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• The role of sovereign wealth funds in the international financial system

  111-125

  Eniko Agnes Kovacs

  Views:

  152

  While sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were formerly considered to be passive financial investors, today we can see their active presence in international capital markets. As their assets are continuously growing under their management, they are likely to have important impacts both on the financial services sector and international capital movements as well. The aim of this study is to give an overall view of the role of sovereign wealth funds assumed during the credit crisis, as well as of their possible impacts on the economic and financial system. The problem of transparency will also be discussed, namely the lack of it, which derives from the fact that most sovereign wealth funds do not disclose any information about their activities, operations, and investments. Moreover, this study provides an insight into policy responses made on the international level concerning SWFs.

  JEL classification: E58, F21, F30, G15

• Implementing Risk Adjusted Capitation Payments with Health Care Reforms in Hung

  147-160

  Balazs Nagy

  Agnes Brandtmüller

  Views:

  180

  Since the late nineties Hungarian governments have been considering the introduction of new health care arrangements by establishing organizations with devolved responsibilities for the management of health care. These organizations are typically financed through a weighted (risk adjusted) capitation system which is regarded as an adequate and optimal tool for resource allocation purposes. Through capitation one needs to handle large inequities in the Hungarian health care system and keep an eye on the incentives for efficiency. For the capitation formula a relatively broad choice of risk adjusters are available in the form of pharmacy- and diagnosis-based patient level utilization data (health-based adjusters) and area level socio-economic data (non health-based adjusters). The instant application of health-based adjusters has limitations because they reflect a distorted provider structure and offer perverse incentives; therefore a gradual shift from using non health-based adjusters to health-based adjusters is preferred. The early phase of the capitation system also implies a strong presence of risk sharing arrangements and other complementary policies. Given that promoting efficiency and equity are to be pursued, the capitation approach outlined in this paper should serve as a guide to future Hungarian health care system reforms.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) code: I28, G28, G32, H51