Interprovincial Comparisons Research Articles

An integrative study on the green cultural industry and its determinants in Jiangsu province, China under the cultural revitalization initiative: a global perspective.

The cultural industry is pivotal in promoting sustainable economic development. This study aims to evaluate the economic efficiency of the cultural industry in Jiangsu Province by establishing a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and analyzing influencing factors using the Tobit model, all within the broader context of China's cultural industry. A DEA model was developed to assess the economic efficiency of the cultural industry across Chinese provinces, allowing for a comparative analysis of performance. The Tobit regression model was utilized to investigate factors influencing these efficiency outcomes, with a particular emphasis on inter-provincial comparisons to understand the position and challenges faced by Jiangsu's cultural industry. Despite Jiangsu's cultural industry ranking among the largest in scale nationally, its economic efficiency is only moderate, consistently experiencing diminishing returns to scale. The study identifies low scale efficiency, small enterprise size, and suboptimal urbanization processes within the province as the main issues. The inefficiencies highlighted by the DEA model suggest a misalignment between the scale of operations and the economic outputs in Jiangsu's cultural industry. Urbanization emerges as a crucial factor, with current practices not sufficiently supporting the growth potential of the cultural sector. Based on these findings, the study proposes targeted policy recommendations for Jiangsu, including avoiding blind scale expansion, adjusting industrial structures, encouraging enterprise consolidation and optimization, and identifying new growth areas to better support the cultural industry's development and contribute to sustainable economic progress.

Implications of the 7th NFC Award on Health Services in Pakistan

Fiscal decentralization is aimed to improve Public Services Delivery as the subnational governments get control of additional revenue and expenditures responsibilities and are in a better position to provide basic services to the local people. The 7th NFC Award is considered as a big step toward fiscal federalism wherein the criteria for horizontal and vertical distribution of resources has been changed to accommodate major demands of the federating units. This research paper has been an attempt to identify that to what extent the new fiscal arrangements under the 7th NFC Award has been successful to improve health services delivery in Pakistan. For this study data on various health indicators has been collected for the period 2001 to 2019 divided into two groups i.e., pre 7th NFC period (2001 to 2010) and post 7th NFC Award period (2011 to 2019). To identify the impact of 7th NFC Award on health services delivery in Pakistan various variables were selected including Infant Mortality, Under Five Years’ Mortality, Life Expectancy at Birth and Health Expenditures (%GDP) as dependent or endogenous variables at national level whereas for comparison at provincial level Life expectancy at birth and Under Five Years mortality were used as dependent variables. The variables were tested at the national level as well as the provincial level and interprovincial comparison was also performed. For the analysis purpose different techniques for trend analysis were applied including the Chow breakpoint test, recursive coefficient, Wald-Coefficient Restriction test, Equality of Variance test, trend estimates, Durbin Watson Test and Forecast analysis. Additionally, the Difference-in-Difference approach was also applied to compare other provinces as treatment groups i.e., Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan with Punjab as a control group. The results suggest health indicators have responded positively to the additional funds’ transfer and Life expectancy at birth, Infant mortality and Under Five years’ mortality have improved at national level. Life expectancy and under five years’ mortality has generally improved in all provinces except for life expectancy in KP. While comparing the performance of other provinces with Punjab it is found that life expectancy at birth, infant mortality and Under Five years’ mortality have improved in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Baluchistan did not improve health indicators in comparison to Punjab. However, to realize further benefits of the fiscal decentralization it is suggested that additional fund transfer is not a sufficient factor to bring change and should be complemented by administrative and legislative actions on part of the government. Innovations and the role of the private sector are crucial in improving public services delivery in health sector. Moreover, the capacity of the government machinery and the ability to develop plans and strategies is important to realize the benefits of the fiscal decentralization by the provinces.

Measuring Substance-Related Disorders Using Canadian Administrative Health Databanks: Interprovincial Comparisons of Recorded Diagnostic Rates, Incidence Proportions and Mortality Rate Ratios.

