Sergej Mahnovski

This report assesses the economic dimensions of security in Central Asia, and considers their implications for the role of the United States. Economic development will be crucial to the future of Central Asia and broader U.S. interests in the region. However, it is unclear whether the states in the region have the institutional capacity to implement domestic reform. As the United States clarifies its long-term military relationships and commitments in the region, it should consider the region's economic development itself as a long-term security concern.

This volume reports the results of discussions with representatives of refining firms, technologies and services providers, research institutions and other organizations on current and future trends in the US refining industry.

Provides a framework for understanding the effects of changes in the Military Health System benefit structure on the demand for health care services paid for by the DoD. This report reviews the economic literature on the elasticity of demand for health care to provide a framework for understanding the effects of changes in the Military Health System benefit structure on the demand for health care services paid for by the DoD. Despite the wide variety of empirical methods and data sources used in the literature, the demand for health care is consistently found to be price inelastic, with values centering around -0.17. The demand for some specific medical services such as preventive care or pharmacy, however, is found to be more price sensitive with values around -0.30. Changes in the price of health care affect health plan enrollment choices as well as the demand for services. Studies show that consumers may be induced to switch between insurance plans in response to changes in their relative prices. The report concludes with a discussion of the potential effects of four aspects of the FY2001 National Defense Authorization Act. (author)