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Remuneration
Kinds of Remuneration Selected AbstractsHOW TO BEST ENSURE REMUNERATION FOR CREATORS IN THE MARKET FOR MUSIC?JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 4 2006COPYRIGHT AND ITS ALTERNATIVES Abstract The focus of this essay is to examine the market for copyrighted works with a particular emphasis on the sound recording market. This market is currently in a state of flux, some would say disarray, due to the ability of the Internet to lower transmission costs for both authorized and unauthorized copies, with the latter being, at this time, far more prevalent. In this essay we discuss the intent of copyright, the role of copying and file-sharing, and some alternative production/consumption schemes meant to strengthen or to replace copyright. [source] THE VALUE OF THE REMUNERATION OF HIGH CIVIL SERVANTS IN BRITAIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY AND ITS IMPLICATIONSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2008JOHN D. RIMINGTON The article traces a large real and comparative decline in the rewards of high civil servants in Great Britain over the 20th century, accelerating since about 1970. It relates this to developments in the market for ,high quality' graduates and to changes in public and governmental attitudes which have affected the size, organization and role of the civil service. It discusses possible causes of the decline in top rewards in terms of three explanatory approaches suggested by social scientists , the ,institutional', the ,cultural', and the views of the ,Chicago School'. Finally, following an examination of changes in the way senior British civil servants are now recruited and remunerated, it considers possible outcomes in terms of effects on the part they can play in the governmental process. [source] Overcoming Poor Value Executive Remuneration: resolving the manifest conflicts of interestCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2002Allen Sykes First page of article [source] TRENDS IN ASX-LISTED BANK GOVERNANCEECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue S1 2006STEPHEN CHU This paper reviews trends in bank governance in Australia over the past 15 years. It reviews changes in board size, board committee structures and executive remuneration trends. Remuneration has increased substantially, but there is not a strong relationship to bank performance. Changes in board committee structures have occurred independent of regulatory requirements. [source] The Use of Performance-based Remuneration: High versus Low-growth FirmsAUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 3 2010Julie Walker This study analyses the CEO remuneration structure and level for 100 Australian-listed entities. Consistent with expectations, it finds that high-growth firms pay their CEOs a greater proportion of performance-based pay, when equity-based rewards only are considered. High-growth firms also place greater reliance on market and/or non-financial performance standards for the award of performance-based pay. The extent to which performance-based remuneration is used as a component of CEO pay is positively associated with firm size and growth options. Other potential determinants of performance-based pay, such as financial performance, are not significantly associated with the use of performance-based remuneration. [source] Executive Remuneration in AustraliaAUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Allan Fels A fierce debate is raging about the legitimacy of executive pay rises. Australia's chief executive salaries are not as high as in the United States and the big European economies, but between 1993 and 2007 there was a sharp rise in remuneration. Most of the rise came in the form of incentive payments. In the Australian context, the size of the executive salary is closely linked with the size of the company. The evidence is mixed about how efficient executive remuneration has been, but what is clear is that the responsibility to ensure it is appropriate resides with boards, and that there is a need for greater shareholder participation. Accordingly, it is recommended that shareholders have a greater ,say on pay', and that two successive ,no' votes on remuneration by shareholders will have formal consequences for boards. The challenge is to improve agency between shareholders and management, and between shareholders and boards. An evolutionary approach is proposed. [source] Recent veterinary graduates over the last five decades: recollections and perceptionsAUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 11 2005TJ HEATH Objective To describe the attitudes of veterinary graduates over the last 50 years to their experiences as recent graduates Design A questionnaire, sent by mail. Procedure A questionnaire seeking information on experiences as a recent graduate was sent to about 100 veterinarians who graduated in or about 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000, and 68% responded. Data were entered onto an Excel spreadsheet, and analysed with the SAS System 8 for Windows. Results Most veterinarians who graduated in 1970 and earlier were generally satisfied with their conditions, even though these were often taxing. In the 1970s the cattle industry faltered and rural practice suffered a downturn. Veterinary positions became scarce, and there were few opportunities for graduates to move on from an unsatisfactory workplace - as many were at that time. By 1980 many