Johannes Schoder, Peter Zweifel, Managed Care Konzepte und Lösungsansätze: ein internationaler Vergleich aus schweizerischer Sicht, In: Vernetzung im Gesundheitswesen: Wettbewerb und Kooperation, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, p. 149 - 166, 2008. (Book Chapter)
This paper applies the five modified standard criteria generally used in economics for assessing system performances to gauge the contribution of Managed Care to the performance of three health care systems, viz. Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. The maximum contribution of Managed Care to the performance of the health care system is found for the United States and the Netherlands. The Health Maintenance Organization (U.S.) and the gatekeeper model (the Netherlands) score 10 and 9 out of 15 points, respectively, importantly due to a market-oriented environment. By way of contrast, the so-called ‘structured treatment programs’ of the German health care system score only 4 out of 15 points. Not only the more tightly regulated environment but also the lack of consideration of consumer preferences and of incentives for service providers to participate in the programs contributed to poor performance. |
|
K Beck, U Käser, Nachhaltigkeit von Kosteneinsparungen in Managed-Care-Modellen, Care Management, Vol. 2008 (5), 2008. (Journal Article)
|
|
Peter Zweifel, Karolin Becker, Neue Formen der ambulanten Versorgung: Was wollen die Versicherten?: ein Discrete-Choice-Experiment, In: Medizin zwischen Humanität und Wettbewerb: Probleme, Trends und Perspektiven, Herder Verlag, Freiburg i.Br., p. 313 - 351, 2008. (Book Chapter)
|
|
Neuroeconomics: decision making and the brain, Edited by: Paul W Glimcher, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr, Russell Poldrack, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2008. (Edited Scientific Work)
Neuroeconomics is a new highly promising approach to understanding the neurobiology of decision making and how it affects cognitive social interactions between humans and societies/economies. This book is the first edited reference to examine the science behind neuroeconomics, including how it influences human behavior and societal decision making from a behavioral economics point of view. Presenting a truly interdisciplinary approach, Neuroeconomics presents research from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, and includes chapters by all the major figures in the field, including two Economics nobel laureates. Carefully edited for a cohesive presentation of the material, the book is also a great textbook to be used in the many newly emerging graduate courses on Neuroeconomics in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics graduate schools. This groundbreaking work is sure to become the standard reference source for this growing area of research. |
|
T Sterner, A Muller, Output and abatement effects of allocation readjustment in permit trade, Climatic Change, Vol. 86 (1-2), 2008. (Journal Article)
In permit trading systems, free initial allocation is common practice. A recent example is the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). We investigate effects of different free allocation schemes on incentives and identify significant perverse effects on abatement and output employing a simple multi-period model. Firms have incentives for strategic action if allocation in one period depends on their actions in previous ones and thus can be influenced by them. These findings play a major role where trading schemes become increasingly popular as environmental or resource use policy instruments. This is of particular relevance in the EU-ETS where the current period is a trial-period before the first commitment period of the Kyoto protocol. Finally, this paper fills a gap in the literature by establishing a consistent terminology for initial allocation. |
|
P Petrovic, R Kalisch, T Singer, R J Dolan, Oxytocin attenuates affective evaluations of conditioned faces and amygdala activity, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 28 (26), 2008. (Journal Article)
Social relations between humans critically depend on our affective experiences of others. Oxytocin enhances prosocial behavior, but its effect on humans’ affective experience of others is not known. We tested whether oxytocin influences affective ratings, and underlying
brain activity, of faces that have been aversively conditioned. Using a standard conditioning procedure, we induced differential negative affective ratings in faces exposed to an aversive conditioning compared with nonconditioning manipulation. This differential negative
evaluative effect was abolished by treatment with oxytocin, an effect associated with an attenuation of activity in anterior medial temporal and anterior cingulate cortices. In amygdala and fusiform gyrus, this modulation was stronger for faces with direct gaze, relative to
averted gaze, consistent with a relative specificity for socially relevant cues. The data suggest that oxytocin modulates the expression of evaluative conditioning for socially relevant faces via influences on amygdala and fusiform gyrus, an effect that may explain its prosocial
effects. |
|
Pathbreakers: small European countries responding to globalisation and deglobalisation, Edited by: Margrit Müller, Timo Myllyntaus, Peter Lang, Bern, 2008. (Edited Scientific Work)
This book concentrates on how small European countries coped with economic integration and disintegration during the twentieth century. Small countries had to adapt flexibly to the drastically changing conditions outside their borders. They had to find ways of maintaining their political autonomy notwithstanding their economic dependence, and they have been quite successful in accomplishing this difficult balancing act. The authors analyse how small countries responded to the challenges of the international system and describe the different policies and strategies pursued by governments, industries and firms. Originating from the XIII. Congress of the International Economic History Association (IEHA), the contributions to this volume offer new perspectives on a widely debated topic and contribute to a better understanding of the current process of globalisation in small and large countries. The volume is divided into three sections: I. Coping with Different Regimes for International Trade and Changing Competitiveness; II. From an Open World Economy to Economic Disintegration and Protectionism; III. Trade Liberalisation, European Integration and Deregulation. |
