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Policy Proposals (policy + proposal)
Selected AbstractsFEDERAL RESERVE TRANSCRIPT PUBLICATION AND REGIONAL REPRESENTATIONCONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 2 2010ELLEN E. MEADE This article looks at disagreement within the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee, the Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC, following a change in transparency practices taken in 1993 to publish verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings. Other literature has examined the effects of opening the FOMC's deliberations to public view and provided empirical evidence that the publication of transcripts made policymakers less willing to voice disagreement with the chairman's policy proposal. This article adds to that work by examining whether regional variables are important to the analysis and whether the transcription effects are robust to the inclusion of regional variables. The results indicate that transcription effects are indeed robust, regardless of the regional indicator used, and that larger Federal Reserve districts may be more likely to voice agreement with a given policy proposal. (JEL E42, E58, E65, F33) [source] Lessons from the Russian Meltdown: The Economics of Soft Legal ConstraintsINTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2002Enrico Perotti On 17 August 1998, Russia abandoned its exchange rate regime, defaulted on its domestic public debt and declared a moratorium on all private foreign liabilities, which was equivalent to an outright default. The depth and speed of the Russian meltdown shocked the international markets, and precipitated a period of serious financial instability. Important lessons on issues of bank supervision and international stability can be learned by understanding the roots of such a crisis. The visible reason of the crisis was an unsustainable fiscal deficit coupled with massive capital flight, but what were their underlying causes? We argue that the structure of individual incentives in a context of capture of state decisions by special interests, compounded by a rouble overvaluation driven by exceptional international support, helps to explain the build,up of non,payment, theft and capital flight that led to the crisis. We offer an explicit model of rational collective non,compliance, cash stripping and rational collective non,payment which led to the fiscal and banking crisis and, ultimately, to a complete meltdown. In our view, the banking sector was already insolvent prior to the crisis, and contributed directly and indirectly to it. We conclude with a radical policy proposal for a stable banking system for Russia, appropriate for its current capacity for legal and supervisory enforcement. It is based on a segmented, narrow banking sector, concentration in commercial banking and a cautious extension of deposit insurance. [source] PUBLIC PREFERENCES FOR REHABILITATION VERSUS INCARCERATION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS: EVIDENCE FROM A CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEY,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 4 2006DANIEL S. NAGIN Research Summary: Accurately gauging the public's support for alternative responses to juvenile offending is important, because policy makers often justify expenditures for punitive juvenile justice reforms on the basis of popular demand for tougher policies. In this study, we assess public support for both punitively and nonpunitively oriented juvenile justice policies by measuring respondents' willingness to pay for various policy proposals. We employ a methodology known as "contingent valuation" (CV) that permits the comparison of respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) for competing policy alternatives. Specifically, we compare CV-based estimates for the public's WTP for two distinctively different responses to serious juvenile crime: incarceration and rehabilitation. An additional focus of our analysis is an examination of the public's WTP for an early childhood prevention program. The analysis indicates that the public is at least as willing to pay for rehabilitation as punishment for juvenile offenders and that WTP for early childhood prevention is also substantial. Implications and future research directions are outlined. Policy Implications: The findings suggest that lawmakers should more actively consider policies grounded in rehabilitation, and, perhaps, be slower to advocate for punitive reforms in response to public concern over high-profile juvenile crimes. Additionally, our willingness to pay findings offer encouragement to lawmakers who are uncomfortable with the recent trend toward punitive juvenile justice policies and would like to initiate more moderate reforms. Such lawmakers may be reassured that the public response to such initiatives will not be hostile. Just as importantly, reforms that emphasize leniency and rehabilitation can be justified economically as welfare-enhancing expenditures of public funds. The evidence that the public values rehabilitation more than increased incarceration should be important information to cost-conscious legislators considering how to allocate public funds. Cost-conscious legislatures may become disenchanted with punitive juvenile justice policies on economic grounds and pursue policies that place greater emphasis on rehabilitation. They may be reassured, on the basis of our findings, that the public will support this move. [source] ,Clarity' Begins at Home: An Examination of the Conceptual Underpinnings of the IAASB's Clarity ProjectINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 3 2010Ian