This paper analyzes the welfare implications of creating a Single Euro Payments Area. We study the effects of increased network compatibility and payment scale economies on consumer and merchant card fees and its impact on card usage. In particular, we model competition among debit cards and between debit and credit cards. We show that competitive pressures dampen merchant fees and increase tot...

Most of the research on transaction costs in the market microstructure literature focuses on implicit transaction costs. Research on the design of price schedules for explicit transaction fees is rare. This paper analyzes and classifies different price schedules and discusses their application to the market transaction business. The discussion highlights design issues and the need for a structu...

President Obama has pledged to review all cases prosecuted through the Guantánamo Military Commissions established under President George N. Bush. Such commissions, however, may have limited independent psychiatric evaluations for Guantánamo defendants. This article explores the legal foundations for evaluating Guantánamo detainees, analyzes the decisions of commissions through discussions with...

This paper uses Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) data to investigate, via a discrete choice model, the main determinants associated with seeking private, government and pharmacy based health care, for both adults and children. More specifically, and particularly important given that almost 40% of the Ugandan population are below the poverty line and that policies on user fees have recent...

A good definition of microfinance as provided by Robinson1 is, ‘Microfinance refers to small-scale financial services for both credits and deposits — that are provided to people who farm or fish or herd; operate small or microenterprises where goods are produced, recycled, repaired, or traded; provide services; work for wages or commissions; gain income from renting out small amounts of land, v...

Previous work shows that establishments with higher proportions of women are more likely to use piece rates hut that individual women are less likely to receive performance pay. We present a model in which lower expected tenure and labor force attachment are positively associated with piece rates but are negatively associated with other forms of performance pay. Analysis of the National Longitu...

OBJECTIVES Vietnam started its health reform process two decades ago, initiated by economic reform in 1986. Economic reform has rapidly changed the socio-economic environment with the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented economy. Health reform in Vietnam has been associated with the introduction of user fees, the legalization of private medical practices, and the com...

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 mandated reductions in physician reimbursement. This reduction in payments could be envisioned to limit expenditures on 2 counts: first, individual fees would be lower, producing inherent savings. Furthermore, reducing fees should depress the incentive to work, thereby generating additional savings from reduced output. A rival point of view holds that lower fees ...