Bicameralism

Author(s):  
Cecilia Testa

In modern democracies, the legislative power is vested in parliaments with diverse organizational structures. Bicameral legislatures, requiring concurrent deliberation by two bodies, are present in about one-third of the world’s countries. Bicameralism typically serves the important purpose of accommodating the representation of heterogeneous interests from distinct social cleavages or geographic entities, but it is also associated with advantages such as greater stability of policies, increased accountability, and better quality of legislation. These benefits, however, only arise under specific circumstances, and the greater procedural complexity brought about by two chambers is not without costs. Disagreement between the two chambers often leads to costly legislative gridlock. Bicameralism can also open the door to pressure groups advancing their requests for favorable legislation when the chambers do not have time to carefully consider its consequences. The constitutional choice of bicameralism and its optimality ultimately rest on the subtle balance between its costs and benefits.

Author(s):  
Nickolay Gantchev ◽  
Mariassunta Giannetti

Abstract We show that there is cross-sectional variation in the quality of shareholder proposals. On average, proposals submitted by the most active individual sponsors are less likely to receive majority support, but they occasionally pass if shareholders mistakenly support them and may even be implemented due to directors’ career concerns. While gadfly proposals destroy shareholder value if they pass, shareholder proposals on average are value enhancing in firms with more informed shareholders. We conclude that more informed voting could increase the benefits associated with shareholder proposals.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M Leone ◽  
Zenobia Homan ◽  
Antonin Lelong ◽  
Lutz Bandekow ◽  
Martin Bricknell

Abstract Introduction A number of organizations publish comparisons of civilian health systems between countries. However, the authors were unable to find a global, systematic, and contemporary analysis of military healthcare systems. Although many databases exist for comparing national healthcare systems, the only such compilation of information for military medical systems is the Military Medical Almanac. A thorough review of the Almanac was conducted to understand the quality of information provided in each country’s profile and to develop a framework for comparing between countries. This information is valuable because it can facilitate collaboration and lesson sharing between nations while providing a structured source of information about a nation’s military medical capabilities for internal use. Materials and Methods Each of the 142 profiles (submitted by 132 countries) published in the Almanac were reviewed. The information provided was extracted and aggregated into a spreadsheet that covered the broader categories of country background, force demographics, beneficiary populations, administration and oversight, physical structures and capabilities, research capabilities, and culture and artifacts. An initial sample of 20 countries was evaluated to test these categories and their subsections before the rest of the submissions were reviewed. Clear definitions were revised and established for each of the 69 subcategories. Qualitative and quantitative data were compiled in the spreadsheet to enable comparisons between entries. Results Significant variation was found in how information was presented in country profiles and to what extent this was comparable between submissions. The most consistently provided information was in the country background, where the categories ranged from 90.15% to 100% completion across submissions. There was inconsistency in reporting of the numbers and types of healthcare workers employed within military medical services. Nearly 25% of nations reported providing medical care to family members of service members, but retirees, veterans, reservists, and law enforcement personnel were also mentioned. Some countries described organizational structures, military medical education institutions, and humanitarian operations. A few reported military medical research capabilities, though each research domain was present in 25% or less of all submissions. Interestingly, cultural identities such as emblems were present in nearly 90% of profiles, with many countries also having badges, symbols, and mottos. Conclusions The Military Medical Almanac is potentially a highly valuable collection of publicly available baseline information on military medical services across the world. However, the quality of this collection is highly dependent on the submission provided by each country. It is recommended that the template for collecting information on each health system be refined, alongside an effort to increase awareness of the value of the Almanac as an opportunity to raise the international profile of each country’s military medical system. This will ensure that the Almanac can better serve the international military medical community.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2003-2012
Author(s):  
O.V. Karpets ◽  
◽  
A.V. Sinitsyn ◽  
A.V. Firsova ◽  
◽  
...  