recent graduates were questioning their decision to study veterinary science. Many of them, working long hours under often stressful conditions, felt that that they were not receiving adequate help or support - or remuneration - from their employers, or respect from their clients. This also afflicted many who graduated in 1990, but by 2000 graduates were reporting an improvement. Their hours of work and the expectations placed on them were more manageable, and the level of help and support, and remuneration, were more acceptable. As a result they found their first year much more enjoyable than had those who had graduated since about 1970. Many of the factors contributing to this improvement resulted from changes in society generally. Specifically, both graduates and employers have become more conscious of what might reasonably be expected, an Award specified minimum levels, the AVA started accrediting New Graduate Friendly Practices, publishing a most informative New Graduate Guide, and helping in other ways. Remuneration, especially when compared with comparable professions, continues to be a source of discontent. Furthermore, despite improved conditions on average, many graduates still suffer under substandard conditions, and these can have an adverse effect on their health and their attitude to their career in veterinary science. Conclusions Average conditions of employment of recent veterinary graduates have improved somewhat after a nadir in the 1970s and 1980s, but they are still substandard for some. Remuneration remains the greatest source of dissatisfaction for recent graduates. [source] Evaluating the Characteristics of Corporate Boards Associated with Layoff DecisionsCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2006Alfred Yawson The paper evaluates the characteristics of corporate boards associated with layoff decisions using a large sample of UK firms suffering performance declines over the period 1994,2003. The results show that firms are less likely to respond to performance declines with employee layoffs when they have large boards. Further analysis shows that layoff decisions are positively associated with the proportion of outside directors and directors' remuneration. The findings provide some support to the recommendations of the Cadbury Report (1992) and Higgs Review (2003) on the importance of the structure and composition of board of directors in the corporate governance process. [source] Balancing Self-interest and Altruism: corporate governance alone is not enoughCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2004Sandra Dawson Governance has become a topic of unprecedented emotional significance and fundamental importance in the boardrooms of companies, partly as a result of a confluence of early 21st century corporate scandals, stock market falls and public rage about senior executive remuneration. A simple adherence to formal systems of corporate governance, in terms of structures, rules, procedures and codes of practice, whilst a starting point, will not alone win back confidence in markets and corporations. Consideration needs to be given to how to release entrepreneurial self interest within a moral context. This focuses attention on the role of other major social institutions which may more naturally be able to nurture a moral framework as well as the role of individual citizens and the responsibility of all of us to enact a moral framework for business activities. There is no escape from individual moral responsibility, and our part in creating and sustaining social institutions beyond corporations. [source] Factors Associated with the Development of Board Sub,committeesCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2002Elizabeth Carson This study examines the factors associated with the presence of board sub,committees, specifically audit, remuneration and nomination committees. Factors which are hypothesised in this study to affect sub,committee presence are Big 6 auditors, non,executive directors, non,executive chairmen, number of intercorporate relationships of the board and shareholder type. Company size, number of board members and leverage are employed as control variables as suggested by earlier research. An analysis of board sub,committees in the Australian corporate environment is relevant to other jurisdictions as there are no mandatory requirements on either board composition or board sub,committees. There is, however, a mandatory requirement to disclose corporate governance practices which allows for a study of this type to be reliably conducted. A sample of 361 Australian companies drawn from the largest 500 public companies is employed. Audit committee presence is found to be positively associated with Big 6 auditors and the number of intercorporate relationships of the directors of the board. Remuneration committees are also found to be associated with Big 6 auditors and intercorporate relationships and also higher levels of institutional investment. The presence of nomination committees is not associated with auditors, directors or investors, but is associated with board size and leverage. The study concludes that audit committees are a highly developed and mature governance mechanism, and that remuneration committees can be classed as a developing and maturing structure whilst nomination committees are relatively immature. [source] Managing People to Promote InnovationCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2005Helen Shipton There is growing evidence