Nurse-staffing level and quality of acute care services:Evidence from cross-national panel data analysis in OECD countries

Background:Most of previous studies aimed to estimate the effect of nurse staffing on quality of acute hospital care have used stochastic methods and their results are mixed.Objective:To measure the magnitude of effect of nurse-staffing level on increasing quality of acute care services in long-run.Data:The number of practicing nurses'density per 1000 population as the proxy of nurse-staffing level and three Health Care Quality Indicators(HCQI)included 30-day mortality per 100 patients based on acute myocardial infarction(MORTAMIO),hemorrhagic stroke(MORTHSTO)and ischemic stroke(MORTISTO)were collected as a part of ongoing project by OECD.org in panels of 26 OECD countries over 2005-2015 period.Method:Panel data analysis.Results:There were committed relationships from nurse-staffing level to the enhancement of HCQI i.e.1%increase in nurse-staffing level would reduce the rates of patient mortality based on MORTAMIO,MORTHSTO and MORTISTO by 0.65%,0.60%and 0.80%,respectively.Furthermore,the role of nursestaffing level in increasing overall HCQI were simulated at the highest level in Sweden(-3.53),Denmark(-3.31),Canada(-2.59),Netherlands(-2.33),Finland(-2.09),Switzerland(-1.72),Australia(-1.64)and United States(-1.53).Conclusion:A higher proportion of nurses-staffing level is associated with higher quality of acute care services in OECD countries.Also,the nursing characteristics of Sweden,Denmark,Canada,Netherlands,Finland,Switzerland,Australia and United States would be good patterns for other countries to maximize nursing outcomes in the care of patients with acute and life-threatening conditions by reducing the risk of complication,mortality and adverse clinical outcomes.

Intellectual capital and value creation in the production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts sector in Brazil： A panel data analysis

This work investigates the relationship between intellectual capital and value creation in the sector of production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts in Brazil. Through the access of the database from the annual industrial research conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, we gathered 865 observations, from 2000 to 2006, of public and private Brazilian companies with more than 100 employees. The database allows the estimate of relevant aggregated variables such as national accounts, gross domestic product, intermediate consumption, as well as propitiates a sectorial study of business strategies and performance, including value added by individual companies. In particular, in this study we use data on variables associated to intellectual capital. To achieve the goal of the study, we consider intellectual capital as defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, including human capital and structural capital. For the analysis of business performance, we used Pulic＇s VAIC （Value Added Intellectual Cofficient） index as a measure of efficiency of the employed financial and intellectual capital. Regression models were run to verify the relationship among the efficiency in the use of intellectual capital and the profitability of Brazilian companies. The gross income, calculated as before selling, general and administrative expenses, depreciation expenses, amortization and interest expenses, was used as measure of the flows of value creation and the profitability was measured by the gross income to the total assets of the companies. Considering the constructs defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, we tested, for the Brazilian sector of Production and Assembly of Vehicles and Auto-parts, the following hypotheses： （l） there is a positive relationship between value creation and intellectual capital, （2） there is a positive relationship between value creation and stock of intellectual capital, （3） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the employed capital, （4） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the human capital, （5） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the structural capital. The results of the study, obtained through panel data analysis and through the use static and dynamic models, support the hypotheses that the intellectual capital of the companies, in its flow and stock dimensions, is positively and significantly related to value creation.

Assessing Factors for Occurrence of Road Accidents in Tanzania Using Panel Data Analysis: Road Safety Perspective

This study assessed critical factors for road traffic accidents and associated mitigation to reduce the accidents by the year 2030. The study was guided by research questions, what are the major causatives of road accidents and how to mitigate the problem. The study used secondary data collected from the repository database of traffic police at the division of Tanzania Road Safety Squad. Data were collected at the events of accident occurrences and reported annually by regions. Panel data analysis was used to allow for controlling variables which cannot be observed over time and across areas such as regions. Pooled Poisson model, fixed effect and random effect Poisson model was applied to assess factors for road traffic accidents. Fixed effect model was the best model with a reasonably good fit. Results indicated that all predictors are significant under fixed effect Poisson model with a p-value less than 0.05 but Passengers and Railway crossing road was found insignificant and dropped in the final model. Laws and regulatory frameworks should be formulated and enforced promptly for Tanzania may reach the target of 2nd decade of action for roads safety 2021-2030.

