How do policy levers shape the quality of a national health system?

Poor quality of care may have a detrimental effect on access and take-up and can become a serious barrier to the universality of health services. This consideration is of particular interest in view of the fact that health systems in many countries must address a growing public-sector deficit and respond to increasing pressures due to COVID-19 and aging population, among other factors. In line with a rapidly emerging literature, we focus on patient satisfaction as a proxy for quality of health care. Drawing on rich longitudinal and cross-sectional data for Spain and multilevel estimation techniques, we show that in addition to individual level differences, policy levers (such as public health spending and the patient-doctor ratio, in particular) exert a considerable influence on the quality of a health care system. Our results suggest that policymakers seeking to enhance the quality of care should be cautious when compromising the level of health resources, and in particular, health personnel, as a response to economic downturns in a sector that traditionally had insufficient human resources in many countries, which have become even more evident in the light of the current health crisis. Additionally, we provide evidence that the increasing reliance on the private health sector may be indicative of inefficiencies in the public system and/or the existence of features of private insurance which are deemed important by patients.     

The relationship between lifetime health trajectories and socioeconomic attainment in middle age

A large literature demonstrates the direct and indirect influence of health on socioeconomic attainment, and reveals the ways in which health and socioeconomic background simultaneously and dynamically affect opportunities for attainment and mobility. Despite an increasing understanding of the effects of health on social processes, research to date remains limited in its conceptualization and measurement of the temporal dimensions of health, especially in the presence of socioeconomic circumstances that covary with health over time. Guided by life course theory, we use data from the British National Child Development Study, an ongoing panel study of a cohort born in 1958, to examine the association between lifetime health trajectories and socioeconomic attainment in middle age. We apply finite mixture modeling to identify distinct trajectories of health that simultaneously account for timing, duration and stability. Moreover, we employ propensity score weighting models to account for the presence of time-varying socioeconomic factors in estimating the impact of health trajectories. We find that, when poor health is limited to the childhood years, the disadvantage in socioeconomic attainment relative to being continuously healthy is either insignificant or largely explained by time-varying socioeconomic confounders. The socioeconomic impact of continuously deteriorating health over the life course is more persistent, however. Our results suggest that accounting for the timing, duration and stability of poor health throughout both childhood and adulthood is important for understanding how health works to produce social stratification. In addition, the findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between confounding and mediating effects of time-varying socioeconomic circumstances.     

Does a universal non-contributory social pension make sense for rural China?

China’s pension reform during the past three decades has allowed a majority of China’s population to be covered by a pension scheme. Of particular note has been the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS), a voluntary programme introduced starting in 2009. One goal of our analysis is to assess that pension scheme, using a variety of sources of information including data drawn from recent (2013 and 2015) nationwide China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Surveys (CHARLS). Our analysis involves an exploration of differences between the generosity and structure of the NRPS and other pension schemes currently in place. We also explore the feasibility of reforming the current “quasi-social pension” component of the NRPS by substituting a universal non-contributory social pension pillar. In connection with our assessment of the NRPS, we note the unusually low benefit levels for rural China.     

湖北省乡镇企业1978—2002年发展概况、问题及对策研究

1978～2002年,湖北省乡镇企业在企业单位数量、对经济增长贡献及转移农村剩余劳动力等方面对该省经济产生了重要的推动作用。然而,随着市场经济体制的深入发展和不断完善,乡镇企业发展也遇到了前所未有的困难。本文在深入分析当前乡镇企业所面临的问题基础上,提出了乡镇企业未来发展的战略对策。     

中国旅游开发投融资实践及走向

中国旅游业正成为国民经济新兴产业,中国旅游业正经历由亚洲旅游大国向2020年成为世界旅游强国转变的艰难跨越。这一跨越需要巨大的旅游投资来推动和实现。     

制约学校体育实施健康教育的诸因素分析

本文主要对影响学校体育实施健康教育的因素进行了分类研究 ,为学校体育实施健康教育提供科学的参考依据。     

医院融资方式改革刍议

从国外医院管理的经验与国内医院的发展现状及目前面临的问题来看 ,大规模的医疗服务要素重组形成集团化运作 ,与医院的资本运营是一种必然趋势。经过 2 0多年的卫生改革 ,医院的融资主渠道已经是市场而不是政府财政 ,医院产权制度的改革也已经拉开帷幕 ,医院资本运营的条件与环境正在逐步形成。本文系统阐明了在深化医院管理模式与融资机制的改革中引入资本运营的必要性 ,同时 ,以资本运营的基本模式阐述了资本运营的基本原理与方法 ,以助于医院资本运营的发展。     

债务融资、债务结构与公司过度投资行为——来自我国上市公司的经验证据

文章以我国A股市场上市公司为研究对象,实证研究了债务融资对过度投资行为的抑制作用.研究发现:我国上市公司普遍存在着严重的过度投资现象,债务融资及其构成特征整体上并未对公司的过度投资行为起到抑制作用.通过进一步按最终控制人性质分组检验发现,债务融资比例与银行借款在国有控股公司不但没起到抑制过度投资行为的作用,反而还恶化了公司的过度投资行为,债务融资比例与银行借款在非国有控股公司中起到了制约过度投资的作用,商业信用和长短期债务在国有与非国有控股公司中仍没起到制约公司过度投资行为的作用.     

民营经济的资金需求：陕西个案研究

在对陕西4个地市进行调研的基础上,估算了该省民营经济的资金需求总量,并分析了其资金需求的结构。结果表明,民营经济的资金存在需求总量难以满足和供求结构失衡的矛盾,在目前国有金融体系支持有限的情况下,民营经济对民间资本产生了强烈的需求。因此解决民营经济融资困境的出路在于有效搭建民间资本投入到民营经济的桥梁和通道。     

中小企业融资问题探索

中小企业在我国国民经济中占有举足轻重的地位。当前制约中小企业发展的瓶颈是融资问题。融资难的根源在于金融机构尤其是现有银行的管理 ,因此 ,我国可以借鉴国外中小企业融资的做法 ,结合我国的实际 ,采取切实可行的融资对策。