False bad news about population growth, natural resources, and the environment is published widely in the face of contradictory evidence. For example, the world supply of arable land has actually been increasing, the scarcity of natural resources including food and energy has been decreasing, and basic measures of U.S. environmental quality show positive trends. The aggregate data show no long-...

We propose and analyze a two-country model of endogenous innovation cycles. In autarky, innovation fluctuations in the two countries are decoupled. As the trade cost falls and intra-industry trade rises, they become synchronized. This is because globalization leads to the alignment of innovation incentives across firms based in different countries, as they operate in the increasingly global (he...

The problem of how best to find and exploit essential resources, the quality and locations of which are unknown, is common throughout biology. For plants, the need to grow an efficient root system so as to acquire patchily distributed soil nutrients is typically complicated by competition between plants, and by the costs of maintaining the root system. Simple mechanistic models for root growth ...

This paper contributes to the conflicting international evidence on the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on labour productivity (LP) growth. We examine the link between ICT intensity and New Zealand s LP growth in 29 industries over the period 1988–2003, and over relevant sub-periods. After deriving an ICT intensity index to classify industries into more ICT intensive an...

Hospital-wide computerized information systems evolved from the need to capture patient information and perform billing and other financial functions. These systems, however, have fallen short of meeting the needs of respiratory care departments regarding work load assessment, productivity management, and the level of outcome reporting required to support programs such as patient-driven protoco...

Job Satisfaction (JS) plays important role as a competitive advantage in organizations especially in helth industry. Recruitment and retention of human resources are persistent problems associated with this field. Most of the researchs have focused on the job satisfaction factors and few of researches have noticed about its effects on productivity. However, little researchs have focused on the ...

OBJECTIVES Due to an increasing demand for more examinations in a non-profitmaking hospital with a fixed budget, Lean Management was introduced in the Department of Radiology in 2006. The process, experience and results are discussed from a management view. METHODS Lean principles were introduced in the department and ways of working were adjusted accordingly. RESULTS Higher productivity an...

Efforts to regionalize cardiac services can increase access costs for patients. This study quantifies this trade off by estimating the effects of changes in the regulation of hospital services on treatments and outcomes. A demand model for surgery services is specified in which heart attack victims form expectations of the need for and productivity of surgery in their choice of hospital and tre...

Nurse leaders control the largest part of a hospital labor budget, in some cases the largest part of the overall budget. The effectiveness of overseeing this responsibility can mean the difference between an organization's financial stability and financial turmoil. The nursing department at Northwestern Memorial Hospital took ownership of its financial performance. Over the past 2 years, their ...

The last twelve months have seen the already constrained Australian health space become an even more complex one. Faced by increasing demand for services, reduced funding and staffing, and pressures imposed by state and federal government health reform agendas, hospital based services are under increasing pressure to become more efficient in how they offer their services. There is a growing nee...