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.     

Response strategy to environment context factors using a lean and agile approach: Implications for firm performance

Based on the environment-strategy performance perspective and dynamic capabilities framework, we develop a theoretical model and hypotheses specifying how supply chain collaboration as a response to environment context factors – competitive intensity, supply uncertainty, technological turbulence and market turbulence, using a lean and agile strategy may influence firm performance. We test the model using partial least square structural equation modelling on data collected from a field survey with responses from 152 manufacturing firms representing a variety of industries. Empirical findings generally support the relationship between collaboration and firm performance using a lean and agile strategy. Also, for firms in industries that face environments characterised by high supply uncertainty and competitive intensity with, technological turbulence, the study finds evidence of a direct relationship between these environmental factors and supply chain collaboration. The findings provide an initial strategic response framework for appropriately aligning a lean and agile supply chain strategy through collaboration with environment context factors to achieve firm performance improvements.     

Formal governance,interfirm coordination,and performance in partnerships: An empirical investigation of a mediation model

This study investigates the extent to which formal governance mechanisms such as contracts and equity ownership affect interfirm coordination and partnership performance. We analysed data from a survey of 301 Korean firms to show that interfirm coordination partially mediates the relationship between contract completeness, defined as the extent to which a contract specifies task operations and contingencies, and partnership performance. Furthermore, we find that more complete contracts can attenuate the negative effects of equity ownership on coordination, and that this effect is particularly strong when partner tasks are interdependent and relational norms are weak.     

汽轮机凝汽器技术状态的故障诊断

介绍了对电站发动机组凝汽器进行状态监测和故障诊断的技术诊断自动化系统的研究和实现，实践证明，开发的系统对改善凝汽器性能、提高电站整体性能具有重要意义。     

缩小城乡差距统筹城乡发展问题研究

笔者系统总结了我国城乡差距、城乡关系失调的具体表现,并进一步分析了城乡发展差距过大对国民经济和社会发展的影响以及统筹城乡发展的现实意义,继而从改革城乡分治的管理体制,加快城镇化进程,推动城乡联动的工业化路线等方面提出了统筹城乡发展的对策建议。     

中央民族大学民族博物馆馆藏台湾少数民族文物及其价值

中央民族大学民族博物馆馆藏台湾少数民族文物约 4 0 0余件 ,具有较高的文物价值和学术价值。目前 ,已展示了部分文物 ,还计划推出有关专题展。对于研究者 ,也将提供图片或展示实物等服务 ,以期充分发掘和利用其文物价值。     

江苏高校科技服务的嬗变与反思

本文通过梳理江苏高校以科技服务社会的历史发展轨迹 ,总结了江苏高校科技服务社会四个发展特点与趋势 ,在此基础上 ,进一步思考如何提升江苏高校科技服务的质量 ,为江苏高校拓展科技服务的深度和广度提供有益的借鉴 ,推动江苏经济与社会的进步     

日本东京大学理工科的学术组织与创新

学术组织创新是学术繁荣的制度保证 ,也是任何一流大学的成功奥秘。作为日本理工科龙头老大的东京大学 ,在二战后 5 0年的发展历程中 ,向世人提供了工程教育和研究中的三种特色鲜明的学术组织模式。这种学术组织模式对中国建设世界一流大学有重要借鉴意义     

试论扩招后高校社会治安综合治理

通过对学校社会治安状况的调研,弄清校园及周边社会治安综合治理的重点、难点;分析其普遍性和特殊性;弄清校园及周边人、财、物的动态平衡关系,着力提高防范能力,以便对校园及周边实施科学管理,降低治理成本。运用辩证唯物主义的立场、观点和方法掌握其规律性,有针对性地解决高校扩招后学校社会治安综合治理工作的问题,有力保证学校教学、科研工作,从而促进高校改革的顺利进行,为当地政府和学校领导提供高校扩招后学校社会治安综合治理工作的决策依据。     

Automobile prices and protection: The U.S.-Japan trade restraint

We examine the effects of the U.S.-Japan trade restraint on automobile prices and quality upgrading, for both Japanese imports and American small cars. From April 1981 to April 1984 the suggested retail price of all Japanese models increased by 15.8 percent, or 5.3 percent per year. We find that nearly the entire amount of this rise can be explained by the upgrading of individual models. This upgrading may benefit consumers who would purchase a luxury import in any case, but harms those who desire the basic imports. In addition to upgrading, we conclude that a second cost of the trade restraint has been to prevent the yen depreciation from being passed onto American consumers, in terms of lower imported auto prices. For U.S. small cars we find a 9.1 percent rise in the suggested retail price, or 3 percent per year, with a fraction of this amount due to model upgrading. If the yen depreciation had led to lower import prices without the trade restraint, then we expect that U.S. auto prices would have been lower, too.