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Measuring consumer inflation in a digital economy by Marshall ReinsdorfOECD Statistics Working Papers, February 2019To calculate upper bounds for this effect, we apply weights based on the average structure of household consumption in OECD countries to a maximum plausible overstatement of price change for each affected or potentially affected product. The products account for about 35% of household expenditure in 2005, declining to 32% in 2015. The upper bound simulation effect on the growth rate of the consumption deflator is somewhat less than –0.6 percentage points in 2015 – large enough to improve the picture of GDP and productivity growth in advanced economies. However, this would not overturn the conclusion that productivity growth has slowed substantially compared over the past decades.
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A Universal Basic Income in the Superstar (Digital) Economy.
by Andrew White
Ethics & Social Welfare, Mar2019, Vol. 13 Issue 1, p64-78, 15p.
This paper argues that the structural logic of the digital economy is to widen inequality, not only through its increasing automation of jobs but also in its efficiency in delivering ever greater profits to a smaller number of already-enriched organisations and individuals. Remedial actions that might be taken to mitigate the effects of some of the digital economy's structural flaws are interrogated here, with a particular focus on universal basic income (UBI) and stake-holding schemes. The paper considers whether the digital economy's inherent problems are of such magnitude that some sort of financial support for workers to buttress long periods of idleness, or to enable them to take risks in increasingly volatile and unstable global markets, is both desirable and politically feasible. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
A cybercrime incident architecture with adaptive response policy
by George Tsakalidis
Computers & Security June 2019 83:22-37
Handling and mitigating the cybercrime incidents (CIs) have attracted significant research attention, over the last years, due to their increasing frequency of occurrence. However, the term cybercrime is often used interchangeably with other technology-linked malicious acts, such as cyberwarfare, and cyberterrorism, leading to misconceptions. In addition, there does not exist a management framework which would classify CIs, qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate their occurrence and promptly align them with appropriate measures and policies. This work introduces a Cybercrime Incident Architecture that enables a comprehensive cybercrime embodiment through feature identification, offence classification mechanisms, threats’ severity labeling and a completely novel Adaptive Response Policy (ARP) that identifies and interconnects the relevant stakeholders with preventive measures and response actions. The proposed architecture consists of four separate complementary components that lead to a manually – and in the future automatically – generated ARP. The idea is to build a holistic framework toward automated cybercrime handling. A criminal case study is selected to validate the introduced framework and highlight its potentiality to evolve into a CI expert system.
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Capital Assets and Rural Resilience: An Analysis of Texas Communities Impacted by Hurricane Harvey
Ross Ashley
Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research. 8(1-2):154-186, 2018.
Past studies have consistently shown that rural communities are less resilient to disasters than their urban counterparts. However, the specific factors associated with low resilience have not been sufficiently explored. This study seeks to advance our understanding of rural resilience by evaluating disaster recovery from a capitals perspective, focusing on the individual and collective resources that support adaptation to disturbance. Using data from 108 resident interviews in four Texas municipalities affected by Hurricane Harvey, rural and urban capital asset losses and gains are analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. The findings indicate that rural communities have greater physical capital losses, of housing in particular, while urban communities have greater institutional capital losses. Social capital gains were prevalent in all cases but highest in the rural communities. These findings have implications for targeting capacity-building efforts in rural communities to more effectively support disaster recovery and resilience. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Building Back Better: Local Health Department Engagement and Integration of Health Promotion into Hurricane Harvey Recovery Planning and Implementation
by Mallory Kennedy
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 16, Iss 3, p 299 (2019)
Disaster recovery provides an opportunity to build healthier and more resilient communities. However, opportunities and challenges encountered by local health departments (LHDs) when integrating health considerations into recovery have yet to be explored. Following Hurricane Harvey, 17 local health and emergency management officials from 10 agencies in impacted Texas, USA jurisdictions were interviewed to describe the types and level of LHD engagement in disaster recovery planning and implementation and the extent to which communities leveraged recovery to build healthier, more resilient communities. Interviews were conducted between December 2017 and January 2018 and focused on if and how their communities were incorporating public health considerations into the visioning, planning, implementation, and assessment phases of disaster recovery. Using a combined inductive and deductive approach, we thematically analyzed interview notes and/or transcripts. LHDs reported varied levels of engagement and participation in activities to support their community’s recovery. However, we found that LHDs rarely articulated or informed decision makers about the health impacts of recovery activities undertaken by other sectors. LHDs would benefit from additional resources, support, and technical assistance designed to facilitate working across sectors and building resilience during recovery. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
An Evaluation of the Paired Assistance to Disaster-Affected Areas Program in Disaster Recovery: The Case of the Wenchuan Earthquake
by Fangxin Yi
Sustainability, Vol 10, Iss 12, p 4483 (2018)
The Wenchuan earthquake, which happened in May 2008 in China, was one of the most destructive natural disasters of the past decade. The Chinese government implemented several aid programs, including the Paired Assistance to Disaster-Affected Areas (PADAA) program, to assist with disaster recovery. Although the Wenchuan earthquake has gained much scholarly attention, previous studies often adopted different recovery measures and provided fragmented empirical evidence on how an aid program may have influenced the recovery process in both the short and long term. To bridge the gap, this paper collects eight social, economic, and institutional indicators to measure four types of recovery processes, namely, economic recovery, social recovery, institutional recovery, and built environment recovery. The data, collected between 2002 and 2015, covers 269 earthquake-stricken counties. Based on this data, we constructed a set of disaster recovery indexes. We then evaluated the impacts of the PADAA program on the disaster recovery process across the 269 counties in both the short and long term. We concluded that the impact of the PADAA program on the post-disaster economic recovery was significant in both the short and long term, whereas its impact on the recovery of the institutional and built environment occurred in the short term. Its impact on post-disaster social recovery was inconclusive. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
What Younger Workers Can Learn from Older Workers, and Vice Versa.
by Lynda Gratton
Harvard Business Review Digital Articles; 11/18/2016, p2-5
The authors elaborate age-related differences and similarities in areas that can enhance the possibility for bidirectional cross-generational mentoring and coaching in the workplace, which include learning how to control work, how to be financially proficient, and how to build a reputation.
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Retaining an ageing workforce: The effects of high‐performance work systems and flexible work programmes.
by Luigi Stirpe
Human Resource Management Journal; Nov2018, Vol. 28 Issue 4, p585-604
Older workers make up a growing proportion of the workforce, and research on how best to manage them is being conducted accordingly. Here, we explored the employee retention payoff of high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and flexible work programmes (FWPs) when used with an older workforce. Drawing from the job demands‐resources model, we hypothesised that HPWS retention outcomes decrease as the workforce ages, whereas the retention capacity of FWPs increases. We also explored how the parallel provision of HPWS and FWPs affects workforce retention in more ageing workplaces. The results suggest that workforce age composition affects the HPWS‐retention relationship. However, the value of FWPs as retention tools does not vary significantly with workforce ageing. Furthermore, the provision of FWPs alongside HPWS appears to be a less‐than‐optimal approach to this retention. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the HRM‐performance relationship, while inspiring further research into successful age‐differentiated HR strategies.