Assessing temporal changes in the recorded diagnostic rates, incidence proportions, and health outcomes of substance-related disorders (SRD) can inform public health policymakers in reducing harms associated with alcohol and other drugs. To report the annual and cumulative recorded diagnostic rates and incidence proportions of SRD, as well as mortality rate ratios (MRRs) by cause of death among this group in Canada, according to their province of residence. Analyses were performed on linked administrative health databases (AHD; physician claims, hospitalizations, and vital statistics) in five Canadian provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, and Nova Scotia). Canadians 12 years and older and registered for their provincial healthcare coverage were included. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes) was used for case identification of SRD from April 2001 to March 2018. During the study period, the annual recorded SRD diagnostic rates increased in Alberta (2001-2002: 8.0‰; 2017-2018: 12.8‰), Ontario (2001-2002: 11.5‰; 2017-2018: 14.4‰), and Nova Scotia (2001-2002: 6.4‰; 2017-2018: 12.7‰), but remained stable in Manitoba (2001-2002: 5.5‰; 2017-2018: 5.4‰) and Québec (2001-2002 and 2017-2018: 7.5‰). Cumulative recorded SRD diagnostic rates increased steadily for all provinces. Recorded incidence proportions increased significantly in Alberta (2001-2002: 4.5‰; 2017-2018: 5.0‰) and Nova Scotia (2001-2002: 3.3‰; 2017-2018: 3.8‰), but significantly decreased in Ontario (2001-2002: 6.2‰; 2017-2018: 4.7‰), Québec (2001-2002: 4.1‰; 2017-2018: 3.2‰) and Manitoba (2001-2002: 2.7‰; 2017-2018: 2.0‰). For almost all causes of death, a higher MRR was found among individuals with recorded SRD than in the general population. The causes of death in 2015-2016 with the highest MRR for SRD individuals were SRD, suicide, and non-suicide trauma in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, and Québec. Linked AHD covering almost the entire population can be useful to monitor the medical service trends of SRD and, therefore, guide health services planning in Canadian provinces.

Multi-Perspective Analysis of Household Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Direct Energy Consumption by the Methods of Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index and σ Convergence in Central China

Currently, household carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (HCEs) as one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) have drawn notable scholarly concern. Thus, here, taking six provinces in the period of 2000–2017 of Central China as a case, we analyzed the characteristics and the driving factors of HCEs from direct energy consumption and three perspectives: Central China as a whole, urban-rural differences, and inter-provincial comparison. The drivers of direct HCEs were analyzed by the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI). The σ convergence was adopted for analyzing the trend of inter-provincial differences on the HCEs. The key findings are as follows. First, all the direct HCEs from three perspectives had an obvious growth trend. The total direct HCEs grew from 9596.20 × 104 tonnes in 2000 to 30,318.35 × 104 tonnes in 2017, with an increase of 2.16 times. Electricity and coal use were the primary sources. The urban and rural increases of direct HCEs were up 2.57 times and 1.77 times, respectively. The urban-rural gap of direct HCEs narrowed first and then widened. The direct HCEs in the six provinces varied significantly, but the gap was narrowing. Second, as a whole the per capita consumption expenditure and energy demand were the main drivers to the increment of HCEs, with cumulative contribution rates of 118.19% and 59.90%. The energy price effect was mainly responsible for the mitigation of HCEs. Third, the similar drivers’ trend can also be seen from the perspective of inter-provincial comparison. However, from the perspective of urban and rural difference, the population urban-rural structure effect played a reverse influence on both urban and rural areas. Thus, raising the energy prices appropriately, upgrading the residents’ consumption to a sustainable pattern, controlling the growth of population size reasonably, and optimizing the household energy structure might effectively mitigate the growth of HCEs in Central China.

Evaluation of sustainable development of eco-economic systems in China based on emergy analysis

We comprehensively evaluated the sustainable development level in China from 2006 to 2016 based on emergy theory. According to the differences in the proportion of primary energy input, all the provinces in China were divided into four groups for inter-provincial comparison to further examine the impacts of primary energy input on the sustainable development. The results showed that under the high economic development, the continuous increase in the primary energy input rate enhanced the environmental load rate of Chinese eco-economic system from 2.78 to 3.13. Meanwhile, the increases in imports led to a decline in emergy yield rate and a decline in emergy sustainable index to 5.40. Results of inter-provincial comparison showed that the trend of emergy per area was generally consistent with the change in the primary energy input rate. Currently, economic development in most provinces was dependent on energy consumption. Among them, sustainable development in cities with dual characteristics of highly developed economics and significant environmental pressures was not optimistic, including Beijing and Shanghai. Provinces in southern China with lower energy input and higher emergy yield were stronger in sustainable development, with Jiangsu as the most representative province. Consequently, improving the efficiency of energy utilization in inland provinces, adjusting the mode of economic development and appropriately slowing down the intensity of economic development could fully alleviate the contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection, and thus steadily achieve sustainable development of ecology and economy.