available to suggest that Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is an important predictor of organizational performance. Drawing upon organizational learning perspectives, we argue that HRM systems also have the potential to promote organizational innovation. We present longitudinal data from thirty-five UK manufacturing organizations to suggest that effective HRM systems , incorporating sophisticated approaches to recruitment and selection, induction, appraisal and training , predict organizational innovation in products and production technology. We further show that organizational innovation is enhanced where there is a supportive learning climate, and inhibited (for innovation in production processes) where there is a link between appraisal and remuneration. [source] Dentists' management of dental injuries and dental trauma in Australia: a reviewDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Thai Yeng The levels of knowledge demonstrated by surveys of dentists were not high and dentists perceive inadequate financial remuneration as the main barrier to trauma management. With only a limited number of new dental traumatic injuries occurring annually, dentists may not be competent in providing appropriate care. The management of dental trauma and any hesitations that dentists might have in terms of knowledge and skills are important to investigate to formulate an approach to overcome their reluctance. There is a deficiency of literature on this subject. [source] Differences in the Performance of Public Organisations in Ghana: Implications for Public-Sector Reform PolicyDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 6 2006Francis Owusu This article uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and well performing public organisations, and finds that they differ in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria. It argues that transforming those that perform poorly is, however, more complex than simply addressing these differences: it requires fundamental changes in the cultures of organisations. Recommendations are made for designing comprehensive public-sector reform strategies that focus on both the enabling environment and achieving cultural change in specific organisations, avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. [source] Accountability Disclosures by Queensland Local Government Councils: 1997,1999FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2002Christine Ryan The annual report is promoted and regarded as the primary medium of accountability for government agencies. In Australia, anecdotal evidence suggests the quality of annual reports is variable. However, there is scant empirical evidence on the quality of reports. The aim of this research is to gauge the quality of annual reporting by local governments in Queensland, and to investigate the factors that may contribute to that level of quality. The results of the study indicate that although the quality of reporting by local governments has improved over time, councils generally do not report information on aspects of corporate governance, remuneration of executive staff, personnel, occupational health and safety, equal opportunity policies, and performance information. In addition, the results indicate there is a correlation between the size of the local government and the quality of reporting but the quality of disclosures is not correlated with the timeliness of reports. The study will be of interest to the accounting profession, public sector regulators who are responsible for the integrity of the accountability mechanisms and public sector accounting practitioners. It will form the basis for future longitudinal research, which will map changes in the quality of local government annual reporting. [source] Physician's production of primary care in Ontario, CanadaHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010Sisira Sarma Abstract This paper examines the factors affecting the number of patient visits per week reported by family physicians in Ontario. The way that a physician is paid is potentially endogenous to the number of patients seen per week, thus an instrumental variable method of estimation is employed to account for the endogeneity bias. Once account is taken of the endogeneity of remuneration as well as relevant physician and practice characteristics, the estimated elasticity of output with respect to hours worked is 0.74; 0.68 in group practices and 0.82 in solo practices. Physicians paid on a non-fee-for-service (NFFS) conduct 15,31% fewer patient visits per week in comparison to those paid under an FFS scheme. Certain patient populations in practices affect patient visits in important ways, as do a number of physician and practice characteristics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Perceived oral health: changes over 5 years in one Swedish age-cohortINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DENTAL HYGIENE, Issue 3 2004K Ståhlnacke Objective:,The purpose of this study was to investigate if a change in the social gradients in perceived oral health occurred over a 5-year period, 1992,1997, using a cohort population from two Swedish counties.Methods:,In 1992, a cross-sectional mail questionnaire was sent to all 50-year-old persons in two counties in Sweden, Örebro and Östergötland, and altogether there were 8888 persons. In 1997, the same population was sent a new questionnaire. The cohort, comprising the same respondents from 1992 and 1997, was of 5363 persons. An