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LGBTI staff, and diversity within the Australian accounting profession.
by Matthew Egan
Sustainability Accounting, Management & Policy Journal; 2018, Vol. 9 Issue 5, p595-614, 20p
Large accounting firms lay claim today to a broad focus on staff diversity and inclusion. Related initiatives focus on gender, culture, age and sexuality. This paper aims to seek insight from publicly available discourse provided by the “Big 4” in Australia (Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PwC), along with two second-tier firms, into the nature and drivers of diversity initiatives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) staff.Design/methodology/approach Web-based discourse provided as at May 2017 is examined and analysed.Findings All six firms provided a range of related disclosures, suggesting that a cultural shift for LGBTI staff was underway. Detail provided on actual policies and procedures was limited, and a struggle was suggested, between balancing the needs of diverse staff, with concerns for some, perhaps, more conservative clients. Some repositioning of arguments was suggested, focussed on shifting responsibility to staff and on shifting the object of celebration from staff to the firm.Research limitations/implications This study is limited to an interpretation of carefully constructed publicly disclosed statements. Further studies could explore the lived experience of these apparent changes with staff.Practical implications Recruitment and staff retention continue to be on-going challenges within the accounting profession. This study provides insight into initiatives targeted to support LGBTI staff.Social implications Availing space to bring ‘whole selves’ into the workplace is an important element of creating a pleasant, comfortable and engaging environment for staff. This study provides insight into the perspective of employers on the importance of such initiatives.Originality/value Little attention has been directed to exploring sexual diversity in the workplace or to sexuality within accounting studies.
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Fixing the Leaky Pipeline: Strategies for Making Economics Work for Women at Every Stage
by Kasey Buckles
Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 2019, v. 33, iss. 1, pp. 43-60
While women comprise over half of all undergraduate students in the United States, they account for less than one-third of economics majors. From there, the proportion of women at each stage of the academic tenure track continues to decrease, creating a "leaky pipeline." In this paper, I provide a toolkit of interventions that could be implemented by individuals, organizations, or academic units who are working to attract and retain women students and faculty at each stage of this pipeline. I focus on smaller-scale, targeted interventions that have been evaluated in a way that allows for the credible estimation of causal effects.
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Debt burden after college: the effect of student loan debt on graduates' employment, additional schooling, family formation, and home ownership.
by Erin Velez
Education Economics; Apr2019, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p186-206, 21p, 3 Charts
This paper measures the effects of undergraduate student loan debt on graduates' post-college outcomes: employment, additional enrollment, family formation, home ownership, and net worth. The analysis uses data from a nationally representative sample of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients. Because a graduate's debt burden is not randomly assigned, we use an instrumental variable - enrollment-weighted average in-state tuition over four years - to estimate the effect of debt on post-baccalaureate outcomes while minimizing selection bias. We find that four years after graduating, undergraduate debt is related to borrowers' earnings, job choice, decisions to marry and have children, and net worth. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Volatile capital flows and economic growth: The role of banking supervision
by Kyriakos C. Neanidis
Journal of Financial Stability February 2019 40:77-93
In this paper, we examine the links among banking supervision, the volatility of financial flows, and economic growth. In particular, we explore whether banking regulation mitigates the adverse effects of capital flows volatility on economic growth. Using cross-country data over four decades, we find that banking supervision promotes economic growth by dampening the negative impact of volatile capital flows. The findings hold for both aggregate capital flows and its various components, and for both its net and gross counterparts, while they are also robust for various indicators of regulatory policies. The results support the argument that bank regulatory policy rules designed to ensure financial stability are beneficial to long-run economic growth. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Mandatory Savings: the saviour of New Zealand's welfare state.
by Robert MacCulloch
Policy Quarterly; Feb2019, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p23-29, 7p
New Zealand faces an impending cost spiral of public spending on healthcare and pensions, as well as ongoing and substantial payments to those out of work. None of the solutions conventionally proffered, such as generating markedly higher productivity growth or levying significantly higher taxes, seems plausible. Mandatory savings accounts, however, offer more promise. Ending unnecessary transfer payments to businesses and wealthy individuals would allow health, out-of-work and retirement savings accounts to be set up and funded for all individuals. This policy change could secure the future welfare needs of low earners, enhancing opportunity, dignity, choice and fair treatment. It would also alleviate fiscal pressures, encourage efficiency gains and reduce wealth inequality. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Financial Regulation: Still Unsettled a Decade after the Crisis
by Daniel K. Tarullo
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019, 33, 1, 61.
A decade after the darkest moments of the financial crisis, both the US financial system and the legal framework for its regulation are still in flux. The post-crisis regulatory framework has made systemically important banks much more resilient. They are substantially better capitalized and less dependent on runnable short-term funding. But the current regulatory framework does not deal effectively with threats to financial stability outside the perimeter of regulated banking organizations, notably from forms of shadow banking. Moreover, with the political tide having for the moment turned decisively toward deregulation, there is some question whether the resiliency improvements of the largest banks will be preserved. This article assesses the accomplishments, unfinished business, and outstanding issues in the post-crisis approach to prudential regulation.
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Finance and Jobs: How Financial Markets and Prudential Regulation Shape Unemployment Dynamics
by Ekkehard Ernst
Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2019, 12, 1, 1.
This article explores the impact of financial market regulation on jobs. It argues that understanding the impact of finance on labor markets is key to an understanding of the trade-off between economic stability and financial sector growth. The article combines information on labor market flows with indicators of financial market development and reforms to assess the implications of financial markets on employment dynamics directly, using information from the International Labour Organization (ILO) datatabse on unemployment flows. On the basis of a matching model of the labor market, it analyses the economic, institutional, and policy determinants of unemployment in- and out-flows. Against a set of basic controls, we present evidence regarding the relationship between financial sector development and reforms and their impact on unemployment dynamics. Using scenario analysis, the article demonstrates the importance of broad financial sector re-regulation to stabilize unemployment inflows and to promote faster employment growth. In particular, we find that encompassing financial sector regulation, had it been in place prior to the global financial crisis in 2008, would have helped a faster recovery in jobs. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Central banks’ preferences and banking sector vulnerability
by G. Levieuge
Journal of Financial Stability February 2019 40:110-131
According to “Schwartz's conventional wisdom” and what has been called “divine coincidence”, price stability should imply macroeconomic and financial stability. However, in light of the global financial crisis, with monetary policy focused on price stability, scholars have held that banking and financial risks were largely unaddressed. According to this alternative view, the belief in divine coincidence turns out to be benign neglect. The objective of this paper is to test Schwartz's hypothesis against the benign neglect hypothesis. The priority assigned to the inflation goal is proxied by the central banks’ conservatism (CBC) index proposed by Levieuge and Lucotte (2014), here extended to a large sample of 73 countries from 1980 to 2012. Banking sector vulnerability is measured by six alternative indicators that are frequently employed in the literature on early warning systems. Our results indicate that differences in monetary policy preferences robustly explain cross-country differences in banking vulnerability and validate the benign neglect hypothesis, in that a higher level of CBC implies a more vulnerable banking sector.