Anesthetic practice and pattern for total hip and knee replacement in Canada: a 5 year cross-sectional study

Purpose: The objective of the study was to examine choice of anesthesia for total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in different provinces of Canada over a five-year period.bIn a retrospective, cross-sectional study, national data for patients undergoing THAs and TKAs between 1st April 2011 and 31st March 2016 was examined. The primary outcome was the anesthetic type used in the surgery, which was categorized as general, spinal, combined, or ‘other’. Total number and percentage of surgeries carried out using each anesthetic type were calculated per fiscal year, in non-teaching and TIs, in each Canadian province and territories, exclusive of Québec. Non-parametric statistics (Pearson Chi square tests) were used to compare the choice of anesthetic type by fiscal year and institution type.Results: During the study period, neuraxial anesthesia (NA) was used for 74.7% of all THAs and 80.3% of all TKAs nationwide. In NTIs, 76.2% of THAs and 80.5% of TKAs were carried out with NA. This trend was similar to that within teaching hospitals, where 73.1% of THAs and 80.6% of TKAs were carried out with NA. Interprovincial comparisons demonstrated a greater preference for NA for both THAs and TKAs in majority of the provinces. There were no significant differences in anesthetic choice between teaching and NTIs.Conclusion: Neuraxial anesthesia was the anesthesia of choice for THA and TKA during the entire study period in Canada, both in teaching and non-teaching institutions. During the study period, a majority of provinces showed a trend of increasing use of neuraxial anesthesia for both THA and TKA, with few exceptions.Citation: Pandey M, Johnson K, Siddiqui MA. Anesthetic practice and pattern for total hip and knee replacement in Canada: a 5 year cross-sectional study. Anaesth pain & intensive care 2019;23(3):301-310

A Comparison of Mental Health Performance Indicators in Canada

BackgroundThere is growing recognition of the need for consistent and reliable reporting on mental health and addiction (MHA) services in Canada. While there have been improvements in the area of reporting within provinces, comparable measures across provinces are often confined to hospitalization data. The aim of this project was to test the feasibility of creating MHA performance indicators that could be compared across Canadian provinces.
 MethodsA team of scientists from five provinces collaboratively developed the following six MHA performance indicators for ages 10 and up, using hospital, emergency, physician billing and mortality data (pop. 33.2 million):
 
 Access to the same family physician for people with MHA problems
 First contact for MHA problems was in an emergency department
 Physician follow-up after hospitalization for MHA problems
 Rate of suicide attempts among people diagnosed with MHA problems
 Suicide rates among people diagnosed with MHA problems
 Mortality of people diagnosed with MHA problems
 
 To facilitate meaningful inter-provincial comparisons, consensus definitions and standardized analytic processes were developed. Within age groups, 95% CI’s were calculated to determine if there were significant differences across years within age bands. Results are presented in a comparative format.
 FindingsWe found similar patterns across provinces but significant variation in the absolute rates, with no province consistently best across all indicators. In general, outcomes were poor among adolescents and young adults compared to older groups.
 ConclusionsThe results of this pilot indicate the process is feasible and meaningful. Future work could include generating comparisons on a regular basis to track system improvement; development of other measures of importance to stakeholders; and the expansion of the process to other provinces and territories. To our knowledge, this is the first report of provincial teams working collaboratively to generate comparable data on the performance of mental health services in Canada.

Doctors and Canadian Medicare: Improving System Performance Requires System Change.

