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Government Programs (government + program)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting54%
Medical Sciences18%
Humanities and Social Sciences18%

Selected Abstracts

Sustainability of cosmetic products in Brazil

JOURNAL OF COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Neila De Paula Pereira PhD
Summary Background, The most recent research in the area of cosmetics to sustainability has focused on obtaining formulations rich in nontraditional oils and butters from seeds and fruits native to Brazilian tropical flora. These have contributed to aggregate value for the raw materials and involvement of small farms forming rural production in Brazil, since the plants are cultivated in preservation areas sponsored by companies who are partners in the Government Program for Brazilian Sustainability. Given that the oils extracted from seeds have the potential to replace these cutaneous constituents, it has been verified that new products of strong commercial impact show an increasing tendency to incorporate in their formulas the oils of plants grown in Brazilian soil. [source]

COSTLY EXTERNAL FINANCE AND INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY IN A MARKET EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 4 2009
JÁN ZÁBOJNÍK
The corporate finance literature suggests that a financially constrained firm invests less than an identical unconstrained firm. This does not imply that financial frictions cause firms to invest less than in a frictionless economy. When firms compete for investment funds, an increase in financial frictions can lead individual firms to increase their investment levels. A greater than the frictionless level of investment is likely in low-productivity firms, in cash-rich firms, and in firms with cheap external capital. Government programs that make capital cheaper for small firms may lead to lower levels of investment for all firms and decrease efficiency (JEL O16, E22, E44, G20) [source]

Prevalence of Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Two Canadian Provinces

JOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 3 2006
Hélčne Ouellette-Kuntz
Abstract, Although it is generally accepted that the proportion of children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) has increased in the past two decades, there is no consensus on the prevalence of these conditions. The accompanying large rise in demand for services, together with uncertainty regarding the extent to which the observed increases are due to a true change in risk, has made PDDs a major public health concern. As few data exist on the prevalence of PDDs in Canada, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed PDDs in two Canadian provinces (Manitoba and Prince Edward Island (PEI)) and compare characteristics of diagnosed cases between the two regions. To obtain the estimates, children under the age of 15 years with a PDD diagnosis who lived in either province in 2002 were identified by workers at Children's Special Services, a provincial government program that supports children with special needs in Manitoba, and by the PEI provincial early intervention coordinator (Department of Social Services and Seniors) and special education autism coordinator (Department of Education). The findings show that the prevalence among children 1,14 years of age was 28.4 per 10,000 (95% confidence interval: 26.1,30.8) in Manitoba and 35.2 per 10,000 (95% confidence interval: 28.2,43.4) in PEI. In Manitoba, children of aboriginal identity with PDDs (8.3%) were significantly underrepresented compared with the general population of aboriginal children living off native reserves (15.6%). Sex ratio, sibling risk, and age at initial diagnosis were similar in the two provinces. These findings can serve as a baseline from which to monitor the prevalence of these conditions over time, providing valuable data for researchers, planners, and service providers. [source]

Clientelism and Social Funds: Evidence from Chávez's Misiones

LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007
Michael Penfold-Becerra
ABSTRACT The latest president in Latin America to adopt social funds on a large scale as an integral part of his government program has been Hugo Chávez Frías of Venezuela. Based on the literature on clientelism and social funds in Latin America, this article finds that Venezuela's latest experiments with social funds were influenced by political variables. It uses empirical data from the distribution of resources for some of the subnational misiones programs to show how, given increased levels of electoral competition and weak institutional constraints, the government used these funds clientelistically, even while distributing oil income to the very poor. Chávez's misiones served two very different purposes: to manipulate the political context and to distribute funds directly to the low-income population. [source]

