Void agreements and voidable contracts: the need to elucidate ambiguities of their effects

We enter into contractual engagements daily, if not many times a day. Every business organization, be it large or small, binds itself in bonds of contract with customers, suppliers or employees in the conduct of its business operations. All these involve interactions of contractual nature. "We all make contracts everyday... [and]... many of us spend most of our lives in performing contractual obligations."1 One may safely say that contracts are the most frequent juridical acts and the most useful among laws that govern social relationships

ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF AFRICAN BOUNDARY DELINEATION LAW AND POLICY: THE CASE OF ETHIO– ERITREA BOUNDARY DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Africa is poor in the midst of plenty. Though multiple causes and reasons may be claimed for Africa’s shrinking state of development, disruptive effects of colonialism takes forefront. Present-day Africa is literally free but colonial footprints are still apparent in the borderlands. The study pinpoints how natural borderline development was thwarted by the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884 -1885. As result, people, ethnic groups, nations and nationalities have been disintegrated. Ethnic disintegration and arbitrary colonial boundaries lines have been source of unavoidable intra and inter state conflicts in Africa. Ironically, in fear of opening “Pandora’s Box” that would further unlock unmanageable conflict, founding fathers of OAU have decided to abide by the colonial boundaries “whether they are good or bad” in Cairo Resolution of 1964, thereby suppressing Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of forming United Sates of Africa by removing colonial boundary lines. The study argues that Africa has missed the best opportunity that would avoid boundary conflict that constitutes 90% of African interstate conflicts. This study proves deficiencies of the Cairo Declaration of 1964 that has honored colonial boundaries, as boundaries between independent African States taking Ethio-Eritrean boundary as case study. The Ethio-Eritrean boundary meant to be defined by the three successive colonial treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908 that were concluded between Italy, Ethiopia and Great Britain, but the actual boundary line never been drawn on the ground and cannot be define in accordance with the awkward terms of the treaties. Any attempt for strict application of the elusive treaty wordings exacerbates the complexity, confusion and ultimately fuels up conflict. The study focuses on resolving the current impasse between Ethiopia and Eritrea by drawing an acceptable boundary line through constructive dialogue. A true and acceptable boundary line cannot be drawn simply on the basis of elusive colonial treaties, but through constructive and honest dialogue. Drawing a line of separation is not a goal by itself, but it would perpetuate peace, create good neighborhood, and contribute for rebuilding sense of brotherhood by avoiding animosity and mistrust. Peaceful coexistence, coupled with effects of globalization, therefore, would stimulate economic and political integration that would ultimately remove restraining effects border walls. This will effectuate AU’s Border Program that aims to change the nature of borders from barriers to bridges thereby enable everyone to freely move all over Africa once again

Is the Demand for Health Care Income Elastic? The Case of 40 Sub-Saharan African Countries

This paper uses panel data (1995 to 2011) from 40 Sub-Sahara African countries to analyze the income elasticity of health care expenditure along with some of the other theoretical determinants. The empirical results of the instrumental variable approach indicate that per capita income is a core and statistically significant determining factor of health expenditure. The value of the elasticity is about 0.48, suggesting that health expenditure as a commodity is a necessity for this region. In simple words, the goal of the system in this region is curative rather than caring. The percentage of population age 65 or older and official development assistance are found to have a significant role in increasing health expenditure. This research recommends that healthcare expenditure in sub Saharan Africa be a priority as it is a necessity. Public investment on healthcare should also be seen as an opportunity towards promoting health and increasing production, as opposed to a burden

Clinical Audit: Paediatric Medical Team Attendance at Deliveries in an Outer Metropolitan Hospital in Western Australia

Background: The attendance of paediatric medical teams at deliveries has become accepted as an integral part of birth management under current multidisciplinary team arrangements. Under current guidelines, specific clinical indicators have been developed to determine whether paediatric teams need to attend deliveries. High rates of attendance indicate that paediatric medical team resources are being extended beyond the criteria at the expense of essential services being provided elsewhere. Methods: A retrospective clinical audit was used to evaluate the frequency of paediatric team attendance and related clinical indicators. Deliveries were recorded and audited for a randomly selected calendar month. Paediatric team attendance was evaluated against foetal distresses, types of delivery, gestational age and birth weight. Results: A total of 112 deliveries were recorded for the selected calendar month and paediatric medical teams attended 74.1% (n=80) of the deliveries. Participants were comprised of 50.9% (n=57) male and 49.1% (n=55) female babies. Of these deliveries, 66.7% (n=72) were term, 30.6% (n=33) post-term and 2.8% (n=3) pre-term. A total of 69.4% (n=75) of deliveries were spontaneous vaginal deliveries (SVD), while 22.2% (n=24) were caesarean sections and 8.3% (n=9) were instrumental deliveries. Foetal distress was experienced by 16.2% (n=17) of babies. Conclusion: Paediatric medical team attendance at deliveries was higher than the combined rate of caesarean sections, pre-term babies, instrumental deliveries and reported cases of foetal distress

Debenture as Alternate Scheme of Raising Investment Fund and Its Prospects under Ethiopian Company Law

