This paper discusses a study conducted to identify factors that contributed to increased length of stay for two diagnosis related groups (DRGs) and their consequential impact on nursing salaries. The study shows that three separate clusters of cost drivers (DRG-related, nurse-related, and patient-related) contributed to increased length of stay for DRG 177 (chronic obstructive airways disease) ...

This paper proposes a new instrument for institutional quality—the salary of colonial governors—to investigate whether variations in the quality of British colonial rule continue to have an impact on the economic performance of former colonies. Governors’ salaries provide a good source of exogenous variation because the ranking of salaries across the British Empire remained relatively fixed fro...

limit coverage, and they reap billions in excessive salaries, profits, and bonuses. Look at the facts: United Health earned $2.9 billion last year. WellPoint reported profits of $2.5 billion. For CEO pay, United Health Group’s Stephen Hemsley made $3.2 million. WellPoint’s Angela Braly made $9.8 million. It doesn’t stop there. Former United Health Group’s CEO, Bill McGuire, left his job in 2006...

This paper employs an original dataset for 146 US metropolitan areas to test some propositions that characterize two different models of organizing firms and industries: the managerial firm, epitomized by the work of Alfred Chandler, and the entrepreneurial system, recently highlighted by many authors. We discuss the reasons why, compared to the entrepreneurial systems, the Chandlerian world en...