2010): Reforms the chilean way.

PubMed

Martinez-Gutierrez, María Soledad; Cuadrado, Cristóbal

2017-06-01

The Chilean health system has experienced important transformations in the last decades with a neoliberal turn to privatization of the health insurance and healthcare market since the Pinochet reforms of the 1980s. During 20 years of center-left political coalition governments several reforms were attempted to regulate and reform such markets. This paper analyzes regulatory policies for the private health insurance and health care delivery market, adopted during the 1990-2010 period. A framework of variation in market types developed by Gingrich is adopted as analytical perspective. The set of policies advanced in this period could be expected to shift the responsibility of access to care from individuals to the collective and give control to the State or the consumers vis a vis producers. Nevertheless, the effect of the implemented reforms has been mixed. Regulations on private health insurers were ineffective in terms of shifting power to the consumer or the state. In contrast, the healthcare delivery market showed a trend of increasing payers' and consumers' control and the set of implemented reforms partially steered the market toward collective responsibility of access by creating a submarket of guaranteed services (AUGE) with lower copayments and fully funded services. Emerging unintended consequences of the adopted policies and potential explanations are discussed. In sum, attempts to use regulation to improve the collective dimension of the Chilean health system has enabled some progress, but several challenges had persisted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Instrumental Variable Estimates of the Labor Market Spillover Effects of Welfare Reform. Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartik, Timothy J.

The labor market spillover effects of welfare reform were estimated by using models that pool time-series and cross-section data from the Current Population Survey on the state-year cell means of wages, employment, and other labor market outcomes for various demographic groups. The labor market outcomes in question are dependent variables that are…

Prosperity, Sustainable Employment and Social Justice: Challenges for the German Labor Market in the Twenty-First Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Möller, Joachim

2014-01-01

This paper analyzes the effects of German labor market reforms on the competitiveness and performance of the German economy. The contribution starts with giving some background information on the rationale behind the reforms and stresses the specific structure of the German economy. We then describe the salient effects of the reforms for…

Mandatory high-risk pooling: an approach to reducing incentives for cream skimming.

PubMed

van Barneveld, E M; van Vliet, R C; van de Ven, W P

1996-01-01

Risk-adjusted capitation payments (RACPs) to competing health insurers are an essential element of market-oriented health care reforms in The Netherlands. Crude RACPs are inadequate, especially because they encourage insurers to select against people expected to be unprofitable--a practice called cream skimming. However, implementing improved RACPs does not appear to be straightforward. This paper analyzes an approach that, given a system of crude RACPs, reduces insurers' incentives for cream skimming in the market for individual health insurance, while preserving incentives for efficiency and cost containment. Under the proposed system of Mandatory High-Risk Pooling (MHRP), each insurer would be allowed to periodically predetermine a small fraction of its members whose costs would be (partially) pooled. The pool would be financed with mandatory, flat-rate contributions. The results suggest that MHRP is a promising supplement to RACPs.

Roadmap of retail electricity market reform in China: assisting in mitigating wind energy curtailment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Dezhao; Qiu, Huadong; Yuan, Xiang; Li, Yuan; Shao, Changzheng; Lin, You; Ding, Yi

2017-01-01

Among the renewable energies, wind energy has gained the rapidest development in China. Moreover wind power generation has been penetrated into power system in a large scale. However, the high level wind curtailment also indicates a low efficiency of wind energy utilization over the last decade in China. One of the primary constraints on the utilization of wind energy is the lack of an electricity market, in which renewable energies can compete equally with traditional fossil fuel generation. Thus the new round electric power industry reform is essential in China. The reform involves implementing new pricing mechanism, introducing retail-side competition, promoting the consumption of renewable energy. The new round reform can be a promising solution for promoting the development and consumption of wind energy generation in China. Based on proposed reform policies of electric power industry, this paper suggests a roadmap for retail electricity market reform of China, which consists of three stages. Barriers to the efficient utilization of wind energy are also analysed. Finally, this paper introduces several efficient measures for mitigating wind curtailment in each stage of reform.

The role of information and communication technology in developing smart education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roslina; Zarlis, Muhammad; Mawengkang, Herman; Sembiring, R. W.

2017-09-01

The right to get a proper education for every citizen had been regulated by the government, but not all citizens have the same opportunity. This is due to the other factors in the nation's infrastructure, Frontier, Outermost, and Disadvantaged (3T) which have not beenaccomodatedto access information and communication technology (ICT), and the ideal learning environment in order to pursue knowledge. This condition could be achieved by reforming higher education. Such reforms include the provision of educational services in the form of a flexible learner-oriented, and to change the curriculum with market based.These changes would include the provision of lecturers, professors, and professional teaching force. Another important effort is to update the quality of higher education with resource utilization. This paper proposes a new education business model to realize the Smart Education (SE), with an orientation on the proven skills and competitive.SE is the higher education system to optimize output (outcome) learning with combine individual learning and collaboration techniques based network system, informal practice learning and formal theory. UtilizingICT resources can improve the quality and access to higher education in supporting activities of higher education.This paper shows that ICT resources can support virtual connected with the use of shared resources, such as resource of information, learning resources, computing resources, and human resources.

Competition and Market Reform in the Australian VET Sector. Review of Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Damon

This report examines current knowledge about the nature, development, and consequences of competition and market reform in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. In the process, the policy context and key aspects of the theory and practice of a competitive training market are analyzed. These other topics related to the…

Rasch Validation of a Measure of Reform-Oriented Science Teaching Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

You, Hye Sun

2016-01-01

Growing evidence from recent curriculum documents and previous research suggests that reform-oriented science teaching practices promote students' conceptual understanding, levels of achievement, and motivation to learn, especially when students are actively engaged in constructing their ideas through scientific inquiries. However, it is difficult…

Rural health care in Vietnam and China: conflict between market reforms and social need.

PubMed

Huong, Dang Boi; Phuong, Nguyen Khanh; Bales, Sarah; Jiaying, Chen; Lucas, Henry; Segall, Malcolm

2007-01-01

China and Vietnam have adopted market reforms in the health sector in the context of market economic reforms. Vietnam has developed a large private health sector, while in China commercialization has occurred mainly in the formal public sector, where user fees are now the main source of facility finance. As a result, the integrity of China's planned health service has been disrupted, especially in poor rural areas. In Vietnam the government has been an important financer of public health facilities and the pre-reform health service is largely intact, although user fees finance an increasing share of facility expenditure. Over-servicing of patients to generate revenue occurs in both countries, but more seriously in China. In both countries government health expenditure has declined as a share of total health expenditure and total government expenditure, while out-of-pocket health spending has become the main form of health finance. This has particularly affected the rural poor, deterring them from accessing health care. Assistance for the poor to meet public-sector user fees is more beneficial and widespread in Vietnam than China. China is now criticizing the degree of commercialization of its health system and considers its health reforms "basically unsuccessful." Market reforms that stimulate growth in the economy are not appropriate to reform of social sectors such as health.

Management of health system reform: a view of changes within New Zealand.

PubMed

Ritchie, D

1998-08-01

This paper reports on the context and process of health system reform in New Zealand. The study is based on interviews conducted with 31 managers from three Crown Health Enterprises (publicly funded hospital-based health care organizations). A number of countries with publicly funded health services (e.g., UK, Australia and New Zealand) have sought to shift from the traditional 'passive' health management style (using transactional management skills to balance historically-based expenditure budgets) to 'active' transformational leadership styles that reflect a stronger 'private sector' orientation (requiring active management of resources--including a return on 'capital' investment, identification of costs and returns on 'product lines', 'marketing' a 'product mix', reducing non-core activities and overhead costs, and a closer relationship with 'shareholders', suppliers and customers/clients). Evidence of activities and processes associated with transformational leadership are identified. Success of the New Zealand health reforms will be determined by the approach the new managers adopt to improve their organization's performance. Transformational leadership has been frequently linked to the successful implementation of significant organizational change in other settings (Kurz et al., 1988; Dunphy and Stace, 1990) but it is too early to assess whether this is applicable in a health care context.

Measuring Reform Practices in Science and Mathematics Classrooms: The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawada, Daiyo; Piburn, Michael D.; Judson, Eugene; Turley, Jeff; Falconer, Kathleen; Benford, Russell; Bloom, Irene

2002-01-01

Describes the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), a 25-item classroom observation protocol that is standards-based, inquiry-oriented, and student-centered. Provides the definition for reform and the basis for evaluation of the Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT). Concludes that reform, as defined…

Systemic Constraints on Students' Appropriation of Reform Oriented Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ares, Nancy; Evans, Dawn M.; Harnischfeger, Alice M.

2018-01-01

We investigate 10th-grade Latinx and African American high school students' engagement in a reform-oriented curriculum designed to foster their critical social analysis of urban schooling. Students' designs of "ideal schools" based on their studies of their neighborhoods largely reproduced existing inequitable structures and practices of…

Curriculum Reform in Mathematics and the Target Oriented Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fung, Chun Ip

1995-01-01

Highlights issues and ideas in the reform of school mathematics curricula with reference to Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Interprets the ideas set out in documents related to the Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC) initiative in Hong Kong. Discusses factors that hinder the implementation of the TOC. (DSK)

Multiple Approaches to the Evaluation of Educational Reform: From Cost-Benefit to Power-Benefit Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paulston, Rolland G.

Theories or explanations of educational evaluation are discussed and categorized under two broad methodological headings, the objectivist and subjectivist epistemological orientations. They can be seen as potentially complementary empirical approaches that offer evaluators two methodological orientations to assess educational-reform outcomes.…

Sub-Saharan Africa and the Market Economy: A Way Forward

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

liberal economic reforms in the early 1980s. These reforms included liberalization of the market, devaluation of currency and reduction of government... currency was not accompanied with interest rate devaluation in line with the recommendations. The reluctance to reduce... devaluation of the currency , elimination of the marketing boards, and price control instruments. This was enhanced by improvements in the public

A comprehensive snapshot of States' small group market reforms on insurer pricing & rating practices, 1999.

PubMed

Xirasagar, Sudha; Stoskopf, Carleen H; Shrader, William R; Glover, Saundra H

2004-01-01

This paper presents a qualitative analysis of states' small group health insurance reforms that impact small group premiums, mostly enacted by the states during 1996-99, following the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996. It draws from an intensive review of statutes of 48 states and the District of Columbia as of 1999. It analyses regulations related to insurer pricing and rating practices concerning rating criteria and rating bands, pricing incentives, premium stability from year to year, minimum loss rations, reinsurance and carve-out coverage for the medically uninsurable. It also covers regulations targeting employer purchasing and coverage practices such as pooled purchasing and adverse selection. This is the second of a two-part series analyzing states' small group market reforms, the first being devoted to state reforms to promote access and improving the value of health plans offered in this market (Xirasagar et al. 2004). The variety in pricing and rating reforms illustrate the differences in the depth of reforms across states, and represent a far wider range of potential actuarial combinations than the sample of reforms documented in past literature.

Assessing Students' Conceptions of Reform Mathematics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Star, Jon R.; Hoffmann, Amanda J.

As the use of National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored, reform- oriented mathematics curricula has become more prevalent across the U.S., an increasing number of researchers are attempting to study the "impact" of reform. In particular, mathematics educators are interested in determining whether reforms are having the desired effects on…

K-5 Mentor Teachers' Journeys toward Reform-Oriented Science within a Professional Development School Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manno, Jacqueline L.

2011-01-01

Reform-oriented science teaching with a specific focus on evidence and explanation provides a student-centered learning environment which encourages children to question, seek answers to those questions, experience phenomena, share ideas, and develop explanations of science concepts based on evidence. One of the ways schools have risen to meet the…

Public service or commodity goods? Electricity reforms, access, and the politics of development in Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghanadan, Rebecca Hansing

Since the 1990s, power sector reforms have become paramount in energy policy, catalyzing a debate in Africa about market-based service provision and the effects of reforms on access. My research seeks to move beyond the conceptual divide by grounding attention not in abstract 'market forces' but rather in how development institutions shape energy services and actually practice policy on the ground. Using the case of Tanzania, a country known for having instituted some of the most extensive reforms and a 'success story' in Africa, I find that reforms are creating large burdens and barriers for access and use of services, including: increasing costs, enforcement pressures, and measures to impose 'market' discipline. However, I also find that many of the most significant outcomes are not found in direct 'market' changes, but rather how reforms are selective, partial, and shaped by the wider needs and claims of the institutions driving reforms, so that questions of how reforms are implemented, how they are measured, and who tells the story become as important as the policies themselves. Using a multiple-arenas framework, including (i) a household and community level study of urban energy conditions, (ii) a study of service and management conditions at the national electric utility, (iii) an examination of the international policy process, and (iv) a study of the history of electricity services across colonial, post-independence, and reform periods, I show that African energy reforms are a technical and political project connecting energy to international investments, donor aid programs, and elite interests within national governments. Energy reforms also involve fundamental service changes that are reorganizing how the costs and benefits of energy systems are distributed, allocated, and managed. The effects of reform extend beyond formal services to have wide-reaching repercussions within natural resources, and uneven social dynamics on the ground. These features point to the importance of critical ethnographic studies of energy, not simply as technical policy, but also as technical-political practice. It is in these grounded, institutional, and power-laden terms of how development is actually practiced that the wider outcomes of reform are revealed. Situating energy in development reveals the wider politics and relations of reforms.

Analysing a Chinese Regional Integrated Healthcare Organisation Reform Failure using a Complex Adaptive System Approach.

PubMed

Tang, Wenxi; Wei, Lai; Zhang, Liang

2017-06-19

China's organised health system has remained outdated for decades. Current health systems in many less market-oriented countries still adhere to traditional administrative-based directives and linear planning. Furthermore, they neglect the responsiveness and feedback of institutions and professionals, which often results in reform failure in integrated care. Complex adaptive system theory (CAS) provides a new perspective and methodology for analysing the health system and policy implementation. We observed the typical case of Qianjiang's Integrated Health Organization Reform (IHO) for 2 years to analyse integrated care reforms using CAS theory. Via questionnaires and interviews, we observed 32 medical institutions and 344 professionals. We compared their cooperative behaviours from both organisational and inter-professional levels between 2013 and 2015, and further investigated potential reasons for why medical institutions and professionals did not form an effective IHO. We discovered how interested parties in the policy implementation process influenced reform outcome, and by theoretical induction, proposed a new semi-organised system and corresponding policy analysis flowchart that potentially suits the actual realisation of CAS. The reform did not achieve its desired effect. The Qianjiang IHO was loosely integrated rather than closely integrated, and the cooperation levels between organisations and professionals were low. This disappointing result was due to low mutual trust among IHO members, with the main contributing factors being insufficient financial incentives and the lack of a common vision. The traditional organised health system is old-fashioned. Rather than being completely organised or adaptive, the health system is currently more similar to a semi-organised syste m. Medical institutions and professionals operate in a middle ground between complete adherence to administrative orders from state-run health systems and completely adapting to the market. Thus, decision-making, implementation and analysis of health policies should also be updated according to this current standing. The simplest way to manage this new system is to abandon linear top-down orders and patiently wait for an explicit picture of IHO mechanisms to be revealed after complete and spontaneous negotiation between IHO allies is reached. In the meantime, bottom-up feedback from members should be paid attention to, and common benefits and fluid information flow should be prioritised in building a successful IHO.

Analysing a Chinese Regional Integrated Healthcare Organisation Reform Failure using a Complex Adaptive System Approach

PubMed Central

Wei, Lai; Zhang, Liang

2017-01-01

Introduction: China’s organised health system has remained outdated for decades. Current health systems in many less market-oriented countries still adhere to traditional administrative-based directives and linear planning. Furthermore, they neglect the responsiveness and feedback of institutions and professionals, which often results in reform failure in integrated care. Complex adaptive system theory (CAS) provides a new perspective and methodology for analysing the health system and policy implementation. Methods: We observed the typical case of Qianjiang’s Integrated Health Organization Reform (IHO) for 2 years to analyse integrated care reforms using CAS theory. Via questionnaires and interviews, we observed 32 medical institutions and 344 professionals. We compared their cooperative behaviours from both organisational and inter-professional levels between 2013 and 2015, and further investigated potential reasons for why medical institutions and professionals did not form an effective IHO. We discovered how interested parties in the policy implementation process influenced reform outcome, and by theoretical induction, proposed a new semi-organised system and corresponding policy analysis flowchart that potentially suits the actual realisation of CAS. Results: The reform did not achieve its desired effect. The Qianjiang IHO was loosely integrated rather than closely integrated, and the cooperation levels between organisations and professionals were low. This disappointing result was due to low mutual trust among IHO members, with the main contributing factors being insufficient financial incentives and the lack of a common vision. Discussion and Conclusions: The traditional organised health system is old-fashioned. Rather than being completely organised or adaptive, the health system is currently more similar to a semi-organised system. Medical institutions and professionals operate in a middle ground between complete adherence to administrative orders from state-run health systems and completely adapting to the market. Thus, decision-making, implementation and analysis of health policies should also be updated according to this current standing. The simplest way to manage this new system is to abandon linear top-down orders and patiently wait for an explicit picture of IHO mechanisms to be revealed after complete and spontaneous negotiation between IHO allies is reached. In the meantime, bottom-up feedback from members should be paid attention to, and common benefits and fluid information flow should be prioritised in building a successful IHO. PMID:28970744

Learning to Teach in the Figured World of Reform Mathematics: Negotiating New Models of Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Jasmine Y.; Singer-Gabella, Marcy

2011-01-01

Starting from the assertion that traditional and reform mathematics pedagogy constitute two distinct figured worlds of teaching and learning, the authors explore the initiation of prospective teachers into the figured world of reform mathematics pedagogy. To become successful teachers in reform-oriented classrooms, prospective teachers must learn…

Ghana's education reform 2007: A realistic proposition or a crisis of vision?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuyini, Ahmed Bawa

2013-07-01

Ghana's recent "Education Reform 2007" envisions a system that strives to achieve both domestic and internationally-oriented goals emanating (1) from the Education for All (EFA) initiative, (2) from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and (3) from global trends in education. Emboldened by the implementation of foreign-donor-funded programmes such as EFA, the restructuring of the Ghana Education Sector Project (EdSeP) and the Science Resource Centres (SRC) project, both the education reform of 2007 and recent educational policy debates have reiterated the need to emphasise the teaching of science and information and communication technology to make Ghana's students/graduates more competitive in the global labour market. However, the bulk of Ghana's economic activity actually remains domestic or unglobalised. And given a weak economy and declining social spending due to strict adherence to the prescribed structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), there is concern that a focus on international competitiveness may be a crisis of vision. On the basis of the Ghanaian government's failure to meet the stated goals of previous reforms such as that of 1974, and the education system's continuing dependence on foreign donor support, this paper argues that the goals of the new reform may be unachievable on a sustainable basis. It also argues that rather than subjugate national domestic priorities to a mirage of international credibility/competitiveness, Ghana should concentrate on capacitating her students/graduates to make maximum impact at domestic and local community levels.

Credit risk identification and suggestions of electricity market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Chuan; Wang, Haichao; Chen, Zhongyuan; Hao, Yuxing; Jiang, Hailong; Qian, Hanhan; Wang, Meibao

2018-03-01

The power industry has a long history of credit problems, and the power industry has credit problems such as power users defaulting on electricity bills before the new electricity reform. With the reform of the power system, the credit problems in the power industry will be more complicated. How to effectively avoid the risk factors existing in the course of market operation and how to safeguard the fairness and standardization of market operation is an urgent problem to be solved. This paper first describes the credit risk in power market, and analyzes the components of credit risk identification in power market, puts forward suggestions on power market risk management.

The Applicability of Market-Based Solutions to Public Sector Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Carolyn

This paper examines the ways in which private- and public-sector location affects organizational structure and functions, and the implications for school reform. It identifies the differences that are often overlooked when policymakers utilize market-based organizational reform models to address public school problems. Two fundamental questions…

The competition vogue and its outcomes.

PubMed

Glaser, W A

1993-03-27

Social security and comprehensive health care financing were developed to protect all citizens and to redistribute money to cover costs. Their inspiration was social solidarity rather than pecuniary self-interest. The United States differed from other countries by continuing a private market in health, with many self-centred and competing providers and insurers; and its prevailing school of health economics deplored the national health insurance and national health services that were universal in other countries and recommended devices that would eliminate "market failure" in health. When health economics grew in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, the reformers' first presumption was that the voluminous American market-oriented literature must offer answers; but much of it proved superfluous, since European health care systems still had much competition and consumer choice, and they worked better than the reality in the United States. The United States itself has paid a heavy price for turning over health financing policy to the devotees of microeconomics and free markets, and today its serious problems in health are unsolved. So powerful is the pro-competitive ideology that it has now been adopted by the Democratic Clinton Administration, contradicting the heritage of Roosevelt, Truman, and Johnson.

Education for health professionals in the emerging market economies: a literature review.

PubMed

Nair, Manisha; Webster, Premila

2010-09-01

Along with economic growth and social reforms, the emerging market economies (EMEs) are undergoing restructuring of their health care systems. There is now an increased focus on disease prevention and primary care, along with a patient-centred approach to health care delivery. However, these changes need to be complemented by alterations in the health care education system. A review of the published literature, limited to the last 10 years, was conducted to include recent updates on medical and nursing education. This was done by systematically searching appropriate databases using keywords. This review covers only the common issues related to education and training in EMEs. Issues identified included: the mismatch between the health needs of the population and education curricula; outdated curricula and teaching methods; growing numbers of medical schools; the quality of education, and inadequate career guidance for students to help them make decisions about choosing a health profession as a career and, later, about choosing a field of specialisation. The literature provides evidence of innovative approaches adopted in several EMEs, which include: outcome-based education; community-oriented medical education; problem-based learning; initiatives to improve quality, and initiatives to resolve the shortage of skilled educators for medical and nursing schools. The health care systems in EMEs are undergoing changes imposed by economic, political and social transition. Reforms in health systems will need to be complemented by educational reforms. Education systems require to be updated through needs-based comprehensive curriculum design and innovative teaching methods. The challenges imposed by the growth in the number of public and private institutions and the need for a standardised accreditation system for quality assurance demand attention. The profiles of both family medicine and community health care will need to be raised and their status enhanced to attract high-calibre students to these specialties.

Designing health insurance market constructs for shared responsibility: insights from California.

PubMed

Curtis, Rick; Neuschler, Ed

2009-01-01

Moving toward universal participation in health insurance using a "shared responsibility" approach requires new, more accessible, and more efficient ways for people who are not offered employer coverage to obtain coverage. California's recent health reform plan-which failed to pass-incorporated individual market reform and choice-pool constructs to achieve critically important risk spreading, assure solvency, and reduce cost shifts. These measures, as well as the considerations that led to their design, offer important insights for health reform at the federal level.

Reform of China's Technical and Vocational Education in the Transition from a Planned Economy System to a Socialist Market Economy System--A Case Study. Case Studies on Technical and Vocational Education in Asia and the Pacific.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Zuguang; Zeng, Zida

Since the early 1990s, China's government has followed a socialist market economy system. Accordingly, the technical and vocational education (TVE) should be restructured to meet its needs. Reform of the TVE system has four aspects. First, reform of the planning system includes a move from a central plan of enrollment to planning according to…

Perceptual market orientation gap and its impact on relationship quality and patient loyalty: the role of internal marketing.

PubMed

Huang, Jin-An; Weng, Rhay-Hung; Lai, Chi-Shiun; Hu, Jer-San

2013-06-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptual market orientation gaps between physician and patients and its impact on relationship quality and patient loyalty, and to verify the critical role of internal marketing on developing market orientation. Self-administered questionnaires were then employed to collect the data. We used a convenience sample of physicians and patients at a medical center in central Taiwan, and 90 usable questionnaires from physicians and 450 usable questionnaires from patients were returned. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to validate the research hypotheses. Physicians' perceptual market orientation had a positive influence on physician-patient relationship quality, hospital-patient relationship quality, and patient loyalty, but the perceptual market orientation gap between physicians and their patients had a direct negative impact on these constructs. Finally, internal marketing was found to have an influence on relationship quality and patient loyalty through the mediation of market orientation. In order to enhance relationship quality and patient loyalty, hospital managers should focus their efforts on improving employees' market orientation and reducing patients' perceptual market orientation gap. In addition, internal marketing was found to be a useful pathway in developing market orientation.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the regulation of the health insurance industry.

PubMed

Jha, Saurabh; Baker, Tom

2012-12-01

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a comprehensive and multipronged reform of the US health care system. The legislation makes incremental changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and the market for employer-sponsored health insurance. However, it makes substantial changes to the market for individual and small-group health insurance. The purpose of this article is to introduce the key regulatory reforms in the market for individual and small-group health insurance and explain how these reforms tackle adverse selection and risk classification and improve access to health care for the hitherto uninsured or underinsured population. Copyright © 2012 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic Segmentation and Health Inequalities in Urban Post-Reform China.

PubMed

Kwon, Soyoung

2016-01-01

During economic reform, Chinese economic labor markets became segmented by state sector associated with a planned redistributive economy and private sector associated with the market economy. By considering an economic sector as a concrete institutional setting in post-reform China, this paper compares the extent to which socioeconomic status, measured by education and income, is associated with self-rated health between state sector and private sector. The sample is limited to urban Chinese employees between the ages of 18 and 55 who were active in the labor force. By analyzing pooled data from the 1991-2006 Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey , I find that there is a stronger association between income and self-rated health in the private sector than in the state sector. This study suggests that sectoral differences between market and redistributive economies are an important key to understanding health inequalities in post-reform urban China.

Harsh choices: Chinese women's paid work and unpaid care responsibilities under economic reform.

PubMed

Cook, Sarah; Dong, Xiao-yuan

2011-01-01

China's economic reforms over the past three decades have dramatically changed the mechanisms for allocating goods and labour in both market and non-market spheres. This article examines the social and economic trends that intensify the pressure on the care economy, and on women in particular in playing their dual roles as care givers and income earners in post-reform China. The analysis sheds light on three critical but neglected issues. How does the reform process reshape the institutional arrangements of care for children and elders? How does the changing care economy affect women's choices between paid work and unpaid care responsibilities? And what are the implications of women's work–family conflicts for the well-being of women and their families? The authors call for a gendered approach to both social and labour market policies, with investments in support of social reproduction services so as to ease the pressures on women.

Economic Segmentation and Health Inequalities in Urban Post-Reform China

PubMed Central

Kwon, Soyoung

2016-01-01

During economic reform, Chinese economic labor markets became segmented by state sector associated with a planned redistributive economy and private sector associated with the market economy. By considering an economic sector as a concrete institutional setting in post-reform China, this paper compares the extent to which socioeconomic status, measured by education and income, is associated with self-rated health between state sector and private sector. The sample is limited to urban Chinese employees between the ages of 18 and 55 who were active in the labor force. By analyzing pooled data from the 1991–2006 Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey, I find that there is a stronger association between income and self-rated health in the private sector than in the state sector. This study suggests that sectoral differences between market and redistributive economies are an important key to understanding health inequalities in post-reform urban China. PMID:29546178

Examining the Use of a Representational Toolkit in a U.S. Reform-Oriented Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Jon D.

2011-01-01

This study examined the instances of a representational toolkit (RT) in one reform-oriented algebra textbook developed in the United States. The majority of RT uses were active (66%) as opposed to passive and connected (63%) in that the technology results were used in some other manner by either the textbook authors or students as they solved…

Affordable health benefits for workers without employer coverage.

PubMed

Etheredge, L; Jones, S B

1998-02-01

With 42 million individuals lacking health insurance in 1996, an increase of 1.1 million uninsured from the previous year, new initiatives to deal with health insurance problems merit a high priority among domestic policy initiatives. This paper examines the opportunities for assisting full-time workers (and their families) who do not receive employer-paid health insurance-a group that now includes 49 million individuals-by using three policy tools that Congress and President Clinton have already agreed to use in recent healthcare legislation: (a) equitable tax assistance; (b) market reforms; and (c) competition among health plans that offer economical benefits. Estimates for a model plan illustrate that such strategies could make decent private health insurance more affordable and more accessible for workers and their families who want to purchase it; family insurance protection, with guaranteed issue of insurance and large-group-rated premiums, could be offered at potential savings of 42% (or more). Premiums for worker's coverage, after tax assistance, would be below $1,200 per year, i.e., less than 60 cents per hour. These market-oriented reforms can be accomplished with a limited government role, and, after start-up costs, ongoing federal expenses would be modest, predictable, and controllable. When combined with the new $24 billion child health initiative to assist low-income families, the proposed plan would provide considerable progress toward universal access to affordable insurance coverage.

Effects of regulated competition on key outcomes of care: cataract surgeries in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Heijink, Richard; Mosca, Ilaria; Westert, Gert

2013-11-01

Similar to several other countries, the Netherlands implemented market-oriented health care reforms in recent years. Previous studies raised questions on the effects of these reforms on key outcomes such as quality, costs, and prices. The empirical evidence is up to now mixed. This study looked at the variation in prices, volume, and quality of cataract surgeries since the introduction of price competition in 2006. We found no price convergence over time and constant price differences between hospitals. Quality indicators generally showed positive results in cataract care, though the quality and scope of the indicators was suboptimal at this stage. Furthermore, we found limited between-hospital variation in quality and there was no clear-cut relation between prices and quality. Volume of cataract care strongly increased in the period studied. These findings indicate that health insurers may not have been able to drive prices down, make trade-offs between price and quality, and selectively contract health care without usable quality information. Positive results coming out from the 2006 reform should not be taken for granted. Looking forward, future research on similar topics and with newer data should clarify the extent to which these findings can be generalized. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

New labour and reform of the English NHS: user views and attitudes.

PubMed

Wallace, Andrew; Taylor-Gooby, Peter

2010-06-01

The British National Health Service has undergone significant restructuring in recent years. In England this has taken a distinctive direction where the New Labour Government has embraced and intensified the influence of market principles towards its vision of a 'modernized' NHS. This has entailed the introduction of competition and incentives for providers of NHS care and the expansion of choice for patients. To explore how users of the NHS perceive and respond to the market reforms being implemented within the NHS. In addition, to examine the normative values held by NHS users in relation to welfare provision in the UK. Qualitative interviews using a quota sample of 48 recent NHS users in South East England recruited from three local health economies. Some NHS users are exhibiting an ambivalent or anxious response to aspects of market reform such as patient choice, the use of targets and markets and the increasing presence of the private sector within the state healthcare sector. This has resulted in a sense that current reforms, are distracting or preventing NHS staff from delivering quality of care and fail to embody the relationships of care that are felt to sustain the NHS as a progressive public institution. The best way of delivering such values for patients is perceived to involve empowering frontline staffs who are deemed to embody the same values as service users, thus problematizing the current assumptions of reform frameworks that market-style incentives will necessarily gain public consent and support.

Clean Energy Generation and Dispatch in Reformed Wholesale Electricity Markets: Experience in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Shengru; Hurlbut, David J; Li, Ma

In recent years, the US electricity market has undergone several stages of reform, and gradually formed the market where the wholesale electricity price is determined by the supply and demand. The US electricity market also changes along with the rapid development of clean energy, forming a number of the market mechanisms that is specifically developed for clean energy power generation characteristics. On the basis of discussing the pricing mechanism of US electricity market, this paper analyzes the experience and practice of encouraging renewable energy development policy and clean energy dispatch from the angle of market mechanism and dispatching decision, andmore » puts forward the reference for clean energy dispatching in China.« less

Managing risk selection incentives in health sector reforms.

PubMed

Puig-Junoy, J

1999-01-01

The object of the paper is to review theoretical and empirical contributions to the optimal management of risk selection incentives ('cream skimming') in health sector reforms. The trade-off between efficiency and risk selection is fostered in health sector reforms by the introduction of competitive mechanisms such as price competition or prospective payment systems. The effects of two main forms of competition in health sector reforms are observed when health insurance is mandatory: competition in the market for health insurance, and in the market for health services. Market and government failures contribute to the assessment of the different forms of risk selection employed by insurers and providers, as the effects of selection incentives on efficiency and their proposed remedies to reduce the impact of these perverse incentives. Two European (Netherlands and Spain) and two Latin American (Chile and Colombia) case studies of health sector reforms are examined in order to observe selection incentives, their effects on efficiency and costs in the health system, and regulation policies implemented in each country to mitigate incentives to 'cream skim' good risks.

The challenges of primary health care nurse leaders in the wake of New Health Care Reform in Norway.

PubMed

Tingvoll, Wivi-Ann; Sæterstrand, Torill; McClusky, Leon Mendel

2016-01-01

The local municipality, whose management style is largely inspired by the New Public Management (NPM) model, has administrative responsibilities for primary health care in Norway. Those responsible for health care at the local level often find themselves torn between their professional responsibilities and the municipality's market-oriented funding system. The introduction of the new health care reform process known as the Coordination Reform in January 2012 prioritises primary health care while simultaneously promoting a more collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to health care. Nurse leaders experience constant cross-pressure in their roles as members of the municipal executive team, the execution of their professional and administrative duties, and the overall political aims of the new reform. The aim of this article is to illuminate some of the major challenges facing nurse leaders in charge of nursing homes and to draw attention to their professional concerns about the quality of nursing care with the introduction of the new reform and its implementation under NPM-inspired municipal executive leadership. This study employs a qualitative design. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 nurse leaders in 10 municipalities, with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach used for data analysis and interpretation. Findings highlighted the increasingly complex challenges facing nurse leaders operating in the context of the municipality's hierarchical NPM management structure, while they are required to exercise collaborative professional interactions as per the guidelines of the new Coordination Reform. The interview findings were interpreted out of three sub-themes 1) importance of support for the nurse leader, 2) concerns about overall service quality, and 3) increased tasks unrelated to nursing leadership. The priorities of municipal senior management and the focus of the municipality's care service need clarification in the light of this reform. The voices of those at the frontlines of the caring services need to be heard as the restructuring of the caring services may have implications both for funding allocation and for the quality of patient care.

A market approach to better care at lower cost.

