Lucy Kok

Costs and benefits of home care for the elderly versus residential care: a comparison using propensity scores

A comparison of the costs of residential care and home care shows that the former is more expensive for society. However, elderly people seem to be happier in residential care. All stakeholders, except the state (and thus the taxpayer), benefit if elderly people enter residential care. This reveals that payment systems in the Netherlands contain adverse incentives stimulating entry into residential care. The research is based on surveys of older people in the Netherlands living at home and those living in residential care homes in the period 2007–2009. Propensity score matching is used to match people living at home with those living in residential care. All costs of living and health care are compared for these two groups.

Remuneration of medical specialists. Drivers of the differences between six European countries

Between countries there are large differences in the remuneration of medical specialists. We compared the remuneration levels in 2010 in six countries: Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. We used OECD figures for the remuneration levels, but corrected them extensively for differences in measurement between countries. English doctors earned most in 2010, French doctors earned least. For the six countries under study the number of doctors per capita is most consistent with the differences in income. Surprisingly, the payment scheme (salaried or fee-for-service) does not seem to account for differences between countries, although within countries fee-for-service specialists earn more than their salaried counterparts. Differences in the role of the GP, differences in workload, composition of the workforce and education could not account for differences in remuneration between these six countries. As our conclusions are based on only six countries more research involving a larger number of countries is needed to confirm these findings.

Budgetbeheer tijdens schuldbemiddeling is effectief tegen terugval

SamenvattingSEO Economisch Onderzoek onderzocht de kans op terugval in schulden na het succesvol doorlopen van een schuldentraject. Na vier jaar zijn er bovengemiddeld veel betalingsachterstanden. Budgetbeheer tijdens schuldbemiddelingstrajecten blijkt effectief in het tegengaan van terugval.