Many of the issues raised and insights provided by Marchildon and Sherar (2018) in their essay on doctors and Canadian medicare are on target. The inadequacy of available data on physician payment, however, calls into question the robustness of some interprovincial comparisons, and when it comes to compensation, comparisons to US physicians would be most relevant. In contrast to their assertion of a steadily increasing growth rate in physician expenditure, a more recent and longer view shows historically low growth in the past few years. Furthermore, the blame assigned to physicians and their medical associations needs to be shared with governments and most of all could be attributed to the lack of system structures and supports for improvement. New governance arrangements at the group or regional levels are needed but are insufficient in themselves. The additional features embodied in the Patient's Medical Home are essential for advancing primary care. Going even further, full population registration, greater availability of alternate payment arrangements, active participation of physicians in healthcare administration and support for meaningful measurement and feedback loops are among the changes required to transform Canadian medicare.

Location of Domestic Rituals in the Roman Empire: An Interprovincial Comparison

Abstract Concerning the location of domestic cults a homogenous practice within the entire Roman empire is generally assumed. When the placement of domestic shrines and other cultic installations is discussed, it is usually in terms of conceptual differentiations like private or public spaces (atrium, peristyle vs. kitchen, cubicula). In so far, however, the problem arises, that ‘privateness’ as a modern concept is difficult to grasp in Roman houses. In contrast to that problem-laden approach the paper focuses on the physical setting of domestic shrines within the house. Based on methods of architectural sociology the location of these cultic installations, their accessibility and their integration into the domestic structure are analysed and measured. These quantifiable parameters enable interprovincial comparisons: Using the best-known structures in the Vesuvius area as a starting point and comparative basis the location and shape in different regions of the Roman Empire are examined with the result that the setting and design of domestic shrines and the ritual activities taking place there are characterized by the use of Italic models, the transmission of local traditions or even the development of new forms.

Estimating the Cost of Cancer Care in British Columbia and Ontario: A Canadian Inter-Provincial Comparison

Costing studies are useful to measure the economic burden of cancer. Comparing costs between healthcare systems can inform evaluation, development or modification of cancer care policies. To estimate and compare cancer costs in British Columbia and Ontario from the payers' perspectives. Using linked cancer registry and administrative data, and standardized costing methodology and analyses, we estimated costs for 21 cancer sites by phase of care to determine potential differences between provinces. Overall, costs were higher in Ontario. Costs were highest in the initial post-diagnosis and pre-death phases and lowest in the pre-diagnosis and continuing phases, and generally higher for brain cancer and multiple myeloma, and lower for melanoma. Hospitalization was the major cost category. Costs for physician services and diagnostic tests differed the most between provinces. The standardization of data and costing methodology is challenging, but it enables interprovincial and international comparative costing analyses.

Adherence to Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Monitoring and Treatment Guidelines in Canadian Registries

Background: Registry data in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) complement clinical trial data, and can help determine how closely real world clinical practice adheres to guidelines. Several reports addressing this issue have suggested adherence to monitoring guidelines varies. However, no Canadian data on this topic has been published to date. To provide insight into this issue, we present data from the British Columbia (BC), Saskatchewan (SK), Ontario (ON) and Quebec (QC) CML registries.Methods: Data on cytogenetic and molecular monitoring were analyzed for CML patients treated with first-line imatinib from 2001-2015 in the BC registry, 2009-2014 in the SK registry and 2001-2014 in the ON registry. From 2006, clinicians in BC and SK were advised to follow the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) monitoring recommendations. Molecular monitoring of BCR-ABL for these provinces was conducted at the BC Cancer Agency Molecular Genetics Laboratory according to standard practices. In ON, clinicians were not advised to follow any particular guidelines and molecular and cytogenetic tests were conducted by the Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program using contemporary standards. In QC, province-specific guidelines were in place beginning in 2012 (see www.gqr-lmc-nmp.ca for specific guidance). Treatment patterns for patients treated with first-line imatinib from BC, SK and QC were analyzed for the 2001-2015, 2001-2014 and 2002-2012 time periods, respectively.Results: Monitoring data were collected for 234, 58 and 104 patients from BC, SK and ON, respectively. As shown in table 1, adherence to monitoring recommendations in Canada was 70% to 80% at 12 months. Treatment data were available for 234 BC patients, 73 SK patients, and 223 QC patients. Data on adherence to treatment recommendations were available for 58 SK patients diagnosed with CML and treated with first-line imatinib between 2009 and 2014. Of these 58 patients, over a quarter (n=15) experienced treatment failure or failed to meet ELN milestones without a change in therapy. Smaller proportions of patients receiving first-line imatinib therapy in BC and QC remained on imatinib therapy (see table 2).Discussion and Conclusions: These data suggest there is room for improvement with regards to adherence to CML monitoring and treatment recommendations in Canada. However, assessment of adherence to recommendations and inter-provincial comparisons are limited by the fact that monitoring and treatment guidelines have evolved over the data collection time period, as well as by differences in data collection strategies. For instance, in the ON registry, monitoring at the 3-month time point may be lower as testing was not typically conducted at 3 months in ON during the early 2000s. The opposite pattern observed in BC (with higher testing rates at 3 months dropping off by 18 months) may be attributable to the strict time period definition, with more patients receiving testing outside of the 4-week window after 1 year or more on treatment. In spite of these limitations, data collection through these registries continues to improve our understanding of real world CML populations and its management in Canada, as well as to spur initiatives aimed at improving CML care.This study was sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Professional medical writing and editorial assistance was provided by MedPlan Communications Inc. and was funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb. [Display omitted] [Display omitted] DisclosuresHillis:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy. Busque:Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Stakiw:Roche: Research Funding; BMS: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Jansen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Forrest:BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Ariad: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.

