Margrethe Aanesen

Smarter elder care? A cost-effectiveness analysis of implementing technology in elder care

Whereas in most sectors, technology has taken over trivial and labour consuming tasks, this transformation has been delayed in the healthcare sector. Although appropriate technology is available, there is general resistance to substituting ‘warm’ hands with ‘cold’ technology. In the future, this may change as the number of elderly people increases relative to the people in the work force. In combination with an increasing demand for healthcare services, there are calls for efforts to increase productivity in the sector. Based on experience data from previous studies on information and communication technology efforts in the healthcare sector, we quantitatively assess the use of smart house technology and video visits in home care. Having identified healthcare providers, hospitals and relatives as the main affected groups, we show that smart house technology is cost-effective, even if only relatives gain from it. Video visits, which have higher implementation costs, demand effects on both relatives and health care providers in order to be a cost-effective tool in home care. As the analysis is purely quantitative, these results need to be complemented with qualitative effects and with more thorough discussions of the ethical, medical and legal aspects of the use of technology in home care.

What does stakeholder involvement mean for fisheries management

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) sets the guidelines for the management of European fisheries. The CFP is revised every 10 years, and the last two revisions have laid the groundwork for extending stakeholder participation in European Union fisheries management. The fishery industry and nongovernmental organization (NGOs) especially are recommended to be given greater influence. In this paper we report results from an international survey on fisheries stakeholders’ preferences for the three pillars of sustainable fisheries activities as defined in the CFP: ecological, economic, and social. Results of the survey show that industry member preferences were significantly different from the preferences of authorities, scientists, and NGOs. The preferences of the three latter groups did not vary significantly across stakeholder group. This raises the question of what consequences the planned stakeholder involvement in the CFP may have, given the preferences revealed in our survey.

Use and Non-Use Values in an Applied Bioeconomic Model of Fisheries and Habitat Connections

ABSTRACT In addition to indirect support to fisheries, marine habitats also provide non-use benefits often overlooked in most bioeconomic models.We expand a dynamic bioeconomic fisheries model where presence of natural habitats reduces fishing cost via aggregation effects and provides non-use benefits. The theoretical model is illustrated with an application to cold-water corals in Norway where two fishing methods are considered—destructive bottom trawl and non-destructive coastal gear. Non-use values of cold-water corals in Norway are estimated using a discrete choice experiment. Both the theoretical model and its empirical applications demonstrate how non-use values impact optimal fishing practices. JEL Codes: Q22, Q28, Q57.

Economic gains from electronic message exchange: the importance of working procedures.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There are several cost-benefit evaluations of introducing new technology for administrative purposes in the health care sector. Whereas some of these recognise the importance of adapting the working procedures to the new technology, very few look into the consequences of delays in adaptation to the new technology. In this paper, we focus on the consequences of keeping old working procedures, although new technology is implemented. METHODS Based on on-site observations we have estimated the economic gains of implementing electronic message exchange in the health care sector depending on which working procedures are applied. Then we continue by using a dynamic cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in order to take into account that conversion to new working procedures takes place over time, and we demonstrate the loss in potential gains due to such a delay. RESULTS Keeping working procedures fit to old technology when new technology is implemented may imply that only between 40 and 50% of the potential time savings (benefits) are realised. In a dynamic perspective, the keeping of double procedures for 10 years and more will jeopardise the economic gains for surgeries, whereas hospitals still may have an economic gain. The delay in conversion to new working procedures implies that only 50% of the dynamic net present value of the gains is realised. The longer it takes before the old procedures are abandoned the lower is the dynamic net present value of the gains. This is due to the discounting of future gains. CONCLUSIONS These are all arguments for emphasising and putting resources into training and motivation programs for employees when new technology is being implemented. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY We have only considered quantifiable effects of electronic message exchange in the health care sector, and only for hospitals and surgeries.

Demographic and economic disparities among Arctic regions

We use demographic and economic indicators to analyze spatial differences and temporal trends across 18 regions surrounding the Arctic Ocean. Multifactor and cluster analysis were used on 10 indicators reflecting income, employment and demography from 1995 to 2008. The main difference is between regions with high population densities, low natural growth rate, and low unemployment (Russia, Norway and Iceland) and regions with high unemployment rate and high natural growth rate (mainly North American regions). However, once those parameters were accounted for sub-regional differences start to emerge. Variation among the regions was a result of national policies and regional differences such as access and presence of natural resources (i.e. oil, gas, mining, etc.). We found only weak temporal trends, but regions with resource extraction show some signs of higher volatility. Overall, the Arctic has experienced out-migration with only Iceland and two regions in Canada experiencing in-migration.

The Implications of Environmental NGO Involvement in Fisheries Management

What happens when an environmental NGO (ENGO) becomes involved in fisheries management, and its involvement is recognized by the managing authorities? The answer depends on the preferences and the measures of the ENGO. We use a bioeconomic objective function where fishers and regulator have ecological, economic, and social preferences, whereas the ENGO has only ecological preferences. Applying a Cournot model we analyze how the original regulation of the authorities is affected when an ENGO becomes involved. We use empirical data on fisheries stakeholder preferences and from the Portuguese and Spanish sardine purse seine fishery to calibrate and test the model. (JEL Q22, Q28)