Analysis on outsourcing service behavior of rice pest and disease control based on Heckman selection model-A case study of ten counties in Fujian Province.

Under the background of relatively slow agricultural labor transfer and land circulation, agricultural production outsourcing has become the main means of agricultural modernization. In order to provide a beneficial perspective for appropriately expanding the scale of rice control outsourcing services, we investigated the situation of rice control outsourcing in ten counties of Fujian Province, and analyzed the factors influencing rice farmers' decision-making and control degree by using Heckman model. First of all, the main factors affecting farmers' participation in outsourcing are agricultural labor force, whether family members are cooperative members, planting area, proportion of grain income, degree of organization of outsourcing team, region and so on. Secondly, agricultural labor force, cooperative members, planting area, part-time behavior, mechanical efficiency of prevention and control organization, and region are the main factors affecting the scale of control outsourcing. Thirdly, from a regional perspective, the rice farmers in northern and Western Fujian are more dependent on outsourcing services consumption compared with the rice farmers in Southern Fujian. These results have a clear impact on policymakers, indicating that policy and measures should encourage the prevention and control of the nature of cooperation, and improve the advanced nature of outsourcing facilities of plant protection equipment, thereby effectively improving the professional level of rice pest and disease control.

Identifying and Prioritizing Effective Factors on Outsourcing in Public Hospitals Using Fuzzy BWM.

The outsourcing of health services has gained prominence over the past decades. Because numerous factors affect outsourcing in the field of health services, identifying and prioritizing these factors is specifically important. This study sought to identify and prioritize the factors affecting outsourcing, and to propose a model for the effective outsourcing of hospital services in Shiraz, Iran. The study drew on an exploratory mixed research method. In the first stage, all the criteria affecting the outsourcing of activities in hospitals were identified through the theoretical framework, a literature review, and interviews with hospital experts. Next, the criteria were finalized and prioritized using the fuzzy best-worst method (BWM). Following the literature review, 34 criteria for outsourcing were identified based on the studies explored and the interviews with the experts; the criteria were categorized into seven dimensions including "strategy", "management", "economy", "quality", "security and keeping patients' records", "service", and "agility." These dimensions formed the final outsourcing model of hospitals in Shiraz. Finally, the fuzzy BWM analysis revealed that "security and keeping patient's records" had the highest priority in outsourcing-related decision-making. The findings can help hospital managers make the right decision concerning the outsourcing of hospital services. The dimensions found in this research might also have been identified in other models, although this study was different in that it concentrated on the criteria in the specialized area of hospital management, while identifying the importance and weights of all the criteria involved.

Schrödinger's pipeline and the outsourcing of pharmaceutical innovation.

In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008) cheaper, softer money flooded the worldwide markets. Faced with historically low capital costs, the pharmaceutical industry chose to pay down debt through share buybacks rather than invest in research and development (R&D). Instead, the industry explored new R&D models for open innovation, such as open-sourcing, crowd-sourcing, public-private partnerships, innovation centres, Science Parks, and the wholesale outsourcing of pharmaceutical R&D. However, economic Greater Fool Theory suggests that outsourcing R&D was never likely to increase innovation. Ten years on, the period of cheaper and softer money is coming to an end. So how are things looking? And what happens next?

Generic Drugs Not as Safe as FDA Wants You to Believe.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules for the production of prescription drugs are very rigorous and, if followed, guarantees a safe drug supply. For many years, foreign manufacturers have produced substandard generic products and active pharmaceutical ingredients and shipped them into the United States. If the FDA had inspected them with the same rigor as they do domestic manufacturers, they would have found many of these egregious deviations from ethical manufacturing much earlier. Although the FDA is finally stepping up the number of inspections, their current processes still rely on preannounced inspections with long time horizons, so quality issues can be temporarily corrected and documents altered or destroyed.

Critical analysis of valuation and strategical orientation of merger and acquisition deals in the pharmaceutical industry.

INTRODUCTION: The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing major shifts due to changing macro and micro factors. As the industry is highly capital intensive and patents are expiring, the outlook is on generating inorganic growth, mainly through M&A. Using the income valuation approach, one analyses two completed deals in 2016 above 1bn USD. Thereafter one outlines the main motives behind M&A deals and concluded by discussing whether M&A harms medical innovations. AREAS COVERED: The paper is based on empirical study questioning existing literature in order to critically analyse valuation and the strategical orientation of pharmaceutical companies. EXPERT COMMENTARY: Pharmaceutical companies understand the changing market conditions and favour their expertise. The restructuring of the industry moves to small niche companies (I.e. Biopharma or biotech companies) researching key innovations and big companies purchasing them to develop them, create clinical trials and distribute them as this is a costly manner Conclusion: One can expect more M&A deals during the next years focusing on value rather than volume. Pharmaceutical players resilient to the market changes may survive if they change their business model from a traditional vertical one to outsourcing and diversification including external players.