Dennis This paper examines the IAASB's policy proposals arising out of their review of the drafting conventions in auditing standards that has become known as the Clarity Project. The objectives of the Project and how they changed during its evolution are reviewed. One motivation for the Project was to ensure that auditing standards drafted by the IAASB are ,principles-based'. The failure to adequately consider the meaning of ,principles-based standards' was responsible for a lack of clear focus on what was wanted from the Project. This resulted in two main objectives for the Project. The first was a search for fundamental principles of auditing that was incompletely realized, officially abandoned and subsequently covertly pursued in the revisions made to ISA 200. The second was a desire to promulgate standards that were ,objectives-based' or ,principles-based'. Unfortunately, there was inadequate enquiry into the idea of an objective and the related idea of ,objectives-based' standards. The paper clarifies their nature. It examines the idea of a conceptual framework for auditing and the explanations of objectives and ,objectives-based' standards that emerged during the evolution of the Project. It considers the ideas objectives in ISAs, requirements and explanatory material in order to throw light on the nature of auditing standards that contain them. The question of whether an important distinction between ,requirements' and ,presumptive requirements' has been lost between the first and the second Exposure Draft is examined. This distinction can be explained and justified in terms of a distinction between different concepts of rules. It is suggested that the Clarity Project was a missed opportunity. The results are uncertain because there was a failure to undertake adequate conceptual enquiry into some of the concepts that directed its development. A start is made in rectifying this omission in the paper. [source] Exports and economic growth: The case of South Africa,JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2009Logan Rangasamy Abstract Economic policy has always accorded an important role to export production in the overall growth process in South Africa. Recent policy proposals once again reaffirm this commitment. This paper attempts to ascertain whether the emphasis on export production is justified. Using modern econometric techniques within a multivariate framework, the results show that there is uni-directional Granger-causality running from exports to economic growth in South Africa. In addition, the gross domestic product (GDP) accounting identity underestimates the contribution of exports to economic growth. Thus, deliberate policy measures that stimulate export production will greatly enhance the growth prospects for the South African economy. The results in this paper also indicate that more attention should be given to the promotion of non-primary exports. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] EXTERNALITIES AND PARTIAL TAX REFORM: DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO TAX ROAD FREIGHT (BUT NOT PASSENGER) TRANSPORT?,JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007Edward Calthrop ABSTRACT Externalities such as pollution and road congestion are jointly produced by the use of intermediate inputs by firms and the consumption of final goods by households. To cope with such externalities, policy proposals often suggest partial tax reforms. This paper uses a simple general equilibrium model to explore the effects of a reform of taxes on freight transport in a second-best setting. The theoretical model shows that the welfare effect of higher freight taxes is positive, unless passenger transport is severely under-taxed and the tax reform attracts substantially more passenger transport. Moreover, the optimal freight tax may be below or above marginal external cost. Budgetary neutral tax reform exercises with a numerical simulation model for the U.K. suggest that, under a wide variety of parameter values, higher freight transport taxes are indeed welfare increasing. The welfare gain of freight tax reform rises with the level of the passenger tax, but the optimal freight tax declines at higher taxes on passenger transport. Substantial net benefits of tax reform are obtained only under labor tax recycling of the revenues. [source] Corporate Capitalism and the Common Good: A Framework for Addressing the Challenges of a Global EconomyJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 1 2002Thomas W. Ogletree This article ventures a framework for assessing the contributions capitalism might make to the common good. Capitalism has manifest strengths,efficiency, growth, support for human freedoms, encouragement for collaboration among nations that are not natural allies. Processes that generate these goods have negative consequences as well,the exploitation of labor, environmental harm, the marginalization of the "least advantaged," the reduction of politics to strategies for advancing special interests. To constrain the negative consequences, public oversight is necessary. The challenge is to devise policies that will limit the harms while protecting conditions that enable free markets to flourish. The paper concludes with an illustrative sketch of policy proposals that exemplify this goal. [source] Ethische Konflikte im GesundheitswesenPERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue 2006Hartmut Kliemt Several policy proposals for achieving the aim of supporting the rule of law by minimal means of public health care provision are explored. A system of assigning limited amounts of guaranteed health care that are provided in competitive processes