Role of nurses in improving patient safety: Evidence from surgical complications in 21 countries

Objectives: To analyze the role of nurse staffing in improving patient safety due to reducing surgical complications in member countries of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Methods: The number of practicing nurses' density per 1000 population and five surgical complications indicators including foreign body left in during procedure (FBL),postoperative pulmonary embolism (PPE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after hip and knee replacement,postoperative sepsis after abdominal surgery (PSA) and postoperative wound dehiscence (PWD) were collected in crude rates per 100,000 hospital discharges for age group of 15 years old and over within 30 days after surgery based on surgical admission-related and all admission-related methods.The observations of 21 OECD countries were collected from OECD Health Statistics during 2010-2015 period.The statistical technique of panel data analysis including unit root test,co-integration test and dynamic long-run analysis were used to estimate the possible relationship between our panel series.Results: There were significant relationships from nurse-staffing level to reducing FBL,PPE,DVT,PSA and PWD with long-run magnitudes of-2.91,-1.30,-1.69,-2.81 and-1.12 based on surgical admission method as well as-6.12,-14.57,-7.29,-1.41 and-0.88 based on all admission method,respectively.Conclusions: A higher proportion of nurses is associated with higher patient safety resulting from lower surgical complications and adverse clinical outcomes in OECD countries.Hence,we alert policy makers about the risk of underestimating the impact of nurses on improving patient safety as well as the quality of health care services in OECD countries.

Geography of Talent in China During 2000-2015:An Eigenvector Spatial Filtering Negative Binomial Approach

The increase in China’s skilled labor force has drawn much attention from policymakers,national and international firms and media.Understanding how educated talent locates and re-locates across the country can guide future policy discussions of equality,firm localization and service allocation.Prior studies have tended to adopt a static cross-national approach providing valuable insights into the relative importance of economic and amenity differentials driving the distribution of talent in China.Yet,few adopt longitudinal analysis to examine the temporal dynamics in the stregnth of existing associations.Recently released official statistical data now enables space-time analysis of the geographic distribution of talent and its determinants in China.Using four-year city-level data from national population censuses and 1%population sample surveys conducted every five years between 2000 and 2015,we examine the spatial patterns of talent across Chinese cities and their underpinning drivers evolve over time.Results reveal that the spatial distribution of talent in China is persistently unequal and spatially concentrated between 2000 and 2015.It also shows gradually strengthened and significantly positive spatial autocorrelation in the distribution of talent.An eigenvector spatial filtering negative binomial panel is employed to model the spatial determinants of talent distribution.Results indicate the influences of both economic opportunities and urban amenities,particularly urban public services and greening rate,on the distribution of talent.These results highlight that urban economic-and amenity-related factors have simultaneously driven China’s talent’s settlement patterns over the first fifteen years of the 21st century.

Impact of Natural Forest Protection Program policies on forests in northeastern China

This study analyzes the effects of the Natural Forest Protection Program （NFPP） on the restoration of forest resources in the northeastern forest region of China, an important region because of its ecological and geographical location and timber supply in China, by using panel data sets of 35 forest farms of state-owned forest enterprises. Panel data analysis results show that related policies under the NFPP have had positive effects on forest resources. Planting activity had a statistically significant effect on forest growth and could be reinforced continually by planting tree species suitable for a warming climate in temperate forests. Forest management and protection played a powerful role in increasing the growing stock of the forests. In NFPP areas timber harvests, after implementation of the NFPP, were a positive factor in increasing forest resources if the harvests combined effective tending and thinning under a carefully guided management plan.