index of perceived oral health was constructed out of three questionnaire variables: satisfaction with teeth, chewing ability and the number of remaining teeth. This index value was set as a dependent variable in a regression model. Reports of toothache were investigated in a separate logistic regression model.Results:,There were obvious social gradients in the perceived oral health index both in 1992 and in 1997. Marital status, foreign birth, education and occupation were all substantially related to the perceived oral health. The change in perceived oral health was analysed. Almost half of the cohort (47.4%) showed no change at all. Those with increased and those with decreased health were rather evenly distributed on both sides, with 22.0% with better health in 1997 and 30.6% with worse health. Gender and education were related to toothache experience. Conclusion: Changes have been moderate in the perceived oral health in this cohort, despite the rather drastic changes in the remuneration of dental care during this study time. However, this also means that the social differences remain, despite the official goals of increased equity. [source] Focusing on the software of managing health workers: what can we learn from high commitment management practices?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008Bruno Marchal Abstract Knowledge of what constitutes best practice in human resource management (HRM) in public-oriented services is limited and the operational aspects of managing health workers at provision level have been poorly studied. The magnet hospital concept offers some insights into HRM practices that are leading to high commitment. These have been shown to lead to superior performance in not only industrial business firms, but also service industries and the public service. The mechanisms that drive these practices include positive psychological links between managers and staff, organizational commitment and trust. Conditions for successful high commitment management (HiCoM) include health service managers with a strong vision and able to transmit this vision to their staff, appropriate decision spaces for healthcare managers and a pool of reasonable well-trained health workers. For this, adequate remuneration is the first condition. Equally important are the issues of cultural fit and of ,commitment'. What would staff expect from management in return for their commitment to the organization? Salary buys indeed time of employees, but other practices ensure their commitment. Only if these drivers are understood will managers be able to make their HRM practices more responsive to the needs and expectations of the health workers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The ABC of New Zealand's Ten Year Vision for Pharmacists: awareness, barriers and consultationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 3 2009Shane Scahill Abstract Objectives This study aimed to determine New Zealand pharmacists' awareness of, recall of consultation about, and potential barriers to the implementation of the Focus on the Future: Ten Year Vision for Pharmacists in New Zealand: 2004,2014 document. Method A national postal survey was carried out in New Zealand of practising pharmacists registered with the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand (n = 1892). The survey was conducted between September and December 2006. Key findings The response rate was 51.8% (n = 980 usable surveys). Approximately three-quarters (73.4%) reported being aware of the 10-year vision document and 40.9% recall being consulted. Fewer than one-third (29.8%) had read the document prior to completing the survey. Thirty-two variables describing potential barriers to implementing the 10-year vision were reduced, through factor analysis, to seven factors with significant eigenvalues (>1.0). The factors describe the underlying themes of barriers identified in the survey, including pharmacist humanistic, integrated systems of care and teamwork, funder stakeholder relationships and remuneration, lack of appreciation of knowledge and skills, lack of research support, current expertise and continuing professional development, and lack of voice. The majority of barrier variables within the seven factors were rated as extremely or quite important. Conclusions There was a high level of awareness and moderate level of recall of consultation on the document among respondents. Although 40% recall being consulted on the document, fewer than one-third reported having read the document prior to completing our survey. Pharmacists highlighted a significant number of potential barriers to the implementation of the 10-year vision. If the pharmacy profession in New Zealand is to move forward towards the state described in the 10-year vision document then these potential barriers need to be better understood and addressed. [source] Support staff in community pharmacy: who are they and what do they want?