AIM To characterize the patterns of competition for a sample of drugs in the Portuguese pharmaceutical market before (January 2002-March 2003) and after (April 2003-June 2003) the introduction of the reference pricing system (RPS). METHODS We performed a descriptive, retrospective, longitudinal analysis, with monthly observations from January 2002 until June 2003 of 15 homogeneous groups. The...

BACKGROUND Managed competition was introduced into the health care system in several countries including the Netherlands, although effects of competition of both providers and health insurers on the price of health care are inconclusive. We investigated the association between competition of both providers (care groups) and health insurers and the price of disease management programmes (DMPs). ...

Prisms are one of the oldest tools ophthal­ mologists use to examine misaligned eyes. The prism bends light rays but does not focus them and lets the doctor measure, in mil­ limeters, the deviation between two eyes. In trying to get a read on how regulators will examine the alignment of the Anthem–Cigna and Aetna–Humana mega­mergers, antitrust attorney Matthew Cantor found his prism in, of all ...

In this paper we study a behavioral model of conflict that provides a basis for choosing certain indices of dispersion as indicators for conflict. We show that a suitable monotone transform of the equilibrium level of conflict can be proxied by a linear function of the Gini coefficient, the Herfindahl-Hirschman fractionalization index, and a specific measure of polarization due to Esteban and R...

This paper utilizes a rank-size function to investigate market concentration in lieu of well-known measures. For comparison, two measures were chosen: Theil’s entropy and the Herfindahl. The empirical results are based on premiums written for twelve lines of property and liability insurance. While the two concentration measures rank the lines for the level of concentration in almost complete un...

The quality of the products financial services market is largely determined by competition level between its main subjects, which formed under influence many factors a macroeconomic and global nature. Assessing competitive environment participants in banking seem to be quite relevant. Russian system at stage ongoing structural institutional reformation, reflected quantitative narrowing, statist...

Using indexes of concentration, the general merchandisers industry was compared with other consumer product and/or retailing industries, such as food and drug stores, for the period 1995 to 2006. This paper shows that an increase in concentration occurred in the general merchandisers industry. Compared to other industries, the general merchandisers industry had statistically significant concent...

Globalization of world economy has led to a rapid growth of container transportation as well as container ports. In China, Shanghai and Ningbo ports have experienced an explosive growth rate based on their strong economic hinterlands. The purpose of this paper is to adopt regional economic theory and methods to quantitatively analyze the spatial structure of the ports cluster and the competitiv...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the relationship between exports, and in particular export diversity, and spatial inequality in a developing country context. Using export data from19 sectors within 354 sub-national (magisterial) districts of South Africa, various measures of subnational export diversity are constructed. It is found that it is not only important how much is exported, b...

This article aimed to test the general hypothesis that guidelines create uniformity, or reduce variation, in medical practice. Medical practice variation has policy interest and is one of the reasons for developing guidelines. The development and implementation of guidelines was considered in the broader context of processes of rationalization. We focused on the influence of voluntary guideline...