|
Robert A Hart, James R Malley, Ulrich Woitek, Real earnings and business cycles: new evidence, Empirical Economics, Vol. 37 (1), 2008. (Journal Article)
In the time domain, the observed cyclical behavior of the real wage hides a range of economic influences that give rise to cycles of differing lengths and strengths. This may serve to produce a distorted picture of wage cyclicality. Here, we employ frequency domain methods that allow us to assess the relative contribution of cyclical frequency bands
on real wage earnings. Earnings are decomposed into standard and overtime components. We also distinguish between consumption and production wages. Frequency domain analysis is carried out in relation to wages alone and to wages in relation to output and employment cycles. Our univariate analysis suggests that, in general, the dominant
cycle followed by output, employment, real consumer and producer wages and their components is 5-7 years. Consistent with previous findings reported in the macro-level literature, our bi-variate results show that the various measures of the wage are generally not linked
to the employment cycle. However, and in sharp contrast with previous macro-level studies we find strong procyclical links between the consumer wage and its overtime components and the output cycle, especially at the 5-7 years frequency. |
|
C D Frith, T Singer, Review: The role of social cognition in decision making, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 363 (1511), 2008. (Journal Article)
Successful decision making in a social setting depends on our ability to understand the intentions, emotions and beliefs of others. The mirror system allows us to understand other people's motor actions and action intentions. ‘Empathy’ allows us to understand and share emotions and sensations with others. ‘Theory of mind’ allows us to understand more abstract concepts such as beliefs or wishes in others. In all these cases, evidence has accumulated that we use the specific neural networks engaged in processing mental states in ourselves to understand the same mental states in others. However, the magnitude of the brain activity in these shared networks is modulated by contextual appraisal of the situation or the other person. An important feature of decision making in a social setting concerns the interaction of reason and emotion. We consider four domains where such interactions occur: our sense of fairness, altruistic punishment, trust and framing effects. In these cases, social motivations and emotions compete with each other, while higher-level control processes modulate the interactions of these low-level biases. |
|
R C van Kleef, K Beck, W P M M van de Ven, R C J A van Vliet, Risk equalization and voluntary deductibles: a complex interaction, Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 27 (2), 2008. (Journal Article)
The presence of voluntary deductibles in the Swiss and Dutch mandatory health insurance has important implications for the respective risk equalization systems. In a theoretical analysis, we discuss the consequences of equalizing three types of expenditures: the net claims that are reimbursed by the insurer, the out-of-pocket expenditures and the expenditure savings due to moral hazard reduction. Equalizing only the net claims, as done in Switzerland, creates incentives for cream skimming and prevents insurers from incorporating out-of-pocket expenditures and moral hazard reductions into their premium structure. In an empirical analysis, we examine the effect of self-selection and conclude that the Swiss and Dutch risk equalization systems do not fully adjust for differences in health status between those who choose a deductible and those who do not. We discuss how this may lead to incentives for cream skimming and to a reduction of cross-subsidies from healthy to unhealthy individuals compared to a situation without voluntary deductibles. |
|
A Muller, Risk management in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – the potential of sustainability labels, In: Economics and Management of Climate Change: Risks, Mitigation and Adaptation, Springer, Berlin, p. 193 - 208, 2008. (Book Chapter)
There is a danger that the CDM will fail to live up to its goals, namely reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced sustainable development. Sustainability labelling is a promising strategy to hedge against such failures. Labels could also serve as a business risk-hedging tool. The existing labels for the CDM are not comprehensive enough, however. A two-tiered stakeholder participatory approach with national flexibility under an international umbrella could be a promising option. Due to the necessary bureaucracy this might not be feasible. Labels in the spirit of the existing approaches – addressing only restricted aspects of sustainability or not applicable to all sectors may be a second best option. Other instruments
for the further regulation of the CDM, such as a profit tax, should therefore be discussed as well. |
|
A Börsch-Supan, A Reil-Held, D Schunk, Saving incentives, old-age provision and displacement effects: evidence from the recent German pension reform, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Vol. 7 (3), 2008. (Journal Article)
In response to population aging, pay-as-you-go pensions are being reduced in almost all developed countries. In many countries, governments aim to fill the resulting gap with subsidized private pensions. This paper exploits the recent German pension reform to shed new light on the uptake of voluntary, but heavily subsidized private pension schemes. Specifically, we investigate how the uptake of the recently
introduced “Riester pensions” depends on state-provided saving incentives, and how well the targeting to families and low-income households works in practice.
We show that, after a slow start, private pension plans took off very quickly. While saving incentives were effective in reaching parents, they were less successful in attracting low-income earners, although Riester pensions exhibit a more equal pattern by income than occupational pensions and unsubsidized private pension plans.
