Paying the right price for pharmaceuticals: a case study of why the comparator matters

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean M. Spinks ◽  
Jeff R. J. Richardson

This article considers the pricing policy for pharmaceuticals in Australia, which is widely seen as having achieved low drug prices. However, compared to New Zealand, the evidence implies that Australia might have improved its performance significantly if it had proactively sought market best pricing. The Australian record suggests that the information sought by authorities may not be sufficient for optimal pricing and that the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals may be neither necessary nor sufficient for achieving this goal. What is known about the topic? Pharmaceutical expenditures vary significantly across countries. Few surveys exist to determine the role of price but these suggest that Australian prices are relatively low compared with most OECD countries. What does this paper add? An analysis of public data implies that Australia pays significantly higher prices than NZ for its pharmaceuticals. This is attributable to NZ’s more effective use of competition, especially in the market for generics. Australian policy effectively limits competition by the provision of price information to competing companies. Recent agreements are similarly consistent with de facto regulatory capture. What are the implications for practitioners? There should be a review of pharmaceutical pricing policies with the criterion for success being the ‘lowest’, not ‘comparable’ world prices. Comparators should include prices paid for quality drugs in all, not selected countries, where data are available.

2021 ◽  
pp. 239496432110497
Author(s):  
Umberto Tinazzi

There is a gap of knowledge between practitioners about the off-site construction. For this reason, the Manni Group case study presented in this article highlights the positive role of dissemination as business value proposition support in the context of off-site construction industry. The Manni Group involved opinion leaders, professionals, universities and industrial partners in a network of dissemination that, going beyond the concept of advertising, it generated a multiple effect of value creation between the direct and indirect involved stakeholders. Dissemination emerges as a model of action that creates impacts on cultural change. It is scalable and applicable in many areas where actors have the right competences to manage the dissemination. Wherever there is a knowledge gap or friction towards new techniques and methodologies, the model is able to create value for companies and stakeholders involved in the emerging network.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seán Molloy

Primarily known as a pioneer of International Relations (IR) theory, Hans Morgenthau also wrote on a series of other political themes. Especially prominent in his later career is a concern with the right and duty of a theorist to exercise academic freedom as a critic of government power and, especially in this particular case, of US foreign policy. For Morgenthau the responsibility to hold governments to account by reference to the ‘higher laws’ that underpin and legitimize democracy in its truest form was a key function of the theorist in society. Dissensus and healthy debate characterize genuine democracy for Morgenthau who was perturbed by what he perceived to be a worrying concern with conformity and consensus among the political and academic elites of Vietnam War era America. This article investigates the theoretical and philosophical commitments that explain why Morgenthau felt compelled to oppose the government of his adopted state and the consequences of his having done so. For all the vicissitudes he endured, Morgenthau ultimately emerged vindicated from his clash with the political elite and his experience serves as an exemplary case of the effective use of academic freedom to oppose government policy by means of balanced, judicious critique. In the final section I argue that Morgenthau’s approach to theory, theorization and the role of the intellectual in society provides valuable insights into the nature of reflexivity in IR that are of relevance to contemporary debates in the discipline.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Shutaro Nakaaki ◽  
Junko Sato ◽  
Hikaru Nakamura ◽  
Shinichi Yoshida ◽  
Kyoko Furuhashi ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Papawadee Tanodomdej

The Tallinn Manuals (the Manuals) attempted to clarify how to apply existing international law to cyber operations. Though the Manuals are non-binding instruments, the Group of International Experts claimed that they reflected the lex lata applicable to cyber operations. However, this claim is questionable due to the dominating role of a few Western states in the drafting process and the linked neglect of the practice of “affected states” in cyber operations. This article examines the quality of the Manuals’ drafting process and the composition and impartiality of the experts involved. It focuses on the issue of the prohibition of the use of force. The aim of this examination is not to discuss whether the Manuals provided the right answer to the question of how international law applies to cyber operations. Rather, they function as a case study of how legal scholarship may affect the making of international law. The article concludes that certain rules in the Manuals are marked by NATO influence and overlook the practice of other states engaged in cyber operations. Therefore, the Manuals disregard the generality of state practice, which should be the decisive factor in the formation of customary international law. As far as “political activism” may be involved, the article argues that the role of legal scholars as assistants to the cognition of international law could be compromised.