This article discusses the problem of choosing the correct and effective organizational structure of enterprise management for its correct functioning. The existing types of organizational structures of enterprise management, which are used in practice today, are analyzed, and their positive, negative sides and the type of enterprises for which they can be used are revealed. Along with this, this article discusses and describes methods for choosing an organizational structure for an enterprise. Also, during the study, internal and external factors were identified that affect the choice of an organizational structure. Based on the analysis, a methodology for choosing the most effective type of organizational structure for enterprises was drawn up. The question of choosing an organizational structure is acute for every manager at the very beginning of the operation of an enterprise, because the quality of performance of functions, both of individual divisions and of the entire enterprise as a whole, directly depends on this. Among many types of organizational structures in this study, the types of organizational structures that are most adaptable to changes in external and internal factors are identified. This study provides methods and tools for selecting the appropriate organizational structure for any enterprise. At the moment, some methods, be it goal structuring or computer modeling, are not widely used, which in turn makes it difficult to choose an effective organizational structure for enterprise management. The choice of an effective organizational structure is an extremely urgent problem today for every entrepreneur, who is interested in the stable economic activity of his or her enterprise.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-91
Author(s):  
Tri Wahyudi ◽  
Harianto ◽  
Sahara

PT TAF is one of multifinance companies in Indonesia. The increase in low segment sales from 2013-2017 with a high credit amount led to an increase in the quality of PT TAF's receivables categorized as Non Performing Financing (NPF). This increase in NPF was also accompanied by an increase in PT TAF's net loss in 2017 and affected the company's profits. Therefore an analysis is needed to find out factors that influence the amount of credit and NPF, in order to formulate the strategy to manage it. This study uses secondary data of PT TAF debtors which related to the amount of credit, debtor delays and NPF from 2013 to 2017. The approach of this study is a case study in PT TAF about the level of NPF from 2013 -2017. The method used in this study is descriptive analysis and statistical tests. Multiple linear regression is performed to determine the factors that influence the amount of credit, while binary logistic regression is carried out to determine the factors that influence NPF. The results of the analysis will be used to formulate a strategy proposal for controlling NPF at PT TAF. Factors that significantly influence the amount of the credit are vehicle price, age, loan interest, installment amount, income, down payment, type of first installment, type of vehicle, education, gender, credit package, and credit tenor. The factors that influence NPF are the amount of credit, Loan to Value (LTV), the residence area of ​​the debtor and inflation. The proposed strategy formulations are: to consider factors which affecting amount of credit in granting credit, to increase the debtor portfolio with LTV less than or equal to 80 percent, avoid low down payment and long tenor products, strengthen collection organizational structures and increase team collection capabilities, and utilize the Financial Information Service System from OJK to obtain information about the debtors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 75-76
Author(s):  
Paul van Gils ◽  
Eelco Over ◽  
Anita Suijkerbuijk ◽  
Joran Lokkerbol ◽  
Ardine de Wit

INTRODUCTION:Due to their chronic nature and high prevalence, alcohol and cannabis addiction leads to a significant (disease) burden and high costs, both for those involved and for society. The latter includes effects on health care, quality of life, employment, criminality, education, social security, violence in the public and private domain, and traffic accidents. In the Netherlands, a considerable number of people with an alcohol or cannabis addiction currently do not receive addiction care. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective as a treatment for both alcohol and cannabis addiction and is widely used in specialized addiction care centers. This social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) models costs and benefits of increasing the uptake of CBT for persons with an alcohol addiction and for adolescents with a cannabis addiction, taking into account a wide range of social costs and effects (1).METHODS:The method follows general Dutch guidance for performing SCBA. A literature search was conducted to evaluate efficacy of CBT for alcohol and cannabis dependence. In addition, the social costs of alcohol and cannabis addiction for society were mapped, and the costs of enhancing the uptake of CBT were explored. Costs and benefits of increased uptake of CBT for different social domains were modeled for a ten year period, and compared with current (unchanged) uptake during this period. Compliance problems (about 50 percent of clients do not finish CBT) and fall-back to addiction behavior (decrease of effects of CBT over time) were taken into account in model estimations.RESULTS:Per client treated with CBT, the estimated benefits to society are EUR10,000-14,000 and EUR9,700-13,000, for alcohol and cannabis addiction, respectively. These benefits result from reduced morbidity and mortality, improved quality of life, higher productivity, fewer traffic accidents, and fewer criminal activities.CONCLUSIONS:This SCBA shows that not only treated clients but also society will benefit from an increase in people treated with CBT in specialized addiction care centers.


