This paper uses the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to compare the health systems of the thirty member countries in 2000. Total health spending—the distribution of public and private health spending in the OECD countries—is presented and discussed. U.S. public spending as a percentage of GDP (5.8 percent) is virtually identical to public spendin...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tracks and reports annually on more than 1,200 health system measures across 30 industrialized countries, ranging from population health status and nonmedical determinants of health to health care resources and utilization. Based on analysis of OECD health data from 2008, the United States continues to differ markedly from other c...

BACKGROUND The diabetes epidemic is associated with huge human and economic costs, with some groups, such as indigenous populations in industrialised countries, being at especially high risk. Monitoring and improving diabetes care at a population level are important to reduce diabetes-related morbidity and mortality. A set of diabetes indicators has been developed collaboratively among the Orga...

This paper uses the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to compare the health systems of the thirty member countries in 2000. Total health spending—the distribution of public and private health spending in the OECD countries—is presented and discussed. U.S. public spending as a percentage of GDP (5.8 percent) is virtually identical to public spendin...

This paper uses the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to compare the health systems of the thirty member countries in 2000. Total health spending—the distribution of public and private health spending in the OECD countries—is presented and discussed. U.S. public spending as a percentage of GDP (5.8 percent) is virtually identical to public spendin...

Mancur Olson’s institutional sclerosis hypothesis may be evident in the effects of interest groups on investment in physical capital. To test this proposition, we use cross sectional data on 42 countries for which information on the number of interest groups is available to estimate the effect of those groups on the share of GDP that goes into physical investment. The results indicate that inte...

Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: − to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus t...

• Behavioural factors, such as prevalence of smoking and obesity, are key determinants of health status and have an impact on the health of individuals now and into the future. Compared with other countries, Canada has made significant progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking, having one of the lowest rates among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEC...

The aim of this paper is to classify the post-transition OECD countries according Gini coefficient for income inequality, S80/S20 ratio, share bottom 40% population, educational attainment – tertiary education, and labor force participation rate using factor cluster analyses. Factor analysis resulted in two extracted factors, scores were calculated. Hierarchical non-hierarchical was performed o...

As a form of social security, means-tested social assistance has acquired an increasing importance in the comparative literature on welfare states. Although there is a growing number of international and comparative studies of East Asian social policy, relatively little attention has been paid to social assistance schemes in this region. This paper makes an effort to step into some of the gaps....