PubMed

Antos, Joseph

2015-11-01

The Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance coverage in the United States but did little to address the structural problems that plague the U.S. health care system. Controlling cost while maintaining or improving access to quality care requires a more fundamental reform based on market principles. Such an approach means aligning the financial incentives of patients and providers to promote smarter spending. It also requires better information and more flexible regulation to promote well-functioning competitive markets. Key elements of these reforms include setting reasonable limits on subsidies for Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance; modernizing the Medicare program and adopting reforms that promote competition between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage; allowing greater flexibility for states in running their Medicaid programs; enacting smarter regulations to protect consumers without imposing greater inefficiency on the health market; and promoting more direct consumer involvement in all phases of their health and health care. These changes will challenge academic medical centers as a new era of creativity and competition emerges in the health care market.

DESperately Seeking Service: A narrative review informing a disability employment services reform framework for Australians with mental illness.

PubMed

Mellifont, Damian

2017-01-01

Notwithstanding efforts by vocational services to assist Australians with mental illness into employment many of these consumers remain unemployed. To inform policymakers and practitioners of a disability employment services reform framework that endeavours to help more consumers who are experiencing mental illness to attain and retain employment. Thematic analysis was directed to summarize results obtained from a narrative literature review of disability employment service reforms utilising Scopus, Medline and Pubmed databases and including articles published between 2000 and 2016. Research results reveal a preparative framework covering three levels of disability employment services reform for consumers with mental illness. This research makes important theoretical contributions across three areas. First this study reveals individualised, integrated and outcome-oriented services as dimensions of disability employment services reform that warrant greater government investment, practitioner focus and consumer involvement. Second recognising that none of these service reforms are immune from challenges which may hinder their effectiveness, future research is needed to identify evidence-based mitigation measures. Finally with individualised services positioned at the nucleus of the reform framework, integrated services and outcome-oriented reforms should be operationalised in ways that remain sensitive to the principle of strength-based support.

Exploring the Potential Rationale for the Privatization of Higher Education in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Li

2011-01-01

The last three decades have witnessed great social, political and economic change in China since the market reforms in the late 1970s. A market economy was adopted as a replacement to the planned economy in order to allocate resources more efficiently. Consequently, higher education in China has undergone dramatic reforms to adapt to this…

Curriculum Testing on the Persistent Fringes: Neoliberal Policy and the New Regime of Title I High School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sturges, Keith M.

2015-01-01

Neoliberal policies have opened the door to a steady stream of contract providers who assist struggling schools while producing market-ready reforms. This ethnographic example of Allport High School illustrates how constant aid, in combination with internal market expansion, destabilizes school structures, obscures curricula, and transfers local…

Social Inequality in Higher Education and Labour Market in a Period of Institutional Reforms: Italy, 1992-2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argentin, Gianluca; Triventi, Moris

2011-01-01

The focus of this paper is on the relationships between social origin, participation in tertiary education (enrolment, drop-out, enrolment at second level and post-tertiary education) and occupational instability among university graduates in a recent period of university and labour market reforms (the differentiation of higher education due to…

Market Accountability in Schools: Policy Reforms in England, Germany, France and Italy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattei, Paola

2012-01-01

This article concentrates on the policy reforms of schools in England, Germany, France and Italy, from 1988 to 2009, with a focus on the introduction of market accountability. Pressing demands for organisational change in schools, shaped by the objectives of "efficiency" and competition, which were introduced in England in the 1980s,…

Implementing the Affordable Care Act: state approaches to premium rate reforms in the individual health insurance market.

PubMed

Giovannelli, Justin; Lucia, Kevin W; Corlette, Sabrina

2014-12-01

The Affordable Care Act protects people from being charged more for insurance based on factors like medical history or gender and establishes new limits on how insurers can adjust premiums for age, tobacco use, and geography. This brief examines how states have implemented these federal reforms in their individual health insurance markets. We identify state rating standards for the first year of full implementation of reform and explore critical considerations weighed by policymakers as they determined how to adopt the law's requirements. Most states took the opportunity to customize at least some aspect of their rating standards. Interviews with state regulators reveal that many states pursued implementation strategies intended primarily to minimize market disruption and premium shock and therefore established standards as consistent as possible with existing rules or market practice. Meanwhile, some states used the transition period to strengthen consumer protections, particularly with respect to tobacco rating.

Communities on the Move: Pedestrian-Oriented Zoning as a Facilitator of Adult Active Travel to Work in the United States.

PubMed

Chriqui, Jamie F; Leider, Julien; Thrun, Emily; Nicholson, Lisa M; Slater, Sandy

2016-01-01

Communities across the United States have been reforming their zoning codes to create pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with increased street connectivity, mixed use and higher density, open space, transportation infrastructure, and a traditional neighborhood structure. Zoning code reforms include new urbanist zoning such as the SmartCode, form-based codes, transects, transportation and pedestrian-oriented developments, and traditional neighborhood developments. To examine the relationship of zoning code reforms and more active living--oriented zoning provisions with adult active travel to work via walking, biking, or by using public transit. Zoning codes effective as of 2010 were compiled for 3,914 municipal-level jurisdictions located in 471 counties and 2 consolidated cities in 48 states and the District of Columbia, and that collectively covered 72.9% of the U.S. population. Zoning codes were evaluated for the presence of code reform zoning and nine pedestrian-oriented zoning provisions (1 = yes): sidewalks, crosswalks, bike-pedestrian connectivity, street connectivity, bike lanes, bike parking, bike-pedestrian trails/paths, mixed-use development, and other walkability/pedestrian orientation. A zoning scale reflected the number of provisions addressed (out of 10). Five continuous outcome measures were constructed using 2010-2014 American Community Survey municipal-level 5-year estimates to assess the percentage of workers: walking, biking, walking or biking, or taking public transit to work OR engaged in any active travel to work. Regression models controlled for municipal-level socioeconomic characteristics and a GIS-constructed walkability scale and were clustered on county with robust standard errors. Adjusted models indicated that several pedestrian-oriented zoning provisions were statistically associated (p < 0.05 or lower) with increased rates of walking, biking, or engaging in any active travel (walking, biking, or any active travel) to work: code reform zoning, bike parking (street furniture), bike lanes, bike-pedestrian trails/paths, other walkability, mixed-use zoning, and a higher score on the zoning scale. Public transit use was associated with code reform zoning and a number of zoning measures in Southern jurisdictions but not in non-Southern jurisdictions. As jurisdictions revisit their zoning and land use policies, they may want to evaluate the pedestrian-orientation of their zoning codes so that they can plan for pedestrian improvements that will help to encourage active travel to work.

Health care reform in Croatia: for better or for worse?

PubMed Central

Chen, M S; Mastilica, M

1998-01-01

Along with the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has begun to dismantle its long-standing socialist health care system and to replace it with a market-based approach. Marketization's advocates maintain that the market will bring efficiency and quality to the Croatian health care system. Nevertheless, data from consumer surveys and official statistics reflect the reform's hidden costs: limited access to care, heightened costs, growing inequality, and the deemphasis of preventive and proactive care in favor of costly therapeutic medicine. PMID:9702140

Effect of Professional Development on Teaching Behaviors and Efficacy in Qatari Educational Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia; Knight, Stephanie L.; Favre, David E.; Ikhlef, Atman

2017-01-01

Qatar is undergoing major educational reform that is shifting its educational policy toward an instructional orientation grounded in constructivism and student-centered instruction. Differences in cultural conceptions of knowledge acquisition and the purpose of education are examined to highlight challenges to Qatar's reform implementation…

Research on Simulation Requirements and Business Architecture of Automated Demand Response in Power Sales Side Market Liberalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yiqun; Zhou, Pengcheng; Zeng, Ming; Chen, Songsong

2018-01-01

With the gradual reform of the electricity market, the power sale side liberalization has become the focus of attention as the key task of reform. The open power market provides a good environment for DR (Demand Response). It is of great significance to research the simulation requirements and business architecture of ADR (Automatic Demand Response) in power sale side market liberalization. Firstly, this paper analyzes the simulation requirements of ADR. Secondly, it analyzes the influence factors that the business development of ADR from five aspects after power sale side market liberalization. Finally, Based on ADR technology support system, the business architecture of ADR after power sale side market liberalization is constructed.

The implications of new forest tenure reforms and forestry property markets for sustainable forest management and forest certification in China.

PubMed

Chen, Juan; Innes, John L

2013-11-15

This study examines issues existing in the southern collective forests in China, particularly prior to the implementation of new forest tenure reforms, such as continued illegal logging and timber theft, inadequate availability of finance and inconsistent forest-related policies. Such problems are believed to be hindering the adoption of sustainable forest management (SFM) and forest certification by forest farmers in China. Two strategies were introduced by the Chinese government with the purpose of addressing these issues, namely forest tenure reforms and their associated supporting mechanism, forestry property markets. Through two case studies in southern China, we investigated the effectiveness of the two strategies as well as their implications for the adoption of SFM and forest certification. The two cases were Yong'an in Fujian province and Tonggu in Jiangxi province. Personal interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with small-scale forest farmers who had already benefited from the two strategies as well as market officers working for the two selected forestry property markets. The study identified eight issues constraining the potential adoption of SFM and certification in China, including limited finance, poorly developed infrastructure and transport systems, insecure forest tenures, inconsistent forest policies, low levels of awareness, illegal forest management practices, lack of local cooperative organizations, and inadequate knowledge and technical transfer. We found that the new forest tenure reforms and forestry property markets had generally fulfilled their original objectives and had the capacity to assist in addressing many of the issues facing forests prior to the reforms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of the Reform of the Italian Higher Education System on the Labour Market for Young Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potestio, Paola

2014-01-01

This article assesses the effectiveness of a reform of the higher education system aimed at stimulating employability and faster access to the labour market for Italian graduates. Using the Taylor formula, the evolution of the employment rates has been followed through the movements and interaction of activity and unemployment rates. The progress…

From the Provider-Led to an Employer-Led System: Implications of Apprenticeship Reform on the Private Training Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chankseliani, Maia; Relly, Susan James

2015-01-01

Despite expending a great deal of public money, and after many government-led "reforms" to develop an apprenticeship system that rivals those found in other countries, the apprenticeship system in England still faces a number of challenges and failings, not least in the private training market. This paper explores the landscape of…

School Innovation in District Context: Comparing Traditional Public Schools and Charter Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preston, Courtney; Goldring, Ellen; Berends, Mark; Cannata, Marisa

2012-01-01

Market reforms in education are part of the educational policy landscape in many countries. Central to arguments for market reforms is the idea that competition and choice will spur changes in schools to be more innovative, which in turn will lead to better student outcomes. We define innovation in terms of a practice's relative prevalence in a…

Understanding congestion in China's medical market: an incentive structure perspective.

PubMed

Sun, Zesheng; Wang, Shuhong; Barnes, Stephen R

2016-04-01

Congestion has become one of the most important factors leading to patient dissatisfaction and doctor-patient conflicts in the medical market of China. In this study, we explore the causes and effects of structural congestion in the Chinese medical market from an incentive structure perspective. Our analysis reveals that prior medical system reforms with price regulation in China have induced hospitals to establish incentives for capital-intensive investments, while ignoring human capital, and have driven medical staff and patients to higher-level hospitals, reinforcing an incentive structure in which congestion in higher-level hospitals and idle resources in lower-level hospitals coexist. The existing incentive structure has led to cost increases and degradation of human capital and specific factor effects. Recent reforms to reduce congestion in the Chinese medical market were not effective. Most of them had no impact on and did not involve the existing distorted incentive structure. Future reforms should consider rebalancing expectations for medical quality, free flow of human capital and price regulation reforms to rebuild a new incentive structure. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effects of Market, E-Marketing, and Technology Orientations on Innovativeness and Performance in Turkish Health Organizations.

PubMed

Mutlu, Hanifi Murat; Sürer, Atilla

2015-01-01

This article investigates the effects of strategic orientation on innovativeness and performance in health organizations in Turkey. We hypothesize that market, e-marketing, and technology orientations positively affect innovativeness and performance. Market and technology orientations are found not have a significant effect on performance, but e-marketing orientation and innovativeness have a significant and positive effect. We also investigate indirect effects on innovativeness and performance. The analyses of direct and indirect effects are an important contribution to understanding relationships among research variables.

Effects of market, e-marketing, and technology orientations on innovativeness and performance in Turkish health organizations.

PubMed

Mutlu, Hanifi Murat; Sürer, Atilla

2016-01-01

This article investigates the effects of strategic orientation on innovativeness and performance in health organizations in Turkey. We test hypotheses that market, e-marketing, and technology orientations positively affect innovativeness and performance. Market and technology orientations are found not have a significant effect on performance, but e-marketing orientation and innovativeness have a significant and positive effect. We also investigate indirect effects on innovativeness and performance. The analyses of direct and indirect effects are an important contribution to understanding relationships among research variables.

The Situation Oriented Approach to Preschool Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oertel, Frithjof M.

1987-01-01

Describes preschool education in West Germany in terms of the various aspects of reform that changed function-oriented classrooms to situation-oriented learning environments. Argues for the priority of social education in early childhood. (BSR)

Marketing-oriented organizations: an integrated approach.

PubMed

Stensrud, R; Arrington, B

1988-03-01

Organizations can be oriented toward marketing from a production, product, sales, or marketing perspective. Strategies, structures, and cultures, which reflect a company's basic orientation, must be integrated to ensure that marketing efforts communicate a clear corporate position. In a study of 31 hospitals, the Center for Health Services Education Research, St. Louis University, found that no hospital's organization fit neatly into a single category. For example, a hospital may have some service lines that were marketing oriented while other lines were production oriented. The majority of hospitals, however, were product oriented, focusing on productivity and financial performance rather than on market factors. The most effective sales orientation was observed in the for-profits. Their selling efforts, however, tended to be internally focused, with product development activities divorced from the planning and marketing functions. Only the for-profit hospitals showed the beginning of a marketing orientation. Developing a marketing orientation, especially in line divisions, requires a careful, well-orchestrated effort and the presence of several key factors: Access to capital and an emphasis on long-range planning and strategic spending The availability of hospital-specific market research. Key distribution channels. Talented middle managers. Up-to-date systems and structures equipped to serve new values and strategies. Leaders capable of communicating to the organization a vision of its role in the community.

Come on Higher Ed...Get with the Programme! A Study of Market Orientation in International Student Recruitment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Mitchell; Grace, Debra; Shao, Wei

2013-01-01

This paper investigates higher education (HE) student recruitment practices from the standpoint of market orientation. By adopting the well-established market orientation framework of Narver and Slater [1990, The effect of a market orientation on a business profitability. "Journal of Marketing" 54, no. 4: 20-35], we examine the extent to…

Mental health reform at a systems level: widening the lens on recovery-oriented care.

PubMed

Kidd, Sean A; Mckenzie, Kwame J; Virdee, Gursharan

2014-05-01

This paper is an initial attempt to collate the literature on psychiatric inpatient recovery-based care and, more broadly, to situate the inpatient care sector within a mental health reform dialogue that, to date, has focused almost exclusively on outpatient and community practices. We make the argument that until an evidence base is developed for recovery-oriented practices on hospital wards, the effort to advance recovery-oriented systems will stagnate. Our scoping review was conducted in line with the 2009 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (commonly referred to as PRISMA) guidelines. Among the 27 papers selected for review, most were descriptive or uncontrolled outcome studies. Studies addressing strategies for improving care quality provide some modest evidence for reflective dialogue with former inpatient clients, role play and mentorship, and pairing general training in recovery oriented care with training in specific interventions, such as Illness Management and Recovery. Relative to some other fields of medicine, evidence surrounding the question of recovery-oriented care on psychiatric wards and how it may be implemented is underdeveloped. Attention to mental health reform in hospitals is critical to the emergence of recovery-oriented systems of care and the realization of the mandate set forward in the Mental Health Strategy for Canada.

Internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment: moderating effects of work status.

PubMed

Huang, Meiju; Chen, Mei-Yen

2013-08-01

Associations among internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment were examined, particularly with regard to the moderating effects of work status on the relationships between internal marketing and customer orientation or organizational commitment, in a cross-sectional design with structural equation modeling. Two studies (Ns = 119 and 251) were conducted among full- and part-time service employees at Taipei Sports Centers. Internal marketing was associated with organizational commitment and customer orientation. Customer orientation was associated with organizational commitment and partially mediated the relation between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Furthermore, work status significantly moderated the relationships between internal marketing and customer orientation but not between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.

Educational reform and the public: Two case studies of Poland and Saskatchewan (Canada)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaproń, Danuta; Stephan, Werner

1991-09-01

The involvement of the public in educational reform processes in modern democratic societies primarily serves the purpose of politically legitimizing the reform agenda. This study examines the rationales implicitly or explicitly submitted to the public to explain why educational reforms in the two countries should be endorsed. Although differences in the political culture caution against a hasty comparison of the two case studies, a number of politico-economic similarities allow for a valid juxtaposition. In Poland the context of socio-political and economic renewal prompted the reformers to emphasize the human-capital model which heightened public awareness and participation in the debate surrounding the reform. Public involvement in Saskatchewan was negatively affected for mainly two reasons. First, the government evidently manipulated public input by various means and thereby appears to have predetermined the outcome. Second, the rationale for the reform, based on a free-market model, tightened the linkage between the needs of the labour market and the mandate of the schools. As a result, public interest and participation was greatly diminished.

Study of relationship between the organizational structure and market orientation from the viewpoint of nurse managers.

PubMed

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Yaghoubi, Maryam; Javadi, Marzieh; Rahimi, Zahreh Agha

2015-01-01

Considering globalization of health care and quality improvement trend to respond to competition and customer orientation, attention to organizational structure and its relationship with market orientation is essential. Therefore, this study reviews the relationship between organizational structure and market orientation in selected hospitals of Isfahan (Iran). This study was a descriptive survey. The study population comprised nurse managers from selected hospitals (n = 80). Data collection tools were two questionnaires (market orientation questionnaire and organizational structure) that the validity and reliability were confirmed (r = 0.83 for market orientation questionnaire and r = 0.87 for organizational structure). SPSS (Ver. 16) software was used for the analyses. The mean score of organizational structure was 65.4 (11.2) and total mean of market orientation was 51.14 (17.6). All aspects of the organizational structure (Organization Centralization, Formalization in Organization, and Organization Complication) and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization)-except by responding to clients with Formalization in Organization-as well as all aspects of the Systemic attitude (the system of internal coordination and communication systems_ and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization), there was a meaningful relationship (P < 0.05). Market orientation and its dimensions have a significant relationship with organizational structure and can lead managers' view to the analysis and recognizing elements of success and achievement to goals. With increasing competition in markets, globalization of health services, and presence in international markets and more attention to patients' satisfaction, hospitals need to understand and use of market orientation in order to promote quality and services in the health care system.

Study of relationship between the organizational structure and market orientation from the viewpoint of nurse managers

PubMed Central

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Yaghoubi, Maryam; Javadi, Marzieh; Rahimi, Zahreh Agha

2015-01-01

Background: Considering globalization of health care and quality improvement trend to respond to competition and customer orientation, attention to organizational structure and its relationship with market orientation is essential. Therefore, this study reviews the relationship between organizational structure and market orientation in selected hospitals of Isfahan (Iran). Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive survey. The study population comprised nurse managers from selected hospitals (n = 80). Data collection tools were two questionnaires (market orientation questionnaire and organizational structure) that the validity and reliability were confirmed (r = 0.83 for market orientation questionnaire and r = 0.87 for organizational structure). SPSS (Ver. 16) software was used for the analyses. Results: The mean score of organizational structure was 65.4 (11.2) and total mean of market orientation was 51.14 (17.6). All aspects of the organizational structure (Organization Centralization, Formalization in Organization, and Organization Complication) and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization)—except by responding to clients with Formalization in Organization—as well as all aspects of the Systemic attitude (the system of internal coordination and communication systems_ and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization), there was a meaningful relationship (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Market orientation and its dimensions have a significant relationship with organizational structure and can lead managers’ view to the analysis and recognizing elements of success and achievement to goals. With increasing competition in markets, globalization of health services, and presence in international markets and more attention to patients’ satisfaction, hospitals need to understand and use of market orientation in order to promote quality and services in the health care system. PMID:25861660

Effects of school reformon education and labor market performance: Evidence from Chile’s universal voucher system

PubMed Central

Bravo, David; Mukhopadhyay, Sankar; Todd, Petra E.

2011-01-01

This paper studies the effects of school reform in Chile, which adopted a nationwide school voucher program along with school decentralization reforms in 1981. Since then, Chile has had a relatively unregulated, competitive market in primary and secondary education. It therefore provides a unique setting in which to study how these reforms affected school attainment and labor market outcomes. This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of school attendance and work decisions using panel data from the 2002 and 2004 waves of the Encuesta de Protección Social survey. Some individuals in the sample completed their schooling before the voucher reforms were introduced, while others had the option of using the vouchers over part or all of their schooling careers. The impacts of the voucher reform are identified from differences in the schooling and work choices made and earnings returns received by similar aged individuals who were differentially exposed to the voucher system. Simulations based on the estimated model show that the voucher reform significantly increased the demand for private subsidized schools and decreased the demand for both public and nonsubsidized private schools. It increased high school (grades 9–12) graduation rates by 3.6 percentage points and the percentage completing at least two years of college by 2.6 percentage points. Individuals from poor and non-poor backgrounds on average experienced similar schooling attainment gains. The reform also increased lifetime utility and modestly reduced earnings inequality. PMID:22059095

Observation of Reform Teaching in Undergraduate Level Mathematics and Science Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wainwright, Camille; Flick, Larry; Morrell, Patricia D.; Schepige, Adele

2004-01-01

This paper reports on initial results from an ongoing evaluation study of a National Science Foundation project to implement reform-oriented teaching practices in college science and mathematics courses. The purpose of this study was to determine what elements of reform teaching are being utilized by college faculty members teaching undergraduate…

Consumer choice among Mutual Healthcare Purchasers: a feasible option for China?

PubMed

Xu, Weiwei; van de Ven, Wynand P M M

2013-11-01

In its 2009 blue print of healthcare reform, the Chinese government aimed to create a competitive health insurance market in order to increase efficiency in the health insurance sector. A major advantage of a competitive health insurance market is that insurers are stimulated to act as well-motivated prudent purchasers of healthcare on behalf of their enrolees, and that consumers can choose among these purchasers. To emphasize the insurers' role of purchasers of care we denote them, as well as other entities that can fulfil this role (e.g. fundholding community health centres), as 'Mutual Healthcare Purchasers' (MHPs). As feasible proposals for creating competition in China's health insurance sector have yet to be made, we suggest two potential approaches to create competition among MHPs: (1) separating finance and operation of social health insurance and allowing consumer choice among operators of social health insurance schemes; (2) allowing consumer choice among fund-holding community health centres. Although the benefits of competition are widely accepted in China, the problematic consequences of a free competitive health insurance market - especially in relation to affordability and accessibility - are generally neglected. To solve the problems of lack of affordability and inaccessibility that would occur in the case of unregulated competition among MHPs, at least the following regulations are proposed to the Chinese policy makers: a 'standard benefit package' for basic health insurance, a 'risk-equalization scheme', and 'open enrolment'. Potential obstacles for implementing a risk equalization scheme are examined based on theoretical arguments and international experiences. We conclude that allowing consumer choice among MHPs and implementing a risk equalization scheme in China is politically and technically complex. Therefore, the Chinese government should prepare carefully for a market-oriented reform in its healthcare sector and adopt a strategic approach in the implementation procedure. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lessons from the Clinton plan: incremental market reform, not sweeping government control.

PubMed

Antos, Joseph

2008-01-01

The Clinton health reform attempt in the mid-1990s and the U.S. experience since then suggest some clear lessons for the next U.S. president. Public confidence in a major reform proposal must be won, and congressional support must be garnered, even if the election is a landslide. Insisting on universal coverage as a precondition may undercut the ability to enact other policies needed to improve the health system. Excessive regulation and price controls are likely to exacerbate underlying problems. The next president should take full advantage of market incentives to promote a high-value health system.

The Downside of Marketization: A Multilevel Analysis of Housing Tenure and Types in Reform-era Urban China

PubMed Central

Fu, Qiang; Zhu, Yushu; Ren, Qiang

2015-01-01

Based on data from the 2005 National Population Sample Survey and compiled covariates of 205 prefectures, this research adopted principal-component and multilevel-logistic analyses to study homeownership in urban China. Although the housing reform has severed the link between work units and residence, working in state sectors (government, state-owned enterprises and collective firms) remained significant in determining a household’s entitlement to reform-era housing with heavy subsidies or better qualities. While the prefecture-level index of marketization reduced local homeownership of self-built housing, affordable housing and privatized housing, its effect is moderated by cross-level interactions with income, education and working in state sectors across different types of housing. Meanwhile, the index of political and market connections promoted all types of homeownership except for self-built housing. By situating the downside of marketization within a context of urban transformation, this research not only challenges the teleological premise of the neoliberal market transition theory but calls for research on institutional dynamics and social consequences of urban transformation in China. PMID:25432608

The downside of marketization: a multilevel analysis of housing tenure and types in reform-era urban China.

PubMed

Fu, Qiang; Zhu, Yushu; Ren, Qiang

2015-01-01

Based on data from the 2005 National Population Sample Survey and compiled covariates of 205 prefectures, this research adopted principal-component and multilevel-logistic analyses to study homeownership in urban China. Although the housing reform has severed the link between work units and residence, working in state sectors (government, state-owned enterprises and collective firms) remained significant in determining a household's entitlement to reform-era housing with heavy subsidies or better qualities. While the prefecture-level index of marketization reduced local homeownership of self-built housing, affordable housing and privatized housing, its effect is moderated by cross-level interactions with income, education and working in state sectors across different types of housing. Meanwhile, the index of political and market connections promoted all types of homeownership except for self-built housing. By situating the downside of marketization within a context of urban transformation, this research not only challenges the teleological premise of the neoliberal market transition theory but calls for research on institutional dynamics and social consequences of urban transformation in China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Power of the Purse: Student Funding and the Labour Market for Dutch Reformed and Catholic Theology Students, 1800-1880

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schalk, Ruben

2015-01-01

Several European countries were unable to match student numbers with labour market demand during the nineteenth century. The causes of this mismatch may be found in the organisation of higher education and the funding of students. Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper compares financial support available to Reformed and Catholic theology…

Pilot study comparing market orientation culture of businesses and schools of business.

PubMed

Harmon, Harry A; Webster, Robert L; Hammond, Kevin L

2003-08-01

A market orientation culture has been described as one that blends an organization's commitment to customer value with a process of continuously creating superior value for customers. Developing such a culture is further described as (1) obtaining information about customers, competitors, and markets, (2) examining the gathered information from a total organizational perspective, (3) deciding how to deliver superior customer value, and (4) implementing actions to provide value to customers. A market orientation culture focuses on the customer, identifies issues in the competitive environment, and coordinates all functional areas to achieve organizational objectives. Research has found businesses with higher market orientation are more successful in achieving organizational objectives. The measurement of market orientation within businesses has been empirically tested and validated. However, empirical research on market orientation in nonprofit organizations such as universities has not been examined. This study investigated market orientation within the university setting, specifically Schools of Business Administration, and compared these data with previously published data within the business sector. Data for comparative purposes were collected via a national survey. Hypothesis testing was conducted. Results indicated significantly lower market orientation culture within the schools of business as reported by AACSB Business School Deans vis-à-vis managers of business enterprises.

Ravitch Reversed: Ideology and the History of American Education Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laukaitis, John

2017-01-01

Diane Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" (2010) and "Reign of Error" (2013) represent a significant shift in the contemporary political dialogue on education reform. The once staunch supporter of national academic standards and market-based reforms, Ravitch reversed nearly every position she…

Public Pension Plan Reform: The Legal Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monahan, Amy B.

2010-01-01

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This article presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Nearly all of the various approaches to public pension plan protection…

Customer and Market Orientation within AACSB Member Business Schools: Comparative Views from Three Levels of Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webster, Robert L.; Hammond, Kevin L.; Rothwell, James C.

2010-01-01

This paper is part of a stream of research dealing with customer and market orientation within higher education, specifically within business schools holding membership in AACSB-International. A market orientation strategy leading to a customer and market-oriented organizational culture is based upon the acceptance and adoption of the marketing…

Reform-Oriented Teaching of Introductory Statistics in the Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences--Historical Context and Rationale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassad, Rossi A.

2009-01-01

There is widespread emphasis on reform in the teaching of introductory statistics at the college level. Underpinning this reform is a consensus among educators and practitioners that traditional curricular materials and pedagogical strategies have not been effective in promoting statistical literacy, a competency that is becoming increasingly…

The Politics of Privatization and Decentralization in Global School Reform: The Value of Equity Claims for Neoliberalism at the World Bank and in El Salvador.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desmond, Cheryl

This paper focuses on the role of the World Bank and its subsidiaries in promoting the neoliberal educational reforms of privatization and decentralization globally and in El Salvador. Neoliberalism is first defined as a sociopolitical philosophy that supports concepts such as the free market, market-driven education, and the use of a voucher…

Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Enrollment Length and Health Care Utilization in the Unsubsidized Individual Market.

PubMed

Garabedian, Laura F; Ross-Degnan, Dennis; Soumerai, Stephen B; Choudhry, Niteesh K; Brown, Jeffrey S

2017-06-01

To evaluate the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform, the model for the Affordable Care Act, on short-term enrollment and utilization in the unsubsidized individual health insurance market. Seven years of administrative and claims data from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. We employed pre-post survival analysis and an interrupted time series design to examine changes in enrollment length, utilization patterns, and use of elective procedures (discretionary inpatient surgeries and infertility treatment) among nonelderly adult enrollees before (n = 6,912) and after (n = 29,207) the MA reform. The probability of short-term enrollment dropped immediately after the reform. Rates of inpatient encounters (HR = 0.83, 95 percent CI: 0.74, 0.93), emergency department encounters (HR = 0.85, 95 percent CI: 0.80, 0.91), and discretionary inpatient surgeries (HR = 0.66 95 percent CI: 0.45, 0.97) were lower in the postreform period, whereas the rate of ambulatory visits was somewhat higher (HR = 1.04, 95 percent CI: 1.00, 1.07). The rate of infertility treatment was higher after the reform (HR = 1.61, 95 percent CI: 1.33, 1.97), driven by women in individual (vs. family) plans. The reform was not associated with increased utilization among short-term enrollees. MA health reform was associated with a decrease in short-term enrollment and changes in utilization patterns indicative of reduced adverse selection in the unsubsidized individual market. Adverse selection may be a problem for specific, high-cost treatments. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Standardization and Subjection: An Autonomist Critique of Neoliberal School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slater, Graham B.; Griggs, C. Bradford

2015-01-01

Education under neoliberal reform has been targeted as an indispensable source of profit. Market-based reforms have commodified education and are transforming public school into a corporatized industry concerned not with democracy but with the smooth functioning of the capitalist economy. Targeting public schooling as a site in which to accumulate…

Legal Limitations on Public Pension Plan Reform. Conference Paper 2009-08

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monahan, Amy B.

2009-01-01

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This paper presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Several states have legal protections that effectively prevent a state…

Neoliberalism, Social Darwinism, and Consumerism Masquerading as School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tienken, Christopher H.

2013-01-01

Education reform policies harvested from neoliberalism, social Darwinism, consumerism, and free-market ideologies have begun to replace the pragmatic progressivism of the pre-World War II era. In this article, I use three federal and state education reform policies and programs--No Child Left Behind Act, Common Core State Standards Initiative, and…

An evaluation of federal order reform.

PubMed

Bailey, K; Tozer, P

2001-04-01

The Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 required the Secretary of Agriculture to reform federal milk marketing orders. The Secretary carried out this task and issued a final rule on March 31, 1999, that was eventually approved by dairy farmers in a national referendum. However, a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued on September 28, 1999, that halted the reform process. The TRO was effectively overturned and the reform process restarted when President Bill Clinton signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2000 on November 29, 1999. The final rule as amended consolidates the number of orders, develops a multiple component pricing system that determines new formulas for class prices, and provides a new system for pricing fluid milk based on county-level price differentials. The impact of these changes is to provide more transparency in pricing and improved market signals to farmers. But the new system is also much more vulnerable to changes in dairy commodity prices. The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview of federal order reform and to analyze the impact of recent changes in class price formulas.

Measuring market orientation: further evidence on Narver and Slater's three-component scale.

PubMed

Chakrabarty, Subhra; Rogé, Joseph N

2003-12-01

A mail survey of a national random sample of 2,000 marketing managers was conducted. The data provided by 222 respondents were analyzed to assess the dimensionality of Narver and Slater's 15-item measure of market orientation. A confirmatory factor analysis, using LISREL 8.53, provided support for each of the separate dimensions of customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination. However, a combined 3-factor model of market orientation was not supported. Directions for research are suggested.

State-Owned Enterprises and Economic Reform in Vietnam

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

and must be dealt with by a comprehensive program of SOE privatization. Only then will Vietnam enjoy the benefits of sustained economic growth as reforms unlock market forces and enhance economic stability .

Health care reform: clarifying the concepts.

PubMed

Miller, A M

1993-01-01

Despite agreement about problems with the health care system, there is disagreement about the remedy. Like most health care reform debates, this article focuses on financing methods rather than service delivery. Reform strategies are intentionally oversimplified into four categories: employer-based or "play or pay"; single-payer and modifications, such as expanding Medicaid or Medicare; market competition; and managed competition, which appears to be favored by the Clinton administration. Cost-control mechanisms and insurance reforms are applicable to all four financing methods. Reform is inevitable. The challenge for nurses is to understand reform issues and then influence policymakers to initiate reforms that make essential medical and preventive services universally available.

The New Learning Market.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mager, Caroline; Robinson, Peter; Fletcher, Mick; Stanton, Geoff; Perry, Adrian; Westwood, Andy

This document contains seven papers examining the implications of proposed major reforms to the United Kingdom's post-16 sector. "The New Learning Market--Overview" (Caroline Mager) argues for balancing market-driven and planning-driven approaches to planning post-16 education. "Education and Training as a Learning Market"…

The individual insurance market before reform: low premiums and low benefits.