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Open radar groups: The integration of online communities into open foresight processes
by Michael A. Zeng
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2019, 138, C, 204.
Monitoring a huge number of information sources and scanning the relevant environment are the basis for every foresight process. Since this endeavor is a complex task, it is necessary to find an efficient solution to do so. Based on foresight workshops with ‘Radar Groups’ – similar to focus groups –, Delphi studies, and netnographies of online communities, we develop a pragmatic foresight process. Since we integrate online communities as information sources in our foresight process, we call this ‘open foresight’. This open foresight process focuses upon the topic ‘Aviation 2040’ and is executed with aviation experts and an online community in two steps. This research setting enabled us to show (1) differences and similarities in future assessments and foresight capabilities between experts and online communities and (2) how to efficiently integrate online communities into foresight processes. Combining insights from experts and community members and, in doing so, moving towards ‘Open Radar Groups’ seems to be a beneficial way for conducting foresight and enriching companies' knowledge base. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Global food systems: Can foresight learn from hindsight?
by Karen Brooks
Global Food Security March 2019 20:66-71
Construction of plausible scenarios for alternative futures of global food systems requires an understanding of how the past led to the present, and the past's likely relevance to the future. Policy actions affected the past, but are very difficult to foresee. Among those that most shaped global food systems in the last half century are measures that fostered productivity growth, expansion of trade, and the interlinkage of agricultural and environmental policies. Scenarios for global food systems, including those using the quantitative tools of the CGIAR's Global Futures and Strategic Foresight modeling approach, explore alternative assumptions in these three areas, among others. Hindsight can inform foresight by highlighting key elements of the past and forcing transparent examination of whether and how these elements will shape the future.
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Futures Study in Health: A Review Study
by Behrooz Pouragha
Journal of Evidence Based Health Policy, Management & Economics, Vol 2, Iss 4, Pp 290-296 (2018)
Background: Future is being continuously created at any moment and never stops. By reviewing the future, it can be discovered, evaluated and assessed to create desirable future. The health sector is daily faced with a variety of threats at different environmental, social, cultural, economic and political scales. To deal efficiently with these threats, it is necessary to use the future as an opportunity to promote people's health by investigating, anticipating and building it, and managing it properly. Therefore, this review was conducted with the aim of determining the domains and methods of future studies in the health sector. Methods: In this review article, searching was performed by terms futures study or forecasting or fore sighting and health sector in four databases consisting of Two Persian databases Magiran and the Scientific Information Database and Two English ones Google Scholar and PubMed. In the first search, 531 articles were selected and retrieved. After the titles and abstracts were read and duplicate articles were excluded, and then the full texts of the remaining articles were reviewed, seven articles were included in the final analysis. Results: The results of studies in the health sector show that future studies is an important tool and evidence for policy makers in almost all areas of the health system's functions, such as determining the amount and types of services needed, training specialists and other health sector’s staff, allocating funds, the number of beds and other facilities, developing and constructing of hospital wards, etc. Conclusion: The results of studies in the health sector indicate that futures study provide important tools and evidence for policymakers in almost all areas of the health system's functions, such as determining the amount and types of services needed, allocating funds, number of beds, expansion of hospital departments, technology requirements, the impact of policies and programs. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Residential income segregation: A behavioral model of the housing market
by Marco Pangallo
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization March 2019 159:15-35
We represent the functioning of the housing market and study the relation between income segregation, income inequality and house prices by introducing a spatial Agent-Based Model (ABM). Differently from traditional models in urban economics, we explicitly specify the behavior of buyers and sellers and the price formation mechanism. Buyers who differ by income select among heterogeneous neighborhoods using a probabilistic model of residential choice; sellers employ an aspiration level heuristic to set their reservation offer price; prices are determined through a continuous double auction. We first provide an approximate analytical solution of the ABM, shedding light on the structure of the model and on the effect of the parameters. We then simulate the ABM and find that: (i) a more unequal income distribution lowers the prices globally, but implies stronger segregation; (ii) a spike in demand in one part of the city increases the prices all over the city; (iii) subsidies are more efficient than taxes in fostering social mixing. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
On the Directional Accuracy of United States Housing Starts Forecasts: Evidence from Survey Data. by Tim MeyerJournal of Real Estate Finance & Economics; Apr2019, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p457-488, 32pI use data from both the Survey of Professional Forecasters and the Livingston Survey to study the directional accuracy of United States housing starts forecasts. Using elements of relative operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, I find that forecasts contain information with respect to subsequent changes in housing starts. Estimates for both surveys are significant at all forecast horizons and robust across time and across forecasters. Implications for the usage of housing starts forecasts from survey data are discussed.
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Loan-to-Value Ratio Restrictions and House Prices: Micro Evidence from New Zealand
by Jed Armstrong
Journal of Housing Economics Apr 2018:1621
This paper contributes to the international policy debate on the effect of macroprudential policy on housing-market dynamics. We use detailed New Zealand housing market data to evaluate the effect of loan-to-value ratio (LTV) restrictions on house prices. Our identification relies on the exemption for new builds from the LTV restrictions implemented during 2013 – 2016 by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The empirical findings suggest that the LTV policy is effective at reducing house price inflation by limiting the credit-fuelled housing demand channel. The magnitude and duration of the policy effect depend crucially on the rate of house price growth at the time when the policy is implemented. When house prices are increasing quickly, the effect of LTV on house prices tends to be muted and short-lived.
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Well-being, Political Decentralisation and Governance Quality in Europe. by Andrés Rodríguez-PoseJournal of Human Development & Capabilities; Feb2019, Vol. 20 Issue 1, p69-93, 25pEuropean nations allocate public sector resources with the general aim of increasing the well-being and welfare of their citizens through a fair and efficient distribution of these public goods and services. However, "who" delivers these goods and services and "how well" they are delivered are essential in determining outcomes in terms of well-being. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey database, this paper uses Amartya Sen's social welfare index framework—accounting for the trade-off between the maximization of public sector resources and an equitable distribution of these resources—to examine the influence of political decentralisation ("who" delivers the resources) and whether this influence is moderated by governance quality ("how well" they are delivered) on individual subjective well-being. The findings of the econometric analysis reveal that decentralisation does not always lead to higher well-being, as the benefits of political decentralisation are highly mediated by the quality of national governance. In countries with high governance quality, political decentralisation results in a greater satisfaction with health provision, while in lower quality governance countries, a more decentralized government can increase the overall satisfaction with life, the economy, government, democracy and the provision of education, but not necessarily with health-related services. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The retrenchment of public pension provision in the liberal world of welfare during the age of austerity—and its unexpected reversal, 1980–2017.