A psicodinâmica do reconhecimento no trabalho de informática de terceirizados de uma instituição pública / Recognition's psychodynamic at informatics outsurced work in a public institution

Contexto: O trabalho terceirizado tem aumentado no contexto brasileiro, sendo hoje entendido como uma das principais formas de diminuir o custo das instituições empregadoras. O reconhecimento a esses trabalhadores, entretanto, não é proporcional à sua importância para as organizações. Segundo a psicodinâmica do trabalho, reconhecimento é a retribuição simbólica do investimento físico, cognitivo e afetivo. É por meio dele que ocorre a construção da identidade. Objetivo: A pesquisa objetivou analisar o reconhecimento no trabalho de informática de terceirizados de uma instituição pública. Métodos: Foram realizadas três sessões de entrevistas coletivas, com duração de duas horas cada. Os dados foram analisados por meio da interpretação da fala e classificados nos eixos organização do trabalho; vivências de prazer e sofrimento; e dinâmica do reconhecimento. Resultados: Os terceirizados sentem-se reconhecidos, pelos pares e pelos usuários, pela visibilidade e utilidade da sua atividade, mas não são reconhecidos pelos colegas concursados, seus chefes. Os resultados corroboram alguns estudos realizados com trabalhadores terceirizados quanto à precarização e fragilidade socioeconômica. Conclusões: Conclui-se que, apesar da invisibilidade do trabalho para parte do grupo laboral, os terceirizados sentem-se reconhecidos. O estudo contribui para avançar nas pesquisas da psicodinâmica do trabalho e para reflexão dos modelos de gestão e posturas perante a situação da terceirização no serviço público.

Context: Outsourced work has been increasing in Brazil. Nowadays, it is seen as one of the main ways of reducing companies' expenses. The recognition given to these workers, however, does not commensurate with their importance to the organizations they work for. According to the "work psychodynamics" theory, recognition is the symbolic retribution of physical, cognitive and affective investment. It is through appreciation that the shaping of one's identity takes place. Objective: This research aimed to analyze the recognition of outsourced employees who worked in IT for a public institution. Methods: Three sessions of collective interviews were held, lasting two hours each. Data were analyzed through speech interpretation and were classified within the following criteria: work organization, experiences of pleasure and suffering, and dynamics of recognition. Results: Outsourcers feel recognized by their peers and by the system users in light of the visibility and usefulness of their activities. However, they do not feel appreciated by their fellows who are formally employed, who happened to be their bosses. These results corroborate some studies done with outsourced workers concerning socioeconomic fragility and precariousness. Conclusions: It is concluded that, despite the work's invisibility from part of their labor group, outsourcers do feel appreciated. This research helps support the advancement of scientific inquiries on work psychodynamics. It also contributes to the overall considerations regarding management models and postures towards the outsourcing situation in the public service.

Unrestrained outsourcing in Brazil: more precarization and health risks for workers.

This article discusses the current status of outsourcing in Brazil, with new regulation underway featuring a bill of law under review by the National Congress, aimed at allowing outsourcing for all activities. The authors argue that outsourcing and precarization of work are inseparable phenomena, based on the results of 20 years of research in Brazil that reveals the more precarious working conditions of outsourced workers in different occupational categories. They focus particularly on workers' health: outsourcing of risks has led to more fatal work accidents, invariably at higher rates in outsourced workers. Finally, the article contends that to remove restraints on outsourcing in Brazil amounts to legalizing and legitimizing predatory workforce exploitation, disregarding workers' physical limits, exposing them to risk of fatal accidents, and reverting to forms of work that violate the human condition.

Global precarious employment and health inequalities: working conditions, social class, or precariat?

Changes in employment conditions since the 1980s have been referred to as precarious employment, and terms like flexible, atypical, temporary, part-time, contract, self-employed, irregular, or non-standard employment have also been used. In this essay I review some of the current critiques to the precarious employment construct and advance some potential solutions for its use in epidemiology and public health.

OUTSOURCING ETHICAL DILEMMAS: REGULATING INTERNATIONAL SURROGACY ARRANGEMENTS.