PubMed

Whitmore, Heidi; Gabel, Jon R; Pickreign, Jeremy; McDevitt, Roland

2011-10-01

Based on analyses of individual market health plans sold through ehealthinsurance and enrollment information collected from individual market carriers, this article profiles the individual health insurance market in 2007, before health reform. The article examines premiums, plan enrollment, cost sharing, and covered benefits and compares individual and group markets. Premiums for the young are lower than in the group market but higher for older people. Cost sharing is substantial in the individual insurance market. Seventy-eight percent of people were enrolled in plans with deductibles for single coverage, which averaged $2,117. Annual out-of-pocket maximums averaged $5,271. Many plans do not cover important benefits. Twelve percent of individually insured persons had no coverage for office visits and only 43% have maternity benefits in their basic coverage. With the advent of health exchanges and new market rules in 2014, covered benefits may become richer, cost sharing will decline, but premiums for the young will rise.

Market Orientation in Managing Relationships with Multiple Constituencies of Croatian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavicic, Jurica; Alfirevic, Niksa; Mihanovic, Zoran

2009-01-01

In this paper, market orientation in Croatian higher education (HE) is discussed within the context of stakeholder-oriented management. Drawing on existing studies, the "classical" empirical model, describing the market orientation of generic nonprofit organisations, has been adapted to the contingencies of the Croatian HE sector.…

Marketing orientation in hospitals: findings from a multi-phased research study.

PubMed

Wrenn, Bruce

2007-01-01

It is clear from numerous studies conducted over a wide variety of industries that marketing-oriented organizations perform better than those that do not adopt this business philosophy. Recent studies have confirmed this finding in healthcare organizations as well. What is now coming to light is the way in which a marketing orientation does contribute to better performance in hospitals, and the difficulties marketers face in getting recognition of that fact by non-marketers in their organization. This article reports on a multi-phased research study of the implementation of marketing-oriented behaviors in a hospital setting.

Comparing market orientation culture of businesses and schools of business: an extension and refinement.

PubMed

Webster, Robert L; Hammond, Kevin L; Harmon, Harry A

2005-04-01

This study extends previous work concerning the market orientation culture within specialty businesses and schools of business. Specifically, member schools of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International are separated into public and private universities. Data were collected via a mailed survey to business schools holding membership. 106 public school deans and 35 private school deans responded, for a 23% response rate. Input from the deans was sought on their perceptions of the market orientation culture within the schools. Respondents' perceptions, rated on a 7-point scale, measured four dimensions of market orientation: customer orientation, competitor orientation, organizational coordination, and overall market orientation. Data for specialty businesses were drawn from a previous study. Comparison testing between the public and private business schools' deans and business managers was conducted. Analysis indicated perceived market orientation was significantly higher for deans of private business schools than public business schools. Compared with business managers, private school deans were statistically different on only one of the four dimensions, whereas public business school deans' scores were significantly different from those of business managers on all four. Compared with each other, business school deans were statistically different on three dimensions, with private school deans reporting greater market orientation.

Market orientation: a concept for health libraries.

PubMed

Sen, Barbara

2006-03-01

This paper is the result of exploratory research forming part of ongoing study into the value and relevance of market orientation as a strategic option for library managers. The aim of the study is to gain an understanding of the concept of market orientation relative to the health library sector. A focus group was used to gather data from health librarians working at different levels in the sector. The data was coded and categorized by an expert panel and analysed using a taxonomic map developed during the study. Health library professionals define and understand market orientation in the same way as the concept is defined in the management literature. Their understanding of the concept is developing. A greater emphasis is given to some aspects of market orientation than others. There are implications for further research. Methods used to measure market orientation in other domains are likely to be relevant for libraries. Research should be extended to different sectors to explore any cross-sector differences. Fostering an organizational culture that supports market orientation has implications for service management and development.

Irrational Exuberance for Market-Based Reform: How Federal Turnaround Policies Thwart Democratic Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trujillo, Tina; Renée, Michelle

2015-01-01

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

Organizational Behavior in Education: Instructional Leadership and School Reform. Seventh Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Robert G.

This book concentrates on the connection between organizational behavior and the clamor for school reform, whether market-based, standards-based, or whole-school reform. It explains the great need for school leaders to develop a theory and practice that draws on what is known about organizational behavior in education. Educational leaders need a…

Complicating the Rhetoric: How Racial Construction Confounds Market-Based Reformers' Civil Rights Invocations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernández, Laura E.

2016-01-01

Reformers today maintain the use of civil rights rhetoric when advocating for policies that address educational inequity. While continuing the legacy of earlier civil rights activists, the leaders invoking this rhetoric and the educational platforms they promote differ greatly from previous decades. Not only does this new crop of reformers differ…

The Mediating Role of Textbooks in High-Stakes Assessment Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Ching Yin; Andrews, Stephen

2012-01-01

Whenever high-stakes assessment/curriculum reforms take place, new textbooks appear on the market. These textbooks inevitably play a significant mediating role in the implementation of any reform and on teaching and learning. This paper reports on a small-scale study which attempts to investigate the role of textbooks in the mediation of a…

Using a Science/Technology/Society Approach to Prepare Reform-Oriented Science Teachers: The Case of a Secondary Science Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dass, Pradeep M.

2005-01-01

Reformed preparation of science teachers is indeed vital for the vision of science teaching reform to be accomplished. Typically, a critical component of a preservice science teacher preparation program is the science teaching methods course. The usual intent of this course is to help preservice science students develop an understanding of various…

An Exploration of the Science Teaching Orientations of Indian Science Teachers in the Context of Curriculum Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nargund-Joshi, Vanashri

2012-01-01

This study explores the concepts and behaviors, otherwise referred to as "orientations", of six Indian science teachers and the alignment of these orientations to the 2005 India National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005). Differences in teachers' orientations across grade bands (elementary, middle, and secondary) and school types (public…

Views of collaboration among administrators and teachers involved in science education reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trax, Mark Francis

The purposes of this study were to investigate the perceptions of collaboration among administrators and teachers involved in science education reform, determine similarities and difference in perception among administrators and teachers, and examine the progress of district reform efforts in terms of reform recommendations advanced in the research literature. Naturalistic constructivist theory guided the generation of the instruments and the analysis of data. Instruments for this investigation included a questionnaire and structured surveys. Audio-taped responses to the surveys were transcribed and analyzed for patterns of interaction. Support for science teacher collaboration and science education reform depended on the district's overall organizational style (classified as top-down, bottom-up, or a combination of these two styles), was connected to the level of commitment of the sciences teachers and administrators interviewed, and was linked to the level of solidarity for that support among teachers and administrators in the district. Reform-oriented districts addressed resource allocation in ways that supported science education reform. Science teachers, identified as the agents for educational reform, facilitated the overall process by providing specific evidence in support of reform, recruiting teachers and administrators to a reform-oriented agenda, and creating close-knit cadres engaged in the reform process. District activities in support of science education reforms which reflect the overall school reform recommendations maintained their focus provided that such activities were monitored and adjusted to furnish opportunities to include all the district science teachers, utilized a committed cadre of science teachers that supported the overall recommendations, and facilitated the inclusion of all district staff in the overall process. For success, it is important for the staff in each district to identify a clear need and establish a high level of commitment to the reform before embarking on it. Involvement of the entire district staff in the processes of reform is vital if long-term educational reform and development is to occur. Strategies to develop a process of professional development need to be in concert with the recommendations of reform and applicable to the policies and philosophies of the particular school system.

Designing HIGH-COST medicine: hospital surveys, health planning, and the paradox of progressive reform.

PubMed

Perkins, Barbara Bridgman

2010-02-01

Inspired by social medicine, some progressive US health reforms have paradoxically reinforced a business model of high-cost medical delivery that does not match social needs. In analyzing the financial status of their areas' hospitals, for example, city-wide hospital surveys of the 1910s through 1930s sought to direct capital investments and, in so doing, control competition and markets. The 2 national health planning programs that ran from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s continued similar strategies of economic organization and management, as did the so-called market reforms that followed. Consequently, these reforms promoted large, extremely specialized, capital-intensive institutions and systems at the expense of less complex (and less costly) primary and chronic care. The current capital crisis may expose the lack of sustainability of such a model and open up new ideas and new ways to build health care designed to meet people's health needs.

The long shadow of the past: risk pooling and the political development of health care reform in the States.

PubMed

Chen, Anthony S; Weir, Margaret

2009-10-01

Why do the states seem to be pursuing different types of policy innovation in their health reform? Why so some seem to follow a "solidarity principle," while others seem guided by a commitment to "actuarial fairness"? Our analysis highlights the reciprocal influence of stakeholder mobilization and public policy over time. We find that early policy choices about how to achieve cost containment led the states down different paths of reform. In the 1970s and 1980s, states that featured oligopolistic or near-monopolistic markets for private insurance (usually dominated by Blue Cross) and strong urban-academic hospitals tended to adopt regulatory strategies for cost containment that led to broader forms of pooling and financing the costs of health risks--which subsequently positioned them to pursue major, solidaristic reform on favorable terms. On the other hand, states with competitive markets for private insurance and weak, decentralized hospitals tended to adopt market-based strategies for cost containment that led to the hypersegmentation of risk and the uneven financing of costs--thereby encouraging the proliferation of incremental policies that reinforce the principle of actuarial fairness. We illustrate our analysis with a brief comparison of Massachusetts and California, and we conclude with some thoughts on what our findings imply for the federal role in catalyzing health reform.

Opportunities and Challenges of Multinational Pharmaceutical Enterprises in Transforming Pharmaceutical Market in China.

PubMed

Hu, Linfeng; Yu, Zhong; Yuan, Qingwen; Hu, Yuanjia; Ung, Carolina Oi Lam

2018-01-01

The surging costs of health care in China is highly related to the high expenses in pharmaceutical costs. Since the Government of China launched the health care reform in 2009, the issue of growing pharmaceutical expenditure continues to grasp policy makers' attention. Since 2015, an ongoing series of drug-related policies have been revised or developed, resulting in profound impact on the overall pharmaceutical market in China, and the dynamic is still evolving. As China has become the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, any volatility in the Chinese pharmaceutical market may have great implications to multinational pharmaceutical markets that have had their products launched in China or plan to extend their business to the Chinese market. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the most recent health care reform policies in China, the objectives of this study were to identify the major opportunities appealed to and the challenges confronted by multinational pharmaceutical enterprises in the current Chinese pharmaceutical market.

Risk selection and risk adjustment: improving insurance in the individual and small group markets.

PubMed

Baicker, Katherine; Dow, William H

2009-01-01

Insurance market reforms face the key challenge of addressing the threat that risk selection poses to the availability, of stable, high-value insurance policies that provide long-term risk protection. Many of the strategies in use today fail to address this breakdown in risk pooling, and some even exacerbate it. Flexible risk adjustment schemes are a promising avenue for promoting market stability and limiting insurer cream-skimming, potentially providing greater benefits at lower cost. Reforms intended to increase insurance coverage and the value of care delivered will be much more effective if implemented in conjunction with policies that address these fundamental selection issues.

NHS market liberalisation and the TTIP agreement.

PubMed

Regan, Paul; Ball, Elaine

2016-07-01

Governments over the past three decades have undermined the founding principles of the NHS through reforms and market liberalisation. With greater involvement of commercial interests in health care, the NHS will become less democratic and transparent. Recent reforms, which were intended to improve productivity, quality and cost efficiency, have left the NHS exposed to the unwieldy model of market liberalisation and the attrition of public health care. The role of community nurses has been particularly destabilised by commissioning, as their work is difficult to measure. The advent of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could further undermine the NHS to the benefit of international commercial interests.

Teaching Adaptability of Object-Oriented Programming Language Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Xiao-dong

2012-01-01

The evolution of object-oriented programming languages includes update of their own versions, update of development environments, and reform of new languages upon old languages. In this paper, the evolution analysis of object-oriented programming languages is presented in term of the characters and development. The notion of adaptive teaching upon…

Millennium Graduates' Orientations to Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spronken-Smith, R. A.; Bond, C.; Buissink-Smith, N.; Grigg, G.

2009-01-01

This research examines graduates' orientations to higher education at the turn of the millennium. The focus is on "millennium graduates" since this cohort has experienced a time of radical reform in higher education. Twenty-four graduates were interviewed and four orientations to higher education were found: (A) gaining a qualification…

Professionals' perspectives on a market-inspired policy reform: A guiding light to the blind spots of measurement.

PubMed

Korlén, Sara; Amer-Wåhlin, Isis; Lindgren, Peter; von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica

2017-08-01

Implementation of market-inspired competition and incentive models in health care is increasing worldwide, assumed to drive efficiency. However, the evidence for effects is mixed and unintended consequences have been reported. There is a need to better understand the practical consequences of such reforms. The aim of the present case study is to explore what consequences of a Swedish market-inspired patient choice reform professionals identify as relevant, and why. The study was designed as an explorative qualitative study in specialized orthopedics. Nineteen interviews were conducted with health care professionals at different providers. Data were analyzed using a hypo-deductive thematic approach. Consequences for the organization of care, patients, work environment, education and research were included in the professionals' analyses, covering both the perspective of their own organization and that of the health care system as a whole. In sum, the professionals provided multiple-level analyses that extended beyond the responsibilities of their own organization. Concluding, professionals are a valuable source of knowledge when evaluating policy reforms. Their analyses can contribute by covering a broad system perspective, serving as a guiding light to areas beyond the most obvious evaluation measures that should be included in more formal evaluations.

Does the EU sugar policy reform increase added sugar consumption? An empirical evidence on the soft drink market.

PubMed

Bonnet, Céline; Requillart, Vincent

2011-09-01

Whereas National Health authorities recommend a decrease in the consumption of 'added' sugar, a reform on the sugar market will lead to a 36% decrease of the sugar price in the EU. Using French data on soft drinks purchases, this paper investigates the anticipated impact of this reform on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. The reform of the EU sugar policy leads to a decrease in regular soft drink prices by 3% and varies across brands. To assess substitution within this food category, we use a random-coefficients logit model that takes into account a large number of differentiated products and heterogeneity in consumers' behavior. Results suggest that price changes would lead to an increase in market shares of regular products by 7.5% and to substitutions between brands to the benefit of products with the highest sugar content. On the whole, it would raise consumption of regular soft drinks by more than 1 litre per person per year and consumption of added sugar by 124 g per person per year, this increase being larger in households composed of overweight and obese individuals. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New anti-rebate legislation in South Korea.

PubMed

Yu, Su-Yeon; Yang, Bong-Min; Kim, Jin-Hyun

2013-08-01

The South Korean Government recently announced a reform in the drug anti-rebate law, with the purpose of eradicating pervasive, unethical, and illegal rebate practices in pharmaceutical marketing. The main objective of this reform is to have the ability to bring criminal charges against doctors and pharmacists for receiving illegal kickbacks from drug companies. Previously, provision of illegal kickbacks by drug companies led to criminal punishment of the drug companies alone, leaving doctors and pharmacists unpunished as the recipients. With the introduction of the "Dual Punishment System (DPS)" reform, criminal punishment for illegal rebates is extended to those receiving illegal kickbacks. Although bitter controversy erupted among stakeholders when the reform was first drafted, a civic group participated in the reform process and effectively influenced the legislative process to a successful end. Some interim outcomes from the DPS in terms of bringing illegal practices to account have already been reported since the policy's implementation in November 2010. The reform background, goals, potential issues, and policy implications are explored in this study with the objective of providing further insight into drug policy for other countries that face similar challenges in the area of drug marketing.

Public sector reform and demand for human resources for health (HRH).

PubMed

Lethbridge, Jane

2004-11-23

This article considers some of the effects of health sector reform on human resources for health (HRH) in developing countries and countries in transition by examining the effect of fiscal reform and the introduction of decentralisation and market mechanisms to the health sector.Fiscal reform results in pressure to measure the staff outputs of the health sector. Financial decentralisation often leads to hospitals becoming "corporatised" institutions, operating with business principles but remaining in the public sector. The introduction of market mechanisms often involves the formation of an internal market within the health sector and market testing of different functions with the private sector. This has immediate implications for the employment of health workers in the public sector, because the public sector may reduce its workforce if services are purchased from other sectors or may introduce more short-term and temporary employment contracts.Decentralisation of budgets and administrative functions can affect the health sector, often in negative ways, by reducing resources available and confusing lines of accountability for health workers. Governance and regulation of health care, when delivered by both public and private providers, require new systems of regulation.The increase in private sector provision has led health workers to move to the private sector. For those remaining in the public sector, there are often worsening working conditions, a lack of employment security and dismantling of collective bargaining agreements.Human resource development is gradually being recognised as crucial to future reforms and the formulation of health policy. New information systems at local and regional level will be needed to collect data on human resources. New employment arrangements, strengthening organisational culture, training and continuing education will also be needed.

Competing strategically through market orientation.

PubMed

Rapert, M I; Yarbrough, L

1997-01-01

As organizations seek to better understand their customers, competitors, and environments, the marketing function effectively serves as the support mechanism for these activities in many industries. Accordingly, in many organizations the marketing concept has been elevated to the stature of a strategic weapon, manifested in the form of market orientation. Market-oriented firms emphasize the collection, organization, and dissemination of information regarding both customers and competitors. This strategy is especially well-suited for the health care industry where customer knowledge is of paramount importance, customer interaction is instantaneous, and customer satisfaction is essential. Results of a national study of general service hospitals suggest that firms which embrace a market orientation benefit through enhanced customer satisfaction and quality.

The Research of Software Engineering Curriculum Reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuang, Li-Qun; Han, Xie

With the problem that software engineering training can't meet the needs of the community, this paper analysis some outstanding reasons in software engineering curriculum teaching, such as old teaching contents, weak in practice and low quality of teachers etc. We propose the methods of teaching reform as guided by market demand, update the teaching content, optimize the teaching methods, reform the teaching practice, strengthen the teacher-student exchange and promote teachers and students together. We carried out the reform and explore positive and achieved the desired results.

Mental health system reform: a multi country comparison.

PubMed

Shera, Wes; Aviram, Uri; Healy, Bill; Ramon, Shula

2002-01-01

In recent years many countries have embarked on various types of health and mental health reform. These reforms have in large part been driven by governments' concerns for cost containment which has, in turn, been driven by an increasing process of global marketization and the need to control national deficits. A critical issue in these reforms is the increased emphasis on the use of "market mechanisms" in the delivery of health and mental health services. This paper uses a policy analysis framework to compare recent developments in the mental health sector in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia. The common framework to be used for this will focus on: the defining characteristics of the society; legislative mandate; sectorial location (within or separate from health sector); funding streams; organising values of the system; locus of service delivery; service technologies; the role of social work; interprofessional dynamics; the role of consumers; and evaluation of outcomes at multiple levels. This analysis provides an opportunity to explore similarities and differences in mental system reform and in particular identify the challenges for social work in the field of mental health in the 21st century.

Market-Based Reforms in Urban Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladd, Helen F.

This paper is for policymakers, advocates, and analysts who understand that the issues surrounding the introduction of more market-based mechanisms into education are complex and who accept the view that evidence is useful in sorting out the issues. It uses the market framework of demand, supply, and market pricing to organize the extensive but…

Pharmaceutical reform in South Korea and the lessons it provides.

PubMed

Kim, Hak-Ju; Ruger, Jennifer Prah

2008-01-01

Through implementation of its 2000 pharmaceutical reform, the South Korean government expected to reduce the cost of medications and improve service levels, medical appropriateness of care, and drug effectiveness. However, despite the reform's lofty goals, unintended consequences have distorted the supply of medical services and spending. These consequences have included increasing the use of uninsured services, prescribing high-price drugs, and a growing market share for multinational drug companies. Further reforms are needed to reduce the measure's adverse effects. This paper examines the Korean mandatory prescription system and offers an analysis of Korea's reforms.

Research on ERP Teaching Model Reform for Application-Oriented Talents Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fan, Chongjun; Zhang, Peng; Liu, Qin; Yang, Jianzheng; Xi, Wanyu

2011-01-01

Enterprise Resource Planning is one of the core courses of management. According to the educational characteristics of application-oriented talents training, this paper discussed the issues of ERP teaching for application-oriented talents training at present and proposed a number of ideas and strategies in the aspects of modifying the teaching…

A Democratic Vietnam; Not in the United States’ Core Interests

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

and human rights reform. There are two main reasons for this argument. First, economic reform and deregulation under the Doi Moi (Renovation...economic reform, deregulation of Vietnam’s growing capital market, and exposed Vietnamese society to western influences, the VCP has taken measures to...Security required a motorbike license, residence permit and proof of insurance for registration. 94 More controversially, the ministry also

A School for All or a School for the Labour Market? Analyzing the Goal Formulation of the 1991 Swedish Upper Secondary Education Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erikson, Josefina

2017-01-01

The 1991, Swedish upper secondary school reform presents internationally an unusual case of the far-reaching integration of academic and vocational programmes. It has often been claimed that late tracking, such as characterizes this reform, helps to reduce inequalities between different social classes. This article addresses the question of how…

Organizational Culture in Community Colleges: Connecting Market Orientation, Quality, and Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McManimon, Debra J.

2012-01-01

To enhance their competitive advantage in the marketplace, many business leaders develop market orientation strategies designed to increase customer engagement. These market orientation strategies include improvement in service delivery, relationship management, customer satisfaction, and quality control methods. There is a lack of understanding…

75 FR 31275 - Nectarines and Peaches Grown in California; Increased Assessment Rates

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-03

... Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing orders now in effect, California nectarine... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Parts 916 and 917 [Doc. No. AMS-FV... AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Final rule. [[Page 31276

Identifying common traits among Australian irrigators using cluster analysis.

PubMed

Kuehne, G; Bjornlund, H; Cheers, B

2008-01-01

In Australia there is a growing awareness that the over-allocation of water entitlements to irrigators needs to be reduced so that environmental flow allocations can be increased. This means that some water will need to be acquired from irrigators and returned to the environment. Most current water reform policies assume that irrigators are solely motivated by profit and will be willing sellers of water, but this might be an untenable approach. Authorities will need to consider new ways of encouraging the participation of irrigators in water reform. The main aim of this research was to identify the non-commercial influences acting on irrigators' behaviour, especially the influence of the values that they hold toward family, land, water, community and lifestyle. The study also aimed to investigate whether it is possible to group irrigators according to these values and then use the groupings to describe how these might affect their willingness to participate in environmental reforms. We clustered the irrigators into three groups with differing orientations; (i) Investors [25%]-profit oriented, (ii) Lifestylers [25%]-lifestyle oriented, (iii) Providers [50%]-family-succession oriented. This research indicates that when designing policy instruments to acquire water for environmental purposes policy-makers should pay more attention to the factors influencing irrigators' decision making, especially non-commercial factors. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

Healthcare reform in the United States and China: pharmaceutical market implications.

PubMed

Daemmrich, Arthur; Mohanty, Ansuman

2014-01-01

The United States and China are broadening health insurance coverage and increasing spending on pharmaceuticals, in contrast to other major economies that are reducing health spending and implementing a variety of drug price controls. This article analyzes the implications of health system reforms in the United States and China for national pharmaceutical markets. It follows a historical institutionalist approach that identifies path dependency in the design and operation of national health systems. On that basis, we estimate prescription sales for 2015 and 2020, analyze the sustainability of free-market pricing for drugs in the two countries, and assess future competitive dynamics in the pharmaceutical sector. The institutional trajectories of health system reform and insurance coverage were studied for the United States and China. Next, data were collected from government, industry, and analyst reports on total healthcare spending and prescription drug expenditure by insurance status (in the United States) and by site of care (in China). Simple quantitative models were developed to estimate future drug spending based on insurance coverage, treatment locations, and health spending as a percentage of GDP. Both countries will see rising total pharmaceutical spending and will be the two largest country markets for prescription drugs through at least 2020. In dollar terms, the U.S. pharmaceutical market will be over $440 billion in 2015 and $700 billion in 2020; China's prescription market will be over $155 billion in 2015 and grow further to $260 billion in 2020. In both countries, generics will increase their share of all prescriptions, but economic and structural incentives for new drug invention and brand-name prescribing by physicians will keep the share of patented drug sales high compared to countries with more direct government control over the pharmaceutical market. Expanding private insurance contributes to spending on branded drugs, since insurers compete for market share rather than cost savings. Health system reforms presently being enacted in the United States and China align to historical institutional trajectories in each country, but leave unresolved a core tension between incentives for new drug invention and universal access to affordable medicines.

Reforming the Belgian market for orthotic braces: what can we learn from the international experience?

PubMed

Simoens, Steven; De Coster, Sandra; Moldenaers, Ingrid; Guillaume, Paul; Depoorter, Antony; Van den Steen, Dirk; Van de Sande, Stefaan; Debruyne, Hans; Ramaekers, Dirk; Lona, Murielle

2008-05-01

This article aims to review regulation governing outpatient orthotic braces (neck, wrist and knee braces) in France, the Netherlands and Sweden with a view to reforming the Belgian market. Information about the regulatory framework was derived from an analysis of legal texts and a survey completed by national experts. Strategies to keep down prices include public procurement in Sweden, maximum prices in France, and exclusion of expensive braces from reimbursement in the Netherlands. Reimbursement is linked to a medical indication or a chronic condition in France, the Netherlands and Sweden. To gain reimbursement, the cost-effectiveness of orthotic braces needs to be demonstrated in France and the Netherlands. Orthotic braces tend to be initially prescribed by a specialist physician and distributed by orthotists, medical equipment shops and/or community pharmacies. Extensive government intervention exists in the outpatient orthotic brace market in the countries studied. Our recommendations to reform the Belgian market for prefabricated orthotic braces are to separate reimbursement for service provision from reimbursement for braces; to set prices by means of a tendering process or an international price comparison; and to make reimbursement conditional on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of braces.

[Reform of collective forest property in Liaoning Province: a discussion].

PubMed

Tai, Shan-shan; Hu, Yuan-man; Zhang, Hong-sheng; Han, Yu-ku; Xiao, Ze-chen

2010-05-01

The reform of collective forest property has increased the farmers' income, and brought new development to forestry. On the basis of expatiating the conception of collective forest property and related management system, this paper introduced in detail the course, main ways, and effects of the reform in Liaoning Province, analyzed the research progress of the reform and existing problems, and made appraisement and exceptions to the reform of collective forest property in Liaoning Province, aimed to give comments to the development and orientation of forward reform. In this province, the reform of collective forest property had the characteristics of classified reform, different reform types in different areas, and the main and affiliated reform being carried out at the same time. By the end of 2009, the main task had turned into affiliated reform. In the future, the reform should be focused on the optimal forestry management model to improve the forest economic, ecological, and social benefits, and using multi-disciplinary methods to strengthen the researches on the relationships between forestry management and forest ecological functions to provide scientific bases for the reform of collective forest property in Liaoning Province.

Market Orientation and Its Measurement in Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niculescu, Mihai; Xu, Bing; Hampton, Gerald M.; Peterson, Robin T.

2013-01-01

Historically, the measurement of market orientation has proved to be difficult, due to the low external validity of the concept. Existing scales exhibit acceptable properties in measuring market orientation in business organizations, but are less accurate in the context of higher education institutions. This paper compares the performance of three…

Learning from the Past. What History Teaches Us about School Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravitch, Diane, Ed.; Vinovskis, Maris A., Ed.

Reflecting a variety of intellectual and disciplinary orientations, this volume examines major changes in educational development and reform and considers how such changes have been implemented in the past. The material addresses questions of governance, equity and multiculturalism, curriculum standards, school choice. The book has four parts.…

Democratizing Higher Education and Access to Science: The Portuguese Reform 2006-2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heitor, Manuel; Horta, Hugo

2014-01-01

The democratization of higher education through strategically driven science policies and higher education reforms is documented in this paper. These represent complementary policy actions oriented towards strengthening social, cultural and economic dimensions that allow higher education institutions (HEIs) to grow and to train graduates able to…

The Indiana Science Initiative: Lessons from a Classroom Observation Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Nicole D.; Walker, William S.; Weaver, Gabriela C.; Sorge, Brandon H.

2015-01-01

The Indiana Science Initiative (ISI) is a systemic effort to reform K-8 science education. The program provides teachers with professional development, reform-oriented science modules, and materials support. To examine the impact of the initiative's professional development, a participant observation study was conducted in the program's pilot…

[Empirical study of the market orientation of veterinarians in The Netherlands].

PubMed

Schuurmans, A J; Smidts, A

1990-04-01

Linked to the theoretical framework of marketing in the veterinary practice, as explained in Schuurmans and Smidts (1) pp. 1-10 and Schuurmans and Smidts (2), an empirical research project has been undertaken. This research gives insight into the extent to which practices base their services on a marketing orientation. By means of telephone inquiries among a sample of 166 veterinarians, this was investigated. The research shows that veterinarians think more in a product-oriented way than in a market-oriented way, and they do not use all the opportunities a marketing orientation could bring to their services. This expresses itself, among others by not using market segmentation, by the inadequate use of the marketing mix elements communication and distribution, and by the fact that the opportunities of the marketing information system are hardly applied. By means of further research in individual practices it might be possible to give concrete advise fit for that practice. Research among the clients of the veterinarians might, beside many other kinds of research, also give valuable insights.

Maternity Leave and Mothers' Long-Term Sickness Absence: Evidence From West Germany.

PubMed

Guertzgen, Nicole; Hank, Karsten

2018-04-01

Exploiting unique German administrative data, we estimate the association between an expansion in maternity leave duration from two to six months in 1979 and mothers' postbirth long-term sickness absence over a period of three decades after childbirth. Adopting a difference-in-difference approach, we first assess the reform's labor market effects and, subsequently, prebirth and postbirth maternal long-term sickness absence, accounting for the potential role of the reform in mothers' selection into employment. Consistent with previous research, our estimates show that the leave extension caused mothers to significantly delay their return to work within the first year after childbirth. We then provide difference-in-difference estimates for the number and length of spells of long-term sickness absence among returned mothers. Our findings suggest that among those returned, mothers subject to the leave extension exhibit a higher incidence of long-term sickness absence compared with mothers who gave birth before the reform. This also holds true after we control for observable differences in prebirth illness histories. At the same time, we find no pronounced effects on mothers' medium-run labor market attachment following the short-run delay in return to work, which might rationalize a negative causal health effect. Breaking down the results by mothers' prebirth health status suggests that the higher incidence of long-term sickness absence among mothers subject to the reform may be explained by the fact that the reform facilitated the reentry of a negative health selection into the labor market.

Competition and Curriculum Diversity in Local Schooling Markets: Theory and Evidence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adnett, Nick; Davies, Peter

2000-01-01

Based on conventional economic analysis, increasing competitive pressures on schools should promote greater curricular innovation and diversity. The United Kingdom's experience suggests that market-based reforms can initially create pressures to increase curriculum conformity in local schooling markets. Innovation incentives are greatest for…

78 FR 21522 - Delegation of Authority To Disclose Confidential Information to a Contract Market, Registered...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-11

... information to self-regulatory organizations newly established in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer... contract market, registered futures association, or certain self-regulatory organizations.\\4\\ With this... Disclose Confidential Information to a Contract Market, Registered Futures Association or Self-Regulatory...

Exploration on teaching reform of theory curriculum for engineering specialties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yan; Shen, Wei-min; Shen, Chang-yu; Li, Chen-xia; Jing, Xu-feng; Lou, Jun; Shi, Yan; Jin, Shang-zhong

2017-08-01

The orientation of talents cultivation for local colleges is to train engineering application-oriented talents, so the exploration and practice on teaching reform of theory curriculum was carried out. We restructured the knowledge units basing on numerical solution problems, and chose the software to build algorithm models for improving the analytical and designed ability. Relying on micro video lessons platform, the teacher-student interaction was expanded from class to outside. Also, we programmed new experimental homework, which was suited for process evaluation. The new teaching mode has achieved good effect, and the students' application ability was significantly improved.

Significance of Marketing Practices for Work Force Preparation. National Marketing Education Research Conference (Key West, Florida, May 19-21, 1995).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

University of West Florida, Pensacola.

The following papers are included: "Concepts on Marketing Issues in the Czech Republic" (Anne Mills); "Requiring More of Teacher Preparation: Authentic Assessment as a Vehicle to Reform" (Laura J. Wyant); "A Delphi Study of Professional Competencies for the Secondary Marketing Educator" (Trellys A. Morris); "The…

Pushed, pulled, or blocked? The elderly and the labor market in post-Soviet Russia.

PubMed

Gerber, Theodore P; Radl, Jonas

2014-05-01

Russia provides an interesting context for studying the labor market experiences of the elderly because of its experience with market transition, its looming growth in the elderly dependency ratio, and its unusual pension policies that do not penalize pensioners for working. We use data from twenty surveys of the Russian population conducted from February 1991 to November 2007 to analyze the labor market participation and earnings of elderly Russians following market transition. Economic desperation, exacerbated by low pension levels, pushed some elderly to seek employment for income on the labor market. Elderly Russians with more education had more opportunities to work, and education differentials increased as market reforms progressed. The correlates of earnings operate similarly for retirement- and pre-retirement age Russians, with several exceptions: unobserved factors favoring employment are negatively associated with earnings for the elderly, occupation mediates most of the effects of education, and patterns of change over time differ somewhat. Elderly Russians are not disproportionately blocked from employment following market reforms. Following the initial transition shock, their labor market activity increased. Overall, both push and pull factors shape the employment and earnings of the elderly, affecting different segments of them. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Application of marketing strategies for the management of public hospitals from the viewpoint of the staff members].

PubMed

Riveros S, Jorge; Berné M, Carmen

2006-03-01

The implementation of the marketing strategies in public hospitals provides management advantages and improves the relationship between customers and staff. To analyze the application of marketing strategies in a public hospital, from the perspective of the staff. A structured survey that asked about perceptions in 50 items about communication between personnel and customers/users, customer satisfaction, participation in the development of new policies and incentives for efficiency was applied to a stratified sample of the staff. Factorial and regression analyses were performed to define the impact of marketing strategies on the degree of preoccupation and orientation of the organization towards the satisfaction of customer needs. The survey was applied to 74 males and 122 females. The survey showed that the orientation of the hospital towards the satisfaction of its beneficiaries basically depends on the generation of an organizational culture oriented towards them and the implementation of adequate policies in staff management and quality of service. These basic aspects can be accompanied with practices associated to the new marketing approaches such as a market orientation, customer orientation and relational marketing. All these factors presented positive and significant relations. New marketing strategies should be applied, to achieve an efficient and customer oriented hospital management.