by Paul Bridgen
Social Policy & Administration; Jan2019, Vol. 53 Issue 1, p16-33, 18p, 2 Charts, 6 Graphs
Pension system adaption during the "age of austerity" since 1980 is expected to vary between industrialized countries broadly in line with their membership of conservative, liberal, or social democratic worlds of welfare. Empirical testing on the liberal world focuses on the later period and differs in its conclusions. This paper is based on a systematic study of the scale, nature, and trajectory of change in six liberal pension systems between 1980 and 2017 using expenditure, economic, demographic, and social rights data. These data are analysed using a framework developed through critical engagement with Pierson's three welfare state change criteria and the welfare state "dependent variable problem." The paper finds a significant retrenchment of public pension provision in most liberal welfare states after 1980 but largely during the first half of the period. This has been partly reversed in most countries since the mid‐1990s, though the scale of this reversal varies between countries. The recent rise of the state in liberal systems has been noted by some commentators, but to be properly understood, the paper argues, it must be considered in the context of the significant retrenchment, which preceded it. There is a scope especially for research on the broader social context of recent reforms, particularly how middle‐income groups were affected by retrenchment and how recent reforms have mitigated this. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The Truly Vulnerable: Integrating Wealth into the Measurement of Poverty and Social Policy Effectiveness.
by Sarah Kuypers
Social Indicators Research. Feb2019, Vol. 141 Issue 3, p131-147. 17p. 7 Charts, 2 Graphs.
There is a burgeoning literature on wealth in the rich world. It mainly focuses on the top. This paper shows that assets can also matter for the analysis of poverty and financial vulnerability. We introduce the concept of triple precariousness, afflicting households that not only have low income but also very low or non-existent assets to draw on for consumption needs, especially liquid assets. We ask whether these households—whom we might call the truly vulnerable—have different characteristics from those that we identify as poor or needy on the basis of income based metrics. This study looks in detail at Belgium, a country that represents a particularly interesting case because households are known to have levels of household wealth that are among the highest in the Eurozone, especially around and below the median, and yet it also has a comparatively high poverty rate, measured using disposable household income, as is commonly done in poverty studies. Drawing on HFCS data, we show that households with a reference person that is young, unemployed, low educated, migrant, single, and above all a tenant are especially financially vulnerable. By contrast, our assessment of the extent and depth of financial need among the elderly—a segment of society that is at a relatively high risk of income poverty—also changes. A substantial share of income poor elderly households own significant assets. We draw out some tentative consequences of these findings for anti-poverty and redistributive policies. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The Case for a Targeted Criticism of the Welfare State by Leszek BalcerowiczCato Journal, Winter 2018, v. 38, iss. 1, pp. 1-16. Policies, including institutional reforms, are actions of politicians that result from the interplay of various factors. For example, windfall gains in various forms (oil bonanzas and sudden reductions in the interest rates) reduce politicians’ and the public’s incentives for fiscal consolidation and encourage the growth in public spending. In contrast, some crises may even force the non-reformers in power to do what they blocked before. Differences in the personalities of ruling politicians also matter-for example, there would have been far fewer or no fundamental reforms in Britain if it was not for Prime Minister Thatcher. There are complex interactions between situational variables, personality factors, and interest groups ( Balcerowicz 2015). In the following, we will focus on the last factor. Interest groups can be divided into statist and anti-statist. The former are driven by ideological or pecuniary motivations and aim at keeping an expanded state or even increasing the scope of interventionism. The latter, on the other hand, aim at reducing the scope of the state and are motivated by their beliefs in the value of individual freedom, the rule of law, and limited government. One of the reasons statists often prevail may be the simple fact that they include groups that are motivated by the prospects of pecuniary benefits (e.g., budgetary subsidies, tax preferences, and anti-competitive regulations) from expanding the size and scope of government. However, statism does not need to prevail: much depends on the activity of the anti-statist groups and individuals. Let us, therefore, finish with some remarks on how these forces can better oppose the welfare state and press for reform...
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Poverty is a Public Bad: Panel Evidence From Subjective Well‐Being Data. by Heinz WelschReview of Income & Wealth; Mar2019, Vol. 65 Issue 1, p187-200, 14p.Previous research has found that subjective well‐being (SWB) is lower for individuals classified as being in poverty. We extend the poverty‐SWB literature by focusing on aggregate poverty. Using panel data for 39,239 individuals living in Germany from 2005–2013, we show that people's SWB is negatively correlated with the regional (state‐level) poverty ratio while controlling for individual poverty status and poverty intensity. This suggests that poverty is a public bad. The negative relationship between aggregate poverty and SWB is more salient in the upper segments of the income distribution and is robust to controlling for the rate of unemployment and per capita GDP. The character of poverty as a public bad suggests that poverty alleviation is a matter not only of distributive justice, but of allocative efficiency.
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Place value: place quality and its impact on health, social, economic and environmental outcomes.
by Matthew Carmona
Journal of Urban Design. Feb2019, Vol. 24 Issue 1, p1-48. 48p.
This paper explores the link between the quality of the built environment and its value, in health, social, economic and environmental terms. This is theorized as 'place value' which, alongside 'place quality', is conceptualized as existing within a virtuous loop in which quality dictates value and value defines quality. To test this, a systematic review brought together wide-ranging international research evidence. The work confirmed a range of definitive associations between the quality of place and its place derived value. It also makes a clear link back from the evidence on place value to the sorts of qualities that enhance or detract from that value. These, in turn, define the constituent elements of place quality. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
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A Well-Being Indicator for the Italian Provinces.
by Giorgio Calcagnini
Social Indicators Research. Feb2019, Vol. 141 Issue 3, p149-177. 29p. 6 Charts, 4 Graphs, 1 Map.
In recent years, a significant number of papers has been published providing alternative measures of progress and well-being to Gross Domestic Product. Most of these papers differs in terms of their theoretical approach as well as their purpose and statistical methodology used to define what well-being is and how to measure it. In this paper, we construct a well-being indicator for the Italian provinces that shows a high degree of heterogeneity not only between the Northern and Southern Italian provinces, but also among adjacent provinces.
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Women's employment, segregation and skills in the future of work.
by David Peetz
Labour & Industry; Mar2019, Vol. 29 Issue 1, p132-148, 17p.
Discussion of the future of work has focused a lot on the type or number of jobs that new technology will create or destroy. Little consideration has been given to how gender fits into that. This article examines this by considering: (a) the automatability of male and female jobs; (b) employment projections for male and female jobs; (c) past and projected sex segregation of employment; and (d) past and projected skill levels of male and female jobs. Our analysis makes use of historical data and projections for the Australian and US labour markets. It appears that neither technological change nor other structural changes in labour markets are likely to especially disadvantage women. If anything, women's jobs are slightly more secure (or less insecure) than men's; there has been, and will be, an improvement in the skill levels of jobs held by women; and there has been a small reduction in average sex segregation. However, developments within specific industries are important and difficult to predict. In that respect, the information and communications technology (ICT) occupations go against the trend elsewhere, having experienced transformation in their gender composition that is reinforcing, rather than weakening, gender segmentation. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The quest for global monetary policy coordination
by Franco Bruni
Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 2019, 13, 1.
