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Administrative Burden (administrative + burden)
Selected AbstractsEMPLOYMENT TAXES: WHERE ARE WE GOING?ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2003John Whiting Employment taxes have become more complicated over time, and too much of an administrative burden is now placed on employers, especially smaller ones. Combining PAYE and NIC has the potential for big simplification of the system. My basic thesis is that circumstances have changed dramatically, and so must the system, because all is not well in the employment taxes area. [source] The 35-hour workweek in France: Straightjacket or welfare improvement?ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 55 2008Marcello Estevão SUMMARY The 35-hour week Workweek reduction laws may be beneficial if market interactions do not fully take into account the preferences reflected in declining secular trends in working hours. The most recent law in France shortened the workweek from 39 to 35 hours in 2000 for large firms, and in 2002 for small firms. Analysing differences between large and small firm employees before and after the law, we find that aggregate employment was unaffected but labour turnover increased, as firms shed workers who became more expensive. Survey responses indicate that the welfare impact of the law was different across groups of workers: women but not men may have benefited from coordination to a shorter workweek, and there is also evidence of negative welfare effects for managers, possibly due to the law's administrative burden. ,Marcello Estevão and Filipa Sá [source] Capital quality improvement and the sources of economic growth in the euro areaECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 42 2005Plutarchos Sakellaris SUMMARY Capital quality improvement and Euroland growth Sources of growth Europe's growth slowed in the 1990s, reinforcing the overall impression of a need to catch up with the US regarding standards of living. In reaction, EU leaders adopted the famous Lisbon Agenda in 2000. The Agenda is now under review, the aim being to determine why progress on its pro-growth goals has been unsatisfactory and what can be done about it. The first crucial step in this process is to understand the true sources of the European growth slowdown. Sources-of-growth calculations have always been imprecise, but evidence from the US suggests that ,quality upgrading', especially in capital goods , has substantially worsened the precision problem since the 1990s. Unfortunately, quality adjusted sources-of-growth calculations, however, have not performed satisfactorily for Europe, so Europe's leaders are working with potentially misleading accounts of Europe's growth slowdown. Redressing this omission is the goal of this paper. Failure to account properly for capital quality improvements leads to two mistakes. First, overall GDP is underestimated. Our calculations, for example, show that euro area GDP growth was underestimated on average by 0.7 percentage points annually in the late 1990s. However, similar quality-adjustment figures raise US growth figures in the same period by even more, so quality-adjusting suggests that the US,EU growth gap was even more pronounced than previously believed. Secondly, the sources-of-growth calculations used to prioritize Europe's pro-growth policies are skewed. Our calculations show that the contribution of the slowdown in disembodied technical progress to the overall slowdown is more pronounced after quality adjustment. Our findings point to the need for adoption of microeconomic measures aimed at enhancing overall efficiency and boosting innovation activity. Such measures would aim at a better business environment, e.g. by easing regulatory and administrative burden and liberalizing energy and telecommunications markets. , Plutarchos Sakellaris and Focco Vijselaar [source] After the Health Check What is the Future for the Common Agricultural Policy?EUROCHOICES, Issue 1 2009Nach dem Gesundheitscheck: Wie geht es weiter mit der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik? Summary After the Health Check What is the Future for the Common Agricultural Policy? The CAP has now completed another stage in its development. The Health Check negotiating marathon has ended. The Czech Republic has been against unequal conditions for member states as these deform fair competition and the common market. Progressive modulation in the originally proposed form would have created barriers to a unified Europe, thus going against the motto of the Czech presidency ,Europe without Barriers'. The Czech Republic can certainly be satisfied with the essence of the compromise. The cancellation of the milk quota in 2015 is a liberalising measure, and as such we support it. The Health Check opens the door to the Czech presidency for a discussion on the elimination of unfair differences in direct payments between member states and we will definitely take up the opportunity. After 2013 the CAP will have to take much greater account of the situation following the unprecedented expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2006. For the Czech Republic, a further reinforcing of freedom in decision making for farmers and their focus on the specific needs of the local, community and global market is fundamental. Further simplification of the CAP and ,better regulation', focussing on a reduction in the administrative burden on farmers, is one of the priority challenges. La PAC a maintenant atteint un autre stade de son développement. Le marathon de négociation du bilan de santé a abouti. La République tchèque s'est opposée aux conditions inégales proposées aux pays membres car elles faussent la concurrence équitable et le marché commun. La modulation progressive sous sa forme initiale aurait créé des barrières dans une Europe unifiée, ce qui va à l'encontre de la devise de la présidence tchèque "Une Europe sans barrières". La République tchèque peut certainement être satisfaite de l'essence du compromis. La suppression du système des quotas laitiers en 2015 est une mesure de libéralisation et nous la soutenons en tant que telle. Le bilan de santé ouvre la porte à la présidence tchèque pour une discussion sur l'élimination des différences injustes entre paiements directs selon le pays membre et nous profiterons bien entendu de l'occasion. Après 2013, la PAC devra prendre davantage en compte la situation créée par l'élargissement sans précédent de l'UE entre 2004 et 2006. Pour la République tchèque, il est fondamental de renforcer encore la liberté qu'ont les agriculteurs pour prendre leurs décisions et de s'orienter vers les besoins spécifiques du marché local, communautaire et mondial. Un des défis prioritaires est de continuer à simplifier la PAC et d'améliorer la réglementation en s'orientant vers une réduction de la charge administrative qui pèse sur les