Research on service strategy of electricity selling company under the reform of electricity market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Zhuhan; Meng, Shiyu; Dou, Jinyue; Zeng, Ming; Sun, Chenjun

2017-10-01

The opening of the sale side of electricity market is an important goal of the new round of power system reform in China, and it is necessary to speed up the establishment and development of the electricity selling companies to achieve this goal. First of all, this paper defines the key problems, which are needed to be solved in the establishment of the sale side market, such as demand side response, optimization of users' power consumption mode, profit mode of electricity selling companies and fair competition in the market. On this basis, this paper analyzes the business of electricity selling company, from the aspects of the transition of business ideas, improving the energy efficiency level, providing integrated energy solutions and innovating business management mode; and then, the service strategies of electricity selling companies are put forward.

Designing effective power sector reform: A road map for the republic of Georgia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurdgelashvili, Lado

Around the world, network utilities (i.e., electricity, natural gas, railway, telecommunications, and water supply industries) are undergoing major structural transformation. A new wave of market liberalization, together with rapid technological changes, has challenged the previously dominant monopoly organization of these industries. A global trend toward deregulation and restructuring is evident in countries at different levels of social and economic development. The challenges of transition from a monopolistic to an open market competitive structure are numerous. Understanding these problems and finding solutions are essential to successful restructuring. In developing countries and economies in transition (i.e., the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union), government-owned utilities are often considered to be highly inefficient. The dominant power sector restructuring strategies seek to promote economic efficiency through a gradual introduction of competition into the power sector. Five components of power sector reform are commonly proposed by the World Bank and others for these countries: commercialization, privatization, establishment of an independent regulatory agency, unbundling and gradual introduction of competition in generation and retail markets. The Republic of Georgia, like many economies in transition (e.g., Hungary, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) has followed this reform model. However, outcomes of the reform have not been as promised. The acute economic problems facing Georgia after it regained independence have compounded problems in the power sector. A review of Georgia's utility reforms reveals that the country has undertaken electricity industry restructuring without giving substantial consideration to the problems that these reforms might have created within the industry or society. The main task of this dissertation is to find the restructuring model, which can best serve economic, social and environmental goals under circumstances similar to those in economies of transition. The dissertation provides a guide for policy makers in the energy sector for implementing power sector reform. At first the dissertation offers a general overview of different models of power sector organization, regulatory frameworks and market arrangements, and the potential impact of reform on social welfare. This knowledge is then applied for analysis of power sector reform in the Republic of Georgia. Social welfare analysis (SWA) is a major analytical tool used in the research for assessing the potential impacts of different power sector organization models on various stakeholders. Through the research it was identified that power industry arrangements in different countries have their particularities; however, after some level of simplification, power sector organization models can fit into one of three broad categories: (1) Government control and regulation of generation and retail segments of the power industry. (2) Full scale competition in the generation segment and retail choice. (3) Partial government control of the generation segment and limited retail choice. For SWA of different power market arrangement scenarios, electricity supply and demand curves had to be derived; for this purpose electricity demand forecasting and power supply evaluation methodologies were developed. This dissertation combines SWA, accepted demand forecasting methods and established power supply evaluation techniques to assess power sector performance under specified policy scenarios relevant to the circumstances of economies in transition such as the Republic of Georgia. Detailed analyses are performed for understanding possible outcomes with the introduction of different reform models. In addition, specific options for incorporating sustainable energy alternatives in the energy planning process are identified and assessed in economic, environmental and social terms. Special attention is given to market-based instruments for promoting sustainable energy options (e.g., renewable portfolio standards, energy conservation and energy efficiency programs) and social policies (e.g., lifeline rates, local employment). Results obtained from the detailed analysis of policy options for Georgia guide recommendations for a reform of the power sector.

"Was Lietz padagogisch erstrebte, hat Hitler politisch durchgesetzt". Schulreformerische Traditionen und nationalsozialistische Schulpolitik in Thuringen" ("The Pedagogical Intentions of Lietz Were Enforced Politically by Hitler". Traditions of School Reform and National Socialist School Policy in Thuringia).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesanovsky, Werner

1998-01-01

Inquires of the regional effects of National Socialist school policy, using as an example Thuringia (Germany), the educational landscape of which is traditionally characterized by reform-oriented institutions. Reveals how streamlining of reform schools and instruction from the top and self-streamlining from the bottom ran parallel after 1933. (CMK)

Reformation of PURPA contracts: Strategies for success in power marketing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scalzo, P.J.

With the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, real competition entered into the world of electric utilities. A slide presentations is given on reformation of Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) Contracts for success in power marketing strategies. Two ways to compete: Be the least cost provider or add value and `sell hard`. The PURPA vision was to increase efficiency in power generation, utilize renewable or waste fuels, and bolster the independent producers. Cogenerators and small power producers qualified. Utility planners predicted, avoided cost, utility loads, and oil and gas prices to increase. However, avoided costs, and oilmore » and gase prices declined. Two scenarios are discussed for contract reformation: Contract buyouts, and renegotiation of contracts. Options for for dealing with existing fuel agreements are presented.« less

Designing HIGH-COST Medicine Hospital Surveys, Health Planning, and the Paradox of Progressive Reform

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Inspired by social medicine, some progressive US health reforms have paradoxically reinforced a business model of high-cost medical delivery that does not match social needs. In analyzing the financial status of their areas’ hospitals, for example, city-wide hospital surveys of the 1910s through 1930s sought to direct capital investments and, in so doing, control competition and markets. The 2 national health planning programs that ran from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s continued similar strategies of economic organization and management, as did the so-called market reforms that followed. Consequently, these reforms promoted large, extremely specialized, capital-intensive institutions and systems at the expense of less complex (and less costly) primary and chronic care. The current capital crisis may expose the lack of sustainability of such a model and open up new ideas and new ways to build health care designed to meet people's health needs. PMID:20019312

Costs and coverage. Pressures toward health care reform.

PubMed Central

Lee, P R; Soffel, D; Luft, H S

1992-01-01

Signs of discontent with the health care system are growing. Calls for health care reform are largely motivated by the continued increase in health care costs and the large number of people without adequate health insurance. For the past 20 years, health care spending has risen at rates higher than the gross national product. As many as 35 million people are without health insurance. As proposals for health care reform are developed, it is useful to understand the roots of the cost problem. Causes of spiraling health care costs include "market failure" in the health care market, expansion in technology, excessive administrative costs, unnecessary care and defensive medicine, increased patient complexity, excess capacity within the health care system, and low productivity. Attempts to control costs, by the federal government for the Medicare program and then by the private sector, have to date been mostly unsuccessful. New proposals for health care reform are proliferating, and important changes in the health care system are likely. PMID:1441510

[Public sector and social and health policy reforms. An inventory on the eve of the new millennium].

PubMed

Gerschman, S

1999-01-01

This study reflects on reforms in health systems and social policies within the framework of the so-called public sector reforms. The point of departure is a review of various explanations for the crisis in the Welfare State, present in the literature from the 1990s. Social policies, at the heart of the crisis, are heavily challenged. What we intend to demonstrate is that this argument plays a specific role, that of introducing neoliberal changes into economic policy, in which the economic tools used generate abstention by the state from the social sphere, deregulation of national economies in favor of the free market, and the fundamentally oversized role of the international financial market. Within this context we analyze the social security and health system reforms. The final part of the article deals with current difficulties in social policies, focusing the debate on a mapping of possible alternatives for developing social and health policies.

The Impact of Market Orientation on Patient Safety Climate Among Hospital Nurses.

PubMed

Weng, Rhay-Hung; Chen, Jung-Chien; Pong, Li-Jung; Chen, Li-Mei; Lin, Tzu-Chi

2016-03-01

Improving market orientation and patient safety have become the key concerns of nursing management. For nurses, establishing a patient safety climate is the key to enhancing nursing quality. This study explores how market orientation affects the climate of patient safety among hospital nurses. We proposed adopting a cross-sectional research design and using questionnaires to collect responses from nurses working in two Taiwanese hospitals. Three-hundred and forty-three valid samples were obtained. Multiple regression and path analyses were conducted to test the study. Market orientation was defined as the combination of customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination. Customer orientation directly affects the climate of patient safety. Although the findings only supported Hypothesis 1, competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination positively affected the patient safety climate through the mediating effects of hospital support for staff. Health care managers could encourage nurses to adopt customer-oriented perspectives to enhance their nursing care. In addition, to enhance competitor orientation, interfunctional coordination, and the patient safety climate, hospital managers could strengthen their support for staff members. © The Author(s) 2014.

75 FR 67607 - Dried Prunes Produced in California; Increased Assessment Rate

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-03

... Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, California dried prune... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 993 [Doc. No. AMS-FV-10-0057... Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule increases the assessment rate established...

75 FR 22211 - Olives Grown in California; Increased Assessment Rate

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-28

... Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, California olive... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 932 [Doc. No. AMS-FV-09-0089; FV10-932-1 FR] Olives Grown in California; Increased Assessment Rate AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing...

Marketing Education on a Shoestring: A Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shreeve, William; And Others

Few educators envision themselves as marketing or public relations experts, yet economic reality is forcing many academicians into these roles. Over the past four years, the Eastern Washington University Department of Education has developed a successful marketing model for educators. The model begins with a successful reform of department…

75 FR 75953 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-07

... it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Agricultural Marketing Service Title: Reporting and... Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 518) eliminated price supports and marketing quotas for all.... Agricultural Marketing Service Title: USDA Food Connect Web site. OMB Control Number: 0581-0224. Summary of...

Electricity market liberalization under the power of customer value evaluation and service model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Hong Kun; Wang, Jiang Bo; Song, Da Wei

2018-06-01

After the power reform No. 9 was released in March 2015, the state officially released the Opinions on the Implementation of the Reform on the Power Sales Side. From this document, we can see that the openness of sales of social capital to the electricity business, the sales side of the market competition through multiple ways to train the main competitors, the result is more users have the right to choose, sales service quality and user energy levels will significantly improve. With the gradual promotion of the electricity sales market, the national electricity sales companies have been established one after another. In addition to power grid outside the power generation companies, energy-saving service companies and distributed power companies may become the main selling power, while industrial parks, commercial complex, large residential area, industrial and commercial users, large industrial users in the new electricity demand appearing The new changes, some power customers have also self-built distributed power supply, installation of energy storage devices or equipment to participate in the transformation of the electricity market. The main body of the electricity sales market has gradually evolved from the traditional electricity generation main body to the multi-unit main body and emerged new value points. Therefore, the electricity sales companies need to establish a power customer value evaluation method and service mode to adapt to the new electricity reform, Provide supportive decision support.

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amdur, Liron; Bertke, Elke; Freese, Jan; Marggraf, Rainer

2011-05-01

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public's preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments' contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use.

Agri-environmental policy measures in Israel: the potential of using market-oriented instruments.

PubMed

Amdur, Liron; Bertke, Elke; Freese, Jan; Marggraf, Rainer

2011-05-01

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public's preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments' contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use.

"Wuwei" (Non-Action) Philosophy and Actions: Rethinking "Actions" in School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moon, Seungho

2015-01-01

This inquiry aims to enrich conversation regarding school reform. The author asks about what other discourses are possible when the action-oriented question of how to "act" is a major approach to "fix" current educational problems. Drawing from Taoist philosophy of "wuwei" (non-action), the author provides a frame to…

South African Curriculum Reform: Education for Active Citizenship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Juliana; Arendse, Agnetha

2016-01-01

The changing societal context in South Africa (SA) has necessitated curriculum reform to deal with the challenges of education, from apartheid to democracy, with the aim of promoting active citizenship education. The aim of the paper is thus to illuminate to what extent the Grade 11 Life Orientation (LO) curriculum prepares learners for active…

Promoting Curriculum Reforms in the Context of a Political Transition: An Analysis of Hong Kong's Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Paul

2002-01-01

Analyzes creation and implementation of Hong Kong's Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC), an education reform effort, in light of the country's transition to Chinese rule in 1997. Examines TOC's origins, its nature, means of implementation, and its impact. Discusses tension between "policy intent" and "policy actions," and…

The Need to Introduce System Thinking in Teaching Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roychoudhury, Anita; Shepardson, Daniel P.; Hirsch, Andrew; Niyogi, Devdutta; Mehta, Jignesh; Top, Sara

2017-01-01

Research related to teaching climate change, system thinking, current reform in science education, and the research on reform-oriented assessment indicate that we need to explore student understanding in greater detail instead of only testing for an incremental gain in disciplinary knowledge. Using open-ended items we assessed details in student…

Ghana's Education Reform 2007: A Realistic Proposition or a Crisis of Vision?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuyini, Ahmed Bawa

2013-01-01

Ghana's recent "Education Reform 2007" envisions a system that strives to achieve both domestic and internationally-oriented goals emanating (1) from the Education for All (EFA) initiative, (2) from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and (3) from global trends in education. Emboldened by the implementation of…

Freedom and School Choice in American Education. Education Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forster, Greg, Ed.; Thompson, C. Bradley, Ed.

2011-01-01

Leading intellectual figures in the school reform movement, all of them favoring approaches centered around the value of competition and choice, outline different visions for the goal of choice-oriented educational reform and the best means for achieving it. This volume takes the reader inside the movement to empower parents with choice, airing…

Renewing America's Progress: A Positive Solution to School Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genck, Fredric H.

This book was designed to help citizens evaluate and improve their local schools. It contends that the solution to the potential end of America's progress is through positive school reform--the public management of schools. It presents a system of participative and results-oriented management that is implemented by boards, administrators, and…

Workplace Reform and TAFE: Four Case Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayton, Geoff; Loveder, Philip

To meet new market requirements and respond to increasing international competition, enterprises in Australia are introducing competitive strategies involving workplace reform. Many enterprises are adopting a strategy for change that is focused on human resource development rather than on technology. A four-phase model of development for an…

The Dilemmas of Educational Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, David K.; Spillane, James P.; Peurach, Donald J.

2018-01-01

The environment of U.S. schools has changed dramatically over a quarter century as standards tied to test-based accountability and market competition became commonplace. We examine the issues that school systems face in this changing environment, to identify considerations for researchers interested in reform as educational system building. We…

Property rights and water markets in Australia: An evolutionary process toward institutional reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pigram, John J.

1993-04-01

In the past decade far-reaching reforms have taken place in the Australian water industry. Extensive restructuring of water administration has been accompanied by increased evidence of willingness by public agencies to consider alternative institutional arrangements to the traditional regulatory approach to water allocation and use. In irrigated agriculture, a market-based system linked to enforceable property rights to water is seen as preferable to rule-based management of water resources. However, significant social and economic considerations and political realities constrain the unfettered operation of water markets. The challenge facing the irrigation industry in Australia is to put in place institutional arrangements which reflect the most appropriate mix of incentive-based and regulatory mechanisms for water management.

Economic transition and health transition: comparing China and Russia.

PubMed

Liu, Y; Rao, K; Fei, J

1998-05-01

Drawing on experiences from China and Russia (the world's two largest transitional economies), this paper empirically examines the impact of economic reforms on health status. While China's overall health status continued to improve after the economic reform, Russia experienced a serious deterioration in its population health. The observed differences in health performance between China and Russia can be explained by the different impacts of economic reforms on three major socioeconomic determinants of health. Depending on whether or not the reform improves physical environment (as reflected in income level and nutritional status), social environment (including social stability and security system), and health care, we would observe either a positive or a negative net effect on health. Despite remarkable differences in overall health development, China and Russia share some common problems. Mental and social health problems such as suicides and alcohol poisoning have been on the rise in both countries. These problems were much more serious in Russia, where political and social instability was more pronounced, associated with Russia's relatively radical reform process. With their economies moving toward a free market system, health sectors in China and Russia are undergoing marketization, which has had serious detrimental effect on the public health services.

Market reform and universal coverage: avoid market failure.

PubMed

Enthoven, A

1993-02-01

Determining the marketing mix for hospitals, especially those in transition, will require critical analysis to guard against market failure. Managed competition requires careful planning and awareness of pricing components in a free-market situation. Alain Enthoven, writing for the Jackson Hole Group, proposes establishment of a new national system of sponsor organizations--Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives--to function as a collective purchasing agent on behalf of small employers and individuals.

The Impact of Dealing with the Late Effects of National Socialist Terror on West German Psychiatric Care.

PubMed

Söhner, Felicitas; Baader, Gerhard

2018-06-01

Health damages and the late effects of NS trauma were largely ignored in German-speaking countries. This paper describes how dealing with the late effects of Nazi terror influenced post-war psychiatry in West Germany and thus the development of the psychiatric reform. As part of a greater overview study of the impulses and framework conditions of the reform-orientated development of post-war psychiatry in West Germany, this analysis is based on a thorough literary and documentary analysis. The sources show that publications by Helmut Paul and Herberg [81] as well as Baeyer et al. [12] can be considered as remarkable milestones. The awareness of psychological late effects of NS persecution was only reluctantly taken up by the scientific community. Nevertheless, this discussion was an essential component of the reform-orientated psychiatry in West Germany in the late 1960s to 1970s.

A post-1990s assessment of strategic hospital alliances and their marketplace orientations: time to refocus.

PubMed

Olden, Peter C; Roggenkamp, Susan D; Luke, Roice D

2002-01-01

In past years, many SHAs formed in local urban markets to better compete for managed care contracts. In response to 1990s forces, these SHAs appear to have adapted product, production, and selling orientations to their markets, aimed at large institutional purchasers of health care. However, health care markets have evolved differently than anticipated. SHAs and their hospitals should now adopt the marketing orientation and focus more on patients and enrollees.

Performance-oriented: toward a successful strategy.

PubMed

Kumar, K; Subramanian, R; Yauger, C

1997-01-01

Changes in the health care industry have profoundly affected hospital management and have caused severe declines in hospital profitability. In 1993, Health Care Management Review reported that the average operating profit margin, around 2% in 1984, had declined to a 0.2% loss by 1990. In the past, hospitals were buffered by entry regulations and cost reimbursement; thus, they rarely dealt with traditional market pressures. But the changed terrain means that competitive factors now underscore all strategic decisions. This study examines the strategic significance of market orientation in the health care industry. The authors identified forms of market orientation by emphasizing different components, and discovered that hospitals fell into four distinct clusters or groups. They also found a critical relationship between market orientation and performance scores on a number of criteria. Finally, the authors suggest that different forms of market orientation should be employed to target specific performance measures.

Hospital marketing orientation and managed care processes: are they coordinated?

PubMed

White, K R; Thompson, J M; Patel, U B

2001-01-01

The hospital marketing function has been widely adopted as a way to learn about markets, attract sufficient resources, develop appropriate services, and communicate the availability of such goods to those who may be able to purchase such services. The structure, tasks, and effectiveness of the marketing function have been the subject of increased inquiry by researchers and practitioners alike. A specific understanding of hospital marketing in a growing managed care environment and the relationship between marketing and managed care processes in hospitals is a growing concern. Using Kotler and Clarke's framework for assessing marketing orientation, we examined the marketing orientation of hospitals in a single state at two points in time--1993 and 1999. Study findings show that the overall marketing orientation score decreased from 1993 to 1999 for the respondent hospitals. The five elements of the Kotler and Clarke definition of marketing orientation remained relatively stable, with slightly lower scores related to customer philosophy. In addition, we evaluated the degree to which selected managed care activities are carried out as part of its marketing function. A significant (p < .05) decrease in managed care processes coordinated with the formal marketing function was evident from 1993 to 1999. With increasing numbers of managed care plan enrollees, hospitals are likely focusing on organizational buyers as important customers. In order to appeal to organizational buyers, hospital executives may be focusing more on clinical quality and cost efficiency in the production of services, which will improve a hospital's position with organizational buyers.

On a hiding to nothing? Assessing the corporate governance of hospital and health services in New Zealand 1993-1998.

PubMed

Barnett, P; Perkins, R; Powell, M

2001-01-01

In New Zealand the governance of public sector hospital and health services has changed significantly over the past decade. For most of the century hospitals had been funded by central government grants but run by locally elected boards. In 1989 a reforming Labour government restructured health services along managerialist lines, including changing governance structures so that some area health board members were government appointments, with the balance elected by the community. More market oriented reform under a new National government abolished this arrangement and introduced (1993) a corporate approach to the management of hospitals and related services. The hospitals were established as limited liability companies under the Companies Act. This was an explicitly corporate model and, although there was some modification of arrangements following the election of a more politically moderate centre-right coalition government in 1996, the corporate model was largely retained. Although significant changes occurred again after the election of a Labour government in 1999, the corporate governance experience in New Zealand health services is one from which lessons can, nevertheless, be learnt. This paper examines aspects of the performance and process of corporate governance arrangements for public sector health services in New Zealand, 1993-1998.

Conceptual framework of public health surveillance and action and its application in health sector reform.

PubMed

McNabb, Scott J N; Chungong, Stella; Ryan, Mike; Wuhib, Tadesse; Nsubuga, Peter; Alemu, Wondi; Carande-Kulis, Vilma; Rodier, Guenael

2002-01-01

Because both public health surveillance and action are crucial, the authors initiated meetings at regional and national levels to assess and reform surveillance and action systems. These meetings emphasized improved epidemic preparedness, epidemic response, and highlighted standardized assessment and reform. To standardize assessments, the authors designed a conceptual framework for surveillance and action that categorized the framework into eight core and four support activities, measured with indicators. In application, country-level reformers measure both the presence and performance of the six core activities comprising public health surveillance (detection, registration, reporting, confirmation, analyses, and feedback) and acute (epidemic-type) and planned (management-type) responses composing the two core activities of public health action. Four support activities - communications, supervision, training, and resource provision - enable these eight core processes. National, multiple systems can then be concurrently assessed at each level for effectiveness, technical efficiency, and cost. This approach permits a cost analysis, highlights areas amenable to integration, and provides focused intervention. The final public health model becomes a district-focused, action-oriented integration of core and support activities with enhanced effectiveness, technical efficiency, and cost savings. This reform approach leads to sustained capacity development by an empowerment strategy defined as facilitated, process-oriented action steps transforming staff and the system.

"Liberalizing" the English National Health Service: background and risks to healthcare entitlement.

PubMed

Filippon, Jonathan; Giovanella, Ligia; Konder, Mariana; Pollock, Allyson M

2016-08-29

The recent reform of the English National Health Service (NHS) through the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 introduced important changes in the organization, management, and provision of public health services in England. This study aims to analyze the NHS reforms in the historical context of predominance of neoliberal theories since 1980 and to discuss the "liberalization" of the NHS. The study identifies and analyzes three phases: (i) gradual ideological and theoretical substitution (1979-1990) - transition from professional and health logic to management and commercial logic; (ii) bureaucracy and incipient market (1991-2004) - structuring of the bureaucracy focused on administration of the internal market and expansion of pro-market measures; and (iii) opening to the market, fragmentation, and discontinuity of services (2005-2012) - weakening of the territorial health model and consolidation of health as an open market for public and private providers. This gradual but constant liberalization has closed services and restricted access, jeopardizing the system's comprehensiveness, equity, and universal healthcare entitlement in the NHS.

Curriculum Orientations of Pre-Service Teachers in Jordan: A Required Reform Initiative for Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashour, Rateb; Khasawneh, Samer; Abu-Alruz, Jamal; Alsharqawi, Subhi

2012-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the curriculum orientations of pre-service teachers at a university in Jordan. Rigorous translation procedures were utilized to validate an Arabic version of the Curriculum Orientation Inventory (COI) for use in Jordan. The validated COI was administered to a sample of 259 pre-service teachers who…

Student-centered and ability training-oriented curriculum reform in teaching Microcontroller Principles and Interface Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoping; Cai, Peijun; Liu, Yuling; Wang, Liqiang; Liang, Yiyong

2017-08-01

Courses are an important way of cultivating talents in college education. Advanced training schemes and the course system are implemented through course teaching. Advanced teaching notions and methods also rely on course teaching. Therefore, the quality of course teaching is the fundamental guarantor for grooming talent. The teachers of the course "Microcontroller Principles and Interface Techniques" in the Optical Science and Engineering College of Zhejiang University insist on course teaching becoming student centered and ability-training-oriented. They pay attention to students'all-round development in terms of learning ability, practical ability, innovation ability, and exploring spirit. They actively carried out course reforms in four aspects, namely teaching, learning, evaluation, and experimentation. This paper mainly introduced these reforms. First, the teaching method was reformed by introducing case analysis and the notion of a flipped classroom to shift the course focus from the teacher to the students. Second, the learning method was reformed through the use of techniques such as peer learning and project design to promote students' sense of enquiry and learning initiative. Third, the evaluation method was reformed through the use of process assessment and diversity evaluation to encourage students to develop logical thinking and a down-to-earth manner. Fourth, the experimentation method was reformed by introducing hierarchical content, process management, and diversification of examination to change students'learning attitude from "dependence, passivity, and imitation" to "independence, active involvement, and creation."In general, the teaching method reform promoted reforms in learning, evaluation, and experimentation methods and further improved the style of study. These reforms improved teachers' teaching abilities and enabled course teaching to transform from being teacher centered to student centered. Years of exploration and practice results have shown that such reforms not only effectively inspire students to learn, explore, and practice actively, but also cultivate their creative spirit and courage to face challenges, providing a good platform for theirself-learning and personal growth. The course reforms discussed here have been highly recommended for their reference value.

Schooling Reforms in England: From Quasi-Markets to Co-Opetition?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adnett, Nick; Davies, Peter

2003-01-01

Economic analysis of the impact of recent schooling reforms in England designed to promote competition or cooperation between schools. Outlines the theoretical relationships between school competition and cooperation and school effectiveness. Briefly describes the development of policy in England and analyzes the interaction between the incentives…

Between Efficiency, Capability and Recognition: Competing Epistemes in Global Governance Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Jennifer

2007-01-01

This article examines global governance reforms as a site of contestation between three different "truths"/epistemes (the market, human rights principles, and cultural identity) in terms of the competing principles of efficiency, capability, and recognition. Nancy Fraser's conceptions of participation parity and a dialogical approach of…

Subnational Opposition to Globalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almeida, Paul

2012-01-01

Using a unique dataset on the geographic distribution of reported protest events from local sources, the study explains the variation in community-level mobilization in response to neoliberal reforms in two countries in the global periphery. Building on insights from macro, cross-national studies of protests related to market reforms, this article…

China Update: Economic Reforms and Political Realities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eaton, Jana Sackman

1999-01-01

Illustrates that China has been undergoing an unprecedented rapidity of change. Discusses the high unemployment rates, job markets, reform movements, differences in economic equality, the role of the National People's Congress, and the changing political climate. Reveals that freedom is subtly beginning to permeate the lives of Chinese citizens.…

Rents From the Essential Health Benefits Mandate of Health Insurance Reform.

PubMed

Mendoza, Roger Lee

2015-01-01

The essential health benefits mandate constitutes one of the most controversial health care reforms introduced under the U.S. Affordable Care Act of 2010. It bears important theoretical and practical implications for health care risk and insurance management. These essential health benefits are examined in this study from a rent-seeking perspective, particularly in terms of three interrelated questions: Is there an economic rationale for standardized, minimum health care coverage? How is the scope of essential health services and treatments determined? What are the attendant and incidental costs and benefits of such determination/s? Rents offer ample incentives to business interests to expend considerable resources for health care marketing, particularly when policy processes are open to contestation. Welfare losses inevitably arise from these incentives. We rely on five case studies to illustrate why and how rents are created, assigned, extracted, and dissipated in equilibrium. We also demonstrate why rents depend on persuasive marketing and the bargained decisions of regulators and rentiers, as conditioned by the Tullock paradox. Insights on the intertwining issues of consumer choice, health care marketing, and insurance reform are offered by way of conclusion.

Potential for using indigenous pigs in subsistence-oriented and market-oriented small-scale farming systems of Southern Africa.

PubMed

Madzimure, James; Chimonyo, Michael; Zander, Kerstin K; Dzama, Kennedy

2013-01-01

Indigenous pigs in South Africa are a source of food and economic autonomy for people in rural small-scale farming systems. The objective of the study was to assess the potential of indigenous pigs for improving communal farmer's livelihoods and to inform policy-makers about the conservation of indigenous pigs. Data were collected from 186 small-scale subsistence-oriented households and 102 small-scale market-oriented households using interviews and direct observations. Ninety-three percent of subsistence-oriented and 82 % of market-oriented households kept indigenous pigs such as Windsnyer, Kolbroek and non-descript crosses with exotic pigs mainly for selling, consumption and investment. Farmers in both production systems named diseases and parasites, followed by feed shortages, inbreeding and abortions as major constraints for pig production. Diseases and parasites were more likely to be a constraint to pig production in subsistence-oriented systems, for households where the head was not staying at home and for older farmers. Market-oriented farmers ranked productive traits such as fast growth rate, good meat quality and decent litter size as most important selection criteria for pig breeding stock, while subsistence-oriented farmers ranked good meat quality first, followed by decent growth rate and by low feed costs. We conclude that there is high potential for using indigenous pigs in subsistence-oriented production systems and for crossbreeding of indigenous pigs with imported breeds in market-oriented systems.

Labour-Market Orientation and Approaches to Studying--A Study of the First "Bologna Students" at a Swedish Regional University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Anders; Sandberg, Mikael

2017-01-01

This study investigated labour-market orientations of students at a Swedish University with a dual/diverse focus on vocational/academic objectives. The aim was to investigate whether and how levels of students' labour-market orientation vary with social background, change during the study period, and are related to approaches to studying and…

Hospital response to the legalization of abortion in New York State: an analysis of program innovation.

PubMed

Miller, J

1979-12-01

The reorientation of hospital services in the state of New York to accommodate women's constitutional right to elective abortion was investigated. Market and resource constraints, the social orientations of the organization, and the values of physicians were examined in the effort to evaluate hospital response between 1971 and 1973. Analysis indicates that program innovation in obstetrical and gynecological services to include elective abortion was inhibited by economic factors that generally determined the feasibility of diverting finite resources to a new service and social orientations and values that determined the compatibility of elective abortions with the dominant values underlying hospital operations. The reform of New York abortion statutes and the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court reiterating the right of women to terminate pregnancy failed to standardize the delivery of health care so that individual rights to service could be obtained everywhere in the state. The social changes ultimately realized through legislative and judicial action were essentially conditional upon the responsiveness of local health care providers. Legal action that failed to specifically address the administrative role of hospitals in social change qualified local access and could not be completely effective in legitimizing the redefinition of abortion in society.

Business and Marketing Education Programs in Georgia: Focus Groups Examine Issues for Program Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Womble, Myra J.; Adams, J. Elaine; Stitt-Gohdes, Wanda L.

2000-01-01

Focus groups with 25 business and 18 marketing teachers and 6 business/industry representatives elicited the following opinions: the primary purpose of business/marketing education is work force preparation; dedicated faculty and administrative support are ideal features; a strong voice for vocational education is needed; and important skill areas…

Food for Thought: Building a High-Quality School Choice Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillon, Erin

2009-01-01

Although the for-profit retail and nonprofit education markets are not identical, many of the strategies used by reformers to improve markets for banking and food services could nonetheless benefit public education. As district and community leaders, charter school authorizers, and policymakers expand the marketplace of schools, they would be…

76 FR 21620 - Grapes Grown in Designated Area of Southeastern California; Increased Assessment Rate

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-18

... Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, grape handlers in a... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 925 [Doc. No. AMS-FV-10-0104... AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule increases the...

78 FR 1715 - Grapes Grown in Designated Area of Southeastern California; Increased Assessment Rate

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-09

... Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect, grape handlers in a... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 925 [Doc. No. AMS-FV-11-0090... AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule increases the...

Contracts, Choice, and Customer Service: Marketization and Public Engagement in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cucchiara, Maia Bloomfield; Gold, Eva; Simon, Elaine

2011-01-01

Background/Context: Market models of school reform are having a major impact on school districts across the country. While scholars have examined many aspects of this process, we know far less about the general effects of marketization on public participation in education and local education politics. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of…

Developing Relationships with School Customers: The Role of Market Orientation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poole, Sonja Martin

2017-01-01

Purpose: While the role of relationship marketing to consumers' overall satisfaction with schools has been discussed in the education management literature, empirical studies on the marketing mechanisms that underpin school-customer relationships are limited. The purpose of this paper is to establish the association between market orientation (MO)…

Benefiting from Customer and Competitor Knowledge: A Market-Based Approach to Organizational Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoe, Siu Loon

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the organizational learning, market orientation and learning orientation concepts, highlight the importance of market knowledge to organizational learning and recommend ways in adopting a market-based approach to organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: The extant organizational learning…

Export Market Orientation Behavior of Universities: The British Scenario

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asaad, Yousra; Melewar, T. C.; Cohen, Geraldine

2015-01-01

This study seeks to extend our knowledge of export market orientation (EMO) in the context of British universities with regard to recruitment of international students. Export marketing remains an area of limited focus in the marketization of higher education literature. The study predominantly follows a quantitative research design using survey…

Class and Parents' Agency in West Virginia: Between Choices and Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherfinski, Melissa

2013-01-01

Universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) is a popular reform in West Virginia, offering part-time readiness-oriented instruction for four-year-olds and some three-year-olds with special needs. The reform joins public school sites and community partners (private preschool and/or Head Start resources) in the goal of pre-kindergarten for all eligible…

New Schools of the People: New Orientations in Reform and Research in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canieso-Doronila, Maria Luisa

Emergent reforms in education in the formal and nonformal sectors in the Philippines are changing the answers to traditional research questions and ways in which educational research will be carried out. Informal education is the ongoing process of transmission of knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes by a society to its youth. Formal education…

Investigating Teacher Learning Supports in High School Biology Curricular Programs to Inform the Design of Educative Curriculum Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyer, Carrie J.; Delgado, Cesar; Davis, Elizabeth A.; Krajcik, Joseph

2009-01-01

Reform efforts have emphasized the need to support teachers' learning about reform-oriented practices. Educative curriculum materials are one potential vehicle for promoting teacher learning about these practices. Educative curriculum materials include supports that are intended to promote both student "and" teacher learning. However, little is…

Health reform through tax reform: a primer.

