The Impact of Competition, Subsidies, and Taxes on Production and Construction Cost : The Case of the SwedishHousing Construction Market

Few empirical studies focus on developing data and analyses on the factors that influence the decision making process of builders,developers and landlords. Interest subsidy, taxes, and competition are some of the factors that can influence the level of constructionor production costs and ultimately the price of the housing units produced.Different subsidy schemes and value-added taxes (VAT)have been used as tools to increase housing construction in Sweden. However, their effect on costs of the housing stock has notbeen rigorously examined in the current housing supply literature.The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship betweenproduction and construction cost and its determinants especially their relationship to different subsidy schemes and value-addedtaxes. In our econometric analysis, we utilize a quarterly panel data that covers 1975–2004.Our results suggest that there is a positiverelationship between subsidies and construction cost and inverse relationship to value added taxes. This could explain why fewcompanies within the housing construction industry raise the cost of production since these companies could manage to transfersome of the tax burden from themselves to the housing developers. Paper goes on to discuss common practices of constructioncompanies that affects production costs.QC 20140219</p

Nursing Documentation in the Cardiology Intensive Care Unit

Bakalaura darba tēma: “Aprūpes dokumentācija kardioloģijas nodaļā intensīvās terapijas palātā”. Darba mērķis: izpētīt aprūpes dokumentāciju kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātā. Darbs sastāv no teorētiskās un pētnieciskās daļas. Teorētiskajā daļā analizēta Patrīcijas Benneres māszinību teorija, veikts kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātas raksturojums, kā arī analizēta literatūra par aprūpes dokumentāciju kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātā, dokumentācijas aizpildīšanu reglamentējošajiem normatīvajiem aktiem Latvijā un aizpildīšanas pieredzi pasaulē. Pētījuma veikšanai izmantota kvalitatīvā pētniecības metode, instruments – daļēji strukturēta intervija. Tika intervētas 10 kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātā strādājošas māsas. Pētījuma laikā tika gūtas atbildes uz pētījuma jautājumiem: 1. Kāda aprūpes dokumentācija tiek pielietota māsas darbā kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātā? 2. Cik optimāla un ērti izmantojama ir aprūpes dokumentācija kardioloģijas nodaļas intensīvās terapijas palātā? Bakalaura darba izstrādē tika izmantoti 24 literatūras avoti, no tiem 7 latviešu valodā un 17 angļu valodā.The topic of the Bachelor's thesis: "Nursing documentation in the intensive care ward of the cardiology department". Aim of the work: to study the care documentation in the intensive care unit of the cardiology department. The work consists of theoretical and research part. The theoretical part analyzes Patricia Benner's nursing theory, describes the intensive care ward of cardiology department, as well as analyzes the literature on care documentation in the intensive care ward of cardiology department, documentation regulations in Latvia and world experience requirements. A qualitative research method is used, a research tool - a partially structured interview. 10 nurses working in the intensive care ward of the cardiology department were interviewed. During the research, answers to the research questions were obtained: 1. What care documentation is used in the work of a nurse in the intensive care unit of the cardiology department? 2. How optimal and easy to use is the care documentation in the intensive care unit of the cardiology department? 24 literature sources were used in the development of the bachelor's thesis, of which 7 in Latvian and 17 in English

The robustness of the causal and economic relationship between construction flows and economic growth: evidence from Western Europe

Our main objective is to analyse whether we have a problem of parameter heterogeneity across countries and over time in the estimation of the relationship between infrastructure investments and economic growth. The research approach concerning causality and the estimating of the long-run equilibrium is based on the error-correction model. The problem of parameter heterogeneity is handled by the use of interaction terms. The result indicates that residential construction Granger causes Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the short and long run and it seems likely that the interaction term indicating high unemployment do add some explanation power to the model. This is not true when it comes to infrastructural and other building construction and its impact on economic growth. A high housing stock per capita seems to reduce the short-run effect. This implies that residential construction seems to have a larger effect if the accumulated residential stock is on a low level. The speed of adjustment to long-run equilibrium differs considerably between a country with a low residential capital stock and a country with a high-capital stock. Moreover, high owner occupation rates seem to be associated with a stronger relationship between residential construction and economic growth.