Economic crisis and social policy reform in Korea

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 2 2001
Soonman Kwon
The economic crisis that broke out in Korea in December 1997 has had a chilling impact on social development in the country. Today unemployment is the highest that Korea has experienced in the past thirty years. This paper aims to examine the impact of the economic crisis on social development and the role of public policy to mitigate the problems caused by the crisis. The economic crisis has hit vulnerable groups harder, increased the proportion of part-time and daily workers, and reversed the trend of steady improvement of income distribution. The economic crisis along with the trend of aging population, globalization, and competition calls for an expanded role of social policy, which the Korean government has neglected for a long time. The main targets of social policy reform in Korea include the expansion of government programs and safety nets for the unemployed and redesigning the national pension and health insurance scheme to provide adequate income security as well as to improve the system sustainability. [source]

Effects of government programs to raise milk prices: Academic economists and public policy

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005
Daniel A. Sumner
The Northeast Dairy Compact benefited milk suppliers (and allied input suppliers) and harmed those on the fluid milk demand side in the Compact region, while having opposite impacts on these groups outside the Compact region. These simulation results leave many questions unanswered, but seem relatively robust. Simulations require many assumptions, but so do all other approaches to policy analysis. The specific policy question addressed and available data determine the most promising approach. In some cases, as with the evaluating effects of the Compact, a variety of approaches to policy analysis are complementary. [EconLit citations: Q18, Q13, L10, L43]. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 21: 473,476, 2005. [source]

Economic statistics and U.S. agricultural policy

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2007
Bruce Gardner
agricultural policy; data collection and estimation; economic history of U.S. agriculture Abstract Economic statistics can be used to inform policy as it is being designed, avoid policy design mistakes, or implement government programs once they are established into law. Oftentimes, statistics are used for all three purposes. This article considers the relationships between statistics and agricultural policy in the case of the United States. We address first the broad historical picture of U.S. official economic statistics concerning agriculture, and then turn to selected examples that relate policies to economic statistics in more detail. The examples show diversity in the interplay between statistics and policy. Over time, policymakers have asked for more detailed information about the financial situation of individual farm businesses and households, sources of risk in farm returns, and production practices that affect the environment. [source]

Determinants of economic well-being among U.S. farm operator households

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2007
Hisham S. El-Osta
Farm households; Composite measure of economic well-being; ARMS data Abstract Participation in government programs has a mild impact on the economic well-being of U.S. farm households. Major factors that determine farm household prosperity are the primary operator's education level and ethnicity, education level of the spouse, and other characteristics such as forward purchasing of inputs, use of contract shipping of products, having a succession plan, farm ownership, and location in a metro area. This article uses the 2001 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) as well as relative and an absolute measure to assess U.S. farm households' economic well-being. The relative measure compares the income and wealth position of farm households relative to median income and median wealth of the general population. The absolute measure adds annualized wealth to a farm household's income. [source]

Accountability measures in workforce training

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 128 2005
Kent A. Phillippe
Accountability and reporting mechanisms go hand in hand with government programs that promote workforce development. This chapter describes current practice in the United States and suggests how institutional researchers can help improve the process of documenting outcomes. [source]

Moving ahead or falling behind?

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 3 2006
Volunteer promotion, data collection
Substantial efforts have been expended to promote civic engagement during the 1990s and early 2000s. Yet as significant as volunteerism is economically, socially, and philosophically to the United States, surprisingly little in the way of longitudinal research has been carried out to assess the impact of these promotional activities. Few areas of civic engagement offer reliable trend data. We examine the available data in three areas: individual volunteering, volunteering to stipended government programs, and employee volunteering. We find modest but steady increases in volunteer numbers in all three areas, but point out numerous methodological problems that limit the reliability of present longitudinal data. We conclude by calling for a renewed financial investment in national volunteering surveys with a broader focus than current efforts. [source]

Reform in Lieu of Change: Tastes Great, Less Filling

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2006
Jonathan Koppell
In this response to Light, Koppell argues that the increasing frequency of reform may reflect Congress's inability to make significant changes to the substance of entrenched government programs. Moreover, he observes that the more profound evolution in government has been the movement toward market-based provision of services, which has created demand for new competencies in the public sector. [source]