PubMed

Furman, Jason

2008-01-01

Tax incentives for employer-sponsored insurance and other medical spending cost about $200 billion annually and have pervasive effects on coverage and costs. This paper surveys a range of proposals to reform health care, either by adding new tax incentives or by limiting or replacing the existing tax incentives. Replacing the current tax preference for insurance with an income-related, refundable tax credit has the potential to expand coverage and reduce inefficient spending at no net federal cost. But such an approach by itself would entail substantial risks, so complementary reforms to the insurance market are essential to ensure success.

Greek economic crisis and health care reforms: correcting the wrong prescription.

PubMed

Niakas, Dimitris

2013-01-01

In an era of economic crisis in Greece and with many uninsured citizens, the Troika (lenders of Greece) suggests reforms and promotes the internal market, resulting in a public-private system becoming more privatized. This article contradicts these proposals and attempts to suggest the necessary reforms to achieve equity of access for all and to promote efficiency, taking into account the existing needs of the population and the recession of the Greek economy.

Development of voluntary private health insurance in Nordic countries - An exploratory study on country-specific contextual factors.

PubMed

Tynkkynen, Liina-Kaisa; Alexandersen, Nina; Kaarbøe, Oddvar; Anell, Anders; Lehto, Juhani; Vrangbӕk, Karsten

2018-03-16

The Nordic countries are healthcare systems with tax-based financing and ambitions for universal access to comprehensive services. This implies that distribution of healthcare resources should be based on individual needs, not on the ability to pay. Despite this ideological orientation, significant expansion in voluntary private health insurance (VPHI) contracts has occurred in recent decades. The development and role of VPHIs are different across the Nordic countries. Complementary VPHI plays a significant role in Denmark and in Finland. Supplementary VPHI is prominent in Norway and Sweden. The aim of this paper is to explore drivers behind the developments of the VPHI markets in the Nordic countries. We analyze the developments in terms of the following aspects: the performance of the statutory system (real or perceived), lack of coverage in certain areas of healthcare, governmental interventions or inability to reform the system, policy trends and the general socio-cultural environment, and policy responses to voting behavior or lobbying by certain interest groups. It seems that the early developments in VPHI markets have been an answer to the gaps in the national health systems created by institutional contexts, political decisions, and cultural interpretations on the functioning of the system. However, once the market is created it introduces new dynamics that have less to do with gaps and inflexibilities and more with cultural factors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

From heterogeneity to harmonization? Recent trends in European health policy.

PubMed

Gerlinger, Thomas; Urban, Hans-Jürgen

2007-01-01

In the European Union (EU), health policy and the institutional reform of health systems have been treated primarily as national affairs, and health care systems within the EU thus differ considerably. However, the health policy field is undergoing a dynamic process of Europeanization. This process is stimulated by the orientation towards a more competitive economy, recently inaugurated and known as the Lisbon Strategy, while the regulatory requirements of the European Economic and Monetary Union are stimulating the Europeanization of health policy. In addition, the so-called open method of coordination, representing a new mode of regulation within the European multi-level system, is applied increasingly to the health policy area. Diverse trends are thus emerging. While the Lisbon Strategy goes along with a strategic upgrading of health policy more generally, health policy is increasingly used to strengthen economic competitiveness. Pressure on Member States is expected to increase to contain costs and promote market-based health care provision.

[Cost-benefit analysis to substituting natural gas for coal project in large Chinese cities].

PubMed

Mao, Xianqiang; Peng, Yingdeng; Guo, Xiurui

2002-09-01

Since China's large cities were faced with serious coal-smoke pollution with PM10 and SO2 as the main pollutants, natural gas is becoming one of the most attractive clean replacers of coal. To clarify the wide disputation and doubt on the rationality of burning natural gas instead of coal, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of urban natural gas substitution projects in Beijing and Chongqing was done respectively, in which, the health benefit was carefully estimated with epidemical dose-response function as the main external benefit. The final result shows that in large cities with intensively concentrated population and economic activities, natural gas consumption as municipal civil energy has obvious priority in terms of large environmental benefit from reducing non-point and low-altitude air pollutant concentration. This paper finally recommends that market oriented system reform in natural gas production and retailing system should be considered.

Redefining private insurance in a changing market structure.

PubMed

Chollet, D J

1996-01-01

This discussion on likely changes and challenges for the health insurance industry over the coming decade assumes that significant national reform of health care financing for the privately insured population will not occur--or, if it does, that it will mirror the insurance market reforms that many states already have undertaken. First, the changes in private insurance coverage during the past several years are considered, with particular attention to the erosion of employer-based coverage and to the rising influence of public insurance programs--especially Medicaid--on the private insurance market. Next is a description of the changing web of state laws and regulations governing private health insurance. At this writing, virtually every state has enacted or is considering reforms of the small group market to limit what many perceive as unfair or destructive insurer practices and to set new ground rules for competition among insurance arrangements. The changing nature of private insurance contracts in the United States is considered next. Evolving from conventional fee-for-service contracts, private insurance is increasingly a complex mixture of capitation, partial capitation, and reinsurance of capitated arrangements. Finally, this chapter discusses three issues of increasing importance in shaping the marketplace for private insurers: (1) the federal preemption of states' regulatory authority over self-insured employer plans; (2) emerging state regulation to restructure competition in the health insurance and health care markets; and (3) the growing interest of both federal and state governments in medical savings accounts to finance health insurance and health care spending.

Socialized medicine: a solution to the cost crisis in health care in the United States.

PubMed

Himmelstein, D U; Woolhandler, S

1986-01-01

Despite growing concern with cost containment, most health policy analysts have ignored vast potential savings on medically irrelevant spending for excess administration, profits, high physician incomes, marketing, and legal involvement in medicine. Indeed, many recent reforms encourage administrative hypertrophy, entrepreneurialism and litigation. A universal national health program could abolish billing and consequently the need for much of the administrative apparatus of health care, and decrease spending for profits and marketing. In this article we analyze the administrative savings that could be realized from instituting a Canadian-style national health insurance program or a national health service similar to that in Britain, and the potential savings from additional reforms to curtail profits, marketing and litigation. Our calculations based on 1983 data suggest that national health insurance would save $42.6 billion annually: $29.2 billion on health administration and insurance overhead, $4.9 billion on profits, $3.9 billion on marketing, and $4.6 billion on physician's incomes. A national health service would save $65.8 billion: $38.4 billion on health administration and insurance overhead, $4.9 billion on profits, $3.9 billion on marketing, and $18.6 billion on physician's incomes. Complete nationalization of all health related industries and reform of the malpractice system would save at least $87.2 billion per year. We conclude that a national health program, in addition to improving access to health care for the oppressed, could achieve cost containment without rationing of care.

Educational Decentralization and Behavior Change Needs in Indonesia. Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Joseph

This working paper examines behavior change as a key element in creating an enabling environment to sustain educational reform in Indonesia. It recommends elevating the importance of a formalized behavior change framework and methodology so that future plans for educational reform in Indonesia will include social marketing as a planned…

Changes in Thought on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maoyuan, Pan

2007-01-01

The reforms and developments of China's higher education at a time when it faces two great challenges--the world's science/technology revolution and China's social market economy--are, on the whole, replete with achievements and fraught with difficulties and show great changes, but they are unbalanced. Everyone feels that these reforms and…

The End of Public Schools? The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hursh, David

2017-01-01

In this speech, Hursh shows how public education in the United States is undergoing profound changes. Education policy has been hijacked by the unelected and unaccountable corporate reformers who aspire to overhaul the education system through a corporate model of privatization and market competition. They aim to privatize education through…

Austrian Higher Education Meets the Knowledge Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pechar, Hans

2004-01-01

Austria has gone through two cycles of university reforms since the 1960s. The first aimed to open the universities to social and labour market demand and to make their structures more democratic and flexible. The second reform cycle dealt with glitches in the overly close relationship between universities and state bureaucracy. Bureaucrats still…

School Finance Reform: Do Equalized Expenditures Imply Equalized Teacher Salaries?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streams, Meg; Butler, J. S.; Cowen, Joshua; Fowles, Jacob; Toma, Eugenia F.

2011-01-01

Kentucky is a poor, relatively rural state that contrasts greatly with the relatively urban and wealthy states typically the subject of education studies employing large-scale administrative data. For this reason, Kentucky's experience of major school finance and curricular reform is highly salient for understanding teacher labor market dynamics.…

The Transformation of Higher Education in Vietnam after DoiMoi: A Story of "Dualism"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tran, Hien

2009-01-01

This research was undertaken to investigate the transformation of higher education reform in Vietnam since "DoiMoi," which involves examining its rationale and practical implementation. The reform reveals an interesting picture of Vietnam's higher education system, in which two development visions--a "market-led" vision and a…

Incorporation of National Universities in Japan Design, Implementation and Consequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaneko, Motohisa

2009-01-01

As of April 1 of 2004, Japanese national universities became National University Corporations (NUCs hereafter). While the reform was implemented in a wave of initiatives for restructuring government activities, it reflected to an extent the current global trend toward marketization of higher education. Examination of this reform will not only help…

Gender, School Management and Educational Reforms: A Case Study of a Primary School in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Anita Kit-wa

2004-01-01

Across the globe, many countries have incorporated new managerialism and marketization to reform their education systems. Feminist studies have already pointed out that these changes are gendered and masculinized and have documented their impacts on women teachers in secondary, higher and further education. Yet interestingly, while primary…

Democratic School Turnarounds: Pursuing Equity and Learning from Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trujillo, Tina; Renée, Michelle

2013-01-01

the report "Democratic School Turnarounds" considers the democratic tensions inherent in the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) policy's market-based school reforms and critiques the research base that many of these reforms are based on. It concludes with a set of recommendations that re-center the purposes of public education…

Institutional Repositories: Faculty Deposits, Marketing, and the Reform of Scholarly Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jantz, Ronald C.; Wilson, Myoung C.

2008-01-01

This study explores faculty deposits in institutional repositories (IR) within selected disciplines and identifies the diverse navigational paths to IR sites from library Web site homepages. The statistical relationship between the development of an IR and the presence of a Web site dedicated to the reform of traditional scholarly communication is…

Between Competition Imperative and Europeanisation: The Case of Higher Education Reform in Poland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dakowska, Dorota

2015-01-01

While the Europeanisation of Higher Education (HE) systems has triggered much debate, the relationship between European factors and domestic economic processes, has been less thoroughly analysed. This article analyses HE reforms in the light of two parallel processes, which have shaped this sector: the introduction of market mechanisms and a…

Vocational Education and Training Reform: Matching Skills to Markets and Budgets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gill, Indermit S., Ed.; Fluitman, Fred, Ed.; Dar, Amit, Ed.

This book contains 19 papers from a study of vocational education and training (VET) in 19 countries with different economic situations (transition economies, high-growth economies, low-growth economies). The papers focus on the following issues addressed in the study: (1) the countries' experiences in reforming national VET policies; (2)…

Teach for All: Storytelling "Shared Solutions" and Scaling Global Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmann, Chloe

2015-01-01

"Teach For All" is a global network of state-based organizations that translate "Teach For America's" market model of school reform into moral projects of nation-building abroad. Referring to this challenge as one of "scaling" the organization, its leaders elaborate a theory of change that hinges on replicability: in…

Labor Markets in the Rural South: A Study Based on Four Rural Southern Counties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, John F.; And Others

Focusing on the factors inhibiting the labor market's adjustment to economic change, the study examined the economic and social problems facing southern rural areas and populations, including Chicanos and migrants. Factors were in the areas of the labor market behavior, income and earnings, poverty, welfare system and welfare reform, manpower…

77 FR 70400 - Reform of Rules and Policies on Foreign Carrier Entry Into the U.S. Telecommunications Market

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-26

... of Rules and Policies on Foreign Carrier Entry Into the U.S. Telecommunications Market AGENCY... telecommunications services and facilities under section 214 of Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the ``Act... affiliates of foreign carriers for entry into the U.S. market for international telecommunications services...

Marketing a managed care plan: achieving product differentiation.

PubMed

Romeo, N C

1996-01-01

The health care marketplace is changing dramatically, even without federal reform measures. This is a volatile, yet promising, time to market a managed care plan. Before marketing the product, it is critical that the competition is thoroughly evaluated and consumer and employer needs are researched. The final product should be distinguishable from the competition and address market needs. Promotion can then begin, utilizing a proactive public relations and advertising campaign in addition to traditional methods of marketing.

Describing Physics Student Teachers' Orientations through Lesson Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karal, Isik Saliha

2017-01-01

Recent educational reforms realized in teacher education programs (TEPs) and secondary physics syllabus were aimed at placing the learning and teaching approaches in a constructivist framework. For this reason, student teachers in pre-service TEPs are expected to develop orientations adopting student-centred teaching approaches. The purpose of…

Analysis of Private Sector Care Reform Authorities and Savings

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

contractors/carriers offering competing health plans in a given market area. This attribute is key to ensuring the carriers focus on the preferences of...contractor to compete and evolve its suite of tools as the market changes and conditions vary across markets . Many federal (civilian) healthcare...PSC would target the contracting mechanisms DoD uses to purchase PSC and the incentives within healthcare markets that these contracting mechanisms

Water markets as a vehicle for reforming water resource allocation in the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crase, Lin; Pagan, Phil; Dollery, Brian

2004-08-01

Water trade and the establishment of water markets continue to gain popularity among legislators as a vehicle for progressing the reform of the water resources sector in Australia. This has manifested itself at the most recent meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, where a range of changes to address the declining health of inland rivers included the strengthening of water property rights. These views appear to be premised on the belief that nonattenuated water rights are a prerequisite for maximizing the productive benefits of water and are broadly in line with notions often derived from neoclassical market theory. However, in spite of the apparent faith in the market mechanism, there is a growing literature illustrating the limitations of the market framework in the context of water resource management. Accordingly, there would appear to be grounds for a more cautious approach that recognizes the potential for market failures to emerge. This article explores the present growth of water markets and the legislative background that circumscribes them in the Murray-Darling Basin. Recognizing the constraints imposed by the status quo, this study then examines the implications of stronger property rights for entitlement holders and the use of water markets in the context of the goals assigned to Australian water managers.

Marketing foods to children through product packaging: prolific, unhealthy and misleading.

PubMed

Mehta, Kaye; Phillips, Clare; Ward, Paul; Coveney, John; Handsley, Elizabeth; Carter, Patricia

2012-09-01

To investigate marketing techniques used on the packaging of child-oriented products sold through supermarkets. Food and beverage products which met criteria for 'marketed to children' were recorded as child-oriented. The products were analysed for food categories, nutritional value, and type and extent of marketing techniques used. A major supermarket chain in Adelaide, South Australia. Child-oriented food and beverage products. One hundred and fifty-seven discrete products were marketed to children via product packaging; most (75·2 %) represented non-core foods, being high in fat or sugar. Many marketing techniques (more than sixteen unique marketing techniques) were used to promote child-oriented food products. Claims about health and nutrition were found on 55·5 % of non-core foods. A median of 6·43 marketing techniques per product was found. The high volume and power of marketing non-core foods to children via product packaging in supermarkets should be of concern to policy makers wanting to improve children's diet for their health and to tackle childhood obesity. Claims about health or nutrition on non-core foods deserve urgent attention owing to their potential to mislead and confuse child and adult consumers.

The Problems and Some Suggestions in the Current System Reform of Teacher Education in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Tian-ping

2011-01-01

Thanks to China's reform and opening to the world over the last three decades, the conventional normal education system, which is characterized by independent orientation, is now being challenged by a comprehensive and multi-faceted modern teacher education system that has taken shape. It is high time that we attached great significance to the…

European energy policy impact on the creation of legal and structural basis for the development of competitive markets of electricity in Poland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zerka, M.

1998-07-01

The main objective of this presentation is to describe the current reform of the Polish electric power sector being under the transition from a state-owned and controlled system to the broadly liberalized, competitive and market-oriented industry structure. The Polish electric power system integration with Western European systems (UCPTE) in 1995, and the process of Poland accession to EU brings closer the issue of international competition, which the sector must be ready to face very soon. In the context of Polish aspiration for membership in the European Union, the electric power sector has many attributes that give one grounds to assumemore » that it is capable of meeting challenges posed by integration and may also facilitate the indispensable transformation in other areas of the Polish economy. Among the most important attributes the following should be mentioned: the implementation of new competition-promoting Energy Law determining the separation of three functions (creation of energy policy, regulation and ownership activities); implementation of the principle of regulated third party access to the grid ensuring the complete deregulation of electricity market; restructuring of the electric power sector with transparent determination of functioning of electric power sub sectors : generation, transmission and distribution; electricity market organization (determination of the position of PSE SA as the future Transmission System Operator and Pool Operator); determination of principles for the development of electricity generation sub sector with licensing procedures; co-operation with UCPTE and the development of co-operation within the CENTREL group (new CENTREL ad hoc group on hadronization of electricity markets).« less

Nursing home performance under case-mix reimbursement: responding to heavy-care incentives and market changes.

PubMed Central

Davis, M A; Freeman, J W; Kirby, E C

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of case mix-adjusted reimbursement policy and market factors on nursing home performance. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Data from Medicaid certification inspection surveys, Medicaid cost reports, and the Kentucky State Center for Health Statistics for the years 1989 and 1991, to examine changes in nursing home performance stemming from the adoption of case mix-adjusted reimbursement in 1990. STUDY DESIGN: In addition to cross-sectional regressions, a first-difference approach to fixed-effects regression analyses was employed to control for facility differences that were essentially fixed during the survey years and to estimate the effects of time-varying predictors on changes in facility expenditures, efficiency, and profitability. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Facilities that increased the proportion of Medicaid residents and eliminated excess capacity experienced higher profitability gains during the beginning phase of case-mix reimbursement. Having a heavy-care resident population was positively related to expenditures prior to reimbursement reform, and it was negatively related to expenditures after the case-mix reimbursement policy was introduced. While facility-level changes in case mix had no reliable influence on costs or profits, nursing homes showing an increased prevalence of poor-quality nursing practices exhibited increases in efficiency and profitability. At the market level, reductions in excess or empty nursing home beds were accompanied by a significant growth in home health services. Moreover, nursing homes located in markets with expanding home health services exhibited higher increases in costs per case-mix unit. CONCLUSIONS: Characteristics of the reimbursement system appear to reward a cost minimization orientation with potentially detrimental effects on quality of care. These effects, exacerbated by a supply-constrained market, may be mitigated by policies that encourage the expansion of home health service availability. PMID:9776938

Nursing home performance under case-mix reimbursement: responding to heavy-care incentives and market changes.

PubMed

Davis, M A; Freeman, J W; Kirby, E C

1998-10-01

To examine the effect of case mix-adjusted reimbursement policy and market factors on nursing home performance. Data from Medicaid certification inspection surveys, Medicaid cost reports, and the Kentucky State Center for Health Statistics for the years 1989 and 1991, to examine changes in nursing home performance stemming from the adoption of case mix-adjusted reimbursement in 1990. In addition to cross-sectional regressions, a first-difference approach to fixed-effects regression analyses was employed to control for facility differences that were essentially fixed during the survey years and to estimate the effects of time-varying predictors on changes in facility expenditures, efficiency, and profitability. Facilities that increased the proportion of Medicaid residents and eliminated excess capacity experienced higher profitability gains during the beginning phase of case-mix reimbursement. Having a heavy-care resident population was positively related to expenditures prior to reimbursement reform, and it was negatively related to expenditures after the case-mix reimbursement policy was introduced. While facility-level changes in case mix had no reliable influence on costs or profits, nursing homes showing an increased prevalence of poor-quality nursing practices exhibited increases in efficiency and profitability. At the market level, reductions in excess or empty nursing home beds were accompanied by a significant growth in home health services. Moreover, nursing homes located in markets with expanding home health services exhibited higher increases in costs per case-mix unit. Characteristics of the reimbursement system appear to reward a cost minimization orientation with potentially detrimental effects on quality of care. These effects, exacerbated by a supply-constrained market, may be mitigated by policies that encourage the expansion of home health service availability.

An Examination of the Changes in Science Teaching Orientations and Technology-Enhanced Tools for Student Learning in the Context of Professional Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Todd; Zuwallack, Rebecca; Longhurst, Max; Shelton, Brett E.; Wolf, Paul G.

2014-07-01

This research examines how science teaching orientations and beliefs about technology-enhanced tools change over time in professional development (PD). The primary data sources for this study came from learning journals of 8 eighth grade science teachers at the beginning and conclusion of a year of PD. Based on the analysis completed, Information Transmission (IT) and Struggling with Standards-Based Reform (SSBR) profiles were found at the beginning of the PD, while SSBR and Standards-Based Reform (SBR) profiles were identified at the conclusion of PD. All profiles exhibited Vision I beliefs about the goals and purposes for science education, while only the SBR profile exhibited Vision II goals and purposes for science teaching. The IT profile demonstrated naïve or unrevealed beliefs about the nature of science, while the SSBR and SBR profiles had more sophisticated beliefs in this area. The IT profile was grounded in more teacher-centered beliefs about science teaching and learning as the other two profiles revealed more student-centered beliefs. While no beliefs about technology-enhanced tools were found for the IT profile, these were found for the other two profiles. Our findings suggest promising implications for (a) Roberts' Vision II as a central support for reform efforts, (b) situating technology-enhanced tools within the beliefs about science teaching and learning dimension of science teaching orientations, and (c) revealing how teacher orientations develop as a result of PD.

Beauty and the beast: Aligning national curriculum standards with state (high school) graduation requirements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Linder-Scholer, B.

1994-12-31

An overview of SCI/MATH/MN - Minnesota`s standards-based, systemic approach to the reform and improvement of the K-12 science and mathematics education delivery system - is offered as an illustration of the challenges of aligning state educational practices with the national curriculum standards, and as a model for business involvement in state educational policy issues that will enable fundamental, across-the-system reform. SCI/MATH/MN illustrates the major challenges involved in developing a statewide vision for math and science education reform, articulating frameworks aligned with the national standards, building capacity for system-oriented change at the local level, and involving business in systemic reform.

Oriented Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Few-Layers Graphene as Highly Active Catalyst for Aqueous-Phase Reforming of Ethylene Glycol.

PubMed

Esteve-Adell, Iván; Bakker, Nadia; Primo, Ana; Hensen, Emiel; García, Hermenegildo

2016-12-14

Pt nanoparticles (NPs) strongly grafted on few-layers graphene (G) have been prepared by pyrolysis under inert atmosphere at 900 °C of chitosan films (70-120 nm thickness) containing adsorbed H 2 PtCl 6 . Preferential orientation of exposed Pt facets was assessed by X-ray diffraction of films having high Pt loading where the 111 and 222 diffraction lines were observed and also by SEM imaging comparing elemental Pt mapping with the image of the 111 oriented particles. Characterization techniques allow determination of the Pt content (from 45 ng to 1 μg cm -2 , depending on the preparation conditions), particle size distribution (9 ± 2 nm), and thickness of the films (12-20 nm). Oriented Pt NPs on G exhibit at least 2 orders of magnitude higher catalytic activity for aqueous-phase reforming of ethylene glycol to H 2 and CO 2 compared to analogous samples of randomly oriented Pt NPs supported on preformed graphene. Oriented [Formula: see text]/fl-G undergoes deactivation upon reuse, the most probable cause being Pt particle growth, probably due to the presence of high concentrations of carboxylic acids acting as mobilizing agents during the course of the reaction.

A taxonomy of green supply chain management capability among electronics-related manufacturing firms in Taiwan.

PubMed

Shang, Kuo-Chung; Lu, Chin-Shan; Li, Shaorui

2010-05-01

This study investigated crucial green supply chain management (GSCM) capability dimensions and firm performance based on electronics-related manufacturing firms in Taiwan. On the basis of a factor analysis, six green supply chain management dimensions were identified: green manufacturing and packaging, environmental participation, green marketing, green suppliers, green stock, and green eco-design. According to their factor scores in the GSCM dimensions, a cluster analysis subsequently assigned responding firms into four groups, namely, the weak GSCM oriented group, the green marketing oriented group, the green supplier oriented group, and the green stock oriented group. Differences in firm performance and GSCM dimensions among groups were examined. Results indicated that the green marketing oriented group performed best. Based on the resource-based view (RBV), the capability of the green marketing oriented group was considered to be the deployment of a collection of resources that enables it to successfully compete against rivals. The importance of green marketing as a GSCM capability and strategic asset/critical resources for electronics-related manufacturing firms to obtain a competitive edge is therefore highlighted in this study. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Native Competition and Low-Skilled Immigrant Inflows*

PubMed Central

Cadena, Brian C.

2014-01-01

This paper demonstrates that immigration decisions depend on local labor market conditions by documenting the change in low-skilled immigrant inflows in response to supply increases among the US-born. Using pre-reform welfare participation rates as an instrument for changes in native labor supply, I find that immigrants competing with native entrants systematically prefer cities with smaller supply shocks. The extent of the response is substantial: for each native woman working due to reform, 0.5 fewer female immigrants enter the local labor force. These results provide direct evidence that international migration flows tend to equilibrate returns across US local labor markets. PMID:25308997

Key findings from HSC's 2010 site visits: health care markets weather economic downturn, brace for health reform.

PubMed

Felland, Laurie E; Grossman, Joy M; Tu, Ha T

2011-05-01

Lingering fallout--loss of jobs and employer coverage--from the great recession slowed demand for health care services but did little to slow aggressive competition by dominant hospital systems for well-insured patients, according to key findings from the Center for Studying Health System Change's (HSC) 2010 site visits to 12 nationally representative metropolitan communities. Hospitals with significant market clout continued to command high payment rate increases from private insurers, and tighter hospital-physician alignment heightened concerns about growing provider market power. High and rising premiums led to increasing employer adoption of consumer-driven health plans and continued increases in patient cost sharing, but the broader movement to educate and engage consumers in care decisions did not keep pace. State and local budget deficits led to some funding cuts for safety net providers, but an influx of federal stimulus funds increased support to community health centers and shored up Medicaid programs, allowing many people who lost private insurance because of job losses to remain covered. Hospitals, physicians and insurers generally viewed health reform coverage expansions favorably, but all worried about protecting revenues as reform requirements phase in.

75 FR 26749 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Notice of Technical Conference

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-12

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RM10-13-000] Credit Reforms... conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (EDT), in the Commission Meeting Room at the Federal Energy... to attend. The conference is free and no registration is necessary. Further notices with detailed...

75 FR 20991 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets; Notice of Technical Conference

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-22

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RM10-13-000] Credit Reforms... conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (EDT), in the Commission Meeting Room at the Federal Energy... to attend. The conference is free and no registration is necessary. Further notices with detailed...

Changing Course on School Reform: Strategic Organizing around the New York City Mayoral Election

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Easton, Billy

2014-01-01

New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, represents a dramatic shift from his predecessor Michael Bloomberg in the area of education. Bloomberg was a national trendsetter on market reforms focused on privatization, testing, and competition. De Blasio was elected on an agenda of classroom investments, student supports, parent and community…

Negotiating the Landscape: The Path to Employment for Individuals with Disabilities in the TANF System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timmons, Jaimie Ciulla; Foley, Susan; Whitney-Thomas, Jean; Green, Joseph; Casey, Judi

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined the impact of welfare reform on individuals with disabilities in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. New welfare reforms required individuals to develop marketable skills and acceptable work behaviors and move along a path to employment. For individuals with disabilities in the Temporary…

The Gendered Consequences of Unemployment Insurance Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooi-Reci, Irma; Mills, Melinda

2012-01-01

This study examines whether a series of unemployment insurance benefit reforms that took place over a 20-year period in the Netherlands had a gendered effect on the duration of unemployment and labor market outcomes. Using longitudinal data from the Dutch Labor Supply Panel (OSA) over the period 1980-2000, and adopting a quasi-experimental design,…

Redefining the "Public": Neoliberalism and the Corporate Appropriation of Public Education in Los Angeles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tate, Eliza

2017-01-01

This study examines how the discourse of the crisis and failing of public education creates space for the legitimization and deployment of neoliberal logic of education reform based on free market principles specifically in Los Angeles. It utilizes Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how these discourses and logic of neoliberal reform are…

Portraits of Innovative Vocational Schools in South Eastern Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oldroyd, David, Ed.; Nielsen, Soren, Ed.

2010-01-01

The reform of South Eastern European country vocational education and training (VET) systems has been underway for more than a decade. Initially major efforts focused on reforming the curricula of the vocational schools and training centres to align them better with the rapidly changing needs of the labour market and society. Later the focus moved…

Employment and Access to On-the-Job Training of Chinese Women. Verhandelingen No. 47.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kan, Feng Min

This paper investigates the change in women workers' position in the labor market in China since economic reforms were started 10 years ago. The reforms which granted enterprises more decision-making power and caused the Chinese government to stop subsidizing maternity leave, time off for breast feeding, and nursery school, resulted in enterprises…

School Choice and the Decision-Making of School Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalmar, William F., Jr.

2014-01-01

Almost since the time public schools first opened in the United States there have been those seeking to reform them. One of the most persistent cries for reform has been the call to apply the free market economic model of competition through consumer choice on the public school system. Schools, consumer choice supporters posit, when faced with the…

Social Policy Reforms and Daughters' Schooling in Vietnam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belanger, Daniele; Liu, Jianye

2004-01-01

Vietnam's social policy reforms in the transition to a market economy included the introduction of fees for primary and secondary school in the late 1980s. Using data from the Viet Nam Living Standards Surveys, this paper examines how the increasing costs of education to households have impacted on school enrollment between 1993 and 1998, giving…

The Hub and the Spokes: Foundations, Intermediary Organizations, Incentivist Reforms, and the Politics of Research Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Janelle; Jabbar, Huriya

2014-01-01

The rise in the influence of and spending by educational philanthropists and foundations over the past two decades, especially in the area of market-based reforms, such as charter schools, vouchers, and merit pay, is evident across the United States. Largely due to philanthropic investments, relatively new educational intermediary organizations…

Equality, Inclusion and Marketization of Nordic Education: Introductory Notes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundahl, Lisbeth

2016-01-01

The concept of a Nordic model of education is sometimes used to refer to the considerable similarities of education reforms and systems of the five Nordic countries (i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) during the second half of the 20th century--reforms that aimed at social justice, equality and cohesion not least by providing…

Educational Reforms and Marketization in Norway--A Challenge to the Tradition of the Social Democratic, Inclusive School?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helgøy, Ingrid; Homme, Anne

2016-01-01

A social democratic, egalitarian public sector and a corporatist political economy have been strong, distinctive and enduring characteristics of Norwegian education. However, this article demonstrates that the education sector has experienced a period of rapid and extensive implementation of New Public Management (NPM) reforms and post-NPM reforms…

JPRS Report, China.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-10-28

Markets [TIGAI XINXI No 14] ......................................... 28 Cotton Purchases Increased To Stabilize Supply [CHINA DAILY 14 Oct...workable measures, and they have received in markets . After 10 years of reform, an over- begun to take action in accordance with the separate whelming...lack the boldness Village and at Taihuangshan Village in Ganquan, and needed to develop markets . In many things they do, they the very large scale on

Pro-Market Educational Governance: Is Argentina a Black Swan?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beech, Jason; Barrenechea, Ignacio

2011-01-01

In this article we explore ways in which pro-market discourses have been interpreted in policy initiatives in Argentina since the 1970s. Our argument is that even though pro-market discourses have guided reforms in many aspects of public policies in Argentina, the arena of education has overall been resistant to taking them up. The first part of…

Pinnacle: The Army’s Effort to Reform Its Accession Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-24

Philip Kotler emphasizes the importance of market conditions on organization design and strategy. According to Kotler , “Companies need to give the...Leadership, interview by author, December 6, 2010. 68 Philip Kotler , Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control...2010. 75 U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Pinnacle Army Research Consortium, September 1, 2009. 76 Philip Kotler , Marketing Management: Analysis

Electric power industry restructuring in Australia: Lessons from down-under. Occasional paper No. 20

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ray, D.

1997-01-01

Australia`s electric power industry (EPI) is undergoing major restructuring. This restructuring includes commercialization of state-owned electric organization through privatization and through corporatization into separate governmental business units; structural unbundling of generation, transmission, retailing, and distribution; and creation of a National Electricity Market (NEM) organized as a centralized, market-based trading pool for buying and selling electricity. The principal rationales for change in the EPI were the related needs of enhancing international competitiveness, improving productivity, and lowering electric rates. Reducing public debt through privatization also played an important role. Reforms in the EPI are part of the overall economic reform package thatmore » is being implemented in Australia. Enhancing efficiency in the economy through competition is a key objective of the reforms. As the need for reform was being discussed in the early 1990s, Australia`s previous prime minister, Paul Keating, observed that {open_quotes}the engine which drives efficiency is free and open competition.{close_quotes} The optimism about the economic benefits of the full package of reforms across the different sectors of the economy, including the electricity industry, is reflected in estimated benefits of a 5.5 percent annual increase in real gross domestic product and the creation of 30,000 more jobs. The largest source of the benefits (estimated at 25 percent of total benefits) was projected to come from reform of the electricity and gas sectors.« less

45 CFR 147.104 - Guaranteed availability of coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Section 147.104 Public Welfare Department of Health and Human Services REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETS... and group market. Subject to paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, a health insurance issuer...

45 CFR 147.104 - Guaranteed availability of coverage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Section 147.104 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETS... and group market. Subject to paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, a health insurance issuer...

Marketing. Program CIP: Marketing: 52.1801

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murdock, Ashleigh Barbee, Ed.

2008-01-01

Secondary career-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

[Use of social marketing in population health programs (literature review)].