Nurse staffing and life expectancy at birth and at 65 years old:Evidence from 35 OECD countries

Objective: To measure the possible magnitude of the role nurse staffing has on increasing life expectancy at birth and at 65 years old.Methods: The statistical technique of panel data analysis was applied to investigate the relationship from the number of practicing nurses' density per 1000 population to life expectancy at birth and at 65 years old.Five control variables were used as the proxies for the levels of medical staffing,health care financial and physical resources,and medical technology.The observations of 35 member countries of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were collected from OECD Health Statistics over 2000-2016 period.Results: There were meaningful relationships from nurse staffing to life expectancy at birth and at 65 years with the long-run elasticities of 0.02 and 0.08,respectively.Overall,the role of nursing characteristics in increasing life expectancy indicators varied among different health care systems of OECD countries and in average were determined at the highest level in Japan (0.25),followed by Iceland (0.24),Belgium (0.21),Czech Republic (0.21),Slovenia (0.20) and Sweden (0.18).Conclusion: A higher proportion of nursing staff is associated with higher life expectancy in OECD countries and the dependency of life expectancy to nursing staff would increase by aging.Hence,the findings of this study warn health policy makers about ignoring the effects nursing shortages create e.g.increasing the risk of actual age-specific mortality,especially in care of elderly people.

Determinants of Female Employment Rate in the European Union

The aim of this paper is to provide a clear insight about the determinants of female employment rate in the European Union where we have used panel data analyses of 27 countries members of the European Union from 1995 till 2009. Applying dynamic modeling, i.e, generalized method of moments （GMM） econometrics findings have driven us to system estimated model where the following institutional variables have been tested： maternity leave, child care facilities, college education, fertility rate, GDP growth, female unemployment rate and part-time employment. We expect these variables to have a positive impact on the female employment rate except for the female unemployment rate and maternity leave

Household Waste Reduction Effect of Sorted Collection of Recyclable Waste in Japan

The purpose of this study is to analyze the household waste reduction effect of sorted collection of recyclable waste in Japan using a panel data analysis, which considers time-series and cross-section data simultaneously. Also, the study shows the effect of the type of sorted items on the quantity of household waste disposed. We used the data attained from 103 cities recorded over three years, and applied the quantity of total waste disposed, the quantity of combustible waste, the quantity of other waste （waste excluding combustible and recyclable waste）, and the quantity of combustible plus other waste as objective variables, respectively, in the models. The result suggests that when the number of sorted items is increased marginally, the quantity of household waste decreases by about 0.5%-3.3% or 1.28-4.17 grams per capita per day. In addition, it is shown that sorting out white trays is effective in reducing the quantity of combustible waste. Sorting out paper containers and packages is also effective in reducing the quantity of other waste and combustible plus other waste.

Determinants of Export Performance in East Africa Countries

The main objectives of this study are to identify and analyze variables which have impact on export performances of seven East Africa countries and suggest possible solutions to improve export performance in East Africa. Usingdata from World Development Indicators database we conducted panel data analysis for the period of 1990-2014.Empirical results show that labor force, industrialization, foreign direct investment, and exchange rate have positiveimpact on export value. On the other hand, inflation has negative impact on export performance while GDP growthis the only variable that does not affect the export value of East Africa countries. Finally, we suggest somerecommendations, including the need of replacing agricultural exports by the industrial export, improving infrastructural facility as well as the quality of human capital and the need of policies for attracting internationalinvestors.

A Study of the Link Between the Tourism Industry and the GDP in the ECO Countries

The present study aims at exploring the causal relationship between tourism industry and GDP in the economic cooperation organization （ECO） countries for the period of 2000-2010. To this end, the causal relationship between the two variables was examined using panel data and Granger standard causality test. The results demonstrate a unidirectional causality from GDP to the number of tourists coming to the ECO countries, it is also concluded that a rise in the country＇s GDP provides necessary conditions for investment on all sectors of the economy including the tourism sector. In such conditions, if the country＇s economic priorities comprise tourism development, then tourists will start visiting the country and the industry will flourish. Thus, policy-makers should focus on the increasing GDP if they want to increase the tourists＇ influx.