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 2 2008Dr. Ellen I Schafheutle research fellow Objective To collect information on different categories of support staff, their deployment in community pharmacy, their levels of experience and qualifications, and their opinions on a number of topical issues, such as training and regulation. Method Two ,snapshot' surveys, one of community pharmacists, another of support staff employed by them. Three focus groups with support staff. Setting The surveys were conducted in community pharmacies in two primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Two focus groups were conducted in one of the PCTs with respondents who had taken part in the survey; a third took place in a third PCT during the design phase. Key findings Medicines counter assistants (MCAs) formed the largest category of support staff (56%); 21% were dispensing assistants (DAs); 17% were pharmacy technicians (PTs). All community pharmacies employed at least one (60%), and often more than one MCA, but 20% had no DAs and 40% operated without a PT. Nearly all (93%) support staff were women, and about one-third worked part-time. More mature (40+ years) staff commonly only held an MCA qualification and were often not keen on further training. Younger staff held higher qualifications and were interested in further training and career progression. The majority of all categories of staff showed high levels of job satisfaction and loyalty to their employer. Most held positive views towards the regulation of support staff. Poor salaries were identified as potential barriers to further training and regulation, and pharmacists identified problems recruiting support staff. Conclusion Many different categories of support staff are employed in community pharmacies, although some operated without DAs or a PT. Support staff were generally satisfied with their jobs, but increasing requirements for formal qualifications and regulation of support staff, if not accompanied by adequate recognition and remuneration, may worsen recruitment problems. [source] Clinical significance of clinical interventions in community pharmacy: a randomised trial of the effect of education and a professional allowanceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 2 2003Shalom I. Benrimoj professor of pharmacy practice Objectives To assess the clinical significance of clinical interventions undertaken by community pharmacists, and to explore the effect of providing education and/or remuneration on the clinical significance of interventions. Design Randomised trial involving four groups of community pharmacists; expert panel to assess the clinical significance of the interventions. Methods The "proactive" clinical interventions undertaken by community pharmacists during the trial were reviewed by an expert panel for assessment of avoided adverse health consequences and clinical significance. The panel used a validated assessment instrument developed from the existing research literature and a pilot study by the authors. Data analysis Agreement between experts was determined using the kappa statistic. In addition, the results of the expert panel were analysed for cases where the majority of experts provided the same assessment of clinical significance (ie, consensus). Results Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in the clinical significance of clinical interventions undertaken by the four study groups. However, there were significant differences (95% CI) in the types of proactive interventions undertaken, with the two groups that received an educational intervention being more likely to engage in more complex intervention areas, such as drug/drug interactions and adverse/side effects. Analysis of consensus revealed that 52% of proactive clinical interventions were deemed to be "clinically significant" and 2% were deemed to be either "clinically very significant" or "potentially life-saving". When extrapolated to national Australian prescribing figures, a mean of 3,752 potentially life-saving interventions by community pharmacists could be expected per year (95% CI 454 to 13,554). Conclusion The results of this study provide the first estimates of the potential clinical benefits associated with clinical interventions in Australian community pharmacies. The study contributes evidence on the value of pharmaceutical services to the health care system. As such, it is expected that the study findings will provide a platform for discussion and decision-making. [source] The professionalisation of social work: a cross-national explorationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 4 2008Idit Weiss-Gal This article compares the professional features of social work in ten countries. It is based on detailed descriptions of the professional features of social work in Chile, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Social work in these countries is discussed in terms of eight features, chosen as marks of a profession on the basis of the ,attributes' and ,power' approaches to professionalisation: public recognition, monopoly over types of work, professional autonomy, the knowledge base, the professional education, the professional organisations, the existence of codified ethical standards and, lastly, the prestige and remuneration of social work. [source] Co-operatives in southern Spain: their development in the rural tourism sector in AndalucíaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 3 2001Michael Barke Abstract This paper examines the characteristics of a number of recently established rural tourism co-operatives in Andalucía, southern Spain against the background of the theory of co-operatives as economic organisations. The origins and composition of the co-operatives are examined, their local impact, their policies on employment and remuneration, and their internal management characteristics. Few of the businesses in the sample appear to possess the characteristics of the ,ideal type' of co-operative identified in the literature. Although small-scale, beneficial impacts may be identified within their localities, these appear to be no different to those associated with any small business organisation in the rural tourism sector. Furthermore, it is concluded that their prospects for developing genuine alternative forms of employment structures are not strong, partly owing to the circumstances of their foundation and partly because of the very nature of rural tourism itself, where extreme seasonality imposes a very specific labour regime. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Under-reporting of Income and Labor Market PerformanceJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 2 2008ANN-SOFIE KOLM To examine the effects on labor market performance of government tax and enforcement policies, this paper develops an equilibrium model featuring tax evasion, matching frictions, and worker,firm wage bargains. In the wage bargains, workers and firms can agree on the amount of remuneration that should not be reported to the tax authorities. We find that increased taxation actually reduces unemployment, whereas more zealous enforcement has the opposite effect. [source] Canadian Dentists' Opinions on Publicly Financed Dental CareJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2009Carlos R. Quiñonez DMD Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to inform policy leaders of the opinions of Canada's major dental care service provider regarding publicly financed dental care. Methods: Using provincial/territorial dental regulatory authority listings, a 26-item questionnaire was sent to a representative sample of Canadian dentists (n = 2219, response rate = 45.8 percent). Descriptive statistics were produced, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to assess what predicts dentists' responses. Results: Canadian dentists support governmental involvement in dental care, preferring investments in prevention to direct delivery. The majority of dentists have less than 10 percent of their practice represented by publicly insured patients, with a small minority having greater than 50 percent. The majority would accept new publicly insured patients, preferring fee for service remuneration. Dentists generally appear dissatisfied with public forms of third-party financing. Conclusions: Dentists prefer a targeted effort at meeting public needs and are influenced in their opinions largely in relation to ideology. In order to move forward, policy leaders will need to devote some attention to the influence and complexity of public and private tensions in dentistry. At the very least, public and private practitioners must come to appreciate each other's challenges and balance public and private expectations in public programming. [source] Employer Wage Differentials in Germany: A Comparative NoteLABOUR, Issue 3 2002Gesine Stephan The paper contributes to the growing empirical literature on employer wage differentials, presenting first estimates for West Germany and comparing them with recent findings from other studies for the USA, France and Denmark. The empirical results show that the variation of global employer wage differentials is comparatively low in West Germany and has remained stable during the first half of the 1990s. This low dispersion results from wage setting for blue-collar workers, while cross-country differences are negligible for white-collar workers. Employer wage differentials have, however, become more important for the remuneration of West German blue-collar workers during the period investigated. [source] The globalisation of the nursing workforce: barriers confronting overseas qualified nurses in AustraliaNURSING INQUIRY, Issue 4 2001Lesleyanne HawthorneArticle first published online: 25 FEB 200 The globalisation of the nursing workforce: barriers confronting overseas qualified nurses in Australia Recent decades have coincided with the rapid globalisation of the nursing profession. Within Australia there has been rising dependence on overseas qualified nurses (OQNs) to compensate for chronic nurse shortages related to the continued exodus of Australian nurses overseas and to emerging opportunities in other professions. Between 1983/4 and 1994/5, 30 544 OQNs entered Australia on either a permanent or temporary basis, counter-balancing the departure overseas of 23 613 locally trained and 6519 migrant nurses (producing a net gain of just 412 nurses in all). The period 1995/6,1999/2000 saw an additional 11 757 permanent or long-term OQN arrivals, with nursing currently ranked third target profession in Australia's skill migration program, in the context of continuing attrition among local nurses. This pattern of reliance on OQNs is a phenomenon simultaneously occurring in the UK, the US, Canada and the Middle East , the globalisation of nursing reflecting not merely Western demand but the growing agency and participation of women in skilled migration, their desire for improved quality of life, enhanced professional opportunity and remuneration, family reunion and adventure. [source] A survey of the scope of therapeutic practice by UK optometrists and their attitudes to an extended prescribing roleOPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS, Issue 3 2008Justin J. Needle Abstract Purpose:, Recent changes in medicines legislation in the UK have broadened the opportunities for optometrists to use and supply therapeutic drugs. We set out to investigate the current therapeutic practice of UK optometrists and to elicit their views on an extended