agriculteurs. Eine weitere Phase in der Entwicklung der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik ist nun abgeschlossen. Der Verhandlungsmarathon hinsichtlich des Gesundheitschecks ist vorbei. Die Tschechische Republik war dagegen, dass für die Mitgliedsstaaten unterschiedliche Bedingungen gelten sollen, da diese den fairen Wettbewerb und den gemeinsamen Markt verzerren. Eine progressive Modulation in der ursprünglich vorgeschlagenen Form hätte einem einheitlichen Europa Steine in den Weg gelegt und somit dem Motto "Europa ohne Grenzen" der tschechischen Präsidentschaft widersprochen. Die Tschechische Republik hat zweifellos mit dem Kompromiss ein im Wesentlichen zufriedenstellendes Ergebnis erzielt. Die Abschaffung der Milchquote bis 2015 ist eine Maßnahme zur Liberalisierung, und als solche findet sie unsere Unterstützung. Der Gesundheitscheck eröffnet der tschechischen Präsidentschaft die Diskussion über die Beseitigung unterschiedlich hoher , und somit ungerechter , Direktzahlungen an die Mitgliedsstaaten. Diese Gelegenheit werden wir uns nicht entgehen lassen. Nach 2013 wird sich die GAP sehr viel mehr mit der Situation beschäftigen müssen, die sich aus der beispiellosen EU-Erweiterung aus den Jahren 2004 und 2006 ergibt. Für die Tschechische Republik ist es von grundlegender Bedeutung, die Entscheidungsfreiheit für Landwirte und deren Orientierung an den lokalen, regionalen und globalen Märkten fortwährend zu stärken. Die weitere Vereinfachung der GAP und eine "bessere Regulierung", die den Verwaltungsaufwand für Landwirte verringern soll, gehören zu den vorrangigen Zielen. [source] The Organic Brain Syndrome (OBS) scale: a systematic reviewINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2006Karin Björkman Björkelund Abstract Background/Objective The Organic Brain Syndrome (OBS) Scale was developed to determine elderly patients' disturbances of awareness and orientation as to time, place and own identity, and assessment of various emotional and behavioural symptoms appearing in delirium, dementia and other organic mental diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the OBS Scale, using the eight criteria and guidelines formulated by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Medical Outcomes Trust (SAC), and to investigate its relevance and suitability for use in various clinical settings. Method Systematic search and analysis of papers (30) on the OBS Scale were carried out using the criteria suggested by the SAC. Results The OBS Scale in many aspects satisfies the requirements suggested by the SAC: conceptual and measurement model, reliability, validity, responsiveness, interpretability, respondent and administrative burden, alternative forms of administration, and cultural and language adaptations, but there is a need for additional evaluation, especially with regard to different forms of reliability, and the translation and adaptation to other languages. Conclusions The OBS Scale is a sensitive scale which is clinically useful for the description and long-term follow-up of patients showing symptoms of acute confusional state and dementia. Although the OBS Scale has been used in several clinical studies there is need for further evaluation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Efficient and Practical Approaches to Ground-Water Right Transfers Under the Prior Appropriation Doctrine and the Snake River Example,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 1 2008Gary S. Johnson Abstract:, Water right transfers are one of the basic means of implementing changes in water use in the highly appropriated water resource systems of the western United States. Many of these systems are governed by the Prior Appropriation Doctrine, which was not originally intended for application to ground-water pumping and the conjunctive management of ground water and surface water, and thus creates an administrative challenge. That challenge results from the fact that ground-water pumping can affect all interconnected surface-water bodies and the effects may be immeasurably small relative to surface water discharge and greatly attenuated in time. Although we may have the ability to calculate the effects of ground-water pumping and transfers of pumping location on surface-water bodies, mitigating for all the impacts of each individual transfer is sufficiently inefficient that it impedes the transfer process, frustrates water users, and consequently inhibits economic development. A more holistic approach to ground-water right transfers, such as a ground-water accounting or banking scheme, may adequately control transfer third-party effects while reducing mitigation requirements on individual transfers. Acceptance of an accounting scheme can accelerate the transfer process, and possibly reduce the administrative burden. [source] Reducing the Compliance Burden of Non-profit Organisations: Cutting Red TapeAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2009Myles McGregor-Lowndes Australian governments now rely on the non-profit sector to provide essential services. Yet, anecdotally, the compliance burden imposed by governments consumes scarce service delivery resources. This study quantifies the cost of government generated paperwork for Queensland non-profit organisations. Fourteen non-profits kept logs to record government paperwork over 12 months. The non-profits also provided their experiences of government paperwork and in particular grant submission and reporting processes. The study finds that government grant paperwork forms the bulk of a non-profits total paperwork burden with grant submissions being the most costly to complete. Costs are clearly regressive with small non-profits bearing a significantly higher burden. Governments need to lead the way and empower the non-profit sector by reducing this administrative burden and releasing the funds for direct service provision. [source] Government administrative burdens on SMEs in East Africa: reviewing issues and actionsECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2001Fiona Macculloch The important macroeconomic reforms achieved in East African economies (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) during the late 1980s and early 1990s have failed to deliver the magnitude of private sector growth and increased employment expected. Governments in the region have begun to recognize that lower-level policies and administrative procedures impose significant constraints on private sector development, stemming primarily from the command and control bureaucracies that characterised colonial governance. There are three priority areas for administrative reform: business licensing and registration, tax and customs procedures and specialised approvals. Also discussed are the problems of the special position of the informal sector, the impact of corruption and access to commercial justice. [source] | ||||||||||