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Public Intervention (public + intervention)
Selected AbstractsProximity Services in Belgium: An Analysis of Public and Nonprofit RelationsANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2001Francesca Petrella In this paper, we analyze the interaction between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and government with regard to the provision of proximity services. Given the characteristics of these services and the organizational features specific to each sector, we argue that the relationship between the public and the nonprofit sectors is necessary but rather complex. We illustrate our analysis with some empirical evidence collected by the CERISIS-UCL in 1996 for the city of Charleroi (Belgium). This survey shows that NPOs are the major producers of proximity services but are, on average, largely subsidized by government. Public intervention is also significant in the production of these services but is the most striking in their financing. These results evoke the existence of a multifaceted interaction between the public and nonprofit sectors, that we try to understand in this paper. Our analysis highlights that the tension between the current focus of public policies on job creation for the low-skilled unemployed and the service-based mission of most NPOs might generate inappropriate responses to the needs of the community. It also suggests that this conflict of objectives, given the current organization of proximity services, is likely to threaten the autonomy and originality of the nonprofit sector. [source] Public intervention, private aspiration: Gated communities and the condominisation of housing landscapes in SingaporeASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2009Choon-Piew Pow Abstract While the proliferation of gated communities worldwide has generated great interests and debates, the emergence of gated communities is by no means a ,global' urban phenomenon that displays uniform characteristics and genesis. Drawing on Singapore as a case study, this paper goes beyond the universalising and often polemical discourses on gated communities to provide a balanced account on how gated communities in the form of enclosed condominium estates are locally embedded in the city state where public housing dominates. As will be pointed out in the paper, gated communities in Singapore may be considered as a form of ,club good' that exists as part of the state's urban/national developmental agenda and are, arguably, less socially and spatially divisive than those depicted elsewhere. By teasing out the local specificities of gated communities, this paper underscores the need to read beyond the physical form of gated communities in order to understand the complex social and political production of housing landscapes. [source] Laissez-faire governance and the archetype laissez-faire city in the USA: exploring HoustonGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2003Igor Vojnovic This article explores the governance of Houston, the archetype laissez-faire city in the USA. The research examines the complexity of Houston's minimal government intervention rhetoric, which in practice involves extensive federal, state and local government involvement in economic development in combination with a disinterest in social service and income maintenance programmes. This governance strategy is outlined through an examination both of regional public policy and local public finances. The analysis illustrates that Houston's local governance has historically been based on a management approach that attempts actively to minimize costs for potential investors to locate in the City, through public intervention, while at the same time generating an unattractive urban environment for the socially marginalized , hence the disinterest in social services. Thus, despite the local laissez-faire rhetoric, government intervention in Houston's growth has been vital and has produced the extraordinary impacts usually expected from public involvement in local economic development. The foundations of this local governance strategy are both predicted and advocated by the public choice approach, a theoretical framework whose emphasis on inter-municipal competition advances management tactics based on maintaining low taxes and low expenditures on public welfare. The research also shows, however, that Houston is unique, when compared to other economically successful US cities, in following such an extreme approach of this management strategy. [source] The Changing Nexus: Tertiary Education Institutions, the Marketplace and the StateHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003Francis A. Steier This article examines the evolving relationship between the marketplace, the state and tertiary education institutions. The context of these relations has evolved strikingly in recent years, which have seen three major developments: growing system differentiation, changing governance patterns and diminished direct involvement of governments in the funding and provision of tertiary education. This article first describes the key dimensions of the rise of market forces in tertiary education throughout the world and the main implications of this phenomenon. It then articulates the rationale for continuing public intervention in the sector and, in conclusion, outlines the nature of an appropriate enabling framework for the further development of tertiary education. [source] Changing Patterns in Family Farming: The Case of the Pampa Region, ArgentinaJOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 3 2009CARLA GRAS In the past few decades, Argentine agriculture has been significantly reorganized. Changes