PubMed

Kholmogorova, G T; Gladysheva, N V

1991-01-01

At present health education programmes abroad make wide use of social marketing strategy. Unlike commercial marketing whose purpose is competition and struggle for the expansion of commodity markets, social marketing is aimed at disseminating certain ideas or introducing certain practices, using largely the technological base and strategy of commercial marketing. The authors give 8 fundamental principles of social marketing (consumer orientation, the theory of barter, the analysis of audience and segmentation, special surveys to detect the orientation of population, the choice of channels for information transmission application of "marketing mixture", control of ongoing programme and marketing management). Application fields of social marketing in public health are discussed.

Fixing the system? The experience of service users of the quasi-market in disability services in Australia.

PubMed

Spall, Pam; McDonald, Catherine; Zetlin, Di

2005-01-01

A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 31 people with disabilities and 32 carers in the state of Queensland, Australia, found that their experience of supportive service delivery had not improved despite reforms of the service delivery system driven by a version of the quasi-market model. Instead of delivering increased consumer choice and improved efficiency in service delivery, service users experienced inadequate service supply, service cutbacks, and an increased emphasis on cost subsidisation and assessment processes. Additionally, few consumers felt that individualised funding arrangements had personally delivered the benefits which the quasi-market model and associated policy paradigm had indicated that they should receive. For many consumers, the notion of consumer 'choice' around service provision was fictitious and they felt that any efficiency gains were at the agency level, largely at the consumers' cost. It is concluded that there appears to be no particular benefit to service users of quasi-market reforms, particularly in policy contexts where service delivery systems are historically under-funded.

A Preliminary Discourse Analysis of Constructivist-Oriented Mathematics Instruction for a Student with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xin, Yan Ping; Liu, Jia; Jones, Sarah R.; Tzur, Ron; Si, Luo

2016-01-01

Reform efforts in mathematics education arose, in part, in response to constructivist works on conceptual learning. However, little research has examined how students with learning disabilities (LD) respond to constructivist-oriented instruction in mathematics, particularly in moment-to-moment interactions. To understand the nature of…

Science Teaching Orientations and Technology-Enhanced Tools for Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Todd; Longhurst, Max; Duffy, Aaron M.; Wolf, Paul G.; Shelton, Brett E.

2013-01-01

This qualitative study examines teacher orientations and technology-enhanced tools for student learning within a science literacy framework. Data for this study came from a group of 10 eighth grade science teachers. Each of these teachers was a participant in a professional development (PD) project focused on reformed and technology-enhanced…

Objectives and Methods of Research-Oriented Environmental Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huan, Sheng

2004-01-01

The soul of the current educational reform is to "develop innovative spirit and ability to implement ideas in practice." In order to meet China's needs in human resources in the new century, a recommendation to aggressively launch research-oriented learning at the high school level was made for the first time at the Third National…

Higher Education for Public Value: Taking the Debate beyond New Public Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broucker, Bruno; De Wit, Kurt; Verhoeven, Jef C.

2018-01-01

Many higher education (HE) system reforms in the past decades have been built on the paradigm of New Public Management (NPM). However, these reforms have not allowed HE to fully take its value for society into account. In recent years a growing call can be heard to orient the HE sector towards more collaboration, a focus on a larger set of…

Multicultural Challenges in Educational Policies within a Non-Conservative Scenario: The Case of the Emerging Reforms in Higher Education in Brazil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canen, Ana

2005-01-01

The article discusses the extent to which multiculturalism has had an impact in the emerging reforms in higher education in Brazil, against the backdrop of the rise of a new non-Conservative, Labour-oriented government whose political agenda is marked by a discursive stand against conservatism, neo-liberalism and neocolonialism. Building on a…

New public management in Iran's health complex: a management framework for primary health care system.

PubMed

Tabrizi, Jafar Sadegh; HaghGoshayie, Elaheh; Doshmangir, Leila; Yousefi, Mahmood

2018-05-01

New public management (NPM) was developed as a management reform to improve the efficiency and effectiveness in public organizations, especially in health sector. Using the features of private sector management, the managers of health organizations may try to implement the elements of NPM with the hope to improve the performance of their systems.AimsOur aim in the present study was to identify the elements and infrastructures suitable for implementing NPM in the Iranian health complex. In this qualitative study with conventional content analysis approach, we tried to explore the NPM elements and infrastructures in Iranian public health sector. A series of semi-structured interviews (n=48) were conducted in 2016 with a managers in public and private health complex. Three focus group discussions with nine faculty members were also conducted. A data collection form was used to collect the demographic characteristics and perspectives of the participants.FindingsFrom the perspective of managers, managerialism, decentralization, using market mechanism, performance management, customer orientation and performance budgeting were the main elements of NPM in the Iranian context. The most important infrastructures for implementing this reform were as follows: education and training, information technology, the proper use of human resources, decision support systems, top management commitment, organizational culture, flexibility of rules, rehabilitating of the aging infrastructures, and expanding the coverage of services. The NPM was generally identified to be an effective replacement for the traditional administration method. These reforms may be helpful in strengthening the public health complex and the management capacity, as well. NPM also seems to be useful in interacting the public health sector with the private sector in terms of personnel and resources, performance, reward structure, and methods of doing business.

Mexico.

PubMed

1993-01-01

The background notes on Mexico provide text and recent statistical information on the geography, population, government, economy, and foreign relations, specifically the North American Free Trade Agreement with US. The 1992 population is estimated at 89 million of which 60% are mestizo (Indian-Spanish), 30% are American Indian, 9% are Caucasian, and 1% are other. 90% are Roman Catholic. There are 8 years of compulsory education. Infant mortality is 30/1000 live births. Life expectancy for males is 68 years and 76 years for females. The labor force is comprised of 30% in services, 24% in agriculture and fishing, 19% in manufacturing, 13% in commerce, 7% in construction, 4% in transportation and communication, and .4% in mining. There are 31 states and a federal district. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was $3200 in 1991. Military expenditures were .5% of GDP in 1991. The average inflation rate is 19%. Mexico City with 20 million is the largest urban center in the world. In recent years, the economy has been restructured with market oriented reforms; the result has been a growth of GDP of 3.6% in 1991 from 2% in 1987. Dependence on oil exports has decreased. There has been privatization and deregulation of state-owned companies. Subsidies to inefficient companies have been stopped. Tariff rates were reduced. The financial debt has been reduced and turned into a surplus of .8% in 1992. Mexico's foreign debt has been reduced from its high in 1987 of $107 billion. Agricultural reforms have been ongoing for 50 years. Land was redistributed, but standards of living and productivity have improved only slightly. Rural land tenure regulations have been changed, and other economic reforms are expected. Mexico engages in ad hoc international groups and is selective about membership in international organizations.

The Problem of a Market-Oriented University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayrinen-Alestalo, Marja; Peltola, Ulla

2006-01-01

Economy- and technology-driven theories dominate current explanations of social change. The political orientations of the European Union and many of its member states are increasingly based on the idea of knowledge economy where public organisations move towards market-orientation. Among the other producers of knowledge, universities are expected…

45 CFR 148.128 - State flexibility in individual market reforms-alternative mechanisms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-alternative mechanisms. 148.128 Section 148.128 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET... more health insurance issuers), or combination of these mechanisms, that is designed to provide access...

Gender equity and health sector reform in Colombia: mixed state-market model yields mixed results.

PubMed

Ewig, Christina; Bello, Amparo Hernández

2009-03-01

In 1993, Colombia carried out a sweeping health reform that sought to dramatically increase health insurance coverage and reduce state involvement in health provision by creating a unitary state-supervised health system in which private entities are the main insurers and health service providers. Using a quantitative comparison of household survey data and an analysis of the content of the reforms, we evaluate the effects of Colombia's health reforms on gender equity. We find that several aspects of these reforms hold promise for greater gender equity, such as the resulting increase in women's health insurance coverage. However, the reforms have not achieved gender equity due to the persistence of fees which discriminate against women and the introduction of a two-tier health system in which women heads of household and the poor are concentrated in a lower quality health system.

Defining the road ahead: thinking strategically in the new era of health care reform.

PubMed

Pudlowski, Edward M

2011-01-01

Understanding the implications of the new health care reform legislation, including those provisions that do not take effect for several years, will be critical in developing a successful strategic plan under the new environment of health care reform and avoiding unintended consequences of decisions made without the benefit of long-term thinking. Although this article is not a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities that exist under health care reform, nor a layout of all of the issues, it looks at some of the key areas in order to demonstrate why employers need to identify critical pathways and the associated risks and benefits of each decision. Key health care reform areas include insurance market reforms, grandfather rules, provisions that have the potential to influence the underlying cost of health care, the individual mandate, the employer mandate (including the free-choice voucher program) and the excise tax on high-cost plans.

The prospects for national health insurance reform.

PubMed

Belcher, J R; Palley, H A

1991-01-01

This article explores the unequal access to health care in the context of efforts by the American Medical Association (AMA) and its allies to maintain a market-maximizing health care system. The coalition between the AMA and its traditional allies is breaking down, in part, because of converging developments creating an atmosphere which may be more conducive to national health care reform and the development of a reformed health care delivery system that will be accessible, adequate, and equitable in meeting the health care and related social service needs of the American people.

From Wall Street to Main Street: how will the economic meltdown impact health care reform?

PubMed

Gardner, Deborah B

2008-01-01

What will happen to health care in the wake of the financial market crisis? Many health policy and economic experts are asking whether it is possible for any of the promises for health care reform to be realized. We could find ourselves in a catastrophic collision between national security priorities and domestic policy goals. Nurses must be vocal regarding the need to reform health care or it may be sidestepped if budgeting continues to prioritize the war abroad and not the crisis at home.

Three periods of health system reforms in the Republic of Macedonia (1991-2011).

PubMed

Lazarevik, V; Donev, D; Gudeva Nikovska, D; Kasapinov, B

2012-01-01

To investigate, describe and classify main health policies and reform activities within the healthcare system undertaken over the past twenty years in R. Macedonia. Desk research was conducted on scientific literature and relevant documentation (in English and Macedonian) about healthcare reforms. Relevant documents available at the Ministry of Health, Health Insurance Fund, World Bank and World Health Organization were reviewed. Official data on demographic and health status indicators were collected from the Institute of Public Health and the State Statistical Office. A working hypothesis, that the health system reforms were not continuous, was generated following the shifts in decision-making power over allocation of resources and political influences. Our study identified three periods of health system reforms in Macedonia: post-socialistic, pro-market and manifesto-driven. Throughout these periods poor maintenance, low efficiency and high operational costs increased out-of-pocket expenditures for health services and drugs and reflected on the deterioration of public hospital infrastructure. In parallel, liberal healthcare market regulation initiated commercialization of the healthcare services. Disappointed in the quality of healthcare services provided in the public health sector, many citizens opt to ask for services in private health care facilities, where social health insurance largely does not cover the costs. The pace of the reforms is not continuous and the influence of politics is highly visible over the whole period of transition in the Republic of Macedonia. The main problems of the healthcare system in the Republic of Macedonia are politicization of the health sector, high centralization and government control, and poor efficiency of public health institutions. Evaluation framework should be developed to further assess the impact of the health reforms.

Quasi-Market Reforms and Vocational Schooling in England and Wales: An Economic Analysis. Division of Economics Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Peter; Adnett, Nick

The creation of a quasi-market in England and Wales schooling has changed pupil, parent, and school behavior in a way that has reinforced the dominance of traditional, academic schooling. A study summarized results of research into this quasi-market behavior, with particular emphasis upon the upper secondary age group. The study found that while…

The Occupational Mobility of Current and Former Farm Workers: A Comparative Analysis in Two California Labor Markets. California Agricultural Studies, 91-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gabbard, Susan; Goldring, Luin

This report examines the occupational mobility of agricultural workers in two California labor markets and the effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act and individual, job, and labor-market characteristics on such mobility. Interviews were conducted among a randomly selected sample of 162 households, which included 401 workers in southern…

JPRS Report, East Europe

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-12

Cooperation Viewed [Karel Diba, et al; HOSPODARSKE NOVINY, 22 Jan 88] 18 JPRS-EER-88-011 12 FEBRUARY 1988 HUNGARY Corporate-Bond Market Runs Into...116), 5 Nov 87] 38 Structural Changes Fund Formed [RZECZPOSPOLITA (REFORMA GOSPODARCZA Supplement No 116), 5 Nov 87] 44 Internal Market Ministry...Nov 87] 56 Finance Ministry Official Views Tax Reform [Bronislaw Cias Interview; TRYBUNA LUDU, 7-8 Nov 87] 61 Lodz Marketing Manager Reveals

Price Analysis on Commercial Item Purchases Within the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-02

Department of Defense Introduction Background This research builds upon the work conducted in collaboration with the authors’ thesis students ...market research and price analysis methods . Most contract pricing of acquisitions was conducted using cost analysis before these reforms were added to...analysis methods are being used? b) Do market research reports refer to market information that improves the buyers’ understanding of pricing in the

Hearing on Telecommunications Policy Reform. Hearing of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, First Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This document presents witness testimony and supplemental materials from a Congressional hearing regarding reform to national telecommunications policy, namely, replacing a regime of heavy regulation with a true market system. Statements are featured by Senators John Ashcroft, Conrad Burns, Ernest Hollings, Kay Baily Hutchison, John D. Rockefeller…

Implications of Financing Higher Education for Access and Equity: The Case of Syria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabbani, Nader; Salloum, Siba

2011-01-01

This article examines the implications for access and equity of the Syrian government's efforts to reform higher education in the country over the past decade. In the context of social and economic reforms that are moving the county from a state-controlled to a social market economy, it focuses on adequacy in financing higher education, as well as…

Smacked by the Invisible Hand: The Wrong Debate at the Wrong Time with the Wrong People

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laitsch, Daniel

2013-01-01

Over the past three decades, educators have faced an increasing variety of reform proposals that can best be contextualized as efforts to commodify and privatize public education. While supporters of market-based reforms attempt to place these proposals within education theory, they are in reality firmly entrenched in neoliberal economic theory.…

Something Borrowed, Something Learned? The Transatlantic Market in Education and Training Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finegold, David, Ed.; And Others

The concentration of numerous case studies of British appropriation of U.S. education and training (ET) policies in a brief period of time (1986-90) provides a unique opportunity to improve understanding of the ET reform process and the role that international comparisons can play in shaping the domestic ET policy agenda. In this book, political…

Understanding electricity market reforms and the case of Philippine deregulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santiago, Andrea; Roxas, Fernando

2010-03-15

The experience of the Philippines offers lessons that should be relevant to any country seeking to deregulate its power industry. Regardless of structure, consumers must face the real price of electricity production and delivery that is closer to marginal cost. Politically motivated prices merely shift the burden from ratepayers to taxpayers. And any reform should work within a reasonable timetable. (author)

A Portrait of Professionals Against the Background of the Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golenkova, Z. T.; Igitkhanian, E. D.

2006-01-01

The economic reforms that are being carried out in Russia have brought to the forefront a number of problems that have to do with the development of the social and structural transformation of society, with changes in the position of particular groups and strata of the population. It is in structures of production that local labor markets are…

The Impact of Welfare Reform on Academic Outcomes: Does Parental Work Boost Grades? Institute for Policy Research Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pareja, Amber Stitziel, Lewis, Dan A.

The 1996 welfare reform act forced many poor parents into the labor market, with little understanding of how the parents' workforce participation would affect family life in general and their children in particular. In this paper, researchers examine the relationship between parental workforce participation, welfare receipt, and children's…

High School Reform and Work: Facing Labor Market Realities. Policy Information Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barton, Paul E.

2006-01-01

The focus of the current high school reform movement goes beyond qualifying students to enter college. It extends to raising the rigor of coursework so that students are prepared for college-level classes, rather than forced to enter remedial courses. This need is based on extensive study of the gap between college admissions criteria and the more…

Do Charter Schools Ruin Local Public Schools in Poor Neighborhoods? Evidence from New York City. Working Paper #02-14

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordes, Sarah

2014-01-01

Charter schools and school choice are popular reforms believed to improve student performance largely through market competition, increased innovation, or some combination of the two mechanisms. Opponents of school choice argue that such reforms sap needed funds and resources from the traditional public school system. Despite this claim, there has…

Who Chooses Incentivized Pay Structures? Exploring the Link between Performance and Preferences for Compensation Reform in the Teacher Labor Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldhaber, Dan; Bignell, Wes; Farley, Amy; Walch, Joe; Cowan, James

2016-01-01

We report on research examining the revealed preferences of teachers in Denver Public Schools who were given the opportunity to select between remaining on a traditional salary schedule and opting into one of the nation's high-profile pay reform systems, Denver's Professional Compensation System for Teachers. The incentive structure creates…

The Impact of Charter Schools on the Budget, Operations, and Educational Services of Columbus City Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Logan, Stephanie R.

2009-01-01

Today one of the most notable school reform efforts is that of providing school choice options to families. An aim of this reform effort is to create market driven changes in the performance of traditional public schools. Of all school choice options, charter schools have emerged as an influential educational choice. As public schools, charter…

Reform by subtraction: the path of denunciation of international drug treaties and reaccession with reservations.

PubMed

Room, Robin

2012-09-01

Almost all countries are parties to the international drug conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988. These strongly bind parties with respect to their domestic regulation of controlled substances, including requirements that possession, growing or use be a criminal offense and that any regulated market in the substances be limited to use only for medical or scientific purposes. Even where countries have argued they have "wiggle room", reform within the bounds of the conventions has often resulted in "net-widening" which nullifies the intent of the reform. Among the options for effective reform, probably the most immediately viable is the route of denunciation and reaccession with reservations--the route which Bolivia has now taken in order to legalise a regulated domestic market in coca leaves for chewing. The paper considers the existing record of reservations (by more than 30 parties to each of the conventions). Also discussed are the options for response to the reservations by other parties, which vary between the treaties, and how pursuing the option of denunciation and reaccession with reservation might potentially play out. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The National Health Services of Brazil and Northern Europe: Universality, Equity, and Integrality-Time Has Come for the Latter.

PubMed

Gurgel, Garibaldi D; de Sousa, Islândia M Carvalho; de Araujo Oliveira, Sydia Rosana; de Assis da Silva Santos, Francisco; Diderichsen, Finn

2017-10-01

In 1990 the national health services in the United Kingdom and Sweden started to split up in internal markets with purchasers and providers. It was also the year when Brazil started to implement a national health service (SUS) inspired by the British national health service that aimed at principles of universality, equity, and integrality. While the reform in Brazil aimed at improving equity and effectiveness, reforms in Europe aimed at improving efficiency in order to contain costs. The European reforms increased supply and utilization but never provided the large increase in efficiency that was hoped for, and inequities have increased. The health sector reform in Brazil, on the other hand, contributed to great improvements in population health but never succeeded in changing the fact that more than half of health care spending was private. Demographic and epidemiological changes, with more elderly people having chronic disorders and very unequal comorbidities, bring the issue of integrality in the forefront in all 3 countries, and neither the public purchaser provider markets nor the 2-tier system in Brazil delivers on that front. It will demand political leadership and strategic planning with population responsibility to deal with such challenges.

Nutritional quality and child-oriented marketing of breakfast cereals in Guatemala.

PubMed

Soo, J; Letona, P; Chacon, V; Barnoya, J; Roberto, C A

2016-01-01

Food marketing has been implicated as an important driver of obesity. However, few studies have examined food marketing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study documents the prevalence of advertising on cereal boxes in Guatemala and examines associations between various marketing strategies and nutritional quality. One box from all available cereals was purchased from a supermarket located in an urban area in Guatemala City, Guatemala. A content analysis was performed to document child-oriented marketing practices, product claims and health-evoking images. The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) was used to calculate an overall nutrition score for each cereal (the higher the score, the lower the nutritional quality). In all, 106 cereals were purchased, and half of the cereals featured child-oriented marketing (54, 50.9%). Cereals had a mean (±s.d.) of 5.10±2.83 product claims per cereal, and most cereals (102, 96.2%) contained health-evoking images. Child-oriented cereals had, on average, higher NPM scores (13.0±0.55 versus 7.90±0.74, P<0.001) and sugar content (10.1±0.48 versus 6.19±0.50 g/30 g, P<0.001) compared with non-child oriented cereals. Cereals with health claims were not significantly healthier than those without claims. In Guatemala, cereals targeting children were generally of poor nutritional quality. Cereals displaying health claims were also not healthier than those without such claims. Our findings support the need for regulations restricting the use of child-oriented marketing and health claims for certain products.

Standardizing the home?: Women reformers and domestic service in New Deal New York.

PubMed

May, Vanessa

2011-01-01

In response to the poor working conditions suffered by domestics struggling to survive the Depression, middle-class women's organizations initiated various legislative reforms aimed at tackling the problems they believed plagued the occupation. Throughout these years, organized women debated three key pieces of reform related to domestic service: efforts to suppress street-corner markets, health requirements for prospective domestics, and state-level wage and hour reform. These reforms were united by the rhetoric of privacy, which clubwomen used both to oppose wage and hour reform and to support requirements that domestics have physicals before applying for work. This article examines the fine distinction that middle-class women's organizations drew between public and private in the appropriate application of government power and the resulting conflict between progressive women's gender ideology and their most deeply-held reform ideals. In doing so, it reveals organized women's struggle to reconcile their humane ideals with the reality in their kitchens.

Market Orientation in University: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuster, Ines; Aviles-Valenzuela, Maria Elena

2010-01-01

Purpose: The paper aims to analyse the relationship between market orientation (MO) and results in the field of higher education, considering the importance of university teaching staff MO in relation to satisfaction and establishing that this orientation is directly and positively affected by the MO of the upper hierarchical levels. The focus is…

Editorial.

PubMed

Evers, B

1993-10-01

This editorial introduces an issue of a journal which contains articles on the themes of 1) macroeconomic policy and gender relations and 2) income generation projects and empowerment. The opening paper dispels the myth that economic policies are gender-neutral. Another article uses the effects of structural adjustment policies in the Caribbean to illustrate how such policies increase women's burdens because of cuts in social services and pressures on women to provide cheap labor to create export goods. A third article depicts the adverse consequences of a macroeconomic policy in India which favors exports over domestic production. This theme is developed in a paper which challenges the notion that export-oriented development strategies provide a "trickle down" benefit to the poor. Specific reversals in development advances in Tanzania are linked to the adjustment experience, and the policy of debt repayment at all costs in the Philippines is shown to have an adverse effect on the poor. Other papers from Albania, India, Tanzania, Chile, and Bangladesh highlight how market-oriented reforms have created conditions which are detrimental to women's health. Further research reveals that the touted "feminization of employment" has actually turned out to be a "feminization of unemployment" as gender discrimination in the labor market continues. Papers on income-generating projects spotlight what has been learned about developing a successful income-generation project which recognizes women's "reproductive labor" time demands. Other articles explore barriers faced by women to access to finance and entrepreneurship. By looking beyond economic jargon and false assumptions, the authors of these papers explore how gender relationships are shaped by economic policies and affect policy outcomes and how women are organizing to improve their lives and the health of their communities.

The Impossibility of Capitalist Markets in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marginson, Simon

2013-01-01

For more than two decades, governments around the world, led by the English-speaking polities, have moved higher education systems closer to the forms of textbook economic markets. Reforms include corporatisation, competitive funding, student charges, output formats and performance reporting. But, no country has established a bona fide economic…

Education and Social Change in China: Inequality in a Market Economy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Postiglione, Gerard A., Ed.

2006-01-01

Market reform, financial decentralization, and economic globalization have greatly accentuated China's social and regional inequalities. Education is expected to address these inequalities in a context of rapid social change, including the rise of an urban middle class, changed status of women, resurgence of ethnic identities, growing rural to…

The Teacher Labour Market in the US: Challenges and Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belfield, Clive R.

2005-01-01

This article describes the teaching profession and teacher labour market in the US. Over the period since 1966, the profession has become 80% female, highly credentialled, considerably more senior, and increasingly unionized. In contrast, formal working conditions have changed relatively little, although class sizes are now approximately 30%…

Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The International Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coulson, Andrew J.

2009-01-01

Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes for American children? This question cannot be reliably answered by looking exclusively at domestic evidence, much less by looking exclusively at existing "school choice" programs. Though many such programs have been implemented around the United States, none has created…

Evading Equity: Principal Autonomy under the Bloomberg-Klein Market Regime

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis-Durham, Tiffanie C.

2015-01-01

Using New York City schools as a case study, this study draws on interview data from principals, district consultants and administrators, and principal's union representatives to explore the relationship between market-based reform and colorblindness in educational policy. The study is informed by colorblindness theory, which explores the subtle…

The Performing School: The Effects of Market & Accountability Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falabella, Alejandra

2014-01-01

Market and accountability educational reforms have proliferated around the globe, along with high expectations of solving countries' school quality deficits and inequities. In this paper I develop an analytical framework from a critical sociology angle for analyzing the effects of these policies within schools. First I discuss conceptually the…

20 CFR 632.4 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...) Payments received under the Trade Act of 1974; (11) Black Lung payments received under the Benefits Reform...: (1) Transfers or leases of such property for less than fair market value or for reduced consideration... American grantee share of its fair market value is not returned to the Federal Government or Native...

20 CFR 632.4 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Payments received under the Trade Act of 1974; (11) Black Lung payments received under the Benefits Reform...: (1) Transfers or leases of such property for less than fair market value or for reduced consideration... American grantee share of its fair market value is not returned to the Federal Government or Native...

Professional Formation in Hong Kong: Yin & Yang in a Free-Market Economy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forrester, Victor

2007-01-01

The relationship between the professional formation of beginning teachers, education reforms and Hong Kong's free-market economy is explored. An overview of educational change and then beginning teachers' professional formation within the context of economic cycles provides a contextual background against which two research projects are…

75 FR 4310 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... electricity markets typically use bilateral contracts such as the Western Systems Power Pool (WSPP) standard... scanned image format. Commenters filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. Commenters that..., Secretary. In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend part 35, Chapter J, Title 18...

Mobilization and Defense Management Technical Reports Series. A Framework for Increasing Defense Production by Reducing Perceived Opportunity Costs.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-05-01

advertising. Traditionally defense marketing and advertising focused on decision makers within the defense conuunity and Congress. While it appears that...focus may be- starting to change, marketing and advertising remain highly directed and concentrated in defense oriented media. marketing was oriented to

Minorities in the Labor Market. Volume II: Orientals in the American Labor Market.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilber, George L.; And Others

The major task of this report is to describe and evaluate the participation and status achievements of Orientals in the labor market, with particular attention to factors affecting such participation and whether differences in participation as compared to that of whites reflect discrimination. Inequalities and discrimination are examined in terms…

Balancing economic freedom against social policy principles: EC competition law and national health systems.

PubMed

Mossialos, Elias; Lear, Julia

2012-07-01

EU Health policy exemplifies the philosophical tension between EC economic freedoms and social policy. EC competition law, like other internal market rules, could restrict national health policy options despite the subsidiarity principle. In particular, European health system reforms that incorporate elements of market competition may trigger the application of competition rules if non-economic gains in consumer welfare are not adequately accounted for. This article defines the policy and legal parameters of the debate between competition law and health policy. Using a sample of cases it analyses how the ECJ, national courts, and National Competition Authorities have applied competition laws to the health services sector in different circumstances and in different ways. It concludes by considering the implications of the convergence of recent trends in competition law enforcement and health system market reforms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Back to the market: yet more reform of the National Health Service.

PubMed

Lewis, Richard; Gillam, Stephen

2003-01-01

Yet more reform of the National Health Service in England has been announced by the Department of Health. In opposition, the Labour Party criticized the creation of an "internal market" for health care by the Conservative government, but five years into the Blair administration, market incentives are to be reinvigorated and the private sector is to be embraced in ways not seen hitherto. New guidance signals the introduction of competitive contracting using cost-per-case currencies, more choice for patients in where they will receive hospital treatment, and the freeing of NHS care providers from the direct political control of ministers. It is intended that the monopolistic features of the NHS in England should give way to greater pluralism, in particular through contracts with privately owned health care organizations. However, there is little evidence to suggest that these policies will be effective, and a number of practical problems may obstruct implementation.

JPRS Report, China 1988: Selected Provincial Economic Reports.

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-26

controlled the population’s increase over the plan. —We improved democracy and the development of the legal system. We ensured the advancement of reforms...in the deepening of reform. Restricting the over-thriving demand, employ- ing economic, legal , and necessary administrative mea- sures, firmly...doing business, rectifying the business orientation and conduct of the various kinds of enterprises and putting them on the right track of legal

School Reform and the Transition to Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderman, Eric M.; And Others

This paper presents findings of a study that used goal orientation theory as a guiding framework for a collaborative effort with middle school principals, teachers, and parents over a 3-year period. The intervention sought to change policies and practices so that they would reflect more of a task-goal orientation and less of an ability-goal…

Principals' Leadership Orientation in Relationship to the Classification of Their Schools in New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

dela Cruz, Samuel

2016-01-01

The relationship of principals' leadership orientations to the classification of their schools in New Jersey were examined in this study. While their role has expanded over the years, school principals continue to be essential in school reform and sustainability efforts. However, they are often overshadowed by the role of teachers. This…

Changing Ideological-Political Orientations in Chinese Moral Education: Some Personal and Professional Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maosen, Li

2011-01-01

Moral education in the People's Republic of China is dominated by ideological-political orientations. However, in the last 30 years China has experienced extensive economic reform, bringing about many social changes, such as decreasing reliance on the state-owned workplace, increasing private property ownership and enhancement of the rule of law.…

Risk adjusting community rated health plan premiums: a survey of risk assessment literature and policy applications.

PubMed

Giacomini, M; Luft, H S; Robinson, J C

1995-01-01

This paper surveys recent health care reform debates and empirical evidence regarding the potential role for risk adjusters in addressing the problem of competitive risk segmentation under capitated financing. We discuss features of health plan markets affecting risk selection, methodological considerations in measuring it, and alternative approaches to financial correction for risk differentials. The appropriate approach to assessing risk differences between health plans depends upon the nature of market risk selection allowed under a given reform scenario. Because per capita costs depend on a health plan's population risk, efficiency, and quality of service, risk adjustment will most strongly promote efficiency in environments with commensurately strong incentives for quality care.

Welfare Reform and Labor Force Exit by Young, Low-Skilled Single Males.

PubMed

Groves, Lincoln H

2016-04-01

While the labor market woes of low-skilled male workers in the United States over the past several decades have been well documented, the academic literature identifying causal factors leading to declines in labor force participation (LFP) by young, low-skilled males remains scant. To address this gap, I use the timing and characteristics of welfare-reform policies implemented during the 1990s and fixed-effects, instrumental variable regression modeling to show that policies seeking to increase LFP rates for low-skilled single mothers inadvertently led to labor force exit by young, low-skilled single males. Using data from the Current Population Survey and a bundle of work inducements enacted by states throughout the 1990s as exogenous variation in a quasi-experimental design, I find that the roughly 10 percentage point increase in LFP for low-skilled single mothers facilitated by welfare reform resulted in a statistically significant 2.8 percentage point decline in LFP for young, low-skilled single males. After conducting a series of robustness checks, I conclude that this result is driven entirely by white males, who responded to welfare-reform policies with a 3.7 percentage point decline in labor supply. Young black males, as well as other groups of potentially affected workers, appear to be uninfluenced by the labor supply response of less-educated single mothers to welfare reform. Impacts on young, single white males are large and economically significant, suggesting that nearly 150,000 males departed the formal labor market in response to directed welfare-reform policies.

Pharma Opportunities and Risks Multiply as Regulatory Reform Remakes APAC: Expanded Accelerated Pathways Challenge Developer Value Story, Evidence Collection, and Market Access Strategies.

PubMed

Grignolo, Alberto; Mingping, Zhang

2018-01-01

Sweeping reforms in the largest markets of the Asia-Pacific region are transforming the regulatory and commercial landscape for foreign pharmaceutical companies. Japan, South Korea, and China are leading the charge, establishing mechanisms and infrastructure that both reflect and help drive international regulatory convergence and accelerate delivery of needed, innovative products to patients. In this rapidly evolving regulatory and commercial environment, drug developers can benefit from reforms and proliferating accelerated pathway (AP) frameworks, but only with regulatory and evidence-generation strategies tailored to the region. Otherwise, they will confront significant pricing and reimbursement headwinds. Although APAC economies are at different stages of development, they share a common imperative: to balance pharmaceutical innovation with affordability. Despite the complexity of meeting these sometimes conflicting demands, companies that focus on demonstrating and delivering value for money, and that price new treatments reasonably and sustainably, can succeed both for their shareholders and the region's patient population.

The moral economy of austerity: analysing UK welfare reform.

PubMed

Morris, Lydia

2016-03-01

This paper notes the contemporary emergence of 'morality' in both sociological argument and political rhetoric, and analyses its significance in relation to ongoing UK welfare reforms. It revisits the idea of 'moral economy' and identifies two strands in its contemporary application; that all economies depend on an internal moral schema, and that some external moral evaluation is desirable. UK welfare reform is analysed as an example of the former, with reference to three distinct orientations advanced in the work of Freeden (1996), Laclau (2014), and Lockwood (1996). In this light, the paper then considers challenges to the reform agenda, drawn from third sector and other public sources. It outlines the forms of argument present in these challenges, based respectively on rationality, legality, and morality, which together provide a basis for evaluation of the welfare reforms and for an alternative 'moral economy'. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

A History of President Putin’s Campaign to Re-Nationalize Industry and the Implications for Russian Reform and Foreign Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-27

for civilian aircraft are so non- competitive in global markets, they likely will not be able to pay market prices for titanium, especially as demand...in general is not competitive on global markets, particularly in the civilian sector for larger vessels.71 Accordingly, OSK is going to seek niche...of the market. The only competition will come from abroad; Russian products will compete globally or be relegated to internal use only; in such case

Global Health Governance and Global Power: A Critical Commentary on the Lancet-University of Oslo Commission Report.

