Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Public Benefits (public + benefit)
Selected AbstractsPrivate Property and Public Benefit: Habitat Conservation Planning for Endangered SpeciesCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Gregory A. Thomas No abstract is available for this article. [source] Nonprofit organizations and pharmaceutical research and developmentDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 7 2009Walter H. Moos Abstract Not-for-profit or nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are playing an increasingly important role in providing solutions to the significant challenges faced by both large pharmaceutical and smaller biotechnology companies in today's world. NPOs chartered for the public benefit are common in the United States and in selected other parts of the world. The largest NPOs in the U.S. with bioscience programs include Battelle, the Midwest Research Institute, the Research Triangle Institute, Southern Research, and SRI International. To provide a perspective on NPO business models, 10 SRI case studies spanning a broad range of technical and business initiatives are summarized herein, including basic and contract research, discovery of new drugs and biologics, pharmaceutical and biotech R&D services, technology pivots, company spin-ins and spin-outs, and the creation of new NPOs. The article concludes with lessons learned and food for thought for both pharmaceutical companies and outsourcing participants. Drug Dev Res 70: 461,471, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A general model of the public goods dilemmaJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2010S. A. Frank Abstract An individually costly act that benefits all group members is a public good. Natural selection favours individual contribution to public goods only when some benefit to the individual offsets the cost of contribution. Problems of sex ratio, parasite virulence, microbial metabolism, punishment of noncooperators, and nearly all aspects of sociality have been analysed as public goods shaped by kin and group selection. Here, I develop two general aspects of the public goods problem that have received relatively little attention. First, variation in individual resources favours selfish individuals to vary their allocation to public goods. Those individuals better endowed contribute their excess resources to public benefit, whereas those individuals with fewer resources contribute less to the public good. Thus, purely selfish behaviour causes individuals to stratify into upper classes that contribute greatly to public benefit and social cohesion and to lower classes that contribute little to the public good. Second, if group success absolutely requires production of the public good, then the pressure favouring production is relatively high. By contrast, if group success depends weakly on the public good, then the pressure favouring production is relatively weak. Stated in this way, it is obvious that the role of baseline success is important. However, discussions of public goods problems sometimes fail to emphasize this point sufficiently. The models here suggest simple tests for the roles of resource variation and baseline success. Given the widespread importance of public goods, better models and tests would greatly deepen our understanding of many processes in biology and sociality. [source] THE CHARITY COMMISSION , POLITICISED AND POLITICISINGECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2010Stanley Brodie Charities have always had to show that they provide a ,public benefit', the meaning of which has been developed by case law. The Charity Commission, a body created by the last government, has provided guidance on the meaning of ,public benefit' which is at odds with the meaning developed in case law , and therefore in conflict with the statute under which the guidance was ostensibly provided. The Charity Commission has also allowed charities to engage in political campaigning, an activity which the House of Lords has held no charity can lawfully pursue without losing its charitable status. The Charity Commission and its guidance should be scrapped. Professionally qualified and independent Charity Commissioners should be appointed. [source] Project Appraisal and Capital Investment Decision Making in the Scottish Water IndustryFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2000Paul Coleshill Restructuring the Scottish water industry has changed the way in which both project appraisal and capital investment decisions are performed. This article examines the project appraisal and subsequent capital investment decision in the case of a reed bed sewage treatment scheme which is compared with a more traditional scheme. Although the capital profiles of the schemes are similar there are major differences in the revenue costs. In addition, there are potential public benefits to the reed bed scheme. A comparison is made of management mechanisms in the pre-1996 water industry with that of restructured water authorities. In the pre-1996 water industry, local authorities had a broad remit which encouraged them to value these factors, in effect an implicit social account. The creation of water authorities with narrow remits and specific performance measures, constructed a framework that does not support the integration of social accounts into the decision making process. The paper demonstrates that investment appraisal is a product of the institutional framework in which the decisions are made. As that framework changes, mechanisms and measures of accountability shift in parallel. [source] The Effects of Child-Only Insurance Coverage and Family Coverage on Health Care Access and Use: Recent Findings among Low-Income Children in CaliforniaHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006Sylvia Guendelman Objective. To compare the extent with which child-only and family coverage (child and parent insured) ensure health care access and use for low income children in California and discuss the policy implications of extending the State Children's Health Insurance Program (California's Healthy Families) to uninsured parents of child enrollees. Data Sources/Setting. We used secondary data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a representative telephone survey. Study Design. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 5,521 public health insurance,eligible children and adolescents and their parents to examine the effects of insurance (family coverage, child-only coverage, and no coverage) on measures of health care access and utilization including emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Data Collection. We linked the CHIS adult, child, and adolescent datasets, including the adolescent insurance supplement. Findings. Among the sampled children, 13 percent were uninsured as were 22 percent of their parents. Children without insurance coverage were more likely than children with child-only coverage to lack a usual source of care and to have decreased use of health care. Children with child-only coverage fared worse than those with family coverage on almost every access indicator, but service utilization was comparable. Conclusions. While extending public benefits to parents of children eligible for Healthy Families may not improve child health care utilization beyond the gains that would be obtained by exclusively insuring the children, family coverage would likely improve access to a regular source of care and private sector providers, and reduce perceived discrimination and breaks in coverage. These advantages should be considered by states that are weighing the benefits of expanding health insurance to parents. [source] Mega-projects in New York, London and AmsterdamINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2008SUSAN S. FAINSTEIN Abstract Recently we have witnessed the mounting of very large development projects (mega-projects) in European and American cities. There is a striking physical similarity among the schemes and also a convergence embodied in private-sector involvement and market orientation. They differ, however, as to whether they provide affordable units and tie together physical and social goals. This article investigates new mega-projects in New York, London, and Amsterdam. The dissimilarities among them indicate the extent of variability in contemporary property capitalism. The comparison shows that public-private partnerships can provide public benefits, but also shows that these large projects are risky for both public and private participants, must primarily be oriented toward profitability, and produce a landscape that does not encourage urbanity. Whether the gains from increased competitiveness are spread throughout the society depends on the size of the direct governmental commitment to public benefits. This is greatest in the Netherlands, where the welfare state, albeit shrunken, lives on; it is least in the United States, where the small size of national expenditures on housing and social welfare means that low-income people must depend almost wholly on trickle-down effects to gain from new development. Résumé Les très grands projets d'aménagement (mégaprojets) se multiplient dernièrement dans les villes d'Europe et d'Amérique. On est frappé par une similarité physique entre les programmes, mais aussi par une convergence observable dans l'implication du secteur privé et dans une orientation-marché. Ils diffèrent pourtant par leur capacité ou non à procurer des unités accessibles financièrement et à associer des objectifs physiques et sociaux. L'article étudie de nouveaux mégaprojets à New-York, Londres et Amsterdam. Les divergences entre eux indiquent l'étendue de la variabilité du capitalisme immobilier contemporain. La comparaison établit que les partenariats public-privé peuvent produire des bénéfices publics, et montre aussi que ces grands projets sont risqués pour les participants publics et privés, qu'ils doivent surtout rechercher la rentabilité et qu'ils génèrent un paysage peu favorable à l'urbanité. La répartition, sur toute la société, des gains tirés d'une compétitivité accrue dépend de l'ampleur de l'engagement direct des gouvernements à l'égard des bénéfices publics. Le cas le plus flagrant est celui des Pays-Bas, où l'État-providence subsiste, bien que diminué; le plus limité est celui des États-Unis, où la faible ampleur des dépenses nationales de logement et de protection sociale signifie que les populations à bas revenu dépendent presque totalement des effets de propagation pour bénéficier d'un nouvel aménagement. [source] Welfare, Work Requirements, and Dependant-CareJOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2004Elizabeth Anderson abstract This article considers the justice of requiring employment as a condition of receiving public assistance. While none of the main theories of justice prohibits work requirements, the arguments in their favour are weak. Arguments based on reciprocity fail to explain why only means-tested public benefits should be subject to work requirements, and why unpaid dependant care work should not count as satisfying citizens' obligations to reciprocate. Arguments based on promoting the work ethic misattribute recipients' nonwork to deviant values, when their core problem is finding steady employment consistent with supporting a family and meeting dependant care responsibilities. Rigid work requirements impose unreasonable costs on some of the poor. A welfare system based on a rebuttable presumption that recipients will work for pay, conjoined with more generous work supports, would promote justice better than either unconditional welfare or strict requirements [1]. [source] THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR OPTIMIZING VALUE-AT-RISK AND DAILY CAPITAL CHARGESJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 5 2009Michael McAleer Abstract Credit risk is the most important type of risk in terms of monetary value. Another key risk measure is market risk, which is concerned with stocks and bonds, and related financial derivatives, as well as exchange rates and interest rates. This paper is concerned with market risk management and monitoring under the Basel II Accord, and presents Ten Commandments for optimizing value-at-risk (VaR) and daily capital charges, based on choosing wisely from (1) conditional, stochastic and realized volatility; (2) symmetry, asymmetry and leverage; (3) dynamic correlations and dynamic covariances; (4) single index and portfolio models; (5) parametric, semi-parametric and non-parametric models; (6) estimation, simulation and calibration of parameters; (7) assumptions, regularity conditions and statistical properties; (8) accuracy in calculating moments and forecasts; (9) optimizing threshold violations and economic benefits; and (10) optimizing private and public benefits of risk management. For practical purposes, it is found that the Basel II Accord would seem to encourage excessive risk taking at the expense of providing accurate measures and forecasts of risk and VaR. [source] Leading by Example and International Collective ActionJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 1 2005ANDRÉ ROSSI DE OLIVEIRA This paper investigates leading by example as a policy prescription for international collective action to provide summation public goods. A country leads by example by committing to a minimal level of provision, and by matching higher contributions there beyond. In an evolutionary game-theoretic setting, we establish conditions for leading by example to be a neutrally stable strategy; i.e., to noncooperatively implement the cooperative outcome. These conditions are related to the degree of concavity of the contributors' utility functions and the incentives for free riding. They can be tested against empirical