This paper puts forward a proposal to help monetary policies confront the challenge of the 'normalisation' of money creation and interest rates. The difficult unwinding of years of unorthodox policies put financial stability at risk in major monetary centres and in EMEs. The authors argue that global coordination is crucial to facing this challenge. They propose to convene appropriate official meetings to coordinate in an explicit, formal, and well-communicated way the process of normalisation and the discussions on the needed long-term changes in the strategy and institutional setting of monetary policies.
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The Interplay between Liquidity Regulation, Monetary Policy Implementation and Financial Stability
by Todd Keister
Global Finance Journal, February 2019, v. 39, pp. 30-38
I outline a simple framework for thinking through how the Basel III liquidity regulations--in particular, the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)--will impact short-term interest rates and the process of monetary policy implementation. This framework suggests that a regulatory premium may arise in some market interest rates, creating a new wedge in the monetary transmission mechanism. I discuss ways in which a central bank could react to this new wedge, highlighting what may be a fundamental tension between implementing monetary policy effectively and using liquidity regulation to promote financial stability.
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Who’s Afraid of Budget Deficits? How Washington Should End Its Debt Obsession.
by Jason Furman
Foreign Affairs, 01/03/2019, Vol. 98 Issue 2, p82-94, 12p.
The article focuses on the United States' annual budget deficit and how it impacts the national debt. The authors explore how the national debt impacts economic growth, examine the influence of interest rates, inflation, and global markets on deficits, and discuss the growing role of deficit fundamentalists.
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Economic Growth in the Long Run
by Robert Tamura
Journal of Development Economics, March 2019, v. 137, pp. 1-35.
We present new data on real output per worker, schooling per worker, human capital per worker, real physical capital per worker for 168 countries. The output data represent all available data from Maddison. The physical capital data represent all available data from Mitchell. One major contribution is a new data set of human capital per worker, the foundation of which comes mostly from Mitchell. We provide original estimates of schooling per worker and per young worker. Using standard Mincer human capital construction, we find that variation in inputs can explain about 46% of the variation in long run living standards using standard covariance accounting. With capital intensity covariance accounting, variation in inputs explains about 25% of the variation in long run living standards. With intergenerational human capital accumulation with or without spillovers, we find that variation in inputs can explain at least half of the long run variation in living standards. Request this item from infhohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The Future of Leadership Development.
by Mihnea Moldoveanu
Harvard Business Review; Mar/Apr2019, Vol. 97 Issue 2, p5-6, 2p
There is a growing recognition that leadership development should not be restricted to the few who are in or close to the C-suite. With the proliferation of collaborative problem-solving platforms and digital "adhocracies" that emphasize individual initiative, employees across the board are increasingly expected to make consequential decisions that align with corporate strategy and culture. It's important, therefore, that they be equipped with the relevant technical, relational, and communication skills.
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The technical is political: settler colonialism and the Australian Indigenous policy system.
by Elizabeth Strakosch
Australian Journal of Political Science. Mar2019, Vol. 54 Issue 1, p114-130. 17p.
Contemporary Australian Indigenous policy changes rapidly and regularly fails to deliver its stated aims. Additionally, political and social relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Australian state remain complex and contested. This article draws on critical Indigenous theory, alongside the increasingly influential scholarly paradigm of settler colonialism, to draw these two elements together. It highlights the ongoing nature of colonial conflict, and the partisan nature of state institutions and processes. While policy is usually framed as a depoliticised, technical practice of public management for Indigenous wellbeing, I suggest that it also seeks to 'domesticate' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, perform their dysfunction and demonstrate state legitimacy. This is especially the case in Australia, which has a long tradition of framing domestic welfare policy - rather than legal agreements - as the 'solution' to settler colonial conflict.
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The prevalence and protective factors for resilience in adolescent Aboriginal Australians living in urban areas: a cross‐sectional study.
by Christian Young
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health; Feb2019, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p8-14, 7p
Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and determine protective factors for resilience in urban Aboriginal adolescents. Methods: Cross‐sectional survey data was collected from 119 Aboriginal adolescents participating in the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH). Resilience was defined as having 'low‐risk' Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores on the total difficulties (range: 0–40) or the prosocial scale (range: 0–10). Results: Most adolescents scored in the low‐risk range of the total difficulties (n=85, 73%) and prosocial scales (101, 86%). Family encouragement to attend school was associated with a 4.3‐point reduction in total difficulties scores (95%CI, 0.22–8.3). Having someone to talk to if there was a problem and regular strenuous exercise were associated with higher scores on the prosocial behaviour scale, increasing scores by 1.2 (95%CI, 0.45–2.0) and 1.3 (95%CI, 0.26–2.3) points, respectively. Conclusions: Most adolescents in SEARCH displayed resilience. Resilience was associated with nurturing family environments, social support and regular exercise. Implications for public health: Our data accords with previous research that demonstrates resilience, but also a higher prevalence of emotional and behaviour problems among Aboriginal youth. Supporting Aboriginal young people to build resilience may promote better mental health outcomes leading to important public health benefits.
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The Ngātahi Project: competency development for the vulnerable children's workforce.
by Russell Wills
Policy Quarterly. Feb2019, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p73-79. 7p.
Ngātahi is a three-year project aiming to identify and embed the additional competencies needed for the children's workforce to work with families experiencing intimate partner violence, child abuse and neglect, mental illness, addictions, poverty and poor supports. Māori tamariki (children) and whānau are over-represented in this client group. Collective impact, appreciative inquiry and a robust tikanga inform the project. A formal Treaty of Waitangi partnership with the local iwi, Ngāti Kahungunu, provides cultural leadership at all levels of the project. Twenty-seven agencies or services representing 441 practitioners have engaged in the project in Hawke's Bay. The three priorities for competency development identified are: engaging effectively with Māori (EEWM), mental health and addictions (MHA) and trauma-informed practice (TIP). Within the TIP work stream, addressing practitioners' burnout, fatigue and vicarious trauma is the first priority. The three work streams are currently developing curricula and identifying leaders to deliver training locally, and delivering activities to embed the new competencies into practice and metrics to demonstrate the impact of the new competencies on practice and on outcomes. Qualitative interviews demonstrate high commitment from the workforce and its leaders, consistent priorities for development of additional competencies and important lessons learnt. We suggest that this model may be helpful for policymakers considering other collaborative activities to address 'wicked' or complex problems, and offer some lessons learnt to date.