include the marked growth of export production, the need for an increasing level of capital investment and technological incorporation into farms and the restructuring of public intervention. This paper examines the dynamics of farm exit and the adjustments made by capitalized family farmers in the Pampa region. We suggest transformations in family farms are the result of a substantial shift in their main characteristics which historically combined the use of family labour, a certain accumulation capacity and ownership status. In particular, we will discuss the different and changing patterns of farm operations and the adjustments made with respect to work and land tenure. [source] Price dynamics in the Bangladesh rice market: implications for public interventionAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2003Donna Brennan Commodity price stabilisation; Food policy Abstract In this paper, the price dynamics of a rice market are examined using dynamic programming techniques. The model is parameterised to the case of Bangladesh and thus represents the situation of a very poor country which has characteristically high price elasticity (due to income effects) and high storage and interest costs. The incentives for private sector storage and its impact on price stability are examined. Various options for public intervention in the storage sector are also explored, including price ceiling schemes and subsidisation of storage costs. Results show that interventions that remove private disincentives (such as storage subsidies) are much cheaper than direct intervention by government, but the impact on the probability distribution of prices is quite different. The effect of trade on the probability distribution of prices is also examined. [source] Financial Compensation for Victims of Catastrophes: A Law and Economics PerspectiveLAW & POLICY, Issue 3 2007MICHAEL G. FAURE This article examines the various approaches legislators may use to compensate victims of catastrophes. Traditional law and economics of insurance literature, with respect to government relief and insurance solutions towards financial compensation, is used to analyze (highly diverging) approaches in Europe and the United States. First, the importance of liability (insurance) is discussed in cases where a liable injurer can be identified; second, the possibilities of first-party insurance are examined, whereby various regulatory solutions (particularly the French model of providing mandatory coverage for catastrophes) is critically discussed. The (first-party) insurance solution is compared with public intervention, and a distinction is made between ad hoc government relief on an ex-post basis and structural compensation funds. The solutions applied and discussed in many countries are critically analyzed for their ability to provide adequate compensation at low costs and their effects on incentives for prevention and for developing private (insurance) solutions. [source] The Global Governance of Communicable Diseases: The Case for Vaccine R&DLAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2005DANIELE ARCHIBUGI Fighting communicable diseases such HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB, and malaria has become a global endeavor, with international health authorities urging the development of effective vaccines for the eradication of these global pandemics. Yet, despite the acknowledged urgency, and given the feasibility of effective vaccine development, public and private research efforts have failed to address a response adequate to the magnitude of the crisis. Members of the academic community suggest bridging this gap by devising research pull mechanisms capable of stimulating private investments, confident that competition-based market devices are more effective than public intervention in shaping scientific breakthroughs. With reference to the economics of innovation, the paper argues that, whilst such an approach would lead to a socially suboptimal production of knowledge, direct public intervention in vaccine R&D activities would represent a far more socially desirable policy option. In recognition of the current financial and political fatigue affecting the international community towards communicable disease control, the paper resorts to the theories of global public goods (GPGs) to provide governments, both in the North and in the South, with a powerful rationale for committing to a cooperative approach for vaccine R&D. The paper encourages the creation of a Global Health Research Fund to manage such exercise and proposes enshrining countries' commitments into an International Health Treaty. The paper ends by providing a number of policy recommendations. [source] Institutional competitiveness, social investment, and welfare regimesREGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2007Paul Bernard Abstract Are the rather generous welfare regimes found in most European countries sustainable; that is, are they competitive in a globalizing economy? Or will they, on the contrary, be crowded out by the more austere and less expensive regimes generally found in liberal Anglo-Saxon countries? We first discuss this issue conceptually, focusing on the notions of institutional competitiveness, social investment, and short-term and long-term productivity. We then briefly present the results of an empirical study of 50 social indicators of policies and outcomes in 20 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries during the early 2000s. We conclude that welfare regimes have not been forced to converge through a "race to the bottom." There remain three distinct ways to face the "trilemma" of job growth, income inequality, and fiscal restraint: Nordic countries achieve high labor market participation through high social investment; Anglo-Saxon countries attain the same objective through minimal public intervention; while Continental European countries experience fiscal pressures because their social protection schemes are not promoting participation to the same extent. [source] MERGERS UNDER UNCERTAINTY: THE EFFECTS OF DEBT FINANCING,THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 5 2007M. PILAR SOCORRO In this paper, we consider a Cournot oligopoly with demand uncertainty, fixed costs and constant marginal costs. The demand uncertainty makes some mergers that would be unprofitable in a certain environment profitable in this model. However, socially advantageous mergers may be still unprofitable for the colluding firms, so public intervention may be needed. One possibility consists in subsidizing such mergers. However, the combination of limited liability debt financing and an appropriate antitrust policy leads to higher social welfare than subsidies. The reason is that, given the limited liability effect, merging parties compete more aggressively, so the reduction in market quantity is mitigated. [source] Risk and Crisis Management in the Reformed European Agricultural PolicyCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2007Carlo Cafiero Currently there is ample discussion among EU Institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, and Member States' governments) on the opportunity for setting up a comprehensive EU-wide framework on risk and crises in agriculture. In the meantime, within the limits of the WTO rules on agriculture, national governments are allowed to intervene through direct compensation to farmers in case of exceptional events that cause damages to farming operations and through subsidies to crop insurance programs. Such schemes are quite expensive for domestic budgets and some Member States are trying to switch some of their cost to the Community's budget, although an expansion of financial resources devoted to agriculture in Europe is rather unlikely. Moving from the recently emanated proposal of the European Commission, this paper discusses the main issues related to public intervention for risk and crises management in agriculture. Actuellement, les institutions européennes (Commission européenne, Parlement européen et gouvernements des pays membres) discutent intensément de l'opportunité d'élaborer un cadre général pour l'ensemble de l'Union européenne sur les crises et les risques dans le secteur agricole. Entre-temps, selon les règles de l'OMC sur l'agriculture, les gouvernements nationaux peuvent intervenir en accordant des compensations financières directes aux agriculteurs en cas de circonstances exceptionnelles causant des dommages aux exploitations agricoles ainsi que des subventions aux programmes d'assurance récolte. Ces interventions amputent considérablement les budgets nationaux, et certains pays membres tentent de transférer une partie de leurs coûts au budget de l'Union européenne, bien qu'il soit peu probable que les ressources financières consacrées à l'agriculture en Europe augmentent. A la lumière de la récente proposition de la Commission européenne, le présent article traite des principaux thèmes liés à l'intervention publique dans la gestion des risques et des crises dans le secteur agricole. [source] Strengthening Public Safety Nets from the Bottom UpDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 5 2002Jonathan Morduch Helping to reduce vulnerability poses a new set of challenges for public policy. A starting point is understanding the ways in which communities and extended families try to cope with difficulties in the absence of public interventions. Coping mechanisms range from the informal exchange of transfers and loans to more structured institutions that enable an entire community to provide protection to its neediest members. This article describes ways of building public safety nets to complement and extend informal and private institutions. The most effective policies will combine transfer systems that are sensitive to existing mechanisms with new institutions for providing insurance and credit and for generating savings. [source] Directions in Rural Development Policy , Lessons from Both Sides of the Atlantic Richtlinien für die ländliche Entwicklungspolitik , Beispiele von diesseits und jenseits des Atlantiks Les orientations de la politique de développement rural , Enseignements en provenance des deux côtés de l'AtlantiqueEUROCHOICES, Issue 1 2008David Blandford Directions in Rural Development Policy , Lessons from Both Sides of the Atlantic A workshop comparing rural development policies in Europe and the US found differences in the social values that shape them. These include different attachments to place, concerns with lagging regions, and interests in the assessment of public interventions. There is also a difference in coverage. In the EU environmental and landscape issues form part of the CAP's Rural Development Pillar, using agriculture as an instrument, whereas in the US these are handled by other policies, some of which can claim deeper historical roots. In the context of rural development policy, the EU attaches intrinsic value to the environment, while in the US the focus is more on economic spin-offs from environmental quality. There are also differences in governance; a complete US view requires taking in Federal, State and local initiatives whereas in the EU a more organised framework is apparent. Nevertheless, when policy is viewed from a bottom-up perspective many common features are found. Improving human and social capital and infrastructure are key factors to stimulating economic