PubMed

Gill, Stephen; Benatar, Solomon

2016-01-01

The Lancet-University of Oslo Commission Report on Global Governance for Health provides an insightful analysis of the global health inequalities that result from transnational activities consequent on what the authors call contemporary "global social norms." Our critique is that the analysis and suggested reforms to prevailing institutions and practices are confined within the perspective of the dominant-although unsustainable and inequitable-market-oriented, neoliberal development model of global capitalism. Consequently, the report both elides critical discussion of many key forms of material and political power under conditions of neoliberal development and governance that shape the nature and priorities of the global governance for health, and fails to point to the extent of changes required to sustainably improve global health. We propose that an alternative concept of progress-one grounded in history, political economy, and ecologically responsible health ethics-is sorely needed to better address challenges of global health governance in the new millennium. This might be premised on global solidarity and the "development of sustainability." We argue that the prevailing market civilization model that lies at the heart of global capitalism is being, and will further need to be, contested to avoid contradictions and dislocations associated with the commodification and privatization of health. © The Author(s) 2016.

Choice vs. voice? PPI policies and the re-positioning of the state in England and Wales.

PubMed

Hughes, David; Mullen, Caroline; Vincent-Jones, Peter

2009-09-01

CONTEXT AND THESIS: Changing patient and public involvement (PPI) policies in England and Wales are analysed against the background of wider National Health Service (NHS) reforms and regulatory frameworks. We argue that the growing divergence of health policies is accompanied by a re-positioning of the state vis-à-vis PPI, characterized by different mixes of centralized and decentralized regulatory instruments. Analysis of legislation and official documents, and interviews with policy makers. In England, continued hierarchical control is combined with the delegation of responsibilities for the oversight and organization of PPI to external institutions such as the Care Quality Commission and local involvement networks, in support of the government's policy agenda of increasing marketization. In Wales, which has rejected market reforms and economic regulation, decentralization is occurring through the use of mixed regulatory approaches and networks suited to the small-country governance model, and seeks to benefit from the close proximity of central and local actors by creating new forms of engagement while maintaining central steering of service planning. Whereas English PPI policies have emerged in tandem with a pluralistic supply-side market and combine new institutional arrangements for patient 'choice' with other forms of involvement, the Welsh policies focus on 'voice' within a largely publicly-delivered service. While the English reforms draw on theories of economic regulation and the experience of independent regulation in the utilities sector, the Welsh model of local service integration has been more influenced by reforms in local government. Such transfers of governance instruments from other public service sectors to the NHS may be problematic.

A new road map for healthcare business success.

PubMed

Williams, Jeni

2011-05-01

Action steps hospitals should take to prepare their organizations for a changing business development environment include: Developing a comprehensive forecast of the ways in which reform and market forces will affect patient volumes and service line demand. Aligning with physicians and other care entities in a tightly integrated way. Heightening transparency related to quality and cost. Investing in marketing and social media to strengthen the organization's market position.

Should the Defense Fuel Supply Center Trade in the Futures Market?

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-12-01

reform, and Federal and State Law. 4 Over 30 hours of personal interviews were conducted with people from DFSC, the Department of Energy (DOE), the...Management, Finance and Accounting, and Personal Staff. (Defense Logistics Agency Command Support Office, 1993) Of particular interest is the Office of...member can beat the market price, attract hungry customers, improve personal market share, and thereby improve total revenue and profits. In effect

Social security politics: ideology and reform.

PubMed

Svihula, Judie; Estes, Carroll L

2007-03-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of dominant values, actors, and ideological advocacy coalitions influencing the Social Security debate across two presidential administrations. Through content and cluster analyses, we analyzed federal legislative hearing testimonies on Social Security reform spanning 11 years. Witnesses consistently expressed six dominant values: (a) advancing the market, (b) self-interest, (c) generational equity, (d) belief in market activity, (e) recommendations for market solutions, and (f) favoring the replacement of Social Security with private accounts. We identified three advocacy coalitions: conservative, progressive, and nonaligned. Conservatives dominated the hearings and were more consistent in their expression of market values when compared to progressives, who expressed social contract values less frequently. Congressional Democrats were inconsistent in upholding Social Security's social contract values. The distribution of testimonies paralleled historical, political, and economic events. Our research indicates that one can interpret social policies as well as policy options as sets of values, and these as ideological models. We anticipate that the coherence on one political ideological view (market) and the relative lack of consistency in another (social contract) will be highly consequential for the future of Social Security, U.S. politics, and the public.

Family planning and sexual health organizations: management lessons for health system reform.

PubMed

Ambegaokar, Maia; Lush, Louisiana

2004-10-01

Advocates of health system reform are calling for, among other things, decentralized, autonomous managerial and financial control, use of contracting and incentives, and a greater reliance on market mechanisms in the delivery of health services. The family planning and sexual health (FP&SH) sector already has experience of these. In this paper, we set forth three typical means of service provision within the FP&SH sector since the mid-1900s: independent not-for-profit providers, vertical government programmes and social marketing programmes. In each case, we present the context within which the service delivery mechanism evolved, the management techniques that characterize it and the lessons learned in FP&SH that are applicable to the wider debate about improving health sector management. We conclude that the FP&SH sector can provide both positive and negative lessons in the areas of autonomous management, use of incentives to providers and acceptors, balancing of centralization against decentralization, and employing private sector marketing and distribution techniques for delivering health services. This experience has not been adequately acknowledged in the debates about how to improve the quality and quantity of health services for the poor in developing countries. Health sector reform advocates and FP&SH advocates should collaborate within countries and regions to apply these management lessons. Copyright 2004 Oxford University Press

Niche markets and evidence assessment in transition: a critical review of proposed drug reforms.

PubMed

Gibson, Shannon G; Lemmens, Trudo

2014-01-01

In response to rising demands and treatment costs, and the need to achieve better value for money in the face of tight fiscal constraints, both the National Health Service and the public drug reimbursement system are undergoing important reforms. Concurrently, the pharmaceutical sector itself is also alleged to be experiencing significant changes, perhaps most notably, a decline of the blockbuster model of drug development and a growing focus on niche market products. As pharmaceutical development strategies evolve and the resulting drug products become more complex, regulatory and policy responses must be able to evolve along with them. We explore how in numerous jurisdictions, including the UK, proposals for 'adaptive licensing' on the regulatory side and 'performance-based risk sharing agreements' on the funding side are shifting the focus of drug regulation and reimbursement towards more incremental access to new therapies and more post-market evidence generation. However, serious questions remain about how such reforms can be successfully implemented and whether they can balance demands for earlier access to promising new therapies with the need for robust evidence on safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Marketing Small Schools in New York City: A Critique of Neoliberal School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiller, Jessica

2011-01-01

The objective of this article is to critically examine a school reform effort that has taken hold in New York City over the past seven years. A largely privately funded venture, the New Century Schools Initiative (NCSI), opened hundreds of new small high schools in poor urban communities in New York City starting in 2002. The theory behind opening…

Higher Education Funding Reforms: A Comprehensive Analysis of Educational and Labour Market Outcomes in England. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1529

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azmat, Ghazala; Simion, Stefania

2018-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of changes in the funding of higher education in England on students' choices and outcomes. Over the last two decades--through three major reforms in 1998, 2006 and 2012--undergraduate university education in public universities moved from being free to students and state funded to charging substantial tuition…

Higher Education and the Labour Market in the Federal Republic of Germany.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teichler, Ulrich; Sanyal, Bikas C.

Reviewing the trends in employment statistics and higher educational planning in postwar Western Germany, the authors emphasize the role of political policy as they trace the development of the mixed use of both market-orientation and the more traditional research-orientation in preparing higher education students for the job market. After a…

Electricity sector liberalization in the European Union: The political economy of regulatory reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Infante Durana, Maria Dolores

This dissertation looks into the reasons that pushed European countries to liberalize their electricity industries. The analysis of the political process leading to that decision in the areas pioneers of regulatory reform in this sector (United Kingdom, Sweden and the European Commission) shows that the liberalization of the European power sectors does not conform to the traditional theoretical explanations for regulatory reform that put interests and industry-specific considerations at the forefront of the explanation. The central argument of this dissertation is that, contrary to what most of the literature assumes and the theories predict, the primary impetus for the reforms in European electricity sectors did not come from industrial or economic worries, but rather from a neo-liberal turn to the ideas shared by European intellectual and political elites. The reform followed a political spill-over process by which the liberalization policy was emulated and introduced as a direct result of the international and sectoral diffusion of the new "efficiency regime" and the belief in the economic superiority of free markets over any form of government intervention. As an idea-driven policy, liberalization was not always coherent with the stated goals and, with means and ends that were not always consistent with each other, the reforms were often hampered and their results ambiguous. Liberalization transformed energy policy priorities in member states by adding the promotion and development of market-based mechanisms to the previous two of ensuring that security of supply, was adequate and of achieving ambitious environmental targets. By adding economic efficiency (and its political corollary, low prices) to its policy goals, governments effectively rendered the realization of the other two goals all the more difficult. As a result, liberalization did not entail the expected government disengagement from the affairs of the industry. On the contrary, it became increasingly clear that governments would keep intervening in the market-place as competition forces alone could not bring the expected economic, technical and political benefits in a vital industry which continued to have particular technical and economic attributes as well as a strong capacity to influence other policy areas.

Food Marketing to Children Online: A Content Analysis of Food Company Websites.

PubMed

Hurwitz, Lisa B; Montague, Heather; Wartella, Ellen

2017-03-01

Since 2006, many U.S. food and beverage companies have pledged to market healthier foods to children to help combat the childhood obesity epidemic. Despite this, companies' expenditures on online advertising have increased of late. To explore this seemingly contradictory situation, the authors conducted a content analysis of approximately 100 food and beverage brand websites, examining a multitude of online marketing practices across a variety of different products, as well as the relationship between marketing techniques and the nutritional profile of promoted foods. This is the first study to examine if nutrition varied by marketing technique. Few brands maintained child-oriented websites, but the brands that did have child-oriented websites included a large number of games promoting particularly obesogenic food products. Somewhat surprisingly, games with many brand identifiers were paired with slightly less obesogenic foods. These findings present a mixed picture of the threat posed by online child-oriented food marketing.

[Reform steps toward networking sheltered workshops and the general labour market].

PubMed

Wendt, S

2010-02-01

Only 0.16% of disabled employees are enabled to change from sheltered workshops to the general labour market. At the same time the number of disabled employees in sheltered workshops is increasing more than anticipated. Investigations into the growing admissions to sheltered workshops resulted in recommendations to improve the practice of change over. More and more admissions of students having finished special schools could be reduced by improved cooperation between special schools and the local employment market. Special schools should offer suitable job trainings and support students to develop an understanding of the requirements of specific jobs and of their opportunities to develop their skills to do these jobs. In 2009, supported employment has been regulated in social security law, lasting up to three years and aimed at qualifying disabled youngsters for employment in the general labour market instead of entering sheltered workshops. The majority of admissions to sheltered workshops in the meantime concern people with psychological handicaps, with more than 30% however leaving the workshops later on. For this population, "virtual sheltered workshops" are offering more suitable means for reintegration in the general labour market, such as temporary employment in the general labour market or in occupations with small earnings. The personal budget for work is meant to be a model project within the German Länder, to transfer personal support from the sheltered workshop into the general labour market. The conference of German Länder Ministers of Social Affairs has been active since 2007 to develop a concept for reform of the social security law concerning integration assistance for disabled people, which in future is to concentrate on individual needs, removal of obstacles in the law to facilitate the transition from sheltered workshops into the general labour market. The "Deutsche Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge" (German association for public and private welfare) has contributed valuable suggestions to the reform debate, all of which should be realized by the German Government during the seventeenth legislative period. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart, New York.

"The land of the sick and the land of the healthy": Disability, bureaucracy, and stigma among people living with poverty and chronic illness in the United States.

PubMed

Whittle, Henry J; Palar, Kartika; Ranadive, Nikhil A; Turan, Janet M; Kushel, Margot; Weiser, Sheri D

2017-10-01

Disability benefits have become an increasingly prominent source of cash assistance for impoverished American citizens over the past two decades. This development coincided with cuts and market-oriented reforms to state and federal welfare programs, characteristic of the wider political-economic trends collectively referred to as neoliberalism. Recent research has argued that contemporary discourses on 'disability fraudsters' and 'malingerers' associated with this shift represent the latest manifestation of age-old stigmatization of the 'undeserving poor'. Few studies, however, have investigated how the system of disability benefits, as well as these stigmatizing discourses, shapes the lived experience of disabling physical illness in today's United States. Here we present qualitative data from 64 semi-structured interviews with low-income individuals living with HIV and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus to explore the experience of long-term, work-limiting disability in the San Francisco Bay Area. Interviews were conducted between April and December 2014. Participants explained how they had encountered what they perceived to be excessive, obstructive, and penalizing bureaucracy from social institutions, leading to destitution and poor mental health. They also described being stigmatized as disabled for living with chronic ill health, and simultaneously stigmatized as shirking and malingering for claiming disability benefits as a result. Notably, this latter form of stigma appeared to be exacerbated by the bureaucracy of the administrating institutions. Participants also described intersections of health-related stigma with stigmas of poverty, gender, sexual orientation, and race. The data reveal a complex picture of poverty and intersectional stigma in this population, potentiated by a convoluted and inflexible bureaucracy governing the system of disability benefits. We discuss how these findings reflect the historical context of neoliberal cuts and reforms to social institutions, and add to ongoing debate around the future of public social provision for impoverished and chronically ill citizens under neoliberalism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

“The land of the sick and the land of the healthy”: Disability, bureaucracy, and stigma among people living with poverty and chronic illness in the United States

PubMed Central

Whittle, Henry J.; Palar, Kartika; Ranadive, Nikhil A.; Turan, Janet M.; Kushel, Margot; Weiser, Sheri D.

2018-01-01

Disability benefits have become an increasingly prominent source of cash assistance for impoverished American citizens over the past two decades. This development coincided with cuts and market-oriented reforms to state and federal welfare programs, characteristic of the wider political-economic trends collectively referred to as neoliberalism. Recent research has argued that contemporary discourses on ‘disability fraudsters’ and ‘malingerers’ associated with this shift represent the latest manifestation of age-old stigmatization of the ‘undeserving poor’. Few studies, however, have investigated how the system of disability benefits, as well as these stigmatizing discourses, shapes the lived experience of disabling physical illness in today's United States. Here we present qualitative data from 64 semi-structured interviews with low-income individuals living with HIV and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus to explore the experience of long-term, work-limiting disability in the San Francisco Bay Area. Interviews were conducted between April and December 2014. Participants explained how they had encountered what they perceived to be excessive, obstructive, and penalizing bureaucracy from social institutions, leading to destitution and poor mental health. They also described being stigmatized as disabled for living with chronic ill health, and simultaneously stigmatized as shirking and malingering for claiming disability benefits as a result. Notably, this latter form of stigma appeared to be exacerbated by the bureaucracy of the administrating institutions. Participants also described intersections of health-related stigma with stigmas of poverty, gender, sexual orientation, and race. The data reveal a complex picture of poverty and intersectional stigma in this population, potentiated by a convoluted and inflexible bureaucracy governing the system of disability benefits. We discuss how these findings reflect the historical context of neoliberal cuts and reforms to social institutions, and add to ongoing debate around the future of public social provision for impoverished and chronically ill citizens under neoliberalism. PMID:28865254

Citizen-Consumers, Social Markets and the Reform of Public Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Michael A.

2004-01-01

In a paper presented in July 2003 to Labour's National Policy Forum, the main policy-making body in the United Kingdom, Liam Byrne, a research associate of the Social Market Foundation, forecast the major problems that will face government in Britain in 2020. As reported in the "Guardian" (9 August 2003): "British national…

Applying Market Segmentation Theory to Student Behavior in Selecting a School or Department

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Yu-Fen; Hsiao, Chin-Hui

2009-01-01

Background: Because of the educational reform and decreasing birth rate in Taiwan over the past 20 years, higher technological and vocational Education (TVE) in Taiwan faces a severe student recruitment competition. Dailey (2007) indicates the need to develop marketing strategies in higher education is evident. TVE institutes are beginning to…

Markets vs. Monopolies in Education: A Global Review of the Evidence. Policy Analysis. No. 620

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coulson, Andrew J.

2008-01-01

Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes for American children? That question cannot be answered by looking at domestic evidence alone. Though innumerable "school choice" programs have been implemented around the United States, none has created a truly free and competitive education marketplace. Existing…

Competitive Incentives and the Education Market: How Charter Schools Define Themselves in Metropolitan Detroit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubienski, Christopher; Lee, Jin

2016-01-01

Policymakers often advance charter schools as an education reform model that can offer more diverse educational alternatives for families. Yet, as these schools compete for students, questions arise about how they respond to the competitive incentives in differentiating themselves through marketing distinct options for learners. The way these…

Market Movements and the Dispossessed: Race, Identity, and Subaltern Agency among Black Women Voucher Advocates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedroni, Thomas C.

2005-01-01

Critical educational researchers in the United States and elsewhere are missing something essential in their inattention to considerable support among Black urban women for market-based educational reforms, including vouchers. While the educational left has engaged in important empirical and theoretical work demonstrating the particularly negative…

Incentives for School Diversification: Competition and Promotional Patterns in Local Education Markets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubienski, Christopher

2006-01-01

Reforms using market-style mechanisms of parental choice and competition between schools are intended to leverage change by compelling schools to diversify options and increase effectiveness. Yet, some research challenges those assumptions, suggesting that schools in competitive climates are more likely to focus on image management to attract a…

Can Markets Set Bureaucrats Free? The Effects of School Choice on Teacher Empowerment in the Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hess, Frederick M.; Maranto, Robert; Milliman, Scott

Consideration of choice-based reform in educational governance rests heavily on the assumption that markets will improve school performance. Nonetheless, little empirical research has examined how educational organizations respond to competition. This paper hypothesizes that administrators are likely to respond by adopting governance…

"What about the Boys?": Regendered Local Labour Markets and the Recomposition of Working Class Masculinities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haywood, Chris; Mac an Ghaill, Mairtin

1996-01-01

Construction of male gender identity must be considered in relation to reforms in state schooling, restructured labor markets, the rise of diverse family forms, and media representations of masculinity. Despite the backlash against feminism and equal employment opportunity efforts, social class must remain part of the analysis. (SK)

75 FR 52512 - Acceptance of Public Submissions on the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-26

... derivatives market. The Commission welcomes the views of interested parties on the Dodd-Frank Act and the... requirements so that regulators can police the markets. Increase transparency in the derivatives marketplace by... (``OTC'') derivatives marketplace for the first time. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC...

Venture Philanthropy's Market Strategies Fail Urban Kids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiller, Jessica

2012-01-01

The latest wave of reform in urban schools, led by the venture philanthropists, has made a great deal of change, without much progress. Foundations with a venture philanthropy bent, like the Walton Family Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Broad Foundation, say market principles, such as choice and competition, will improve schools. If…

"We Don't Recruit, We Educate": High School Program Marketing and International Baccalaureate Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donovan, Martha K.; Lakes, Richard D.

2017-01-01

Public education reformers have created a widespread expectation of school choice among school consumers. School leaders adopt rigorous academic programs, like the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) and Career Programme (CP), to improve their market position in the competitive landscape. While ample research has investigated…

The public cost of expanding coverage.

PubMed

Sheils, J F; Baxter, R J; Haught, R A

1995-01-01

The 103d Congress considered several health care reform bills that would encourage voluntary expansions of coverage through insurance market reforms, new tax deductions for premiums, and direct premium subsidies for low-income persons. We found that insurance reforms alone will do little to expand coverage. We also found that most of the proposed tax deductions would go to persons who already have insurance and would have little impact on coverage. Premium subsidies for low-income persons would greatly increase coverage. However, coverage would change little for those who would have to pay all or part of the premium.

Health insurance reform: labor versus health perspectives.

PubMed

Ammar, Walid; Awar, May

2012-01-01

The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has submitted to the Council of Ministers a social security reform plan. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) considers that health financing should be dealt with as part of a more comprehensive health reform plan that falls under its prerogatives. While a virulent political discussion is taking place, major stakeholders' inputs are very limited and civil society is totally put away from the whole policy making process. The role of the media is restricted to reproducing political disputes, without meaningful substantive debate. This paper discusses health insurance reform from labor market as well as public health perspectives, and aims at launching a serious public debate on this crucial issue that touches the life of every citizen.

Higher Education Reforms and the Academic Profession from a Comparative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arimoto, Akira

2014-01-01

In the 21st century, when the universalization of higher education demands diversified students to be more involved in study and rather than in learning, the ideal of scholarship is expected to transform toward both teaching orientation and study orientation, with a focus on the teaching and study process in the classrooms with a result of being a…

First Year Implementation of a Project-Based Learning Approach: The Need for Addressing Teachers' Orientations in the Era of Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Meredith A. Park; Cross, Dionne I.; Gresalfi, Melissa Sommerfeld; Trauth-Nare, Amy E.; Buck, Gayle A.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which three teachers' professional experience and existing orientations toward teaching and learning mathematics and science influenced their implementation of a project-based curriculum (i.e. project-based learning (PBL)). Data sources included interviews, videotapes of classroom activity,…

Effects of Exploratory and Heuristic Multi-Methods on System-Oriented Curricula Based on Clinical Scenarios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Chunting; Huang, Simin; Li, Zejian; Feng, Lie; Yang, Jing

2017-01-01

A system-oriented curriculum in which basic medical courses and clinical subjects are integrated and reformed is a new trend for medical education in China. In order to train and enhance the comprehensive clinical competency, thirty-two excellent medical students who formed a observation group from grade 2010 in Jinan University were selected to…

Expressions of agency within complex policy structures: science teachers' experiences of education policy reforms in Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryder, Jim; Lidar, Malena; Lundqvist, Eva; Östman, Leif

2018-03-01

We explore the experiences of school science teachers as they enact three linked national curriculum and assessment policy reforms in Sweden. Our goal is to understand teachers' differing responses to these reforms. A sample of 13 teachers engaged in 2 interviews over a 6-9-month period. Interviews included exploration of professional background and school context, perceptions of the aims of the policy reforms and experiences of working with these reforms in the classroom. Analysis was guided by an individual-oriented sociocultural perspective on professional agency. Here teaching is conceptualised as an ongoing interplay between teachers' knowledge, skills and personal goals, and the characteristics of the social, institutional and policy settings in which they work. Our analysis shows that navigating the ensuing continuities and contradictions results in many different expressions of teacher agency, e.g. loss of autonomy and trust, pushing back, subversion, transfer of authority, and creative tensions. Typically, an individual teacher's enactment of these reforms involved several of these expressions of agency. We demonstrate that the sociocultural perspective provides insights into teachers' responses to education policy reform likely to be missed by studies that focus largely on individual teacher knowledge/beliefs about reform or skills in 'implementing' reform practices.

Individual insurance: health insurers try to tap potential market growth.

PubMed

November, Elizabeth A; Cohen, Genna R; Ginsburg, Paul B; Quinn, Brian C

2009-11-01

Individual insurance is the only source of health coverage for people without access to employer-sponsored insurance or public insurance. Individual insurance traditionally has been sought by older, sicker individuals who perceive the need for insurance more than younger, healthier people. The attraction of a sicker population to the individual market creates adverse selection, leading insurers to employ medical underwriting--which most states allow--to either avoid those with the greatest health needs or set premiums more reflective of their expected medical use. Recently, however, several factors have prompted insurers to recognize the growth potential of the individual market: a declining proportion of people with employer-sponsored insurance, a sizeable population of younger, healthier people forgoing insurance, and the likelihood that many people receiving subsidies to buy insurance under proposed health insurance reforms would buy individual coverage. Insurers are pursuing several strategies to expand their presence in the individual insurance market, including entering less-regulated markets, developing lower-cost, less-comprehensive products targeting younger, healthy consumers, and attracting consumers through the Internet and other new distribution channels, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Insurers' strategies in the individual insurance market are unlikely to meet the needs of less-than-healthy people seeking affordable, comprehensive coverage. Congressional health reform proposals, which envision a larger role for the individual market under a sharply different regulatory framework, would likely supersede insurers' current individual market strategies.

The Incorporation of Market Orientation in the School Culture: An Essential Aspect of School Marketing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oplatka, Izhar; Hemsley-Brown, Jane

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the major features of market orientation (MO) and its benefits for schools, suggests an inventory to measure the degree of MO in a school, and provides strategies to incorporate elements of MO into the school culture. Design/methodology/approach: An instructional, technical approach which is based…

North American oriented strand board markets, arbitrage activity, and market price dynamics: A smooth transition approach

Treesearch

Barry Goodwin; Matthew Holt; Jeffrey P. Prestemon

2011-01-01

Price dynamics for North American oriented strand board markets are examined. The role of transactions costs are explored vis-à-vis the law of one price. Nonlinearities induced by unobservable transactions costs are modeled by estimating time-varying smooth transition autoregressions (TV-STARs). Results indicate that nonlinearity and structural change are important...

Combining service marketing and strategic alliances in health care.

PubMed

Lazarus, I R

1993-11-01

With or without federal health care reform to impact the delivery of health care services in the U.S., hospitals must commit to service marketing and strategic alliances as a fundamental business strategy. Service marketing not only differentiates the provider, but with the proper programs in place, it may actually facilitate the formation of strategic alliances. The combination of these strategies will be particularly effective in preparing for any health care policy change.

[The latest reform of the Colombian healthcare-related social security system].

PubMed

Franco-Giraldo, Álvaro

2012-10-01

This essay was aimed at exploring and analysing the challenges and opportunities arising from reforming Colombian law 1438/2011 dealing with the healthcare-related social security system. Some outstanding issues from the reform introduced by Law 100/1993 were reviewed and then compared to the 2011 regulations; they were also contrasted (in market model conditions) with some public health strategies which were inoperative during the reform stage. This second reform phase was discussed in relation to the scope of the right to health, access and overall equity. Progress regarding important issues such as benefit package equalisation, primary healthcare attention, integrated healthcare service networks was recognised; however, its failure to change core aspects of the system was discussed, i.e. financial sustainability and the economic rationale imposed on the aforementioned strategies which curtailed its responsiveness to keep the model introduced by law 100/1993 intact. The crucial points necessary for major structural reform of the Colombian healthcare system based on the right to health and equity were then outlined.

Conceiving of Products and the Products of Conception: Reflections on Commodification, Consumption, ART, and Abortion.

PubMed

Madeira, Jody Lyneé

2015-01-01

Assisted reproductive technologies and abortion prompt serious questions about how we should understand the complex relationship between money, markets, choice, and the care relationship. This essay defines "patient" and "consumer," and then describes how they are less important than their attributes. Then it describes theories of commodification and consumption in reproductive contexts and their consequences, from compliance and coercion to resistance and creativity. It also examines whether ART and abortion are "markets." Finally, this essay explores how the attributes which comprise the patient/consumer roles can be incorporated into health care reform, and the implications of health care reform models on ART and abortion. © 2015 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

When the Invisible Hand Rocks the Cradle: New Zealand Children in a Time of Change. Innocenti Working Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blaiklock, Alison J.; Kiro, Cynthia A.; Belgrave, Michael; Low, Will; Davenport, Eileen; Hassall, Ian B.

This paper investigates the impact of economic and social reforms in New Zealand since the mid 1980s on the well-being of children. Although the reforms emphasizing the role of market forces and markedly reducing the welfare state and the direct role of the state in the economy were among the most sweeping in scope and scale in any industrialized…

Who Chooses Incentivized Pay Structures? Exploring the Link between Performance and Preferences for Compensation Reform in the Teacher Labor Market. CEDR Working Paper. WP #2014-­8

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldhaber, Dan; Bignell, Wes; Farley, Amy; Walch, Joe; Cowan, James

2014-01-01

In this paper we report on research examining the revealed preferences of teachers in Denver Public Schools who were given the opportunity to select between remaining on a traditional salary schedule or opting in to one of the nation's highest profile pay reform systems, Denver's Professional Compensation System for Teachers. The incentive…

Changes in the use of postacute care during the initial Medicare payment reforms.

PubMed

Lin, Wen-Chieh; Kane, Robert L; Mehr, David R; Madsen, Richard W; Petroski, Gregory F

2006-08-01

To examine changes in postacute care (PAC) use during the initial Medicare payment reforms enacted by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. We used claims data from the 5 percent Medicare beneficiary sample in 1996, 1998, and 2000. Linked data from the Denominator file, Provider of Service file, and Area Resource File provided additional patient, hospital, and market-area characteristics. Six disease groups with high PAC use were selected for analysis. We used multinomial logit regression to examine how PAC use differed by year of service, controlling for patient, hospital, and market-area characteristics. There were major changes in PAC use, and a portion of services shifted to settings where reimbursement remained cost-based. During the first reform, the home health agency interim payment system, home health use decreased consistently across disease groups. This decrease was accompanied by increased use in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Following the implementation of the prospective payment system for SNFs, the use of inpatient rehabilitation facilities increased. The shift in usage among settings occurred in two stages that corresponded to the timing of payment reforms for home health agencies and SNFs. Evidence strongly suggests the substitutability between PAC settings. Financial incentives, in addition to clinical needs and individual preferences, play a major role in PAC use.

US Health Care Reform and Transplantation. Part I: overview and impact on access and reimbursement in the private sector.

PubMed

Axelrod, D A; Millman, D; Abecassis, M M

2010-10-01

The Health Care Reform (HCR) legislation passed by Congress in 2010 will have significant impact on transplant centers, patients and health care professionals. The Act seeks to expand coverage, limit the growth in health care costs and reform the delivery and insurance systems. In Part I of this two part series, we provide an overview and perspective of changes in private health insurance resulting from HCR. Under the plan, all Americans will be required to purchase coverage through their employer or via an improved individual/small group market. This legislation limits abusive practices such as limitations on preexisting conditions, lifetime and annual coverage limitations and dropping of beneficiaries if they become sick. The legislation will also limit high-cost plans and regulate premium increases. Private sector reforms are likely to benefit our patients by increasing the number of patients with access to transplant services, since the use of 'preexisting' conditions will be eliminated. However without a concomitant increase in the organ supply, longer waiting times and greater use of marginal organs are likely to increase the cost of transplant. Furthermore, transplant providers will receive reduced reimbursement as a result of market consolidation and the growing power of large transplant networks.

Medical liability and health care reform.

PubMed

Nelson, Leonard J; Morrisey, Michael A; Becker, David J

2011-01-01

We examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on medical liability and the controversy over whether federal medical reform including a damages cap could make a useful contribution to health care reform. By providing guaranteed access to health care insurance at community rates, the ACA could reduce the problem of under-compensation resulting from damages caps. However, it may also exacerbate the problem of under-claiming in the malpractice system, thereby reducing incentives to invest in loss prevention activities. Shifting losses from liability insurers to health insurers could further undermine the already weak deterrent effect of the medical liability system. Republicans in Congress and physician groups both pushed for the adoption of a federal damages cap as part of health care reform. Physician support for damages caps could be explained by concerns about the insurance cycle and the consequent instability of the market. Our own study presented here suggests that there is greater insurance market stability in states with caps on non-economic damages. Republicans in Congress argued that the enactment of damages caps would reduce aggregate health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office included savings from reduced health care utilization in its estimates of cost savings that would result from the enactment of a federal damages cap. But notwithstanding recent opinions offered by the CBO, it is not clear that caps will significantly reduce health care costs or that any savings will be passed on to consumers. The ACA included funding for state level demonstration projects for promising reforms such as offer and disclosure and health courts, but at this time the benefits of these reforms are also uncertain. There is a need for further studies on these issues.

The Emergence of Marketing and Communications Strategy in South African Further Education and Training Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrath, Simon; Akoojee, Salim

2007-01-01

South African further education and training (FET) colleges have been enjoined to become more responsive to their external environment, in keeping with international trends in public vocational education and training (VET) reform. One mechanism for achieving this goal is to market colleges and communicate more effectively to future students,…

On Educational Advocacy and Cultural Work: Situating Community-Based Youth Work[ers] in Broader Educational Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldridge, Biana J.

2018-01-01

Background/Context: The current educational market nestled in neoliberal and market-based reform efforts has shifted the nature of public education. Community-based educational spaces are also shaped within this context. As such, given the political and educational climate youth workers are situated in, their role as advocates, cultural workers,…

A Comparison of Chinese and Australian University Academics' Valence for Teaching and Cross-Disciplinary Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Edward Feng; McCormick, John; Barnett, Kerry

2015-01-01

Corporate reforms have taken place in Australian and Chinese higher education systems to increase efficiency and productivity, and to accommodate the emergence of global markets by exposing universities to market competition. The competing demands of teaching and research arguably have emerged as an important issue for both Australian and Chinese…

When Socialism Meets Market Capitalism: Challenges for Privatizing and Marketizing Education in China and Vietnam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mok, Ka Ho

2008-01-01

China and Vietnam have experienced drastic social, economic and political changes, especially when these two socialist regimes have started economic reforms in the last few decades. In order to create more opportunities for higher education with limited national resources, both Chinese and Vietnamese governments have adopted strategies along the…

The State, Markets and Higher Education Reform in Botswana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabulawa, Richard; Polelo, Mino; Silas, Onalenna

2013-01-01

Market forces are being introduced in public spheres such as higher education and public health, which hitherto were closed to such forces. Ironically, it is the state that is responsible for this process of marketisation. Some see this state action as leading to a growing influence of the state in public policy while others see an attenuation of…

Governance and Foreign Aid Allocation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-01

the promotion of market-based principles to restructure macroeconomic policies in developing countries. The greater focus on...the effectiveness of aid in promoting development outcomes. In doing so, I use augmented neoclassical growth framework following Mankiw et al (1992...health care and basic education, macroeconomic reforms and opening markets, the main objective of western foreign aid was to stop newly independent

Pursuing Innovation: How Can Educational Choice Transform K-12 Education in the U.S.?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Patrick J.; Egalite, Anna J.

