IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v124y2015icp321-330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health region development from the perspective of system theory – An empirical cross-regional case study

Author

Listed:
  • Volgger, Michael
  • Mainil, Tomas
  • Pechlaner, Harald
  • Mitas, Ondrej

Abstract

Governments are increasingly establishing health regions to deal with current challenges of public health service. These regions are seen as instruments to balance public and private stakeholders, and offer health care to regional citizens as well as to medical/health tourists. However, it is still unclear how the development of such health regions as well as their governance may be conceptualized. We apply Luhmann's system theory approach in the context of a cross-regional case study that compares health region developments in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano–South Tyrol (Italy) with particular regard to the Eastern Dolomites and in the province of Zeeland (the Netherlands). We suggest that Luhmann's system theory provides a useful set of criteria to evaluate and judge health region development. Fully developed health regions can be understood as auto-poietic systems. By emphasizing programs, personnel, and communication channels, these case studies illustrate the suitability of the system theory toolset to analyze the governance and spatial embeddedness of health regions. Additionally, the study contributes to literature by indicating that health regions are closely related to identity issues and to decision making in regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Volgger, Michael & Mainil, Tomas & Pechlaner, Harald & Mitas, Ondrej, 2015. "Health region development from the perspective of system theory – An empirical cross-regional case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 321-330.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:124:y:2015:i:c:p:321-330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614002913
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver E. Williamson, 1999. "Strategy research: governance and competence perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(12), pages 1087-1108, December.
    2. Williamson, Oliver E, 1979. "Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractural Relations," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 233-261, October.
    3. Harald Pechlaner & Michael Volgger, 2013. "Towards a comprehensive view of tourism governance: relationships between the corporate governance of tourism service firms and territorial governance," International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1/2), pages 3-19.
    4. Martimianakis, Maria Athina (Tina) & Hafferty, Frederic W., 2013. "The world as the new local clinic: A critical analysis of three discourses of global medical competency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 31-38.
    5. Brand, Helmut & Hollederer, Alfons & Wolf, Ulrike & Brand, Angela, 2008. "Cross-border health activities in the Euregios: Good practice for better health," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(2-3), pages 245-254, May.
    6. Veenstra, Gerry, 2002. "Social capital and health (plus wealth, income inequality and regional health governance)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 849-868, March.
    7. Gesler, Wilbert M., 1992. "Therapeutic landscapes: Medical issues in light of the new cultural geography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 735-746, April.
    8. Mainil, Tomas & Van Loon, Francis & Dinnie, Keith & Botterill, David & Platenkamp, Vincent & Meulemans, Herman, 2012. "Transnational health care: From a global terminology towards transnational health region development," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 37-44.
    9. Buzinde, Christine N. & Yarnal, Careen, 2012. "Therapeutic landscapes and postcolonial theory: A theoretical approach to medical tourism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 783-787.
    10. Mooney, Patrick & Gray, Thomas W., 2002. "Cooperative Conversion and Restructuring in Theory and Practice," Research Reports 280024, United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hermano, Víctor & Martín-Cruz, Natalia, 2013. "How to Deliver Foreign Aid? The Case of Projects Governed by the Spanish International Agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 298-314.
    2. Frenken, Koen, 2006. "A fitness landscape approach to technological complexity, modularity, and vertical disintegration," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 288-305, September.
    3. Andræs Barge-Gil, 2013. "Open Strategies and Innovation Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 585-610, October.
    4. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2010. "Limits of Transaction Cost Analysis," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 28, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Marta Gancarczyk, 2015. "Proces wzrostu przedsiębiorstwa w świetle podejścia zasobowego i teorii kosztów transakcyjnych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5, pages 5-31.
    6. Ouma, Emily & Ochieng, Justus & Dione, Michel & Pezo, Danilo, 2017. "Governance structures in smallholder pig value chains in Uganda: constraints and opportunities for upgrading," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 20(3), January.
    7. Xiaoqing Li & Yu Zheng & Catherine L. Wang, 2016. "Inter-firm collaboration in new product development in Chinese pharmaceutical companies," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 165-193, March.
    8. Jain, Amit, 2011. "Connaissance, ressources, concurrence et les frontières de l'entreprise," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/6403 edited by Thiétart, Raymond-Alain.
    9. Christian Cordes & Peter J. Richerson & Richard McElreath & Pontus Strimling, 2006. "How Does Opportunistic Behavior Influence Firm Size?," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2006-18, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    10. Mikko Ketokivi & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2020. "Transaction Cost Economics As a Theory of Supply Chain Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 1011-1031, April.
    11. Fu-Sheng Tsai & Chin-Chiung Kuo & Julia L. Lin, 2020. "Knowledge Heterogenization of the Franchising Literature Applying Transaction Cost Economics," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-27, November.
    12. Shashank Mittal, 2019. "Role of Continuity, Specificity and Frequency of Firm–Supplier Exchanges in Customer Fulfilment: Evidence from Latin America," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 20(1), pages 25-37, December.
    13. Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), 2010. "The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4136.
    14. Aric Rindfleisch, 2020. "Transaction cost theory: past, present and future," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(1), pages 85-97, June.
    15. Jürgen Bruns & Rüdiger Kabst, 2005. "Interim-Management: A Paradox for Leadership Research?," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(4), pages 512-524.
    16. Haili Zhang & Michael Song & Xiaoming Yang & Ping Li, 2019. "What are Important Technologies for Sustainable Development in the Trucking Industries of Emerging Markets? Differences between Organizational and Individual Buyers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Vivek, Shiri D. & Richey Jr., R. Glenn & Dalela, Vivek, 2009. "A longitudinal examination of partnership governance in offshoring: A moving target," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 16-30, January.
    18. Winata, Fikriyah & McLafferty, Sara L., 2023. "Therapeutic landscapes, networks, and health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study among female domestic workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    19. Prud'homme, Dan & von Zedtwitz, Max, 2019. "Managing “forced” technology transfer in emerging markets: The case of China," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.
    20. Lim, Wei Shi & Tan, Soo Jiuan, 2010. "Outsourcing suppliers as downstream competitors: Biting the hand that feeds," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(2), pages 360-369, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:124:y:2015:i:c:p:321-330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.