prescribing role. Methods:, Members of the College of Optometrists were invited via email to take part in an online survey. The survey questions covered four areas: mode of practice, proximity and relationship to other providers of eye care, scope of current therapeutic practice and future plans regarding prescriber training. Results:, Of the 1288 responses received (response rate 24%), over 90% were from optometrists working in community practice. Common, non-sight-threatening conditions were managed frequently or occasionally by between 69 and 96% of respondents. Blepharitis and dry eye were the most common (managed routinely by >70%). In terms of therapeutic agents used, large numbers of optometrists reported that they commonly supplied or recommended over-the-counter (non-prescription) drugs, particularly lubricants and anti-allergic agents. However, fewer respondents supplied antibiotics (only 14% supplying chloramphenicol or fusidic acid frequently). Overall, relatively few respondents (14%) expressed no interest in undertaking further training for extended prescribing, although several barriers were identified, including cost and time taken for training, lack of remuneration and fear of litigation. Conclusion:, Significant numbers of community optometrists are currently managing a range of common ocular conditions using a limited formulary. Enabling optometrists to train as independent prescribers will further develop this role, allowing greater use of their skills and providing patients with quicker access to medicines. [source] Relative Performance Evaluation Contracts and Asset Market Equilibrium,THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 506 2005Sandeep Kapur We analyse the equilibrium consequences of performance-based contracts for fund managers. Managerial remuneration is tied to a fund's absolute and relative performance. Investors choose whether or not to delegate their investment to better-informed fund managers; if they delegate they choose the optimal contract subject to the fund manager's participation constraint. We find that the impact of relative performance evaluation on the equilibrium equity premium and on portfolio herding critically depends on whether the participation constraint is binding. Simple numerical examples suggest that the increased importance of delegation and relative performance evaluation may lower the equity premium. [source] Continued decline for ethnic minorities in the transition?THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 4 2003Changes in ethnic earnings differentials in Bulgaria Abstract Using three Bulgarian cross-sectional household surveys from 1986, 1993 and 1997, this essay shows that the mean log wage differential between ethnic Bulgarians and Turks increased from 0.1615 in 1986 to 0.2874 in 1993 and again to 0.4075 by 1997. Bulgarian gains over ethnic Turks in the early transition are related to both changes in the relative returns to skill and changes in the composition of demand for goods and services as the country moved toward a market economy. The Turks began the transition with fewer years of education than the Bulgarians, and began to close the education gap over this time. The Bulgarians, however, were more likely to have obtained more general secondary and university degrees than the ethnic Turks , degrees that, in contrast to technical or vocational degrees, are experiencing increased remuneration in the transition. With more of an asset that has become more valuable, the ethnic Bulgarians improved their relative position. [source] Limiting Financial Disincentives in Live Organ Donation: A Rational Solution to the Kidney ShortageAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2006R. S. Gaston Availability of kidney transplantation is limited by an inadequate supply of organs, with no apparent remedy on the immediate horizon and increasing reliance on living donors (LDs). While some have advocated financial remuneration to stimulate donation, the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984 expressly forbids the offer of ,valuable consideration.' However, recent developments indicate some fluidity in the definition of valuable consideration while evolving international standards highlight deficiencies (particularly regarding long-term care and follow-up) in the current American system. Recognizing that substantial financial and physical disincentives exist for LDs, we propose a policy change that offers the potential to enhance organ availability as well as address concerns regarding long-term care. Donors assume much greater risk than is widely acknowledged, risk that can be approximated for the purpose of determining appropriate compensation. Our proposal offsets donor risk via a package of specific benefits (life insurance, health insurance and a small amount of cash) to minimize hazard and ensure donor interests are protected after as well as before nephrectomy. It will fund medical follow-up and enable data collection so that long-term risk can be accurately assessed. The proposal should be cost effective with only a small increase in the number of LDs, and the net benefit will become greater if removal of disincentives stimulates even further growth. As importantly, by directly linking compensation to risk, we believe it preserves the essence of kidney donation as a gift, consistent with NOTA and implementable in the United States without altering current legal statutes. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||