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Cloud technology is an attractive infrastructure solution to optimize the scalability and performance of web applications. The workload of these applications typically fluctuates between peak and valley loads and sometimes in an unpredictable way. Cloud systems can easily deal with this fluctuation because they provide customers with an almost unlimited on-demand infrastructure capacity using a pay-per-use model, which enables internet-based companies to pay for the actual consumption instead of peak capacity. In this paradigm, this paper links the business model of an internet-based company to the performance evaluation of the infrastructure. To this end, the paper develops a new methodology for assessing the costs and benefits of implementing web-based applications in the cloud. Traditional performance models and indexes related to usage of the main system resources (such as processor, memory, storage, and bandwidth) have been reformulated to include new metrics (such as customer losses and service costs) that are useful for business managers. Additionally, the proposed methodology has been illustrated with a case study of a typical e-commerce scenario. Experimental results show that the proposed metrics enable internet-based companies to estimate the cost of adopting a particular cloud configuration more accurately in terms of the infrastructure cost and the cost of losing customers due to performance degradation. Consequently, the methodology can be a useful tool to assess the feasibility of business plans.

Haze pollution’s harm to residents’ health has become a public topic arousing the national, social and public concerns. This paper, taking Beijing as an example, quantitatively evaluated the current situation and historical changes of health-related economic loss caused by haze pollution across Beijing’s districts, based on the data from 2009 to 2016 on air pollutant concentration, pathology and health statistics. The results show that health-related economic loss caused by haze pollution of Beijing in 2016 was about RMB 67.925 billion. The most severe health loss was seen in Chaoyang, Haidian and Fengtai districts, while less health loss was found in Yanqing, Mentougou and Huairou districts. This is mainly attributed to the differences in pollutants emission, local population and geographic location. Judging from the trend, the health loss caused by air pollution across Beijing saw a wavelike rise first, followed by a decrease year by year, from 2009 to 2016; but the loss in 2016 was at least 1.1 times that in 2009. The control over air pollution faces severe challenges. Therefore, it is urgently needed to address haze pollution in line with the local conditions of Beijing and take gradual steps to incorporate health loss caused by air pollution into the balance sheet accounting system of natural resources.

In countries across the globe, difficult decisions have to be made as to how health care is financed, organized, and provided to meet the needs of populations. The tools of economic evaluation (e.g., cost-effectiveness analysis) offer means to inform the allocation of scarce health system resources. Recent years have seen a number of notable developments in the methods of economic evaluation, often driven by the demands of policymakers. These developments have usually arisen to address policy needs expressed in some higher income countries (e.g., the UK, Australia, and Canada). In contrast, the field of economic evaluation as applied to inform decisions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has generally evolved along quite distinct lines. This chapter explores the policy challenges faced within LMICs, the possible contributions of recent methods developments to addressing these challenges and areas in which further methods research would be of value. These include estimating cost-effectiveness thresholds, characterizing and exploring the implications of uncertainty, reflecting non-budgetary (demand- and supply-sides) constraints and incorporating non-health effects and equity concerns. In addition to the development of suitable methods, the use of economic evaluation to improve population health in LMICs will also require political commitment and local ownership of decision processes.

Mental health issues can emerge at any age, with incidence particularly common in childhood and young adulthood. The personal and economic consequences can last the life-course, and spillover into family and wider community impacts. Mental health issues are among the most challenging of all illnesses because of the breadth, durability, and complexity of impact.

We describe prevalence, mortality and disability, and discuss challenges arising in the mental health field, each with economic implications. We report expenditure levels, and we discuss issues that arise in financing mental health interventions. Numerous methodological and practical challenges arise when conducting economic evaluation in the mental health field. We describe how evidence from cost-effectiveness and other analyses contribute to better resource utilization decisions.

Throughout the chapter, we argue how most mental health problems are complicated, and have many negative and often distressing consequences for the individuals who are unwell, their families, and the wider society. This complexity often makes them expensive, and the durability and wide sphere of impact add to the economic consequences. Given the pervasive scarcity of resources, decision-makers must think through the economic case for strategies or treatments that might address mental health needs.