Policies for sustainably managing Canada's forests: tenure, stumpage fees, and forest practices

Introduction 1 The Rise of Sustainable Forest Management and Trends in Forest Sector Governance 2 A General Framework for a Comparative Analysis of Canadian Crown Forest Tenures 3 Crown Forest Tenures in Canada 4 Regulating for Sustainable Forest Management: Interprovincial Comparison of Forest Planning and Practice Requirements 5 Interprovincial Comparison of Crown Stumpage Fee Systems 6 In Search of Forest Tenures for Sustainable Forest Management Appendix: References for Details on Canadian Crown Forest Tenure Characteristics, Forest Practices Regulations, and Stumpage Systems by Province Notes References Index

Qui seront les premiers nés du baby-boom à risque de vulnérabilité financière à la retraite? Une comparaison Québec-Ontario

The oncoming retirement of baby boomers has governments worried. Will individual baby boomers demonstrate the ability to prepare financially for their retirement? Well-being in retirement depends largely on financial preparedness during working life. Those baby boomers who are the most vulnerable at the end of their working lives are more likely to become vulnerable during retirement. This study looks at the income of the first baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1956, aged 50 to 60, according to the 2006 Canadian census. First we establish the socio-economic categories for which members are most financially vulnerable. Then, we estimate how many baby boomers are vulnerable and to what extent. This study's preferred approach is an interprovincial comparison between Quebec and Ontario, used to analyze individual aspects of baby boomers' financial positions.

A Comparison of Fiscal Effort by Provincial Governments in Pakistan

Considerable variation exists among Provinces of Pakistan with respect to their abilities to raise revenues. This is due to underlying varied provincial characteristics like area, resources, population, nature of economic activities and provincial GDPs. The main focus of this paper is to make inter-provincial comparison of their fiscal efforts after allowing for difference in taxable capacity. Therefore, objective of such inter-provincial comparisons of fiscal effort is to identify whether provincial revenue collection is limited by capacity (revenue base) or if a province is unwilling to exploit the available capacity to generate revenues.12 This will enable development of the appropriate resource mobilisation strategy for each province and help in enhancing the overall provincial tax revenue to GDP ratio which is currently below 1 percent of the GDP. This analysis will also help policy-makers in designing fiscal equalisation formulae for assisting those provinces which have demonstrated lesser capacity to raise revenues from their own sources.