Author(s):  
Gummow William

This chapter considers national unity in Australia. It focuses first upon the absolute freedom of intercourse among the States of which section 92 of the Constitution commands. The chapter then turns to the absence of disability or discrimination required by section 117. Next, it considers the operation of section 109 not only to adjust relations between Commonwealth and State legislatures but to meet the entitlement of ‘the ordinary citizens … to know which of two inconsistent laws he is required to observe’. Here, reference is made to the uniform quality of justice throughout the Commonwealth which these ‘ordinary citizens’ would be entitled to expect. Finally, the chapter discusses the relationship between ‘the people’, the franchise, and citizenship, and what on occasion has been identified as the implied ‘nationhood’ legislative power of the Parliament, or ‘nationhood’ as an attribute of the executive power of the Commonwealth.


2019 ◽  
Vol 144 (04) ◽  
pp. 282-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Köhler

AbstractSince 2005, invasive long-term ventilation in Germany has increased significantly from around 1000 to 20 000 patients in Germany. Due to complex home care, the health care system incurs additional costs of around 4 billion euros per year. In addition, in the last 2 – 3 years more tracheostomized patients have been discharged home without ventilation (usually after stroke), and they receive the same complex home care. These patients have almost never been given the chance of a professional weaning trial by a weaning center. They are discharged from hospitals directly into the care. As a result, the quality of care is significantly worse than traditional care with structured discharge management via a weaning center. The solutions are difficult to find due to the interface problems between inpatient and outpatient care and the different organizational structures with different delivery systems. Possible solutions are shown, but most of them require a change in the law.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Nai

This chapter analyzes the quality of election coverage by the traditional news media. It describes a hierarchical model of influences that is expected to shape the fairness of election coverage. These operate at three levels: the political and social structure, the media market, and the journalistic culture. The chapter shows that the fairness of election coverage is lower when the content of information is distorted by pressures from exogenous actors such as politicians and pressure groups, when the media market faces a hypercommercialization, and when journalists see their role redefined toward infotainment journalism that creates the conditions for a strong shift toward soft news. On the other hand, the quality of elections coverage by traditional news media is higher when media outlets are dispersed across multiple and competitive institutions, which promotes inclusiveness and sets up safeguards against the emergence of media oligopolies.


DYNA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 82 (191) ◽  
pp. 176-182
Author(s):  
David López-Berzosa ◽  
Carmen De Pablos-Heredero ◽  
Carlos Fernandez-Renedo

The technical efficiency measures the ability that a system offers at maximizing the result restricted to budgetary restrictions. This article offers formal methods to quantify the technical efficiency in health systems and the influences of organizational structures and internal processes in the observed technical efficiency are also analyzed. The empirical analysis is focused on the quality of donation and transplant services. The results show a positive relationship between the levels related to quality indicators and the observed technical efficiency in the donation and transplant units of the 11 analyzed hospitals. This way it is possible to conclude that high levels in the quality indexes are a necessary condition to reach an increased level of the service offered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara B. Soderstrom ◽  
Klaus Weber

We advance interactionist perspectives on how organizational structures emerge in new issue domains. Our study is grounded in field data collected over 18 months at a large biomedical company that sought to become more sustainable. Over that period, some sustainability-related issues became firmly embedded in formal structures and procedures, while others faltered. We identify the quality of situational interactions among organizational members as the engine behind the structuring of organizational sustainability efforts. Successful interactions generated traces of attention, motivation, knowledge, relationships, and resources that linked fleeting interactions to emergent organizational structures. Our findings point to the importance of internal advocates and distributed processes at middle and lower levels for developing organizational structures, and we show that advocates’ interests, commitments, and identities are altered in the course of repeated interactions, as are the political resources available to them. Paying attention to situation-level interactions thus results in a more dynamic view of the emergence of formal structures through political processes. We develop a process model that informs structuration perspectives on organizational change by showing how social interaction dynamics can account for divergent levels of structuring within the same domain. The model also advances political perspectives on organizational change by unpacking the situational underpinnings of advocacy efforts and collective mobilization around issues.


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