Testing for Adverse Selection into Private Medical Insurance

We develop a test for adverse selection and use it to examine privatehealth insurance markets. In contrast to earlier papers that consider apurely private system or a system in which private insurance supplementsa public system, we focus our attention on a system where privately fundedhealth care is substitutive of the publicly funded one. Using a model ofcompetition among insurers, we generate predictions about the correlationbetween risk and the probability of taking private insurance under bothsymmetric information and adverse selection. These predictions constitutethe basis for our adverse selection test. The theoretical model is also usefulto conclude that the setting that we focus on is especially attractive to testfor adverse selection. Using the British Household Panel Survey, we findevidence that adverse selection is present in this market. We develop a test for adverse selection and use it to examine privatehealth insurance markets. In contrast to earlier papers that consider apurely private system or a system in which private insurance supplementsa public system, we focus our attention on a system where privately fundedhealth care is substitutive of the publicly funded one. Using a model ofcompetition among insurers, we generate predictions about the correlationbetween risk and the probability of taking private insurance under bothsymmetric information and adverse selection. These predictions constitutethe basis for our adverse selection test. The theoretical model is also usefulto conclude that the setting that we focus on is especially attractive to testfor adverse selection. Using the British Household Panel Survey, we find evidence that adverse selection is present in this market

COUNTS WITH AN ENDOGENOUS BINARY REGRESSOR: A SERIES EXPANSION APPROACH

We propose an estimator for count data regression models where a binary regressor is endogenously determined. This estimator departs from previous approaches by using a flexible form for the conditional probability function of the counts. Using a Monte Carlo experiment we show that our estimator improves the fit and provides a more reliable estimate of the impact of regressors on the count when compared to alternatives which do restrict the mean to be linear-exponential. In an application to the number of trips by households in the US, we find that the estimate of the treatment effect obtained is considerably different from the one obtained under a linear-exponential mean specification.Count data, Polynominal Poisson Expansions, Flexible Functional Form.

Are tax subsidies for private medical insurance self-financing? Evidence from a microsimulation model for outpatient and inpatient episodes

This paper analyses whether or not tax subsidies to private medical insurance are self-financing by means of a structural approach. We construct a simulation routine based on a microeconometric discrete choice model that allows us to evaluate the impact of premium changes on the utilisation of outpatient and inpatient health care services. We simulate the 1999 Spanish tax reform that abolished the tax deduction for expenditures on private health insurance using a representative sample of the Catalan population. Prior to this reform, foregone tax revenue arising from deductions after the purchase of private insurance amounted to €69.2 M. per year. In contrast, the elimination of the subsidies to private policies is estimated to generate an extra cost for the public sector of about €8.9 M. per year.Health care utilisation, structural modelling, tax reform evaluation

La Revolución Industrial y la implantación del ferrocarril en España y en Soria. Metodología para su enseñanza.

Estudio de la extensión por Europa del proceso de la revolución industrial y los problemas que tuvo España que ocasionaron una tardía industrialización. Los factores como el crecimiento demográfico, las transformaciones agrícolas, las mejoras de las técnicas o el sistema fabril que favorecieron a que se produjera esta industrialización. Los sectores punteros de la época como el textil, el carbón, la siderurgia y sobre todo el ferrocarril. Conocer el origen histórico del ferrocarril en España, cual fue su impacto en la sociedad y economía de la época. Estudio del ferrocarril de Torralba a Soria, su proceso de construcción e inauguración. Aplicación metodológica para la enseñanza de esta temática a alumnos de Educación Primaria.Grado en Educación Primari

Evaluar intervenciones sanitarias sin experimentos

ResumenEn el presente artículo se revisa la bibliografía reciente en evaluación cuantitativa de intervenciones no experimentales, poniendo especial énfasis en su aplicación a la economía y la gestión sanitarias. En particular, se han descrito las técnicas de matching y de doble diferencia combinada con matching. El parámetro elegido como objeto de la estimación es la ganancia media para los participantes en la intervención, bajo la hipótesis de heterogeneidad en las ganancias no observables que produce la intervención entre los individuos elegibles. Se ha llevado a cabo una exposición no técnica de las metodologías descritas con el espíritu de fomentar al lector una lectura más profunda de la bibliografía relevante.AbstractThis paper summarizes recent literature on quantitative techniques for the evaluation of non experimental reforms. We closely look at the application of the methods to health economics and health management. The methods of matching and difference in differences combined with matching have been analysed in greatest detail. We have focused our attention on the estimation of the average treatment for the treated as the relevant parameter to be estimated. Along the paper, we have assumed that gains from the reform are heterogeneous in non observable variables across eligible individuals. The methods are described in a non technical manner to motivate further reading

Franciscan manuscripts in Padua from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century: following the traces of a conception of the book

This thesis discusses the role of the manuscripts written, read and studied by the Franciscan friars from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries in the city of Padua, northern Italy. In order to study the manuscripts, the study proposes a model of analysis that consists of four aspects: the ideal, the space, the purpose and the interaction. The ideal was expressed by the regulations on learning, study and use of books. The regulations determined the type of book that the manuscripts should be aiming for. The thesis shows that the friars proposed interpretations of the rule in order to reconcile this ideal with their actual use of books. The space was expressed by the Franciscan libraries as places where the manuscripts were collected, but also studied. The thesis discusses how the libraries of the friars found the best ways to guarantee the availability of books for their readers through practices such as long-term loans. The study shows also that the purpose of the manuscripts was related to their physical characteristics, as well as to their type as a book of study, pastoral care, devotion or preaching. The dimension of the interaction refers to the practices of reading. The study reveals that Franciscans were skilled readers who showed remarkable flexibility and contributed significantly to the affirmation of the portable, personal library as a tool for learning and writing. This thesis follows an innovative approach by comparing for the first time the book collections of the medieval Franciscan libraries in Padua. It also explores an original path by applying the reception theory and the notion of interpretive community as tools to discuss the cultural agency of the medieval Franciscan friars. As a result of its interdisciplinary approach, this study offers findings on the dynamics of circulation of manuscripts in the libraries, the role of portability in the manuscripts employed by the friars, and prospective fields of application of the model of analysis