Public sector mental health systems in South Africa: inter-provincial comparisons and policy implications

There is growing recognition that mental health is an important public health issue in South Africa. Yet mental health services remain chronically under-resourced. The aim of this study was to document levels of current public sector mental health service provision in South Africa and compare services across provinces, in relation to current national policy and legislation. A survey was conducted of public sector mental health service resources and utilisation in South Africa during the 2005 calendar year, using the World Health Organization's Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) Version 2.2. South African policy and legislation both advocate for community-based mental health service provision within a human rights framework. Structures are in place at national level and in all nine provinces to implement these provisions. However, there is wide variation between provinces in the level of mental health service resources and provision. Per 100,000 population, there are 2.8 beds (provincial range 0-7.0) in psychiatric inpatient units in general hospitals, 3.6 beds (0-6.4) in community residential facilities, 18 beds (7.1-39.1) in mental hospitals, and 3.5 beds (0-5.5) in forensic facilities. The total personnel working in mental health facilities are 11.95 per 100,000 population. Of these, 0.28 per 100,000 are psychiatrists, 0.45 other medical doctors (not specialised in psychiatry), 10.08 nurses, 0.32 psychologists, 0.40 social workers, 0.13 occupational therapists, and 0.28 other health or mental health workers. Although there have been important developments in South African mental health policy and legislation, there remains widespread inequality between provinces in the resources available for mental health care; a striking absence of reliable, routinely collected data that can be used to plan services and redress current inequalities; the continued dominance of mental hospitals as a mode of service provision; and evidence of substantial unmet need for mental health care. There is an urgent need to address weak policy implementation at provincial level in South Africa.

Évolution des taux de mortalité par cause au Québec

"The evolution of mortality in Quebec over the past three decades is reviewed. Life expectancies and potential years of life lost from birth to age 75 are calculated. Also, interprovincial comparisons of mortality are included. Quebec's mortality experience, in comparison to the other provinces, is poor. Causes of death that are of particular concern are suicide and lung cancer. Mortality rates for cerebrovascular diseases, stomach cancer and kidney diseases have markedly declined, for males as well as females." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Dynamics of Export Specialization in the Regions of the Italian Mezzogiorno: Persistence and Change

Guerrieri P. and Iammarino S. (2007) Dynamics of export specialization in the regions of the Italian Mezzogiorno: persistence and change, Regional Studies 41, 933–947. During the 1980s and 1990s the Italian southern economy displayed signs of transformation in production and export structures, accompanied by sharp geographical differentiation. Debate on these changes, mainly spurred by growing international pressure, has given rise to different views and expectations on the opportunities for endogenous growth on the Italian periphery. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this ongoing debate by looking at the evolution of sectoral export specialization patterns – i.e. relative comparative advantage structures – in the Mezzogiorno regions in the period 1985–2000, focusing on inter-provincial comparisons. The analysis concentrates on the extent of persistence versus change in the evolution of provincial specialization patterns, shedding light on the relationship between export structure and performance, and on the extent of intra-regional differentiation. Guerrieri P. et Iammarino S. (2007) La dynamique des régions du sud de l'Italie à vocation exportatrice: la continuité et la transformation, Regional Studies 41, 933–947. Pendant les années 1980 et 1990, l'économie du sud de l'Italie faisait signe d'une transformation de ses structures productive et exportatrice, conjointement avec une différenciation géographique marquée. Le débat sur ces transformations, encouragé par une pression internationale grandissante, a suscité des points de vue et des attentes différents quant à la possibilité de croissance endogène à la périphérie italienne. Cet article cherche à participer au débat en cours en examinant l'évolution de la structure de la spécialisation à l'exportation par secteur – autrement dit, à la structure de l'avantage comparatif relatif – dans les régions du sud de l'Italie entre 1985 et 2000, focalisant une comparaison des provinces. L'analyse porte notamment sur la portée de la continuité contre la transformation pour ce qui est de l'évolution de la structure de la spécialisation provinciale, ce qui éclaircit le rapport entre la structure et la performance des exportations, et sur la portée de la différenciation intra-régionale. Régions périphériques Spécialisation à l'exportation Dynamique Performance à l'exportation Différenciation intra-régionale Guerrieri P. und Iammarino S. (2007) Die Dynamik der Exportspezialisierung in den Regionen des italienischen Mezzogiorno: Persistenz und Veränderung, Regional Studies 41, 933–947. In den achtziger und neunziger Jahren wies die Wirtschaft Süditaliens Anzeichen einer Veränderung der Produktions- und Exportstrukturen auf, die mit einer ausgeprägten geografischen Differenzierung einhergingen. Aus der Debatte über diese Veränderungen, die vor allem durch wachsenden Druck aus dem Ausland ausgelöst wurde, sind verschiedene Perspektiven und Erwartungen hinsichtlich der Chancen für endogenes Wachstum in der italienischen Peripherie hervorgegangen. Mit diesem Aufsatz soll zu dieser anhaltenden Debatte beigetragen werden. Hierfür untersuchen wir, wie sich die sektoralen Spezialisierungsmuster beim Export – d. h. die Strukturen der relativen komparativen Vorteile – zwischen 1985 und 2000 in den Regionen des Mezzogiorno entwickelten, wobei wir besonders auf Vergleiche zwischen verschiedenen Provinzen eingehen. In der Analyse konzentrieren wir uns darauf, wie stark bei der Fortentwicklung der Spezialisierungsmuster in den Provinzen jeweils Persistenz und Veränderung ausgeprägt sind. Hierbei untersuchen wir das Verhältnis zwischen Exportstruktur und Leistung sowie das Ausmaß der intraregionalen Differenzierung. Periphere Regionen Dynamik der Exportspezialisierung Exportleistung Intraregionale Differenzierung Guerrieri P. y Iammarino S. (2007) Las dinámicas de la especialización de exportación en las regiones del Mezzogiorno Italiano: persistencia y cambio, Regional Studies 41, 933–947. Durante la década de los ochenta y los noventa, en la economía del sur de Italia se observaron signos de transformación en la producción y las estructuras de exportación, acompañadas de una diferenciación geográfica bien definida. El debate sobre estos cambios, estimulado principalmente por una creciente presión internacional, ha llevado a diferentes puntos de vista y expectativas sobre las oportunidades para un crecimiento endógeno en las áreas periféricas de Italia. El objetivo de este artículo es contribuir a este continuo debate analizando la evolución de los modelos sectoriales de especialización en la exportación – es decir, estructuras avanzadas de comparación relativa – durante el periodo de 1985 a 2000, poniendo énfasis en las comparaciones interprovinciales. Este análisis se centra en la magnitud de persistencia frente a cambio en la evolución de los modelos de especialización provinciales, arrojando luz sobre la relación entre la estructura y el rendimiento de exportación y sobre la magnitud de la diferenciación intrarregional. Regiones periféricas Dinámicas de la especialización de exportación Rendimiento de exportación Diferenciación intrarregional