2016-01-01

This report summarizes the state of competition in American K-12 education. It pays particular attention to the prevalence and market penetration of charter schools, private school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships as market reforms. The effect of added institutional competition from charters, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships on the…

Riding over Socialism and Global Capitalism: Changing Education Governance and Social Policy Paradigms in Post-Mao China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mok, Ka Ho

2005-01-01

In coping with the challenges of globalization, various reform measures, in the field of social policy, have been initiated in post-Mao China. Strategies such as privatization, marketization, commodification and societalization have been adopted to redefine the relationship between the state, the market and other non-state sectors involved in…

Choice vs. voice? PPI policies and the re‐positioning of the state in England and Wales

PubMed Central

Hughes, David; Mullen, Caroline; Vincent‐Jones, Peter

2009-01-01

Abstract Context and Thesis  Changing patient and public involvement (PPI) policies in England and Wales are analysed against the background of wider National Health Service (NHS) reforms and regulatory frameworks. We argue that the growing divergence of health policies is accompanied by a re‐positioning of the state vis‐à‐vis PPI, characterized by different mixes of centralized and decentralized regulatory instruments. Method  Analysis of legislation and official documents, and interviews with policy makers. Findings  In England, continued hierarchical control is combined with the delegation of responsibilities for the oversight and organization of PPI to external institutions such as the Care Quality Commission and local involvement networks, in support of the government’s policy agenda of increasing marketization. In Wales, which has rejected market reforms and economic regulation, decentralization is occurring through the use of mixed regulatory approaches and networks suited to the small‐country governance model, and seeks to benefit from the close proximity of central and local actors by creating new forms of engagement while maintaining central steering of service planning. Whereas English PPI policies have emerged in tandem with a pluralistic supply‐side market and combine new institutional arrangements for patient ‘choice’ with other forms of involvement, the Welsh policies focus on ‘voice’ within a largely publicly‐delivered service. Discussion  While the English reforms draw on theories of economic regulation and the experience of independent regulation in the utilities sector, the Welsh model of local service integration has been more influenced by reforms in local government. Such transfers of governance instruments from other public service sectors to the NHS may be problematic. PMID:19754688

Primary care and reform of health systems: a framework for the analysis of Latin American experiences.

PubMed

Frenk, J; González-Block, M A

1992-03-01

The article first proposes a framework within which to assess the potential of health sector reforms in Latin America for primary health care (PHC). Two dimensions are recognized: the scope of the reforms, content, and the means of participation that are put into play. This framework is then complemented through a critique of the often-sought but little-analyzed PHC reform strategies of decentralization and health sector integration. The analytical framework is next directed to the financing of health services, a chief aspect of any reform aiming toward PHC. Two facets of health service finance are first distinguished: its formal aspect as a means for economic subsistence and growth, and its substantive aspect as a means to promote the rational use of services and thus improvement of health. Once finance is understood in this microeconomic perspective, the focus shifts to the analysis of health care reforms at the macro, health policy level. The article concludes by positing that PHC is in essence a new health care paradigm, oriented by the values of universality, redistribution, integration, plurality, quality, and efficiency.

The economics of hospital reform from hierarchical to market-based incentives.

PubMed

Preker, Alexander S; Harding, April

2005-01-01

Heavy investment over the past 30 years has made the hospital sector the largest expenditure category of the health system in most developed and developing countries. In most countries hospitals remain a critical link to health care, providing both advanced and basic care for the population. Often, they are the provider 'of last resort' for the poor and critically ill. This article provides insights into recent hospital reforms undertaken throughout the world, with an emphasis on organisational changes such as increased management autonomy, corporatisation, and privatisation. It provides some insights about these popular reform modalities from a review of the literature, reform experiences in other sectors and empirical evidence from hospital sector itself. The material presented tries to answer three questions: (a) what problems did this type of reform try to address; (b) what are the core elements of their design, implementation and evaluation; and, (c) is there any evidence that this type of reform is successful in addressing problems for which they were intended? While this paper focuses on issues related to the design of the reforms, the paper also reports the findings from a larger study that examined the implementation and evaluation of such reforms so that they will be available to countries that are considering venturing down this reform path.

The good, the bad and the confusing: the political economy of social care expansion in South Korea.

PubMed

Peng, Ito

2011-01-01

Recent social policy reforms in South Korea indicate a progressive shift by a conservative government to modify the familialistic male breadwinner model that informs its welfare regime. The Korean government has demonstrated support for women through an increase in the provision, regulation and coordination of childcare and workplace support programmes for working parents. At the same time, labour market reforms have also created more pressures on women to seek and maintain paid work outside the home. Conflicting social and economic policy objectives have resulted in a confusing mix of policies, advancing and impeding gender equality at the same time. This contribution examines the recent family–work reconciliation policy reforms in Korea and discusses why these reforms may be good politics but a bad deal for women.

In defiance of the evidence: conservatives threaten to "reform" away England's National Health Service.

PubMed

Lister, John

2012-01-01

David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government is pressing ahead with a highly controversial bill to "reform" the National Health Service (NHS), abolishing existing management structures, opening up provider services to private competition from "any qualified provider", and establishing a competitive market system in place of planning. The proposals fragment the structures and run counter to the founding principles of the NHS, which in 1948 transcended the limitations of markets, delivering health care on the basis of maximum risk sharing and universal access to services, free at the point of use. Evidence shows markets are a costly and inadequate mechanism to deliver universal and comprehensive health care, and private providers will only bid for services where profits are guaranteed. Opposition to the proposals is strong among health professionals and informed opinion, and the bill has divided the coalition parties--but time is running out for those who reject the bill to mount a sustained and concerted resistance.

77 FR 73117 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

...This proposed rule provides further detail and parameters related to: the risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors programs; cost-sharing reductions; user fees for a Federally- facilitated Exchange; advance payments of the premium tax credit; a Federally-facilitated Small Business Health Option Program; and the medical loss ratio program. The cost-sharing reductions and advanced payments of the premium tax credit, combined with new insurance market reforms, will significantly increase the number of individuals with health insurance coverage, particularly in the individual market. The premium stabilization programs--risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors--will protect against adverse selection in the newly enrolled population. These programs, in combination with the medical loss ratio program and market reforms extending guaranteed availability (also known as guaranteed issue) protections and prohibiting the use of factors such as health status, medical history, gender, and industry of employment to set premium rates, will help to ensure that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health insurance.

78 FR 15409 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-11

...This final rule provides detail and parameters related to: the risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors programs; cost-sharing reductions; user fees for Federally-facilitated Exchanges; advance payments of the premium tax credit; the Federally-facilitated Small Business Health Option Program; and the medical loss ratio program. Cost-sharing reductions and advance payments of the premium tax credit, combined with new insurance market reforms, are expected to significantly increase the number of individuals with health insurance coverage, particularly in the individual market. In addition, we expect the premium stabilization programs--risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors--to protect against the effects of adverse selection. These programs, in combination with the medical loss ratio program and market reforms extending guaranteed availability (also known as guaranteed issue) and prohibiting the use of factors such as health status, medical history, gender, and industry of employment to set premium rates, will help to ensure that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health insurance.

The Effect of Eliminating the Affordable Care Act's Tax Credits in Federally Facilitated Marketplaces.

PubMed

Saltzman, Evan; Eibner, Christine

2015-07-15

In this study, RAND Corporation researchers assess the expected change in enrollment and premiums in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant individual market in federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) states if the U.S. Supreme Court decides to eliminate subsidies in FFM states. The analysis used the Comprehensive Assessment of Reform Efforts (COMPARE) microsimulation model, an economic model developed by RAND researchers, to assess the impact of proposed health reforms. The authors found that enrollment in the ACA-compliant individual market, including plans sold in the marketplaces and those sold outside of the marketplaces that comply with ACA regulations, would decline by 9.6 million, or 70 percent, in FFM states if subsidies were eliminated. They also found that unsubsidized premiums in the ACA-compliant individual market would increase 47 percent in FFM states. This corresponds to a $1,610 annual increase for a 40-year-old nonsmoker purchasing a silver plan.

Newspaper advertising by health maintenance organizations during the reform of healthcare services in Israel.

PubMed

Reuveni, H; Shvarts, S; Meyer, J; Elhayany, A; Greenberg, D

2001-06-01

On 1 January 1995 a new mandatory National Health Insurance Law was enacted in Israel. The new law fostered competition among the four major Israeli healthcare providers (HMOs or sick funds) already operating in the market due to the possibility that an unlimited number of patients and the relative budget share would shift among the HMOs. This led them to launch advertising campaigns to attract new members. To examine newspaper advertising activities during the early stages of healthcare market reform in Israel. Advertising efforts were reviewed during a study period of 24 months (July 1994 to June 1996). Advertisements were analyzed in terms of marketing strategy, costs and quality of information. During the study period 412 newspaper advertisements were collected. The total advertising costs by all HMOs was approximately US$4 million in 1996 prices. Differences were found in marketing strategy, relative advertising costs, contents and priorities among the HMOs. The content of HMOs' newspaper advertising was consistent with their marketing strategy. The messages met the criteria of persuasive advertising in that they cultivated interest in the HMOs but did not provide meaningful information about them. Future developments in this area should include consensus guidelines for advertising activities of HMOs in Israel, instruction concerning the content of messages, and standardization of criteria to report on HMO performance.

Tradition and Change in Marriage Payments in Vietnam, 1963–2000

PubMed Central

Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan; Knodel, John

2013-01-01

Trends and determinants of marriage payments have rarely been examined at the population level despite their plausible implications for the welfare of family and the distribution of wealth across families and generations. In this study, we analyze population-based data from the Vietnam Study of Family Change to document prevalence and directions of marriage payments in Vietnam from 1963 to 2000. We investigate the extent to which structural and policy transformations (particularly market reform and the socialist policy that banned brideprice) influenced the practice of marriage payments as well as estimate how societal changes indirectly impacted payments via their effects on population characteristics. Results indicate that marriage payments surged following market reform but also reveal more nuanced trends and regional differences during earlier years. While the socialist attempts to eradicate brideprice appear to have been moderately successful in the North prior to economic renovation the evidence suggests they were largely unsuccessful in the South. Results suggest that structural and policy change explained most of the observed variations in marriage payments and that changing characteristics of the individuals who married mattered relatively little. We interpret the reemergence of marriage payments as attesting to resilience of traditional values and the unraveling of the socialist agenda, especially in the North, but also as a reflection of economic prosperity associated with market reform. PMID:23833635

Privatizing responsibility: public sector reform under neoliberal government.

PubMed

Ilcan, Suzan

2009-08-01

In light of public sector reforms in Canada and elsewhere, this paper focuses on the shift of emphasis from social to private responsibilities and raises new questions about the forces of private enterprise and market-based partnerships. Under neoliberal governmental agendas, privatizing responsibility links to three main developments: the reconsideration of the relations of public and private; the mobilization of responsible citizenship; and the formation of a cultural mentality of rule that works alongside these developments. The research for this article is based on extensive analysis of policy documents and public sector reform initiatives, as well as interviews with Canadian federal public service employees.

[Study on the reform and improvement of the medical device registration system in China].

PubMed

Wang, Lanming

2012-11-01

Based on the theories of the Government Regulation and Administrative Licensure, aiming at the current situations of medical device registration system in China, some policy suggestions for future reform and improvement were provided as follows. (1) change the concepts of medical device registration administration. (2) perfect the regulations of medical device registration administration. (3) reform the medical device review organizational system. (4) Optimize the procedure of review and approval. (5) set up and maintain a professional team of review and approval staff. (6) reinforce the post-marketing supervision of medical devices. (7) foster and bring into play of the role of non-government organizations.

Rural vs urban hospital performance in a 'competitive' public health service.

PubMed

Garcia-Lacalle, Javier; Martin, Emilio

2010-09-01

In some western countries, market-driven reforms to improve efficiency and quality have harmed the performance of some hospitals, occasionally leading to their closure, mostly in rural areas. This paper seeks to explore whether these reforms affect urban and rural hospitals differently in a European health service. Rural and urban hospital performance is compared taking into account their efficiency and perceived quality. The study is focused on the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) in Spain, which has implemented a freedom of hospital choice policy and a reimbursement system based on hospital performance. Data Envelopment Analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test and Multidimensional Scaling techniques are conducted for two years, 2003 and 2006. The results show that rural and urban hospitals perform similarly in the efficiency dimension, whereas rural hospitals perform significantly better than urban hospitals in the patient satisfaction dimension. When the two dimensions are considered jointly, some rural hospitals are found to be the best performers. As such, market-driven reforms do not necessary result in a difference in the performance of rural and urban hospitals. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing excise taxes in the presence of an illegal cigarette market: the 2011 Brazil tobacco tax reform.

PubMed

Iglesias, Roberto Magno

2016-10-01

The Brazilian cigarette excise tax reform of 2011 increased tax rates significantly in the presence of a high proportion of illegal and cheap cigarettes contributing to total consumption. Prior to 2011, tobacco tax policy in Brazil had reduced excise tax share on consumer prices, for fear of smuggling. This report examines two hypotheses explaining why tax authorities changed direction. The first is related to lack of concern regarding smuggling in tobacco industry pricing behavior before 2011 (rather than reducing prices following tax reduction, legal companies increased net of tax prices above inflation and key costs). The second hypothesis regards inconsistent industry assessments of the size of the illicit market, which ultimately undermined the credibility of the industry with tax authorities. The author concludes that the 2011 reform was designed to revert the weakness of previous policies, and did indeed succeed. The post-2011 experience in Brazil indicates that increased cigarette excise taxes can increase government revenues and reduce smoking prevalence and consumption despite widespread smuggling of tobacco products.

Determinants of choice of market-oriented indigenous Horo cattle production in Dano district of western Showa, Ethiopia.

PubMed

Alemayehu, Befikadu; Bogale, Ayalneh; Wollny, Clemens; Tesfahun, Girma

2010-12-01

Based on a survey data collected from 150 farming households in Dano district of western Showa of Ethiopia, this paper analyzes determinants of smallholders' choice for market oriented indigenous Horo cattle production and tries to suggest policy alternatives for sustainable use of animal genetic resource in the study area. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic model were employed to analyze the data. Eight explanatory variables including age of the household head, size of the grazing land, total size of cultivated land, farmer's experience in indigenous cattle production, farmer's attitude towards productivity of local breed, off-farm income, fattening practice, and availability of information and training of the head of the household regarding conservation, management and sustainable use indigenous cattle were found to be statistically significant variables to explain farmers' choice for market oriented indigenous cattle production activities. Besides, possible policy implications were made in order to improve conservation, management and sustainable use of market oriented indigenous cattle genetic resources.

What's in a Name? Impact of marketing different course titles on enrollment for online classes.

PubMed

Kemper, Kathi J; Woods, Charles; McBride, Allison

2008-12-01

Little is known about the impact of different marketing strategies on enrollment of online courses for health professionals. The authors compared one aspect of marketing, course titles, for online classes about herbs and dietary supplements (HDS). The authors marketed two titles-one knowledge-oriented, the other behavior-oriented-for each of seven online HDS classes. The two titles were (1) "Introduction to topic" (Knowledge) and (2) "Talking with patients about topic" (Behavior). The seven classes were two general (introduction and safety) and five specialty (women, children, the elderly, depression, and gastrointestinal) topics. The Area Health Education Center in northwest North Carolina marketed the classes. Altogether, 195 clinicians enrolled in an average of 7.6 classes per enrollee (1,487 total). For every class, enrollment was higher for knowledge-oriented than behavior-oriented titled classes (average of 124 versus 89 enrollees per class, P < .01). Enrollment, combining the two general classes, was also significantly higher for general than specialty classes (266 versus 191 enrollees per class, P < .01). Differences in titles and levels of generality significantly impacted enrollment rates in these online classes on an unfamiliar topic. Additional marketing research is needed to inform efforts to enroll clinicians into courses on more familiar topics.

An organizational field approach to resource environments in healthcare: comparing entries of hospitals and home health agencies in the San Francisco Bay region.

PubMed

Ruef, M; Mendel, P; Scott, W R

1998-02-01

To draw together insights from three perspectives (health economics, organizational ecology, and institutional theory) in order to clarify the factors that influence entries of providers into healthcare markets. A model centered on the concept of an organizational field is advanced as the level of analysis best suited to examining the assortment and interdependence of organizational populations and the institutional forces that shape this co-evolution. In particular, the model argues that: (1) different populations of healthcare providers partition fiscal, geographic, and demographic resource environments in order to ameliorate competition and introduce service complementarities; and (2) competitive barriers to entry within populations of providers vary systematically with regulatory regimens. County-level entries of hospitals and home health agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area using data from the American Hospital Association (1945-1991) and California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (1976-1991). Characteristics of the resource environment are derived from the Area Resource File (ARF) and selected government censuses. A comparative design is applied to contrast influences on hospital and home health agency entries during the post-World War II period. Empirical estimates are obtained using Poisson and negative binomial regression models. Hospital and HHA markets are partitioned primarily by the age and education of consumers and, to a lesser extent, by urbanization levels and public funding expenditures. Such resource partitioning allows independent HHAs to exist comfortably in concentrated hospital markets. For both hospitals and HHAs, the barriers to entry once generated by oligopolistic concentration have declined noticeably with the market-oriented reforms of the past 15 years. A field-level perspective demonstrates that characteristics of local resource environments interact with interdependencies of provider populations and broader regulatory regimes to affect significantly the types of provider organizations likely to enter a given healthcare market.

An organizational field approach to resource environments in healthcare: comparing entries of hospitals and home health agencies in the San Francisco Bay region.

PubMed Central

Ruef, M; Mendel, P; Scott, W R

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To draw together insights from three perspectives (health economics, organizational ecology, and institutional theory) in order to clarify the factors that influence entries of providers into healthcare markets. A model centered on the concept of an organizational field is advanced as the level of analysis best suited to examining the assortment and interdependence of organizational populations and the institutional forces that shape this co-evolution. In particular, the model argues that: (1) different populations of healthcare providers partition fiscal, geographic, and demographic resource environments in order to ameliorate competition and introduce service complementarities; and (2) competitive barriers to entry within populations of providers vary systematically with regulatory regimens. DATA SOURCES: County-level entries of hospitals and home health agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area using data from the American Hospital Association (1945-1991) and California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (1976-1991). Characteristics of the resource environment are derived from the Area Resource File (ARF) and selected government censuses. METHODS OF ANALYSIS: A comparative design is applied to contrast influences on hospital and home health agency entries during the post-World War II period. Empirical estimates are obtained using Poisson and negative binomial regression models. RESULTS: Hospital and HHA markets are partitioned primarily by the age and education of consumers and, to a lesser extent, by urbanization levels and public funding expenditures. Such resource partitioning allows independent HHAs to exist comfortably in concentrated hospital markets. For both hospitals and HHAs, the barriers to entry once generated by oligopolistic concentration have declined noticeably with the market-oriented reforms of the past 15 years. CONCLUSION: A field-level perspective demonstrates that characteristics of local resource environments interact with interdependencies of provider populations and broader regulatory regimes to affect significantly the types of provider organizations likely to enter a given healthcare market. PMID:9460486

Excerpts from Dr. P. Kotaiah's paper: Policies on Institutional Credit to Generate Employment and Marketing Skills among the Rural Youth in Asia and the Pacific region -- the Indian experience.

PubMed

Kotaiah, P

1998-03-01

This article summarizes a seminar presented at a CIRDAP regional workshop in February 1998, on gender equity, poverty, rights, and participation. This seminar discussed India's experience with banks and financial policies. The recent East Asian crisis has shown that poverty eradication and sustainable development are not possible without an effective and transparent state that can play a catalytic, facilitating role and can increase and complement the activities of private businesses and individuals. The economy grows faster with a well diversified, efficient financial sector for promoting investment. Well developed, market oriented financial systems contribute to greater economic growth than weak and stringently regulated ones. Formal banks play a key role in meeting the growing needs of the economy and pursuing a social agenda. India, in 1991, reformed its banks which became more competitive and responsive to emerging challenges of a fast growing economy. India has an anti-poverty agenda that for the last 50 years promoted economic growth, offered wage assurance and self employment schemes, and provided a safety net for the poor. These schemes have met with varying success. For example, some operational constraints to credit in rural non-farm schemes were: the bank's perception that rural businesses were high risk and less profitable; poor infrastructure; and a slow process of credit delivery changes and skill upgrades for visible results. The author touches on other issues, such as the changing labor market, collateral substitutes, self-help concepts, venture capital, and integration of rural development programs within banking systems.

Where function follows form: International comparisons of restructured electricity markets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sioshansi, F.; Morgan, C.

1999-04-01

It was 10 years ago that the U.K. (more correctly England and Wales) began its famous experiment in electricity market restructuring. Since then restructuring, privatization, and market reform has spread around the world. But despite the large number of countries that have implemented such reforms, or are contemplating doing so in the near future, no two identical or similar systems have emerged. Each has its unique market structure, unique rules of engagement, and unique quirks. Not surprisingly, each also has its own strengths and weaknesses. This despite the fact that there is general agreement on the ultimate goals and objectivesmore » of restructuring. In nearly all cases, the ultimate aim is a more competitive system that is more efficient, encourages service quality improvements, and results in lower prices to consumers. As its turns out, there are good reasons for this diversity of design -- and outcome. Hence, an examination of different market structures and their relative performance should be a useful exercise. Moreover, one must admit that the industry is, to a great extent, still experimenting and learning. This suggests that as time goes on and the industry learns from the mistakes of the past, better, more efficient market designs will emerge. This articles has two modest aims: First, to explain the fundamental reasons for the diversity of form and function in different restructured markets, and to examine their relative strengths and weaknesses; and Second, to identify whether a particular market structure is preferable to others, and if so, why.« less

Child-oriented marketing techniques in snack food packages in Guatemala.

PubMed

Chacon, Violeta; Letona, Paola; Barnoya, Joaquin

2013-10-18

Childhood overweight in Guatemala is now becoming a public health concern. Child-oriented marketing contributes to increase children's food preference, purchase and consumption. This study sought to assess the availability of child-oriented snack foods sold in school kiosks and convenience stores near public schools in Guatemala, to identify the marketing techniques used in child-oriented snack food packages and to classify the snacks as "healthy" or "less-healthy". We purchased all child-oriented snacks found in stores inside and within 200 square meters from four schools in an urban community. Snacks were classified as child-oriented if the package had any promotional characters, premium offers, children's television/movie tie-ins, sports references, or the word "child". We used a checklist to assess child-oriented references and price. Snacks were classified as "healthy" or "less-healthy" according to the UK standards for the Nutritional Profiling Model. We analyzed 106 packages found in 55 stores. The most commonly used technique was promotional characters (92.5%) of which 32.7% were brand-specific characters. Premium offers were found in 34% of packages and were mostly collectibles (50%). Most marketing techniques were located on the front and covered nearly 25% of the package surface. Median (interquartile range) price was US$ 0.19 (0.25). Nutrition labels were found in 91 (86%) packages and 41% had a nutrition related health claim. Most snacks (97.1%) were classified as "less-healthy". In Guatemala, the food industry targets children through several marketing techniques promoting inexpensive and unhealthy snacks in the school environment. Evidence-based policies restricting the use of promotional characters in unhealthy snack food packages need to be explored as a contributing strategy to control the obesity epidemic.

Child-oriented marketing techniques in snack food packages in Guatemala

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Childhood overweight in Guatemala is now becoming a public health concern. Child-oriented marketing contributes to increase children’s food preference, purchase and consumption. This study sought to assess the availability of child-oriented snack foods sold in school kiosks and convenience stores near public schools in Guatemala, to identify the marketing techniques used in child-oriented snack food packages and to classify the snacks as “healthy” or “less-healthy”. Methods We purchased all child-oriented snacks found in stores inside and within 200 square meters from four schools in an urban community. Snacks were classified as child-oriented if the package had any promotional characters, premium offers, children′s television/movie tie-ins, sports references, or the word “child”. We used a checklist to assess child-oriented references and price. Snacks were classified as “healthy” or “less-healthy” according to the UK standards for the Nutritional Profiling Model. Results We analyzed 106 packages found in 55 stores. The most commonly used technique was promotional characters (92.5%) of which 32.7% were brand-specific characters. Premium offers were found in 34% of packages and were mostly collectibles (50%). Most marketing techniques were located on the front and covered nearly 25% of the package surface. Median (interquartile range) price was US$ 0.19 (0.25). Nutrition labels were found in 91 (86%) packages and 41% had a nutrition related health claim. Most snacks (97.1%) were classified as “less-healthy”. Conclusion In Guatemala, the food industry targets children through several marketing techniques promoting inexpensive and unhealthy snacks in the school environment. Evidence-based policies restricting the use of promotional characters in unhealthy snack food packages need to be explored as a contributing strategy to control the obesity epidemic. PMID:24139325

Emerging lessons from regional and state innovation in value-based payment reform: balancing collaboration and disruptive innovation.

PubMed

Conrad, Douglas A; Grembowski, David; Hernandez, Susan E; Lau, Bernard; Marcus-Smith, Miriam

2014-09-01

In recent decades, practitioners and policymakers have turned to value-based payment initiatives to help contain spending on health care and to improve the quality of care. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded 7 grantees across the country to design and implement value-based, multistakeholder payment reform projects in 6 states and 3 regions of the United States. As the external evaluator of these projects, we reviewed documents, conducted Internet searches, interviewed key stakeholders, cross-validated factual and narrative interpretation, and performed qualitative analyses to derive cross-site themes and implications for policy and practice. The nature of payment reform and its momentum closely reflects the environmental context of each project. Federal legislation such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and federal and state support for the development of the patient-centered medical home and accountable care organizations encourage value-based payment innovation, as do local market conditions for payers and providers that combine a history of collaboration with independent innovation and experimentation by individual organizations. Multistakeholder coalitions offer a useful facilitating structure for galvanizing payment reform. But to achieve the objectives of reduced cost and improved quality, multistakeholder payment innovation must overcome such barriers as incompatible information systems, the technical difficulties and transaction costs of altering existing billing and payment systems, competing stakeholder priorities, insufficient scale to bear population health risk, providers' limited experience with risk-bearing payment models, and the failure to align care delivery models with the form of payment. From the evidence adduced in this article, multistakeholder, value-based payment reform requires a trusted, widely respected "honest broker" that can convene and maintain the ongoing commitment of health plans, providers, and purchasers. Change management is complex and challenging, and coalition governance requires flexibility and stable leadership, as market conditions and stakeholder engagement and priorities shift over time. Another significant facilitator of value-based payment reform is outside investment that enables increased investment in human resources, information infrastructure, and care management by provider organizations and their collaborators. Supportive community and social service networks that enhance population health management also are important enablers of value-based payment reform. External pressure from public and private payers is fueling a "burning bridge" between the past of fee-for-service payment models and the future of payments based on value. Robust competition in local health plan and provider markets, coupled with an appropriate mix of multistakeholder governance, pressure from organized purchasers, and regulatory oversight, has the potential to spur value-based payment innovation that combines elements of "reformed" fee-for-service with bundled payments and global payments. © 2014 Milbank Memorial Fund.

Growth in HMO share of the Medicare market, 1989-1994.

PubMed

Welch, W P

1996-01-01

Between 1989 and 1994 the health maintenance organization (HMO) share of the Medicare market grew rapidly. It is still heavily concentrated geographically, however. The most influential factor in this growth is HMO penetration into an area's general health care market. Medicare payment rates and prior Medicare HMO penetration also have an impact, but their effects are much weaker. Thus, payment rate reform is likely to have only a modest impact on Medicare HMO growth in the short term. In the longer term, the HMO share of the Medicare market will continue to grow, because HMO penetration in the general health care market is growing rapidly.

Can Performance-Based Funding and Quality Assurance Solve the State "vs" Market Conundrum?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orr, Dominic

2005-01-01

This article focuses on methods of funding allocation and quality assurance as prominent levers of change in higher education reform today. It is their interplay which forms the main components of coordination frameworks. The arguments for more market or new forms of state intervention can only be understood in the context of such a framework.…

26 CFR 1.170-1 - Charitable, etc., contributions and gifts; allowance of deduction (before amendment by Tax Reform...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... contribution is made in property other than money, the amount of the deduction is determined by the fair market... than money, the taxpayer shall state the kind of property contributed (for example, used clothing, paintings, securities) and shall state the method utilized in determining the fair market value of the...

Can We Reasonably Assess "Productivity of Market-Based Educational Reforms"?: Comment on Anna Egalite's "Measuring Competitive Effects from School Voucher Programs: A Systematic Review"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrifield, John

2013-01-01

"Measuring Competitive Effects from School Voucher Programs: A Systematic Review" by Ann G. Egalite (p443-464, this issue) concludes that, "overwhelming [U.S.] evidence supports the development of market-based schooling policies as a means to increase student achievement in traditional public schools." Here, John Merrifield…

An Economic Analysis of the External Constraints on Reform of the Higher Education Admissions System in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pu, Jinfeng

2013-01-01

From the perspective of an economic analysis of the intertwined role of the educational opportunities market and the educational products market, I believe that the unified entrance exam system currently in effect in China has, in reality, assumed the role of maintaining a price ceiling for opportunities in higher education. If we abolish the…

Radical Servant Leadership: A New Practice of Public Education Leadership in the Post-Industrial Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Letizia, Angelo

2014-01-01

Both secondary and postsecondary public education may offer one the last spaces for true democratic dialogue untainted by the market (Giroux, 2011). Public education however is under attack by "reformers" who seek to privatize it and transform it into a market good (Klein, 2007). Due to this, public education needs leaders who will fight…

Government regulation's impact on health care technology companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGlynn, J. C.

1994-12-01

Startups in the medical device industry have made major advances to medical technology. Today the ability to fund these companies is being adversely effected by the difficulty in accessing capital. The capital markets had been disrupted by uncertainty about healthcare reform and by changes in the FDA regulatory process. Both of these have adversely effected market valuations for medical device components.

Integrating the Schoolhouse and the Marketplace: A Preliminary Assessment of the Emerging Role of Electronic Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molnar, Alex

This paper focuses on how, by reinforcing and exploiting the emphasis on electronic technologies in school reform, marketers are integrating school children into the advertising and marketing system. The ZapMe! program is a for-profit venture that proposes to derive its profits from activities that link the academic activities of schools and the…

The Politics of Education in the Post-"Brown" Era: Race, Markets, and the Struggle for Equitable Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Janelle; Quinn, Rand

2014-01-01

Purpose: In this essay, we examine the racial politics of education in the six decades after "Brown". We consider the state of educational policy in an era in which market reform advocates often invoke the spirit of the "Brown" decision even as the Supreme Court has largely vacated the legal framework provided by…

The 10 Conditions That Increased Vermont's Readiness to Implement Statewide Health System Transformation.

PubMed

Grembowski, David; Marcus-Smith, Miriam

2018-06-01

Following an arduous, 6-year policy-making process, Vermont is the first state implementing a unified, statewide all-payer integrated delivery system with value-based payment, along with aligned medical and social service reforms, for almost all residents and providers in a state. Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid value-based payment for most Vermonters will be administered through a new statewide accountable care organization in 2018-2022. The purpose of this article is to describe the 10 conditions that increased Vermont's readiness to implement statewide system transformation. The authors reviewed documents, conducted internet searches of public information, interviewed key informants annually in 2014-2016, cross-validated factual and narrative interpretation, and performed content analyses to derive conditions that increased readiness and their implications for policy and practice. Four social conditions (leadership champions; a common vision; collaborative culture; social capital and collective efficacy) and 6 support conditions (money; statewide data; legal infrastructure; federal policy promoting payment reform; delivery system transformation aligned with payment reform; personnel skilled in system reform) increased Vermont's readiness for system transformation. Vermont's experience indicates that increasing statewide readiness for reform is slow, incremental, and exhausting to overcome the sheer inertia of large fee-based systems. The new payments may work because statewide, uniform population-based payment will affect the health care of almost all Vermonters, creating statewide, uniform provider incentives to reduce volume and making the current fee-based system less viable. The conditions for readiness and statewide system transformation may be more likely in states with regulated markets, like Vermont, than in states with highly competitive markets.

Assessing the "Good Life" in a Military Context: How Does Life and Work-Satisfaction Relate to Orientations to Happiness and Career-Success among Swiss Professional Officers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proyer, Rene T.; Annen, Hubert; Eggimann, Nadine; Schneider, Andrea; Ruch, Willibald

2012-01-01

The study examines work- and life satisfaction along with orientation to happiness, and their relation to subjective but also objective career success, among Swiss military professional officers. They frequently report worsening of their working conditions due to two reforms that have recently been conducted. A total of N = 221 Swiss career…

By Doctrines Fashioned to the Varying Hour or the Calculus of Horrors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srinivasan, V. K.

2002-01-01

A deliberate attempt is made in Business Mathematics oriented text books as well as in some reform calculus oriented text books to interpret the derivative f[prime](a) of a function y = f(x) at the value x = a as the change in the y-value of the function per "unit" of change in the x-value. This note questions the above interpretation and suggests…

The Marketing of Public Library Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dragon, Andrea C.

1983-01-01

Defines the concept of marketing and relates models involving the exchanges and transactions of markets and charities to services offered by libraries. Market segmentation, understanding the behavior of markets, competition, and movement toward a market-oriented library are highlighted. Nineteen references are cited. (EJS)

Brightening up: the effect of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act on existing regulation of pharmaceutical marketing.

PubMed

Gorlach, Igor; Pham-Kanter, Genevieve

2013-01-01

With the passage of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act as part of the federal health care reform law, pharmaceutical manufacturers are now required to disclose a wide range of payments made by manufacturers to physicians. We review current state regulation of pharmaceutical marketing and consider how the federal sunshine provision will affect existing marketing regulation. We analyze the legal and practical implications of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Change of government: one more big bang health care reform in England's National Health Service.

PubMed

Hunter, David J

2011-01-01

Once again the National Health Service (NHS) in England is undergoing major reform, following the election of a new coalition government keen to reduce the role of the state and cut back on big government. The NHS has been undergoing continuous reform since the 1980s. Yet, despite the significant transaction costs incurred, there is no evidence that the claimed benefits have been achieved. Many of the same problems endure. The reforms follow the direction of change laid down by the last Conservative government in the early 1990s, which the recent Labour government did not overturn despite a commitment to do so. Indeed, under Labour, the NHS was subjected to further market-style changes that have paved the way for the latest round of reform. The article considers the appeal of big bang reform, questions its purpose and value, and critically appraises the nature and extent of the proposed changes in this latest round of reform. It warns that the NHS in its current form may not survive the changes, as they open the way to privatization and a weakening of its public service ethos.