development on both sides of the Atlantic, though only some of these drivers form part of the CAP's Pillar II. While in the EU the role of rural development is set to expand, this is far less certain in the US where the emphasis on agricultural support is likely to continue to dominate the political agenda. Les orientations de la politique de développement rural , Enseignements en provenance des deux côtés de l'Atlantique Un atelier comparant les politiques de développement rural en Europe et aux États-Unis a mis en évidence des différences entre les valeurs sociales sur lesquelles sont fondées ces politiques. Ces différences concernent entre autre l'attachement à des lieux particuliers, l'inquiétude pour les régions en retard de croissance, et l'intérêt pour une évaluation des pouvoirs publics. Les différences portent aussi sur l'étendue de la question. Dans l'Union européenne, les questions portant sur le paysage et l'environnement sont abordées dans le cadre du pilier de la PAC sur le développement rural, qui porte sur l'agriculture comme instrument du développement rural, alors qu'aux États-Unis, ces questions sont traitées par d'autres politiques dont certaines remontent à loin. Dans le contexte de la politique de développement rural, l'Union européenne attache une valeur intrinsèque à l'environnement tandis qu'aux États-Unis, l'accent est mis plutôt sur les retombées économiques d'un environnement de qualité. Les différences portent également sur la gouvernance : pour avoir une vue d'ensemble sur les États-Unis, il faut considérer les actions aux niveaux fédéral, des États et du local alors que dans l'Union européenne, un cadre plus organisé est apparent. Cependant, dans le cas de politiques partant de la base (bottom-up), de nombreux points communs existent. L'amélioration du capital social et humain, et celle des infrastructures sont des éléments clés pour stimuler le développement économique des deux côtés de l'Atlantique, même si seuls quelques uns de ces facteurs sont compris dans le deuxième pilier de la PAC. Alors que le rôle du développement rural devrait s'étendre dans l'Union européenne, c'est beaucoup moins certain aux États-Unis où l'accent sur le soutien à l'agriculture continuera probablement à dominer l'ordre du jour de la politique. Richtlinien für die ländliche Entwicklungspolitik , Beispiele von diesseits und jenseits des Atlantiks Im Rahmen eines Workshops wurden europäische und US-amerikanische Politikmaßnahmen zur Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums miteinander verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich die gesellschaftlichen Werte für die Ausgestaltung der Politikmaßnahmen im Hinblick auf Ortsverbundenheit, die Belange der rückständigen Regionen und das Interesse bei der Bewertung öffentlicher Interventionen unterscheiden. Die jeweiligen Geltungsbereiche unterscheiden sich ebenfalls. In der EU bilden Fragestellungen in Bezug auf Umwelt und landschaftliche Gestaltung einen Teil der zweiten Säule der GAP (Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums), und die Landwirtschaft ist dabei ein Mittel zum Zweck. In den USA hingegen werden diese Fragestellungen durch andere Politikmaßnahmen abgedeckt, von denen einige über längere historische Wurzeln verfügen. Im Rahmen der Politik zur Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums misst die EU der Umwelt intrinsischen Wert bei, während sich die USA mehr auf aus der Umweltqualität resultierende wirtschaftliche Nebeneffekte konzentriert. Im Hinblick auf die Governance sind ebenfalls Unterschiede vorhanden: Während es im Falle der USA erforderlich ist, in einer Gesamtbetrachtung die Initiativen auf staatlicher, bundesstaatlicher und kommunaler Ebene zu berücksichtigen, lassen die Rahmenbedingungen in Europa ein höheres Maß an Organisation erkennen. Wird die Politik jedoch aus einer Bottom-up-Perspektive heraus betrachtet, können zahlreiche Gemeinsamkeiten gefunden werden. Bei der Verbesserung des Human- und Sozialkapitals und der Infrastruktur handelt es sich um Schlüsselfaktoren für die Ankurbelung der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung diesseits und jenseits des Atlantiks, wenngleich nur einige dieser Triebfedern die zweite Säule der GAP ausmachen. Während die Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums in der EU eine immer größere Rolle spielen wird, ist dies in den USA längst nicht sicher; dort wird der Schwerpunkt auf die Agrarstützung wahrscheinlich weiterhin die politische Agenda dominieren. [source] The implications of differences between employer and worker employment/earnings reports for policy evaluationJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007Geoffrey L. Wallace Differences in administrative (UI) and survey (S) records on employment and earnings have substantial implications for assessing the impact of a variety of public interventions, such as welfare-to-work and employment training programs, and especially the state-oriented welfare reform legislation of 1996. We use data from the 1998 and 1999 waves of the Child Support Demonstration Evaluation (CSDE) Resident Parent Surveys to explore individual differences between survey and UI employment and earnings reports for a Wisconsin sample of current and former welfare recipients. After exploring the potential causes of misreports from both sources, we document the degree of discrepancy between survey and UI earnings and employment measures and assess the difference between the two earnings measures in estimates of simple human capital (earnings) functions. Last, we evaluate the correspondence of the two measures with "hardship" indicators of economic well-being. 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