NEWS | Wednesday, 22 August 2007

35th Edition of the Bank of Valletta Review published

Bank of Valletta has published the thirty-fifth edition of the Bank of Valletta Review, featuring four informative papers.
The first paper, entitled ‘The knowledge competitiveness of regional economies: conceptualization and measurement’, has been co-authored by Dr Robert Huggins and Dr Hiro Izushi. This article introduces the concept of knowledge competitiveness, defined as an economy’s knowledge capacity, capability and sustainability. The article discusses the extent and way in which the knowledge is translated into economic value and transferred into the wealth of the citizen. The article also tackles issues such as the way in which the knowledge competitiveness of regions is measured. It also introduces the Word Knowledge Competitiveness Index, which is the first composite and relative measure of the knowledge competitiveness of the globe’s best performing regions.
The second paper is entitled ‘Constraints and opportunities for micro-enterprises in Malta’, and was drawn up by Keith Psaila. The analysis is based on the views of respondents to a survey carried out by Mr Psaila. The paper also discusses the role of micro-enterprises in Malta. Results show that small size poses various constraints on the firm’s performance, although several advantages were also identified. On the basis of these responses, the paper presents various measures aimed at improving business performance of small firms, and the economy as a whole, given the prevalence of small firms in the Maltese economy.
Carmen Saliba prepared the third paper entitled ‘Financial services and small island jurisdictions’. The survey-based analysis provides an insight on the contribution of this sector to the Gross Domestic Product of these jurisdictions and describes the essential financial services offered to both residents and non-residents. The paper also endeavours to explain why the financial sector in a number of small island jurisdictions tends to be relatively large, and what strategic measures need to be adopted in order to overcome the sector’s major constraints. The paper also confers international standards and regulations that are considered by many small jurisdictions as imposing heavy burdens on them.
The fourth paper entitled ‘Estimating the shadow price of surgigal procedures in the Maltese public health sector’ sourced by Amanda Borg, is aimed at estimating the ‘shadow prices’ of ten surgical procedures that are carried out in the public health system in Malta, namely at St. Luke’s Hospital. The Accounting approach was used and results were compared to prices charged by a private hospital in Malta, namely St. James Hospital Sliema. The author suggested that the methodology in this costing study could be beneficial for the setting up of a Diagnosis-Related Group System in the Maltese Public Health system.
Articles from Issue 23 onwards are available at www.bov.com. For information or for a hard copy of the Bank of Valletta Review, contact Victoria Azzopardi, Strategy and Business Development Dept, BOV on telephone number 2275 5779 or by e-mail to [email protected]