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Migrant, interrupted: The temporalities of 'staggered' migration from Asia to Australia.
by Shanthi Robertson
Current Sociology; Mar2019, Vol. 67 Issue 2, p169-185, 17p
The mobilities of increasing numbers of 'middling' migrants from Asia to Australia involve complex trajectories that encompass multiple transitions across statuses and places as well as ambiguities around temporariness and permanence. This article argues that during these 'staggered' migrations, intersections between multiple 'timescales' – institutional, biographic and everyday – produce specific experiences of time for migrants that interrupt teleological imaginaries of both life transitions and migration outcomes. Drawing on data from in-depth narrative interviews with middling migrants, this article focuses on two such temporal experiences, 'contingent temporality' and 'indentured temporality', and seeks to demonstrate how these experiences are produced through the overlaps and intersections of institutional, biographical and everyday timescales. The article seeks to advance empirical understandings of the temporalities of new forms of migrant mobility between Asia and Australia, as well as to contribute new conceptual approaches to scholarship on migration and time. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
'My language, my identity': negotiating language use and attitudes in the New Zealand Fiji Indian diaspora.
by Marianne Hundt
Asian Englishes; Mar2019, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p2-21, 20p
One result of colonial and post-colonial migration is the development of large diaspora communities. The Indian diaspora is currently one of the largest world-wide. Over 20 million people of Indian descent live outside of India, many of them in an English-speaking country. Maintenance of the heritage language and use of the majority language are important aspects of identity construction among members of such diaspora communities. Matters become more complex for twice-migrants, i.e. in situations where movement to a secondary diaspora has become necessary. This paper takes up these issues in a case study on the Fiji Indian diaspora in Wellington, New Zealand. Based on data from sociolinguistic interviews, it looks at discursive identity construction around the notion of language use and attitudes towards different languages and their varieties. An important aspect turns out to be the positioning of Fiji Indians not only vis-à-vis speakers of the host community but also relative to Indian migrants who have come to New Zealand directly from the Indian subcontinent. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
''I know my roots are Indian but my thinking is Kiwi': hybridisation, identity and 'Indians' in New Zealand.
by Yasmin Hussain
South Asian Diaspora; Mar2019, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p1-15, 15p
This article explores identity among the South Asian diaspora in New Zealand. Using data from qualitative interviews with South Asian New Zealanders, it argues that analyses of hybridity need to consider different varieties of hybridisation in relation to ethnicity, religion, language and national identity. South Asian identities may be hybridised with 'Kiwi' identity variously represented as values, idealised citizenship and a White Western lifestyle. The data analysed in the paper demonstrate the independence and salience of religious as distinct from ethnic identities in the South Asian diaspora in New Zealand. Hybridisation results, in part, from a conscious strategy on the part of parents who encourage children to identify with their ethnic origins, language, nation and religion. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Trade Openness, Urbanization and CO2 Emissions: Dynamic Panel Data Analysis of Middle-Income Countries.
by Zhike Lv
Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, April 2019, v. 28, iss. 3, pp. 317-30
Using the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) approach of Pesaran, Shin, and Smith [1999. "Pooled Mean Group Estimation of Dynamic Heterogeneous Panels." Journal of the American Statistical Association 94 (446): 621-634], this article attempts to empirically examine the heterogeneous effects of trade openness and urbanization on CO2 emissions in 55 middle-income countries over the period from 1992 to 2012. We find that trade openness has a benign effect on the environment in the short run, but a harmful effect in the long run. Meanwhile, our results show that urbanization has a negative and significant impact on CO2 emissions both in the short and long run, implying that urbanization improves environmental quality. The results are robust even after controlling for a number of factors such as economic or non-economic factors. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Global economic and environmental outcomes of the Paris Agreement
by Weifeng Liu
CAMA Working Papers, 2019.
In this paper, we use a multi-region model of the world economy to analyze the economic and environmental outcomes that are likely to result from Paris Climate Agreement. To construct the modeling scenario, we convert the disparate emission targets for each country or region in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) formulations into estimated reductions in CO2 emissions relative to a baseline scenario with no new climate policies. We then solve for the tax rate path on CO2 in each region that achieves the NDC-consistent emissions reductions in the target year, 2030 for most regions. We find that if all regions achieve their NDCs, the Paris Agreement significantly reduces CO2 emissions relative to baseline. However, the Paris policy scenario suggests that global CO2 emissions would not decline in absolute terms relative to 2015 levels, let alone follow a path consistent with a 2°C stabilization scenario. Comparing projected 2030 CO2 tax rates to the same year’s percent emissions abatement relative to baseline, we find that declines in CO2 emissions do not necessarily correlate with the CO2 tax rate. We find the climate policies result in significant macroeconomic spillovers across the global economy, meaning that macroeconomic outcomes across countries depend not only on their own commitments but also on those of the rest of the world. We also explore how outcomes could change if select countries (United States, China and Australia) unilaterally withdraw from the agreement and undertake no new climate policies. We find that non-participation leads to economic gains (in terms of GDP) for these countries relative to participating, illustrating the challenge of forging an international agreement with participation by all major emitters and fossil fuel producers. However, we also find that if we account for the monetized climate and domestic cobenefits of emissions reductions, those countries, including Australia, are worse off if they unilaterally withdraw from the Paris Agreement than if they participate. Thus, although we find there are gross costs to participating, doing so generates net benefits for the individual country participants.
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Does Economic Growth Eat up Environmental Improvements? Electricity Production and Fossil Fuel Emission in OECD Countries 1980-2014.
by Jan Morten Dyrstad
Energy Policy, February 2019, v. 125, pp. 103-09
We analyze to what extent electricity production by non-fossil fuel replaces fossil fueled electricity production in 27 OECD-countries 1980-2014. Depending on model specification, the long run replacement coefficient is in the range of minus 0.4-1.0, which is considerably larger than found in other studies. This means that an increase in non-fossil fuel based electricity production by 10 kWh/capita replaces fossil fuel based production in the range 4-10 kWh/capita. Over all the estimated replacement is not sufficient to prevent economic growth from increasing fossil based electricity production, thus eating up environmental improvements. However, we identify two important exceptions to this. First, countries with a 'low' level of fossil based production have an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship when we allow for separate effects of the economic downturn after the Great Recession 2008-2009. Second, results for the EU countries indicate that the EU Emission Trading System, and possibly EU country specific policy instruments, have influenced the mix of electricity production in the intended direction. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
CO2 taxes, equity and the double dividend – Macroeconomic model simulations for Austria.
by Mathias Kirchner
Energy Policy. Mar2019, Vol. 126, p295-314. 20p.
This paper investigates the impacts of CO 2 tax schemes on CO 2 emissions, equity and macroeconomic indicators in Austria with the macroeconomic model DYNK[AUT]. Our scenarios focus on non-ETS CO 2 emissions and comprise different tax rates and revenue recycling options (lower labor taxes, lower VAT and lump sum payments). The short-term comparative scenario analysis indicates that CO 2 taxes without recycling lead to significant CO 2 emission reductions at moderate economic costs. Equity impacts on households depend on the indicator used but can be regressive without recycling. Most recycling schemes can achieve a double dividend, i.e. emission reductions and increases in GDP. Lump sum payments are less efficient than reducing the VAT or labor taxes. Equity impacts are progressive with lump sum payments, rather proportional with lower VAT and regressive with lower labor taxes. A combination of recycling schemes and/or a restriction of lump sum payments to lower income households can minimize the trade-off between equity and efficiency. Our simulations suggest that well-designed CO 2 tax schemes could be a crucial and socially acceptable element within a comprehensive policy package to achieve GHG emission targets for non-ETS sectors in Austria. Highlights • CO 2 tax impacts on equity and the double dividend in Austria. • Macroeconomic modeling with focus on energy demand and household income groups. • Well-designed CO 2 tax schemes can contribute to achieving non-ETS emission targets. • Traditional tax recycling schemes show trade-offs between equity and efficiency. • A combination of different recycling schemes may provide acceptable trade-offs. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Less Than Zero: Can Carbon-Removal Technologies Curb Climate Change?.
by Fred Krupp
Foreign Affairs, 01/03/2019, Vol. 98 Issue 2, p142-152, 11p
The article focuses on carbon-removal technologies and how they may curb climate change. The authors discuss a 2018 study conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, explore the use of negative emission technologies (NETs), and examine how NETs can help implement the United Nations agreement referred to as the Paris accord.