below market clearing prices is suggested. We are seeking for minimum public health care under the constraint of maintaining the legal order rather than solving a maximization problem. [source] The Varieties of Faith-Related AgenciesPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 6 2001Steven Rathgeb Smith Although some recent literature suggests religious social service agencies can help governments reach important social program goals, the true social organization and services of the agencies remain in dispute. This article interviews officials in the wide class of "faith-related" agencies in two cities to consider two aspects of this issue: the ties or "coupling" of agencies to faith, and the impact of coupling on agency structure and service programming. The results suggest that many sampled agencies are loosely tied to faith in terms of resources, more tightly coupled in terms of authority, and moderately coupled with respect to culture; that certain aspects of service-delivery technology are heavily secularized in many agencies; that faith is more influential in such matters as the agencies' choices of services; and that the larger, potentially more secularized agencies that might be least likely to be characterized as faith based balance differing sets of resources and thereby can more fully deliver services that arguably express faith in action. Given this finding and that most agencies profess a focus on protecting the dignity and rights of clients rather than on individual responsibility or other themes that are stressed by some recent policy proposals, governments need to be extremely selective in funding agencies to promote those proposals' themes. [source] The Pensions Green Paper: A Generational Accounting PerspectiveTHE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 467 2000Phil Agulnik In this note we show how the policy proposals contained in the government's Green Paper on pensions (DSS, 1998) affect the long term sustainability of the UK's public finances and redistribution between current and future generations. Using the methodology of generational accounting we show that the proposals in the Green Paper will marginally increase the tax rise needed to ensure intertemporal solvency, and slightly worsen generational imbalances. The effect of implied changes in National Insurance Contributions, and the fiscal and generational implications of fully funding the proposed State Second Pension, are also discussed. [source] A Model Under Siege: A Case Study of the German Retirement Insurance SystemTHE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 461 2000Axel Borsch-Supan This study evaluates the positive and negative features of the German public pension system and discusses three reasons for its increasing perceived and real difficulties: maturation, negative incentive effects, and the problems of demographic change. The German system in its current form may be able to limp through the coming decades but will cease to be the exemplary Bismarckian machine that has created generous retirement incomes at reasonable tax rates. Current policy proposals are insufficient and a few but incisive design changes and some degree of prefunding could rescue the many positive aspects of the German retirement insurance system. [source] Hospital-Physician Collaboration: Landscape of Economic Integration and Impact on Clinical IntegrationTHE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2008LAWTON ROBERT BURNS Context: Hospital-physician relationships (HPRs) are an important area of academic research, given their impact on hospitals' financial success. HPRs also are at the center of several federal policy proposals such as gain sharing, bundled payments, and pay-for-performance (P4P). Methods: This article analyzes the HPRs that focus on the economic integration of hospitals and physicians and the goals that HPRs are designed to achieve. It then reviews the literature on the impact of HPRs on cost, quality, and clinical integration. Findings: The goals of the two parties in HPRs overlap only partly, and their primary aim is not reducing cost or improving quality. The evidence base for the impact of many models of economic integration is either weak or nonexistent, with only a few models of economic integration having robust effects. The relationship between economic and clinical integration also is weak and inconsistent. There are several possible reasons for this weak linkage and many barriers to further integration between hospitals and physicians. Conclusions: Successful HPRs may require better financial conditions for physicians, internal changes to clinical operations, application of behavioral skills to the management of HPRs, changes in how providers are paid, and systemic changes encompassing several types of integration simultaneously. [source] Inside the Sausage Factory: Improving Estimates of the Effects of Health Insurance Expansion ProposalsTHE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2002Sherry Glied Many policy proposals address the lack of insurance coverage, with the most commonly discussed being tax credits to individuals, expansions of existing public programs, subsidies for employers to offer coverage to their workers, and mandates for employers and individuals. Although some policy options may be favored (or disfavored) on theoretical or ideological grounds, many debates about policy center on empirical questions: How much will this option cost? How many people will obtain insurance coverage? Estimates of costs and consequences influence policy in three ways. First, the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Treasury Department, and other government