Why is corruption—defined here as the misuse of public office for private gain—perceived to be more widespread in some countries than others? Different theories associate cross-national variation in the extent of corruption with particular historical and cultural traditions, levels of economic development, political institutions, and government policies. This paper analyzes which of various pla...

Recently fixed pricing and auctions have been brought together in a new pricing format that offers bidders the option of prematurely ending an auction at a fixed price. The growing popularity of auctions presents an interesting pricing decision for managers: whether to sell at a fixed price, in a regular auction, or through a buy-it-now auction. This paper studies eBay’s buy-it-now auction and ...

The latest assessment of the Spanish resident in training (Médicos Internos Residentes, MIR) program in Endocrinology and Nutrition has just been published.1,2 This evaluation of the training program, which since 1997 has been conducted on a regular basis, must be considered very positive, given the importance of training for the development of the specialty.1,3 This current assessment is parti...

A new approach to fund-raising in the battle against AIDS in Africa has appeared in the consumer marketplace. Product RED, launched by U2 lead singer Bono, went on sale this spring. Unlike traditional fund-raising vehicles, such as philanthropic foundations, RED blurs altruism, profit motive and consumer appeal. But can it overcome the ethical and practical pitfalls of fusing commerce with char...

The purposes of this research were to measure the profit efficiency of sample Irish potato farms and subsequently to explore determinants of profit inefficiency in the Dedza district of Malawi. Flexible Stochastic Profit Frontier Analysis was used to measure profit efficiency. Farmers from 200 randomly selected farmers were interviewed for plot level data. Research results revealed that the ave...

The aim of this study was to describe the differences in the profile of elderly residents in non-profit and for-profit Long-Term Residential Institutions for the Elderly (ILPI). We visited 12 ILPIs in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. Six of them were non-profits housing 260 elderly, and six were for-profit institutions, housing 127 elderly. The unequal characteristics of the elderly in t...

^ountry were detailed. It was mentioned that as ^te as 1700 the patients in the Hotel Dieu were at j^ttes of pressure placed two and three in a bed. J-he early English hospitals were infirmaries connected ^h the monasteries, and to them resorted, not only a?ute cases, but the chronic and destitute, the rehgious houses taking the place of the Poor Law, j^Ucational and hospital authorities. A sto...

The decentralisation of Australia's centralised wage fixation system has been seen as providing opportunities for employers and trade unions to tailor working arrangements to suit the needs of the workplace and to provide better paid long-term jobs. This paper details the productivity bargaining between the Private Hospitals' Association of Queensland and The Australian Workers' Union in 1995-9...