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Moving towards hybridity in causal explanation: The example of citizen participation.
by Liz Richardson
Social Policy & Administration; Mar2019, Vol. 53 Issue 2, p265-278, 14p
The puzzle of causal explanation is a core issue for social science. Searches for causal patterns can be overly mechanistic, seen for example in the desire for the magic bullet in policy, or the lionising of the celebrity policy interventions of the moment. Emphasis in policy interventions on transferable practice is often dismissed as naive for failing to recognise the importance of context, contingency, and complexity. However, a focus on highly context‐specific narratives, drawn from single cases, can be equally problematic and exacerbate rather than help the problem of reification of knowledge. This paper makes a reflective theoretical contribution to the debate on the need to tackle the dilemma of contingency versus certainty in causal explanation in the social sciences. It attempts to address this issue through the lens of a specific concrete puzzle of explanation; that of citizen participation in policy. Citizen participation is a salient policy topic, which demands a thorough understanding of causation. Using extended empirical examples of citizen participation in policy serves to highlight the intractability of different traditions of causal explanation and grounds the need for greater compatibility in approaches. The paper then offers two propositions centring on the notions of transdisciplinarity and hybridity in research practices and methodologies. It concludes with a discussion of more and less desirable forms of hybridity. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Family Policy Index: A Tool for Policy Makers to Increase the Effectiveness of Family Policies.
by Begoña Elizalde-San Miguel
Social Indicators Research. Feb2019, Vol. 141 Issue 3, p387-409. 23p. 1 Diagram, 5 Charts, 8 Graphs.
This paper presents the Family Policy Index (XFPI), an analytical tool designed to measure and compare different models of countries' provision of educational services, parental leave and economic transfers to support families with children aged 0-3 years. The objective of this index is twofold: from a scientific perspective, it aims at measuring and comparing the overall support families receive through public policies; it also serves advocacy purposes, since the index may offer guidance to policy makers on best practices and may also increase citizens' awareness of the efforts each country is making to support families. The XFPI has been conceptualized following a gender equality principle, considering that policies must involve both mothers and fathers in the exercise of their equal responsibility as parents. The XFPI was measured for two countries, Spain and Norway, in the 1999-2014 period, to test its applicability to different real scenarios and models of Welfare State with different policies and intentions, in which responsibility for childcare falls on two different agents: the State in Norway, and the family in Spain. The results show the extremely low development of Spanish pre-educational services for children 0-3 and, simultaneously, the existing limitations of Norwegian family policies in respect of gender equality. The index has the capacity to provide robust results applicable in different countries and to project into the future the potential scenarios that countries may face when designing new policies. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The Hayne royal commission and trust issues in the regulation of the Australian financial sector.
by George Gilligan
Law & Financial Markets Review. Dec2018, Vol. 12 Issue 4, p175-185. 11p.
The issue of how trustworthy Australia's financial institutions, especially its banks are, has been an increasingly controversial issue in recent years as a succession of financial scandals engulfed many of the financial sector's most significant players. A recurring theme in debates about Australia's financial sector has been concern about weak enforcement of existing laws and regulation. Criticism has been directed at all of Australia's financial regulators, but especially the market conduct regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). After spending years resisting intense pressure from many segments of the community, (including some of its own backbenchers), to establish a royal commission of inquiry to investigate misconduct in Australia's financial sector, the conservative Commonwealth Coalition Government finally capitulated in late November 2017. Retired former High Court Judge Kenneth Hayne was appointed to investigate misconduct in Australia's banking, superannuation and insurance industries. As 2018 has progressed a series of public hearings has revealed an appalling picture of systemic abuse and misconduct by both small and large scale Australian financial institutions. A key question has been what were the regulators, especially ASIC doing, or not doing? This paper discusses the Hayne Royal Commission, especially in relation to Australian regulatory (in)activity. Also, the paper reports on the findings of the 2018 Deloitte National Survey on Trust in Banking regarding the views of Australians on how well banks are held accountable by regulators in Australia. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The hidden power of the new economic sanctions
by Gordon, Joy.
Current history. 2019 118(804):3-10
"Smart" sanctions, despite the benign name and claims that they precisely target wrongdoers, often systemically undermine a nation´s fundamental infrastructure and harm its entire population. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The Long-Term Economic Impact of Criminalization in American Childhoods.
by James P. Smith
Human Factors; Mar2019, Vol. 61 Issue 2, p422-444, 23p
This article documents arrest and conviction histories before age 26 years of Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) respondents using a retrospective module that I designed. I find strong positive cohort effects in rising probabilities of arrest for all demographic subgroups. This increased contact with the criminal justice system across birth cohorts was at a more rapid rate over time among Whites and women. These rising rates of arrests and convictions are associated with lower probabilities of being married, lower weeks worked, lower hourly wages, and lower family incomes during the adult years. The size of the estimated associations is quite large. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Caves to castles: the development of second home practices in New Zealand.
by Trudie Walters
Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure & Events; Mar2019, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p1-15, 15p
Using New Zealand as a case study, this paper turns a historical gaze to the development of second home practices, arguing that it is not possible to fully understand changes in second home practice through a narrow focus on housing policy. Rather, as second homes reflect the social, political, economic and cultural contexts in which they are situated, wider government ideology and policy changes, along with changing trends in leisure consumption, must be taken into account. The paper finds that in the 1880s when access to leisure and land tenure was limited, second home practice in New Zealand was very basic and male-dominated. Government-mandated access to leisure and favourable social welfare policies after 1945 meant second homes became the domain of middle-class families. The rhetoric of consumption also flowed into second home practices. The 1984 neoliberal policies led to wealth accumulation for some New Zealanders and rural outmigration for others, which was reflected in the rise of both luxury and re-use second homes. This paper provides useful baseline information for future research efforts, and encourages consideration of the broader implications of policy decisions (not just related to housing) at both national and local government level. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
The truth about the practical tax rate for families.