agencies incorporate estimates of the costs of proposals in their budget calculations. Particularly in times of fiscal restraint, the cost of a proposal is central to its legislative prospects. Second, recognizing the importance of final budget numbers, policy advocates include estimates in their advocacy. The fate of a proposal to expand health insurance is influenced by predictions of the proposal's effects on the number of newly insured and the cost of new coverage. Estimates vary widely, for reasons that are often hard to discern and evaluate. This article describes and compares the frameworks and parameters used for insurance modeling. It examines conventions and controversies surrounding a series of modeling parameters: how individuals respond to a change in the price of coverage, the extent of participation in a new plan by those already privately insured, firms' behavior, and the value of public versus private coverage. The article also suggests ways of making models more transparent and proposes "reference case" guidelines for modelers so that consumers can compare modeling results. [source] File-sharing, Filtering and the Spectre of the Automated CensorTHE POLITICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2008MONICA HORTEN The European Parliament's Bono report is an example of how politicians can speak up for the interests of citizens against those of multi-national corporations. The report concerned the economic status of the cultural industries in Europe, but it has become known for one amendment, protecting citizens' rights on the Internet. The issue at stake is open access to the Internet, versus alleged copyright infringement through online file sharing. As the UK sets out its own policy proposals for copyright and the Internet, the Bono amendment invites us to consider the wider agenda for copyright enforcement, content filtering and the potential for industrial censorship. [source] Transplantation Risks and the Real World: What Does ,High Risk' Really Mean?AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 1 2009R. B. Freeman Candidates for, and recipients of, transplants face numerous risks that receive varying degrees of attention from the media and transplant professionals. Characterizations such as ,high risk donor' are not necessarily accurate or informative unless they are discussed in context with the other risks patients face before and after transplantation. Moreover, such labels do not provide accurate information for informed consent discussions or decision making. Recent cases of donor-transmitted diseases from donors labeled as being at ,high risk' have engendered concern, new policy proposals and attempts to employ additional testing of donors. The publicity and policy reactions to these cases do not necessarily better inform transplant candidates and recipients about these risks. Using comparative risk analysis, we compare the various risks associated with waiting on the list, accepting donors with various risk characteristics, posttransplant survival and everyday risks we all face in modern life to provide some quantitative perspective on what ,high risk' really means for transplant patients. In our analysis, donor-transmitted disease risks are orders of magnitude less than other transplantation risks and similar to many everyday occupational and recreational risks people readily and willingly accept. These comparisons can be helpful for informing patients and guiding future policy development. [source] Dryland salinity: economic, scientific, social and policy dimensionsAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2001David J. Pannell A broad range of information relevant to salinity is reviewed in order to critically evaluate existing and prospective policy responses. The review includes issues of hydrogeology, farmer perceptions and preferences, farm-level economics of salinity management practices, spill-over benefits and costs from salinity management, and politics. The technical challenge of preventing salinity is far greater than previously recognised. The farm-level economics of currently available management practices for salinity prevention are adverse in many situations. Off-site benefits from on-farm practices are often small and long delayed. Past national salinity policies have been seriously flawed. While current policy proposals include positive elements, they have not sufficiently escaped from the past. [source] Leading from Below: How Sub-National Governments Influence Policy AgendasAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2009J.N. Keddie This article takes a state's eye view of trends towards a more centralised system of governance in Australia. It argues that while globalisation strengthens the roles of national governments it also provides less noticed public policy and management opportunities for sub-national governments. The article shows how state governments in Australia can use high-level policy proposals to reinforce their continuing relevance as key members of a federal system of government. It proposes that skilful deployment of policy ideas and analyses can enable the states to sustain alternative national agendas despite hostility or lack of interest by the federal government. In conclusion, the article examines the implications for federal-state relations under the Rudd government. It suggests that the elements for productive reform agendas are present but that bringing them together will require considerable effort. [source] Watchful waiting in prostate cancer: review and policy proposalsBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 8 2003F.H. Schröder First page of article [source] | ||||||||||||||||