Evaluation of the Effects of Corporate Governance on Financial Reporting Quality

Corporate governance is designed to stimulate the investment environment and to create a stable financial situation in the capital markets by increasing the level of reliability,transparency,and accountability at the firm level.This study aims to examine whether corporate governance leads to higher quality financial reporting.This research has been performed using companies listed on Borsastanbul(BIST).For this purpose,two samples from the publicly held companies on BIST,which are included in the Corporate Governance Index and which are not included in this index,have been formed.Thus,we examined whether there is any difference between the financial reporting quality of the companies listed in Borsastanbul Corporate Governance Index and the financial reporting quality of the enterprises that are not included in this index.Since the quality of financial reporting is a multi-dimensional concept,it can be evaluated by different measurement methods focusing on different dimensions in the literature.One of these approaches used to measure the quality of financial reporting is the quality of earnings.The evaluation of the financial reporting quality of the enterprises included in the BIST Corporate Governance Index and the enterprises not included in the index were evaluated through different methods to compare two different samples in the context of the earnings quality approach.Panel data analysis was used to evaluate the financial reporting quality of the two samples by means of earnings quality methods.The data related to the models used in the assessment of financial reporting quality were obtained from the Public Disclosure Platform(KAP)and Equity RT database.The research covers 72 enterprises,36 of which are in the Corporate Governance Index and 36 of which are not in the Corporate Governance Index.

The Research on the Interreact act Development of Agricultural Modernization and Internationalization in the Area of Eastern Shandong

With the Chinese reform and opening-up, especially when entering the 90s of the 20th century, the internationalization process of China＇s economy is accelerated constantly, and at the same time the modernization of China＇s agriculture is also accelerated constantly. It makes China＇s agriculture modernization under the background of internationalization. Therefore, the integration of China＇s agricultural modernization and internationalization becomes an inevitable choice in developing China＇s modem agriculture. This paper takes the practice of agricultural modernization and internationalization in the area of eastern Shandong province as a basis and uses Panel Data model to analyze the interact relationship between agricultural modernization and internationalization quantificationally with the data of the seven cities in the area of eastern Shandong. The result indicates that agricultural modernization and internationalization have the relationship of interact development.

Financial and non-financial determinants of the indebtedness of hospitals:the case of Poland

The performance of Polish healthcare is still far from satisfactory,which is connected with growing indebtedness that adversely affects not only the development of healthcare but also the quality of medical services provided.In turn,the financial situation of hospitals depends on various indicators and the relationship between them.This paper investigates the determinants of healthcare sector functioning in the context of hospitals’financial situation(dependent variable measured by total debt ratio).321 individual public units were examined between years 2007–2017.More specifically,the fixed effects panel data model in question measures and evaluates the impact of economic,regional,institutional,and social factors in determining the dependent variable.This study confirmed dependencies between financial and non-financial ratios along with their impact on the financial condition of studied entities.The management implications of our study lay the groundwork for the improvement of efficient resource management for public hospitals.

A Novel Methodological Approach to Estimate the Impact of Natural Hazard-Induced Disasters on Country/Region-Level Economic Growth

With the increased frequency of extreme weather events and large-scale disasters, extensive societal and economic losses incur every year due to damage of infrastructure and private properties, business disruptions,fatalities, homelessness, and severe health-related issues. In this article, we analyze the economic and disaster data from1970 through 2010 to investigate the impact of disasters on country/region-level economic growth. We leveraged a random parameter modeling approach to develop the growth-econometrics model that identifies risk factors significantly influencing the country/region-level economic growth in the face of natural hazard-induced disasters,while controlling for country/region-and time-specific unobserved heterogeneities. We found that disaster intensity in terms of fatalities and homelessness, and economic characteristics such as openness to trade and a government's consumption share of purchasing power parity(PPP), are the significant risk factors that randomly vary for different countries/regions. Other significant factors found to be significant include population, real gross domestic product(GDP), and investment share of PPP converted GDP per capita. We also found that flood is the most devastating disaster to affect country/region-level economic growth. This growth-econometrics model will help in the policy and decision making of governmentsrelated to the investment needs for pre-and post-disaster risk mitigation and response planning strategies, to better protect nations and minimize disaster-induced economic impacts.