Search

Background: The overarching goal of health policies is to maximize health and societal benefits. Economic evaluations can play a vital role in assessing whether or not such benefits occur. This paper reviews the application of modelling techniques in economic evaluations of drug and alcohol interventions with regard to (i) modelling paradigms themselves; (ii) perspectives of costs and benefits and (iii) time frame. Methods: Papers that use modelling approaches for economic evaluations of drug and alcohol interventions were identified by carrying out searches of major databases. Results: Thirty eight papers met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the cohort Markov models remain the most popular approach, followed by decision trees, Individual based model and System dynamics model (SD). Most of the papers adopted a long term time frame to reflect the long term costs and benefits of health interventions. However, it was fairly common among the reviewed papers to adopt a narrow perspective that only takes into account costs and benefits borne by the health care sector. Conclusions: This review paper informs policy makers about the availability of modelling techniques that can be used to enhance the quality of economic evaluations for drug and alcohol treatment interventions.

This thesis consists of three essays covering some of the most important aspects of migration and entrepreneurship in Vietnam, as well as in low- and middle-income countries by using some unique datasets and empirical methods. The three essays have uncovered some key factors that determine the propensity of entrepreurship in Vietnam and in low- and middle- income countries, and the key determinants of labor market outcomes of internal migrants in Vietnam. Chapter 2 investigates the effect of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and the regulatory variables on indigenous entrepreneurship in a sample of low-and middle-income countries. Using a cross-countries micro dataset from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), and a set of country level regulatory variables and the presence of MNEs. This study finds that MNEs reduce the propensity of entrepreneurial activities, and a more enabling business environment encourages the development of entrepreneurship. Chapter 3 examines the labor market outcomes of internal migrants in Vietnam with respect to the probability of finding jobs and earnings. This study emphasizes the role of social networks on job market outcomes, which is a largely neglected aspect of the labor market in developing countries. The results show that social networks play a positive and significant effect on the probability of finding jobs and earnings among migrants. Chapter 4 studies the effect of domestic and overseas remittances on the propensity to start a household business and the role of remittances on the growth of household businesses in Vietnam. This is a particularly important study to understand how varying sources of remittances drive the development of entrepreneurship – an underlying factor for long-run economic development in Vietnam and in developing countries alike. The findings show that while domestic remittances play a positive and significant role in boosting the propensity to start a household business and in the growth of the existing