We also provide circumstantial evidence on displacement effects between saving for old-age provision and other purposes. Households who plan to purchase housing are less likely to have a Riester pension. The same holds for households who attach high importance to a bequest motive. Occupational pensions and other forms of private pensions, however, act as complements rather than as substitutes. |
|
Nikolaus Steinbeis, Stefan Koelsch, Shared neural resources between music and language indicate semantic processing of musical tension-resolution patterns, Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 18 (5), 2008. (Journal Article)
Harmonic tension-resolution patterns have long been hypothesized to be meaningful to listeners familiar with Western music. Even though it has been shown that specifically chosen musical pieces can prime meaningful concepts, the empirical evidence in favor of such a highly specific semantic pathway has been lacking. Here we show that 2 event-related potentials in response to harmonic expectancy violations, the early right anterior negativity (ERAN) and the N500, could be systematically modulated by simultaneously presented language material containing either a syntactic or a semantic violation. Whereas the ERAN was reduced only when presented concurrently with a syntactic language violation and not with a semantic language violation, this pattern was reversed for the N500. This is the first piece of evidence showing that tension- resolution patterns represent a route to meaning in music. |
|
Ernst Fehr, Karla Hoff, Mayuresh Kshetramade, Spite and development, American Economic Review, Vol. 98 (2), 2008. (Journal Article)
|
|
Herbert Gintis, Joseph Henrich, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, Ernst Fehr, Strong reciprocity and the roots of human morality, Social Justice Research, Vol. 21 (2), 2008. (Journal Article)
Human morality is a key evolutionary adaptation on which human social behavior has been based since the Pleistocene era. Ethical behavior is constitutive of human nature, we argue, and human morality is as important an adaptation as human cognition and speech. Ethical behavior, we assert, need not be a means toward personal gain. Because of our nature as moral beings, humans take pleasure in acting ethically and are pained when acting unethically. From an evolutionary viewpoint, we argue that ethical behavior was fitness-enhancing in the years marking the emergence of Homo sapiens because human groups with many altruists fared better than groups of selfish individuals, and the fitness losses sustained by altruists were more than compensated by the superior performance of the groups in which they congregated. |
|
D Knoch, M A Nitsche, U Fischbacher, C Eisenegger, A Pascual-Leone, Ernst Fehr, Studying the neurobiology of social interaction with transcranial direct current stimulation--The example of punishing unfairness, Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 18 (9), 2008. (Journal Article)
Studying social behavior often requires the simultaneous interaction of many subjects. As yet, however, no painless, noninvasive brain stimulation tool existed that allowed the simultaneous affection of brain processes in many interacting subjects. Here we show that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can overcome these limits. We apply right prefrontal cathodal tDCS and show that subjects’ propensity to punish unfair behavior is reduced significantly. |
|
A Muller, Sufficiency – does energy consumption become a moral issue?, In: Smart Energy Strategies: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge, vdf Hochschulverlag AG an der ETH Zürich, Zürich, p. 86 - 88, 2008. (Book Chapter)
|
|
Bruno Frey, Terrorism from the rational choice point of view, In: Rational choice: Theoretische Analysen und empirische Resultate, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, p. 211 - 222, 2008. (Book Chapter)
|
|
R Langdon, R McKay, M Coltheart, The cognitive neuropsychological understanding of persecutory delusions, In: Persecutory delusions: assessment, theory, and treatment, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 221 - 236, 2008. (Book Chapter)
In considering the contribution of cognitive neuropsychology to the understanding of persecutory delusions, we shall proceed in this chapter as follows: First, we shall consider the contribution of the more conventional clinical neuropsychological approach to the study of delusions. After all, cognitive neuropsychology developed as a hybrid of clinical neuropsychology (the psychological study of brain-injured people) and cognitive psychology (the study of the mental information-processing procedures that people use to perform such activities as speaking and understanding speech, and recognizing objects). Second, we shall outline the cognitive neuropsychological approach with brief reference to its history. Third, we shall describe how this approach has been applied to the study of delusions with reference
to our two-deficit cognitive neuropsychological model of monothematic delusions. Finally we shall evaluate the applicability of this model to the explanation of other delusions that are not so obviously neuropsychological; here we shall focus on persecutory delusions. |
|
Johannes Schoder, Peter Zweifel, The contribution of managed care to the performance of healthcare systems - evidence from three countries, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik = Swiss journal of economics and statistics, Vol. 144 (Paper), 2008. (Journal Article)
This paper applies the five standard economic performance criteria to gauge the contribution of Managed Care (MC) to the performance of three healthcare systems, viz. Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The criteria are (1) matching of consumer preferences, (2) technical efficiency, (3) adaptive capacity, (4) dynamic efficiency, and (5) a rent-free distribution of income that provides incentives for producers to attain criteria (1) through (4). Being insurance-based, the German, Dutch, and Swiss healthcare systems comprise three contractual relationships that can be judged in the light of these criteria. The maximum contribution of MC to the performance of the healthcare system is found for the Netherlands followed by Switzerland. The Independent Practice Associations representing MC in the Netherlands, and the Health Maintenance Organizations representing MC in Switzerland score 15 respectively 6 out of 30 points. By way of contrast, the contribution of the Disease Management Programs to the performance of the German healthcare system remains limited (3 out of 30 points). |
|