Comparing Macroeconomic Performance of the Union for the Mediterranean Countries Using Grey Relational Analysis and Multi-Dimensional Scaling

The aim of this study is to evaluate the economic performance of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) countries during 2006-2016 periods. The Union for the Mediterranean comprises the 28 EU Member States, the European Commission and 15 Mediterranean countries namely Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxemburg, Mauritania, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey. Syria has suspended its membership to the UfM on December 1, 2011. Libya has an observer status in the UfM. Grey Relational Analysis is used for the outranking of countries using macroeconomic indicators including total investment, gross national savings, inflation, average consumer prices, volume of imports of goods and services, volume of exports of goods and services, unemployment rate, general government revenue, general government total expenditure, general government gross debt, current account balance, gross product domestic (constant). Also annual macroeconomic indicators are converted to single data set by using arithmetic mean and weighted arithmetic mean (to be focused on recent years). This combined data was also used for another economic performance evaluation and Multidimensional Scaling Analysis has been used for weighted arithmetic mean to show countries' positions relative to each other in a two-dimensional plane. The results of the empirical analyses show that Ireland ranked as first according to the weighted arithmetic mean among 36 UfM countries. Egypt and Tunisia have been found as the countries with the worst economic performance

Direct Health Expenditure Analysis Related to Hearing Loss in Individuals Using Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants

Objective:This study aimed to investigate the expenditures related to hearing devices and compare the differences in expenditures in child and adult users.Methods:A preliminary questionnaire was developed and conducted amongst hearing aid and cochlear implant users. A total of 178 patients (57.3% were hearing aid users, 42.7% were cochlear implant users) were included in the study and grouped as adults (first group, 50 patients), and children 1< (second group, 123 patients).Results:The results of the study showed that individuals used approximately 4.5% of their annual income as health expenditure related to hearing loss. This rate was over 5% for child users, and about 2.7% for adult users. Moreover, the expenditure made by adult users was below the amount of expenditure made for children in all health expenditure indicators.Conclusion:Supporting the family budget for hearing loss expenditures not covered by the public health insurance will minimize the financial problems caused by the disability

TÜRKİYE’DE 1980-2014 YILLARI ARASINDA KİŞİ BAŞI KAMU SAĞLIK HARCAMALARI İLE KİŞİ BAŞI GAYRİ SAFİ YURT İÇİ HASILA ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİNİN İNCELENMESİ

Bir ülkenin en önemli kaynaklarından birisi beşeri sermayedir. Toplumu oluşturan bireylerin ve dolayısıyla toplumun en büyük zenginliği ise sağlığıdır. Ekonomi literatüründe özellikle ekonomik büyüme ve gelir üzerindeki etkisi nedeniyle sağlık harcamaları sıklıkla tartışılmaktadır. Yapılan çalışmalarda daha çok toplam sağlık harcaması üzerinde durulmaktadır. Bu çalışmada mevcut literatüre ilave olarak kamu sağlık harcamalarına bağlamında Türkiye’de 1980-2014 yılları arasında yıllık veriler kullanılarak satın alma gücü paritesine göre hesaplanmış toplam kişi başı kamu sağlık harcamaları ile kişi başı gayri safi yurt içi hâsıla (GSYH) arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada ekonometrik analizler kapsamında Toda Yamamoto nedensellik analizi ve VAR (Vektör Otoregresyon) modeli uygulanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre kişi başı kamu sağlık harcamalarından kişi başı GSYH’ye doğru tek yönlü bir nedensellik tespit edilmiş iken, kişi başı GSYH’den kişi başına düşen kamu sağlık harcamalarına doğru anlamlı bir nedensellik tespit edilememiştir