by Barak Tchelet
Taxation in Australia; Mar2019, Vol. 53 Issue 8, p432-438, 7p
Many Australians believe that an increase in income leads to a positive increase in cash flow that equates to the full amount minus the excessive income tax and Medicare levy. However, this article seeks to unearth the truth about the practical tax rate for families. The article demonstrates that extra income can, in some cases, contribute very little (and sometimes even negative cash flow) to Australian families. The author is of the view that, although people are knowledgeable about their income tax rate, they are ill-informed about the full impact of an income change on their allowances, subsidies and discounts that frequently exceed the tax impact. The author has supported his claims with examples, and concludes that the Australian Government, despite its good intentions to help, generates a complex multi-layered methodology with inconsistencies, absurdity and even clear unfairness. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
Reforming local public finance to reduce resource consumption: the sustainability case for graduated property taxation.
by Maurie J. Cohen
Sustainability Science; Mar2019, Vol. 14 Issue 2, p289-301, 13p
The customary mode of flat rate-property taxation used in the United States and many other Anglospheric countries encourages the consumption of ever greater volumes of energy and materials by relatively affluent households and exacerbates social inequalities. Transition from an invariable tax rate on residential real estate to a graduated schedule could enhance local sustainability by ameliorating the trend toward larger houses and associated increases in resource appropriation. This form of progressive property taxation was most notably implemented in New Zealand during the latter years of the nineteenth century, and has periodically attracted attention as a way to discourage the amassing of large landholdings in rural areas and to maintain housing affordability in cities. This paper considers the design and implementation challenges of a graduated property tax which, by dampening demand for outsized dwellings, could be a useful part of a comprehensive package of climate-change policies for local governments. Request this item from infohelp@cass.govt.nz |
What Do Australian Economics PhDs Do?
by Kenneth Clements
Australian Economic Review. Mar2019, Vol. 52 Issue 1, p134-144. 11p.
Australian universities now produce about 100 economics PhD graduates each year. Many graduates, perhaps most, aspire to an academic position. How many ultimately achieve this ambition? Relatedly, how long does the PhD take to complete, how many publications emerge from the research and how useful do graduates regard their PhD studies—was it time well spent? These questions relate to the social value of the substantial investment devoted to PhD training in economics, questions which have gone largely unaddressed up to now. The article also contains information on recent trends in graduate numbers and identifies which universities have consistently been the leading producers.
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You need to toss out the rule book. To build a culture of flexibility, you must first reimagine what
flexibility means today. Remember, to create behavior change, you need to allow for variance and
creativity and agility. In other words, be “flexible” when creating a flexibility culture. A policy guide
or a formal program can work against you. It seems counterintuitive, but having rules in place
actually hinders the development of a truly authentic culture. At PwC, we loosely call it “everyday
flexibility.” It isn’t something we mandate that all teams adopt; it’s a mentality and a way of life that
should be individualized for each person. |
Succeeding in an increasingly Agile world.
by Steve Denning
Strategy & Leadership. 2018, Vol. 46 Issue 3, p3-9. 7p.
As Agile management thinking spreads to every part and every kind of organization, including their competitors, corporate leaders need to take steps to ensure they get and keep a good seat at the Agile table. The author’s first hand research finds that firms are learning the hard way that software process and value innovation requires a different way of running the organization to be successful. The whole firm has to become nimble, adaptable and able to adjust on the fly to meet the shifting whims of a marketplace driven by dynamic changes in customer value.Findings The Agile way of working is provoking a revolution in business that affects almost everyone. Agile organizations are connecting everyone and everything, everywhere, all the time. They are capable of delivering instant, intimate, frictionless value on a large scale.Practical implications Examples of the new way of running organizations are everywhere apparent. It’s not just the five biggest firms by market capitalization: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. It’s also firms like Airbnb, Etsy, Lyft, Menlo Innovations, Netflix, Saab, Samsung, Spotify, Tesla, Uber and Warby Parker.Social implications A new kind of management was needed to enable this new kind of worker — a fundamentally different way of running organizations. Agile is economically more productive and a better fit with the new marketplace. And it had immense potential benefit for the human spirit. It could create workplaces that enabled human beings to contribute their full talents on something worthwhile and meaningful – creating value for other human beings. Continuing the management practices and structures of the lumbering industrial giants of the 20th Century is no longer a viable option for today’s firms. To survive, let alone thrive, leaders today must recognize that Agile is not something happening in software alone.
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Alive at work : the neuroscience of helping your people love what they do.by Daniel M. Cable"We've all seen the oft-cited Gallup poll that reports that an alarming majority of the workforce is disengaged and unmotivated. In Alive at Work, social psychologist Dan Cable argues that the reason for all the unhappiness is biological: organizations, in an effort to routinize work and establish clear-cut performance metrics, are suppressing what neuroscientists call our Seeking Systems, the part of our brain that craves exploration and learning. The good news is that organizations can activate our Seeking Systems, and, as Cable explains, it doesn't take extensive overhauls to their cultures to do so. With small changes, managers and supervisors can make meaningful impacts on our lives and restore our zest for work. For instance, the book reveals: how new hires exhibited their best traits and were less likely to quit in the future after sharing stories about themselves during on-boarding seminars, how Italian factory workers reduced their anxiety about a new process by playing with Legos, how employees at Make-A-Wish reduced burnout by crafting their own job titles. Filled with real-life examples from the author's own research and consulting, Alive at Work equips managers--and anyone looking to find more joy in their nine-to-five existence--with the guidance to maximize the curiosity and passion that lives within themselves and others."
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Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? : (and how to fix it)
by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
"In this provocative book, author Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic connects the dots and asks a powerful question: what if the reason for the lack of women at the top--and the presence of so many incompetent leaders who also happen to be men--is not that there aretoo many obstacles slowing women's advancement, but that there aren't enough career-testing obstacles for men? Marshalling decades of rigorous research on leadership to build his case, Chamorro-Premuzic points out that although women make up a minority of leaders, female leaders are often rated by both bosses and subordinates as more competent than their male peers. At the same time, most organizations continue to equate leadership potential with a handful of personality traits, like overconfidence and narcissism, that don't correlate with success. In other words, these traits may help people get nominated to leadership roles, but they backfire once the individual has the job."
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Becoming a manager : how new managers master the challenges of leadership. by Linda A. Hill"In your career, or anyone's, there is one transition that stands out as the most crucial--going from individual performer to competent manager. New managers have to learn how to lead others rather than do the work themselves, to win trust and respect, to motivate, and to strike the right balance between delegation and control. Many fail to make the transition successfully. In this timeless, essential book, Harvard Business School professor and leadership guru Linda Hill traces the experiences of nineteen new managers over the course of their first year in the role. She reveals the complexity of the transition, highlighting the expectations of the managers, their subordinates, and their superiors. We hear the new managers describe how they reframed their understanding of their roles and responsibilities, how they learned to build effective work relationships, how and when they used individual and organizational resources, and how they learned to cope with the inevitable stresses of leadership. Hill shows that becoming a manager is a profound psychological adjustment--a true transformation--as well as a process of learning from experience. And she also offers concrete advice on dealing effectively with organizational politics, developing and leading diverse teams, and how managers can prepare themselves to lead over the course of their careers."
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