Regulators dedicate much attention to a financial institution’s option to default, i.e. the option that distressed financial institutions have to transfer losses to their creditors. It is generally recognized that the existence of this option provides intermediaries with a powerful incentive to keep firm capital close to the minimal requirement. We argue, however, that undercapitalization harms...

In this paper we investigate the importance of labor market institutions such as unemployment insurance, unions, …ring regulation and minimum wages for the evolution of male wage inequality across countries. We derive a simple log-linear equation of the wage di¤erential as a function of the institutional parameters, total factor productivity, …nal good prices and relative skill supply. Our esti...

Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the effects of several financial cycles severely battered the banking system of the United States. As used here, the term "cycle" does not imply a recurring phenomenon, but rather a cycle through various phases--as in a boom and bust cycle. Most of these cycles began with a prolonged period of extraordinary growth centered in a particularly risky t...

PROBLEM As countries expand health insurance coverage, their expenditures on medicines increase. To address this problem, WHO has recommended that every country draw up a list of essential medicines. Although most medicines on the list are generics, in many countries patented medicines represent a substantial portion of pharmaceutical expenditure. APPROACH To help control expenditure on paten...

Can public income insurance through progressive income taxation improve the allocation of risk in an economy where private risk sharing is incomplete? The answer depends crucially on the fundamental friction that limits private risk sharing in the first place. If risk sharing is limited because insurance markets are missing for model-exogenous reasons (as in Bewley, 1986) publicly provided risk...

Theoretically, weather-index insurance is an effective risk reduction option for small-scale farmers in low income countries. Renewed policy and donor emphasis on bridging gender gaps in development also emphasizes the potential social safety net benefits that weather-index insurance could bring to women farmers who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change risk and have low adaptive ...

BACKGROUND The government of Kenya is making plans to implement a social health insurance program by transforming the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) into a universal health coverage program. This paper examines the determinants associated with participation in the NHIF among residents of urban slums in Nairobi city. METHODS The study used data from the Nairobi Urban Health and Demogr...

BACKGROUND Various types of medical institutions perform treatments for lower respiratory tract infections. However, few studies have assessed and compared practice patterns across different medical institutions in Japan. To assess practice patterns for community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections among patients who needed hospitalization, we examined the use of injection antibiotics a...

Background The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) conducted a screening test to detect chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes in Korea. This study evaluated the effects of health screening for DM on pharmacological treatment. Methods The data from qualification and the General Health Screening in 2012, the insurance claims of medical institutions from Jan 2009 to Dec 2014, a...

This article presents the results from an experimental evaluation of a voluntary health insurance program for informal sector workers in Nicaragua. Costs of the premiums as well as enrollment location were randomly allocated. Overall, take-up of the program was low, with only 20% enrollment. Program costs and streamlined bureaucratic procedures were important determinants of enrollment. Partici...