Returns to Scale in Canadian Manufacturing: An Interprovincial Comparison

This paper measures the degree of returns to scale at the two-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) in Canadian manufacturing employing both gross output and value added data. Using a model developed by R. J. Caballero and R. K. Lyons, the study distinguishes between internal and external returns to scale. The Caballero and Lyons model is extended by disaggregation to the provincial level in order to measure the returns to scale of geographic (provincial) concentration. The empirical results suggest that in Canada there are increasing returns that are primarily national rather than internal to the province or the industry.

Interprovincial Comparisons of Public and Private Sector Long-Term Care Facilities for the Elderly in Canada

Long-term care services for the elderly in Canada have evolved into a vast array of types of facilities, levels and types of care and organizational arrangements, and are best characterized as operating within ten individual provincial systems. This study was undertaken in an effort to more fully understand the organization and financing of facility-based long-term care across the provinces. The wide degree of variability across systems renders interprovincial comparisons problematic and, to mitigate this, a reconciliation process was undertaken whereby facilities and beds were classified into four Categories of Care. While a few general patterns emerged, the results also serve to highlight the dissimilarities between, and within, systems. The article concludes by examining the potential value of such data to health planners and policy-makers.

Psychiatric manpower in Canada-The 1980 surveys.

The estimation of manpower needs is a complex endeavour due to the multiplicity of variables involved. Part I of this report presents national and interprovincial comparisons of demographic and practice data collected through a questionnaire survey of 1089 psychiatrists listed in the provincial specialists registers (i.e. 51.6% response rate). Of our respondents, 57.9% practice in urban areas of 500,000 inhabitants or more; the male-female ratio is 9 to 1; 37.9% are foreign medical graduates; and 98.5% of the specialists are exam qualified. General adult psychiatry accounts for 57.6% of the time spent in clinical practice and the total professional week is estimated to be 48.9 hours. The experience gathered towards the design of a monitoring system, the significance of the psychiatrist-to-population ratio, the comparison of our data with other manpower studies and a review of recruitment variables conclude the report.