estimates of the public benefits of an international regime. [source] Providing Interdisciplinary Services to At-Risk Families to Prevent the Placement of Children In Foster CareJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Deborah J. Weimer ABSTRACT Grandparents need support to take on the responsibility of children whose parents cannot care for them due to drug addiction, mental health issues, HIV illness, or other health problems. Without support and assistance, these families and children are likely to end up enmeshed in the already overburdened child abuse and neglect system. The University of Maryland has created a model program providing social work and legal services to at-risk grandparent families to help avoid the unnecessary placement of these children in foster care. In this new program, student attorneys and student social workers worked with the grandparent client to help stabilize the family, providing representation or advice on housing, public benefits, custody, and school-related issues. Joint education of student attorneys and student social workers in a clinical experience enhances their understanding of their roles and those of the other profession and prepares them for a more thoughtful and informed approach to family law, child welfare cases, and at-risk children. [source] Wild mammals and the human food chainMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2-3 2008PIRAN C. L. WHITE ABSTRACT 1Wild mammals have a long history of association with the human food chain, with some being the source for domesticated animals and others being considered traditionally as game species. Wild mammals are of negligible importance in terms of overall energy flows in agricultural ecosystems in Britain, but some wild mammals can have detrimental effects on the human food chain through predation, competition and disease transmission. 2Understanding these ecological processes at the level of populations and individuals can assist with devising appropriate management strategies to reduce human,wildlife conflict over limited resources. There remains a dearth of reliable information on the economic impacts of wild mammals on human food production, although the available quantified evidence suggests that the impacts are generally minor and localized, and are far outweighed by the wider public benefits associated with wild mammals. 3Greater public awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues, together with changes to rural communities resulting from human population movements, are changing the social landscape of interactions between people and wild mammals in the British countryside, and leading to an increase in more ambivalent attitudes towards wild mammals than has typically been the case in the past. 4Reform of agricultural policy is placing greater emphasis on the management of the land for biodiversity and environmental protection. While the benefits deriving from many previous agri-environment schemes have been mixed, there is increasing evidence that an emphasis on targeted and coordinated management at the landscape scale can enhance success. This type of approach is essential if some of the major threats facing declining wild mammal populations, such as population fragmentation, are to be overcome. 5There is an increasing divergence between regulation of agricultural ecosystems for food production and disease minimization and regulation of the land for biodiversity production via agri-environment schemes. The resolution of these tensions at the policy level will have major implications for future interactions between wild mammals and the human food chain. [source] Public Values for River Restoration Options on the Middle Rio GrandeRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Matthew A. Weber Abstract River restoration is a widespread phenomenon. This reflects strong public values for conservation, though missing are studies explicitly justifying restoration expenditures. Public restoration benefits are not well quantified, nor are public preferences among diverse activities falling into the broad category "restoration." Our study estimates public values for restoration on the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico. Stakeholder meetings and public focus groups guided development of a restoration survey mailed to Albuquerque area households. Four restoration categories were defined: fish and wildlife; vegetation density; tree type; and natural river processes. Survey responses supplied data for both choice experiment (CE) and contingent valuation (CV) analyses, two established environmental economics techniques for quantifying public benefits of conservation policies. Full restoration benefits are estimated at over $150 per household per year via the CE and at nearly $50 per household per year via CV. The CE allows value disaggregation among different restoration categories. The most highly valued category was tree type, meaning reestablishing native tree dominance for such species as Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and eradicating non-native trees such as Saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissma). The high public values we have found for restoration offer economic justification for intensive riparian management, particularly native plant-based restoration in the Southwest. [source] Does Plant Variety Protection Contribute to Crop Productivity?THE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 2 2009Lessons for Developing Countries from US Wheat Breeding The application of intellectual property rights (IP) in developing countries is and remains highly controversial, particularly as regards applications to food/agriculture, and pharmaceuticals, which have direct ramifications for large numbers of peoples. One dimension complicating a reasoned dialogue on the public benefits of IP, particularly when many developing countries are implementing the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as mandated by membership in the World Trade Organization, is a dearth of information on their actual operation and effects. In this study, we address one particular aspect of the limited documentation on the effects of IP systems, the effect of plant variety protection (PVP) on the genetic productivity potential of varieties. Specifically, we examine wheat varieties in Washington State, United States, which are produced by both public and private sector breeders. Results from the study show that implementation of PVP attracted private investment in open pollinated crops such as wheat in the United States and provided greater numbers of varieties of these crops, which are high yielding from both the public and private sectors. These results may provide some insights for policy makers from developing countries on the effects of IP for plants as their TRIPS commitments are being implemented. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||