On the Fuzzy Boundaries between Public and Private in Health Care Organization and Funding Systems

The paper proposes a survey of health care organization and funding systems in order to underline and discuss, in this specific field of social assistance, the combination public versus private provision and production of services. The survey then examines the present features of various National health services focusing on the efficiency and equity of public intervention and on the industrial organization of the institutional design of health care. In this context, it treats the rationale of cost-benefit of vertical integration of structures, devoted respectively to purchasing and providing health care services. Further, the paper considers the advantages and disadvantages of managed competition in quasi-markets and, finally, it deals with insurance systems, social as well private and supplementary ones. From the survey it turns out that the main distinctions of health care regimes in industrialised countries are not in terms of private versus public ownership of providers, rather in terms of industrial organization setting and in terms of the proportion of public versus private expenditure.Health care organization, health care funding, social insurance, private and public provision.

The impact of productive efficiency and quality of a regulated local public utility on final goods prices and consumers welfare

In this paper, we reconstruct the process by which the decisions of a regulated local public utility, in terms of productive efficiency and quality of the service provided, impact on prices of final consumption goods, supplied in a oligopolistic market operating in the same geographic area. We obtain some formula for these effects which can be quantified by estimating firms’ conditional input demand function of the public service and firms’ inverse demand function for this public good, non-rival, component. Finally, we draw the effects of productive efficiency and quality on consumer welfare and cost-of-living, via changes on tariffs, external effects and final goods prices.regulation, x-efficiency, oligopoly, consumer welfare

Earmarked Taxation for Financing Public Investments Projects

This paper deals with the earmarked taxation employed by local governments for fi…nancing public investments projects carried on with some Public-Private Partnerships con…figurations. First, we analyse the theoretical pro…files of earmarked taxation by using the tax-benefi…t approach, and the theory of political competition and accountability. Second, on the ground of the P-P-P literature, we examine the trade-off between fi…nancing mechanisms based on public subsidies to the concessionaire fi…rm, fi…nanced by a earmarked tax, and mechanisms based on users-fees. Then, we discuss cases where the …rst solution turns out to be, even partially, preferred. Finally, we consider the potential role of earmarked taxation on the Italian institutional context, emerging from the recent legislation on fi…scal federalism and municipalities taxation.Earmarked taxes, cost of public funds, subsidies, public investments

Revenue Equalization Systems in a Federation with Tax Evasion

We analyse how vertical or horizontal fiscal equalization affects the overprovision of local public goods due to vertical fiscal externality, when there is tax evasion. The regional governments overspending incentive is examined both in case of a fiscal equalization based on pretax earned income and reported taxable income.Fiscal federalism; Equalization; Marginal Cost of Public Funds, Tax evasion

Market-Driven Management and Global Supply Chain

Globalization and over-supply have pushed companies to face new competitive challenges. In such a competitive space, a new approach in managing the supply chains and the consequent optimization of material flows and intangible assets plays a crucial role for improving long-term performances of both individuals belonging to the chain and the entire supply chain. Companies are part of a systematic network of companies and an efficient management of the network allows to reduce the time-to-market for launching new products, to increase the ability to collaborate with value-chain partners and the ability to generate greater value for the customers.Market-Driven Management; Global Markets; Global Supply Chain; Global Sourcing; Pull/Push Supply Chain; Demand-Driven Supply Network

Competition between State Universities

We analyse how state university competition to collect resources may affect both research and the quality of teaching. By considering a set-up where two state universities behave strategically, we model their interaction with potential students as a sequential noncooperative game. We show that different types of equilibrium may arise, depending on the mix of research and teaching supplied by each university, and the mix of low- and high-ability students attending each university. The most efficient equilibrium results in the creation of an élite institution attended only by high-ability students who enjoy a higher teaching quality but pay higher tuition fees.university competition, research, tuition fees

Competition between State Universities

We analyse how state university competition to collect resources may a¤ect both the quality of teaching and research. By considering a set-up where two state universities behave strategically, we model their interaction with potential students as a sequential noncooperative game. We show that di¤erent types of equilibrium may arise, depending on the mix of research and teaching activity supplied by each university, and the mix of low and high ability students attending each university. The most e¢ cient equilibrium results in the creation of an élite institution attended only by high ability students. Low ability students are segregated in the other university, but obtain the same teaching quality level and pay the same tuition fees.University Competition, Research, Tuition Fees

[Recensione a] Storia dei concetti musicali: armonia, tempo, vol. I, a cura di Gianmario Borio e Carlo Gentili

Storia dei concetti musicali: armonia, tempo, vol. I, a cura di Gianmario Borio e Carlo Gentili, Roma, Carocci, 2007,394 pp