This article argues that the English legislative regime is ineffective in regulating international surrogacy, particularly with regard to commercial payments. It suggests that if English law views surrogacy as exploitative, we have a responsibility to protect women both in England and abroad, and the only way to do so effectively is to create a domestic system of regulation that caters adequately for the demand in this country. This requires a system of authorisation for surrogacy before it is undertaken; ex-post facto examinations of agreements completed in other jurisdictions, after the child is already living with the commissioning parents, cannot be seen as an acceptable compromise, as authorisation will inevitably be granted in the child's best interests.

Unrestrained outsourcing in Brazil: more precarization and health risks for workers / A terceirização sem limites: mais precarização e riscos de morte aos trabalhadores / La tercerización sin límites: más precarización y riesgos de muerte para los trabajadores

Abstract: This article discusses the current status of outsourcing in Brazil, with new regulation underway featuring a bill of law under review by the National Congress, aimed at allowing outsourcing for all activities. The authors argue that outsourcing and precarization of work are inseparable phenomena, based on the results of 20 years of research in Brazil that reveals the more precarious working conditions of outsourced workers in different occupational categories. They focus particularly on workers' health: outsourcing of risks has led to more fatal work accidents, invariably at higher rates in outsourced workers. Finally, the article contends that to remove restraints on outsourcing in Brazil amounts to legalizing and legitimizing predatory workforce exploitation, disregarding workers' physical limits, exposing them to risk of fatal accidents, and reverting to forms of work that violate the human condition.

Resumo: O artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre o quadro da terceirização hoje no Brasil, quando está em curso uma nova regulamentação por meio de um Projeto de Lei em tramitação no Congresso Nacional, que tem por objetivo liberar a terceirização para todas as atividades. Argumenta sobre a indissociabilidade entre terceirização e precarização do trabalho, com base numa sistematização de resultados de 20 anos de pesquisas no Brasil, apresentando indicadores que comprovam as condições de trabalho mais precárias dos terceirizados para diversas categorias profissionais, destacadamente para o campo da saúde do trabalhador, em que a terceirização dos riscos tem levado a um número crescente de acidentes de trabalho com vítimas fatais que têm sido invariavelmente maiores entre os trabalhadores terceirizados. Por fim, avalia que liberar a terceirização no Brasil é legalizar e legitimar o uso predatório da força de trabalho na sua forma mais aguda, desrespeitando os limites físicos dos trabalhadores, expondo-os a riscos de morte e retornando a formas pretéritas de trabalho que transgridem a condição humana.

Resumen: El artículo presenta una discusión sobre el cuadro de la tercerización hoy en Brasil, cuando está en curso una nueva regulación, a través de un Proyecto de Ley en trámite en el Congreso Nacional, que tiene por objetivo liberar la tercerización para todas las actividades. Discute sobre la indisociabilidad entre tercerización y precarización del trabajo, en base a una sistematización de resultados de 20 años de investigaciones en Brasil, presentando indicadores que comprueban las condiciones de trabajo más precarias de los tercerizados para diversas categorías profesionales, destacando el campo de la salud del trabajador, donde la tercerización de los riesgos ha llevado a un número creciente de accidentes de trabajo con víctimas fatales, que han sido invariablemente mayor entre los trabajadores tercerizados. Por fin, evalúa que liberar la tercerización en Brasil es legalizar y legitimar el uso depredatorio de la fuerza de trabajo en su forma más aguda, sin respetar los límites físicos de los trabajadores, exponiéndoles a riesgos de muerte y retornando a formas pretéritas de trabajo que transgreden la condición humana.

Global precarious employment and health inequalities: working conditions, social class, or precariat? / Emprego precário no mundo e desigualdades em saúde: condições de trabalho, classe social ou precariado? / Empleo global precario e inequidades en salud: ¿condiciones laborales, clase social, o "precariado"?

Abstract: Changes in employment conditions since the 1980s have been referred to as precarious employment, and terms like flexible, atypical, temporary, part-time, contract, self-employed, irregular, or non-standard employment have also been used. In this essay I review some of the current critiques to the precarious employment construct and advance some potential solutions for its use in epidemiology and public health.

Resumo: Mudanças nas condições de emprego desde os anos 1980s têm sido chamadas de "emprego precário", além de outros termos como trabalho flexível, atípico, temporário, em tempo parcial, por contrato, autônomo ou irregular. O ensaio faz uma revisão de algumas das críticas atuais em relação ao conceito de emprego precário e propõe soluções para seu uso na epidemiologia e em saúde pública.

