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Area Differences (area + difference)
Selected Abstracts,It'll never happen to me': understanding public awareness of local flood riskDISASTERS, Issue 2 2008Kate Burningham Following the severe flood events of 1998 and 2000, the United Kingdom's Environment Agency prioritised the need to increase public flood risk awareness. Drawing on data collected during research undertaken for the Environment Agency, this paper contributes to understanding of one aspect of flood awareness: people's recognition that their property is in an area that is potentially at risk of flooding. Quantitative analyses indicate that class is the most influential factor in predicting flood risk awareness, followed by flood experience and length of time in residence. There are also significant area differences. Our qualitative work explores how those defined as ,at risk' account for their lack of awareness or concern about their risk status. We conclude that the problem is often not simply a lack of awareness, but rather, assessments of local risk based on experience that underestimate the impact of rare or extreme events. We underline the importance of engaging with local perspectives on risk and making local people part of ,awareness-raising' processes. [source] The role of the staff MFF in distributing NHS funding: taking account of differences in local labour market conditionsHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2010Robert Elliott Abstract The National Health Service (NHS) in England distributes substantial funds to health-care providers in different geographical areas to pay for the health care required by the populations they serve. The formulae that determine this distribution reflect populations' health needs and local differences in the prices of inputs. Labour is the most important input and area differences in the price of labour are measured by the Staff Market Forces Factor (MFF). This Staff MFF has been the subject of much debate. Though the Staff MFF has operated for almost 30 years this is the first academic paper to evaluate and test the theory and method that underpin the MFF. The theory underpinning the Staff MFF is the General Labour Market method. The analysis reported here reveals empirical support for this theory in the case of nursing staff employed by NHS hospitals, but fails to identify similar support for its application to medical staff. The paper demonstrates the extent of spatial variation in private sector and NHS wages, considers the choice of comparators and spatial geography, incorporates vacancy modelling and illustrates the effect of spatial smoothing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An explanatory model of medical practice variation: a physician resource demand perspectiveJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2002Michael J. Long MA PhD Abstract Practice style variation, or variation in the manner in which physicians treat patients with a similar disease condition, has been the focus of attention for many years. The research agenda is further intensified by the unrealistic assumption that by reducing variation, quality will be improved, costs will be reduced, or both. There is a wealth of literature that identifies differences in health care use of many kinds, in apparently similar communities. Attempts have been made by many scholars to identify the determinants of variation in terms of differences in the population characteristics (e.g. age, sex, insurance, etc.) and geographical characteristics (e.g. distance to provider, number of physicians, number of hospital beds, etc.). When significant differences in use rates prevail after controlling for differences in population characteristics, it is often attributed to ,uncertainty', or the fact that there is no consensus on what constitutes the optimum treatment process. It is suggested by this literature that the greatest variation can be found in the circumstances where there is the most ,uncertainty'. In this work, a physician resource demand model is proposed in which it is suggested that, during the diagnosis and treatment process, physicians demand resources consistent with the clinical needs of the patients, modified by the intervening forces under which they practice. These intervening forces, or constraints, are categorized as patient agency constraints, organizational constraints and environmental constraints, which are characterized as ,induced variation'. It is suggested that when all of the variables that constitute these constraints are identified, the remaining variance represents ,innate variance', or practice style differences. It is further suggested that the more completely this model is specified, the more likely area differences will be attenuated and the smaller will be the residual variance. [source] THE PATTERN AND EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS IN GREAT BRITAIN,THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 4 2007DAVID BELL Government policy on the nature of wage bargaining in the public sector can have important implications for the provision of public services. Using the New Earnings Survey, the Labour Force Survey and the British Household Panel Survey, we examine the size and evolution of public,private sector wage differentials across geographical areas within the UK and over time. Public sector bargaining structures have led to historically high wage premia, although these premia are declining over time. In high-cost low-amenity areas, such as the south-east of England, the public sector underpays relative to the private sector, therefore creating problems in recruitment to and provision of public services. Public sector labour markets are around 40 per cent as responsive to area differences in amenities and costs as are private sector labour markets. Differences in the degree of spatial variation between sectors are likely to remain, leading to persistent problems for the delivery of public services in some parts of the UK. Reform of public sector pay structures is likely to be costly, and so other non-pay policies need to be considered to increase the attractiveness of public sector jobs. [source] | ||||||||||