With a view to attracting investors, the Government of Ethiopia has offered a variety of incentives and financing schemes. However, the incentives or loan options can be inadequate, susceptible to corrupt practices and inaccessible to many business undertakings. This article examines other possible options of raising investment fund privately from the general public by issuing debt security (debenture). Instead of looking for hand outs of governments or sole reliance on bank loan, investors can raise investment fund from the general public –even beyond national borders– by offering debenture bonds for public subscription. A debenture is debt security that entitles its holder to collect periodic interest until the loan is paid back. Compared to bank loans, raising investment fund through the instrumentality of debentures is more advantageous. The rate of interest, the volume of loan needed for running business, and the time for repayment can be determined by investors. Moreover, the loan is not generally subject to collateral. This article highlights the nature, form, and class of debenture under Ethiopian law, and discusses the legal requirements for the issuance of debenture, the amount of money that can be raised by issuing debentures, the status of debentures in Ethiopia, and legal safeguards for repayment of the loan. Key terms Debenture, Bond, Investor, Floating charge, Creditor, Debtor, Ethiopi

Is the Demand for Health Care Income Elastic? The Case of 40 Sub-Saharan African Countries

This paper uses panel data (1995 to 2011) from 40 Sub-Sahara African countries to analyze the income elasticity of health care expenditure along with some of the other theoretical determinants. The empirical results of the instrumental variable approach indicate that per capita income is a core and statistically significant determining factor of health expenditure. The value of the elasticity is about 0.48, suggesting that health expenditure as a commodity is a necessity for this region. In simple words, the goal of the system in this region is curative rather than caring. The percentage of population age 65 or older and official development assistance are found to have a significant role in increasing health expenditure. This research recommends that healthcare expenditure in sub Saharan Africa be a priority as it is a necessity. Public investment on healthcare should also be seen as an opportunity towards promoting health and increasing production, as opposed to a burden

Does linear equating improve prediction in mapping? Crosswalking MacNew onto EQ‑5D‑5L value sets

Purpose: Preference-based measures are essential for producing quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) that are widely used for economic evaluations. In the absence of such measures, mapping algorithms can be applied to estimate utilities from disease-specific measures. This paper aims to develop mapping algorithms between the MacNew Heart Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) instrument and the English and the US-based EQ-5D-5L value sets. Methods: Individuals with heart disease were recruited from six countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, UK and the US in 2011/12. Both parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques were applied to estimate mapping algorithms that predict utilities for MacNew scores from EQ-5D-5L value sets. The optimal algorithm for each country-specific value set was primarily selected based on root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), and r-squared. Leave-one-out cross-validation was conducted to test the generalizability of each model. Results: For both the English and the US value sets, the one-inflated beta regression model consistently performed best in terms of all criteria. Similar results were observed for the cross-validation results. The preferred model explained 59 and 60% for the English and the US value set, respectively. Linear equating provided predicted values that were equivalent to observed values. Conclusions: The preferred mapping function enables to predict utilities for MacNew data from the EQ-5D-5L value sets recently developed in England and the US with better accuracy. This allows studies, which have included the MacNew to be used in cost-utility analyses and thus, the comparison of services with interventions across the health system.publishedVersio

In search of a common currency: A comparison of seven EQ‐5D‐5L value sets

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Olsen, J.A., Lamu, A.N. & Cairns, J. (2018). In search of a common currency: A comparison of seven EQ‐5D‐5L value sets. Health Economics, 27(1), 39-49, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3606. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.The recently published EQ‐5D‐5L value sets from Canada, England, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, and Uruguay are compared with an aim to identify any similarities in preference pattern. We identify some striking similarities for Canada, England, the Netherlands, and Spain in terms of (a) the relative importance of the 5 dimensions; (b) the relative utility decrements across the 5 levels; and (c) the scale length. On the basis of the observed similarities across these 4 Western countries, we develop an amalgam model, WePP (western preference pattern), and compare it with these 4 value sets. The values generated by this model show a high degree of concordance with those of England, Canada, and Spain. Patient level data were obtained from the Multi‐Instrument Comparison project, which includes participants from 6 countries in 7 disease groups (N = 7,933): The WePP values lie within the confidence intervals for the value sets in Canada, England, and Spain across the whole severity distribution. We suggest that the WePP model represents a useful “common currency” for (Western) countries that have not yet developed their own value sets. Further research is needed to disentangle the differences between value sets due to preference heterogeneity from those stemming from methodological differences

The relative importance of education and health behaviour for health and wellbeing

Background - Indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP) and health behaviours (HB) are widely used predictors of health variations. Their relative importance is hard to establish, because HB takes a mediating role in the link between SEP and health. We aim to provide new knowledge on how SEP and HB are related to health and wellbeing. Methods - The analysis considered 14,713 Norwegians aged 40–63. Separate regressions were performed using two outcomes for health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5 L; EQ-VAS), and one for subjective wellbeing (Satisfaction with Life Scale). As predictors, we used educational attainment and a composite measure of HB – both categorized into four levels. We adjusted for differences in childhood financial circumstances, sex and age. We estimated the percentage share of each predictor in total explained variation, and the relative contributions of HB in the education-health association. Results - The reference case model, excluding HB, suggests consistent stepwise education gradients in health-related quality of life. The gap between the lowest and highest education was 0.042 on the EQ-5D-5 L, and 0.062 on the EQ-VAS. When including HB, the education effects were much attenuated, making HB take the lion share of the explained health variance. HB contributes 29% of the education-health gradient when health is measured by EQ-5D-5 L, and 40% when measured by EQ-VAS. For subjective wellbeing, we observed a strong HB-gradient, but no education gradient. Conclusion - In the institutional context of a rich egalitarian country, variations in health and wellbeing are to a larger extent explained by health behaviours than educational attainment