Resumen: Tras los cambios en las condiciones laborales desde los años 1980s se ha hecho uso de conceptos como empleo precario, así como de términos como: flexible, atípico, temporal, a tiempo parcial, contrato basura, auto-empleado, irregular, o empleo no convencional. En este trabajo se realizó una revisión sobre algunas de las actuales críticas hacia el constructo del empleo precario y se avanzaron algunas soluciones potenciales para su uso en epidemiología y salud pública.

'Outsourced' patients and their companions: stories from forced medical travellers.

In this paper, I describe the experience of 'outsourced' patients who are sent by their governments or insurers through contractual arrangements to a hospital in another country for treatment. I present case studies of nine patients and their accompanying families from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) who were interviewed in a Thai hospital as part of a broader study of medical travel from patients' perspectives. The health systems of the GCC suffer shortages in infrastructure, human resources and management skills, and as a consequence patients with particular needs, especially in neurology, orthopaedics and oncology may be sent overseas for treatment. Patients experience long stays overseas producing a considerable burden to their families supporting them. Such patients complicate notions of medical travel but their status also contrasts markedly from stereotypes held about Gulf patients within Thailand. Despite their appreciation of government sponsoring, for many patients the experience of care in Thailand underscored perceived inadequacies of their home health systems and governments. For some, outsourcing represented a betrayal of the obligations of their states to its citizens.

Biopharma CRO industry in China: landscape and opportunities.

The pharmaceutical industry has responded to the declining research and development (R&D) productivity over the past decade by decreasing its cost base and outsourcing parts of drug research, with China increasingly being the preferred destination for such outsourced work. For this Focus article, we collected and analyzed data for 66 China-based nonclinical contract research organizations (CROs); approximately 60% of the companies were localized in the Yangtze River Delta cluster and another 20% within the Beijing cluster. Almost 25% of the companies offered services in discovery biology, the single largest service offering in the data set, with another 20% offering preclinical research (toxicology, pharmacology, and animal models) and approximately 15% offering pharmaceutical development. The biologics and pharmaceutical development services represent key future growth areas, with CROs showing an increasing appetite for risk-sharing partnerships.

Nonconsensual clinical trials: a foreseeable risk of offshoring under global corporatism.

This paper explores the connection of offshoring and outsourcing to nonconsensual global pharmaceutical trials in low-income countries. After discussing reasons why the topic of nonconsensual offshored clinical trials may be overlooked in bioethics literature, I suggest that when pharmaceutical corporations offshore clinical trials today, nonconsensual experiments are often foreseeable and not simply the result of aberrant ethical conduct by a few individuals. Offshoring of clinical trials is structured so that experiments can be presented as health care in a unique form of outsourcing from the host country to pharmaceutical corporations. Bioethicists' assessments of the risks and potential benefits of offshore corporate pharmaceutical trials should therefore systematically include not only the hoped for benefits and the risks of the experimental drug but also the risk that subjects will not have consented, as well as the broader international consequences of nonconsensual experimentation.

Big-pharmaceuticalisation: clinical trials and Contract Research Organisations in India.

The World Trade Organisation's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights [TRIPS] agreement aimed to harmonise intellectual property rights and patent protection globally. In India, the signing of this agreement resulted in a sharp increase in clinical trials since 2005. The Indian government, along with larger Indian pharmaceutical companies, believed that they could change existing commercial research cultures through the promotion of basic research as well as attracting international clinical trials, and thus create an international level, innovation-based drug industry. The effects of the growth of these outsourced and off-shored clinical trials on local commercial knowledge production in India are still unclear. What has been the impact of the increasing scale and commercialisation of clinical research on corporate science in India? In this paper we describe Big-pharmaceuticalisation in India, whereby the local pharmaceutical industry is moving from generic manufacturing to innovative research. Using conceptual frameworks of pharmaceuticalisation and innovation, this paper analyses data from research conducted in 2010-2012 and describes how Contract Research Organisations (CROs) enable outsourcing of randomised control trials to India. Focussing on twenty-five semi-structured interviews CRO staff, we chart the changes in Indian pharmaceutical industry, and implications for local research cultures. We use Big-pharmaceuticalisation to extend the notion of pharmaceuticalisation to describe the spread of pharmaceutical research globally and illustrate how TRIPS has encouraged a concentration of capital in India, with large companies gaining increasing market share and using their market power to rewrite regulations and introduce new regulatory practices in their own interest. Contract Research Organisations, with relevant, new, epistemic skills and capacities, are both manifestations of the changes in commercial research cultures, as well as the vehicles to achieve them. These changes have reinvigorated public concerns that stress not only access to new medicines but also the 'price' of innovation on research participants.