Information asymmetry is an important reason that causes external financing constraints. Because reputation has the function of signal transmission, a better reputation of an entrepreneur can reduce the degree of the firm information asymmetry and alleviate financing constraints of the firm. Based on the grouped sample of 94 listed companies of China from 2007 to 2009, this paper did empirical ...

Uzbekistan inherited a hospital-based health system from the Soviet Union. We explore the health system-related challenges faced during the scale-up of ambulatory (outpatient) treatment for drug-susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants of the TB services, the ministries of health and finance, ...

BACKGROUND Malnutrition remains a serious concern in Rwanda, particularly among children under-5 years. Performance-based financing (PBF), an innovative health systems financing strategy, has been implemented at the national level since 2008. This study aimed to assess the impact of PBF and other factors associated with the prevalence of three classifications of malnutrition (stunting, wasting ...

BACKGROUND Performance-based financing is increasingly being applied in a variety of contexts, with the expectation that it can improve the performance of health systems. However, while there is a growing literature on implementation issues and effects on outputs, there has been relatively little focus on interactions between PBF and health systems and how these should be studied. This paper ai...

BACKGROUND Performance-based financing (PBF) has been implemented in a number of countries with the aim of transforming health systems and improving maternal and child health. This paper examines the effect of PBF on health workers' job satisfaction, motivation, and attrition in Zambia. It uses a randomized intervention/control design to evaluate before-after changes for three groups: intervent...

OBJECTIVE To review special issues related to pediatric residency training in managed care organizations, the effects of the changing health care system on the demand for pediatricians and the potential impact on financial support for residency training, current methods of financing graduate medical education (GME), possible future approaches to financing GME, and policy directions to support t...

Egypt and Cuba are both lower-middle income countries with a history of socialist rule, which have embarked on economic liberalization since the 1990s. Cuba has achieved exemplary health status whereas health status in Egypt is lower than could be expected for its level of income. In this article, health care financing mechanisms in both countries are analysed on their effectiveness, efficiency...

The World Health Report 2000 (WHR 2000) is probably best remembered for trying to stack the health systems of different countries up against each other using a uniform set of measures (WHO 2000). Certainly, senior health officials in my own country (South Africa) repeatedly referred to our ranking of 175 out of 191 countries, in terms of overall health system performance, to highlight our pligh...