2021 ◽  
Vol 273 ◽  
pp. 09037
Author(s):  
Ludmila Demyanova ◽  
Irina Usova ◽  
Arshak Tashchiyan ◽  
Nikolai Ryzhkin ◽  
Sergey Demyanov

The effective use of physical culture and sports means the prevention of diseases, maintaining high working capacity of people, preventing offenses, overcoming drug addiction, bad habits, implementing and ensuring the constitutional guarantee of the right of citizens to equal access to physical education, sports and tourism, and fostering a healthy lifestyle. The basis of this way of life is physical culture and sports, which purposefully, naturally increase the vitality of the systems and functions of the human body. Traveling, hiking, learning new things in the world around them, which includes tourism in all its diversity, play an important role in the formation of a healthy lifestyle and harmonious development of the individual.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-60
Author(s):  
E.O Aluyor ◽  
S.K Otoikhian

In Nigeria, the number of unemployed persons in recent times increased to 23,187,000 in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 21,765,000 in the second quarter of 2020, hence this paper is an exposition on the role of tertiary institutions in the entrepreneurial development of engineering graduates most of whom are unemployed. A brief discuss on the need for engineering-based entrepreneurship is presented. The key challenges hindering engineering entrepreneurship in Nigeria are highlighted. Some of the roles and strategies which the tertiary institutions in Nigeria can deploy to foster entrepreneurship amongst engineering graduates are presented and include; highly functional and strategic entrepreneurship development centers with think tanks, funding support for the most promising business ideas of students, business and entrepreneurship-motivated research, engaging with government and policymakers to make entrepreneurship fostering policies and minimize bottlenecks to business amongst others. Edo State University Uzairue is presented as a case study of a tertiary institution in Nigeria that has taken some steps in the right direction as regards entrepreneurial development. It is concluded that all stakeholders such as the government, industry, NGOs, and the students/graduates must partner with the tertiary institutions to achieve commendable results on the uphill task under consideration. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, tertiary institutions, engineering, unemployment, development, Nigeria.


2006 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Silvina Gvirtz ◽  
Silvina Larripa ◽  
Verónica Oelsner

This article presents results from different research investigations which have explored the relations between the technical and the political dimension of the assessment of educational systems. The case study taken on for this matter is the national evaluation system in force in Argentina since 1993. In the first part we present some technical problems which the implementation of this system has encountered in this country. In the second part we carry out an analysis of these technical inconveniences, within the political context of educational reform in which the evaluation system arises and develops. In addition, we present an analysis of the effective use of the information provided by the evaluations. Finally, in the conclusions, we present some considerations on the role of national evaluations in educational reform contexts, and on the prospects of their consolidation as systems which inform in a valid and reliable form about the course of education in the mid and long term.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Zuopeng (Justin) Zhang

PurposeTo better understand the role of industrial big data in promoting digital transformation, the authors propose a theoretical framework of industrial big-data-based affordance in the form of an illustrative metaphor – what the authors call the “organizational drivetrain.”Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the effective use of industrial big data in the process of digital transformation based on the technology affordance–actualization theoretical lens. A software platform and services provider with more than 4,000 industrial enterprise clients in China was selected as the case study object for analyzing the digital affordance and actualization driven by industrial big data.FindingsDrawing on a revelatory case study, the authors identify three affordances of industrial big data in the organization, namely developing data-driven customized projects, provisioning equipment-data-driven life cycle services, establishing data-based trust and determining affordance actualization actions driven by technology and market. In addition, the authors reveal the underlying drivetrain mechanisms to advance industrial big data affordance and actualization: stabilizing, enriching and pioneering.Originality/valueThis study builds a drivetrain model on digital transformation by industrial big data affordance actualization. The authors also provide practical implications that can help practitioners to implement digital transformation effectively and extract value from their investment.


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