Sickness and injury leave in France: moral hazard or strain?

From 1997 to 2001, the total payment to compensate for sickness and injury leaves increased dramatically in France. Since this change coincided with a decrease in unemployment rate,three hypothesizes should be proposed as possible explanations consistently with the literature: moral hazard (workers fear less to loose their job, therefore use sickness leave more confidently); strain (workers work longer hours or under more stringent rules); labor-force composition effect (less healthy individuals are incorporated into the labor force). We investigate the first two strands of explanation using a household survey (ESPS) enriched with claims data from compulsory health insurance funds on sickness leaves (EPAS). We model separately number of leaves per individual (cumulative logit) and duration of leaves (random-effect model). According to our findings, in France, the individual propensity to take sickness leave is mainly influenced by strain in the workplace and by a labor-force composition effect. Conditional duration of spells is not well explained at the individual level: the only significant factor is usual weekly work duration. Influence of moral hazard is not clearly ascertained: it has few impact on occurrences of leave and no impact on duration.Sickness, Labour Force

The Remittances Framework in Lesotho: Assessment of Policies and Programmes Promoting the Multiplier Effect

This study explored policies and programmes aimed at facilitating remittances inflows through formal channels and leveraging remittances for development in Lesotho. The study also looked into regulations and laws on remittances. In order to answer key questions of this study, semi‐structured questionnaires were administered to 29 institutions, including commercial banks, an asset manager, insurance companies, telecommunication companies, government ministries, parastatals, a research institution, a retailer, a savings and credit cooperative and non-governmental organizations. The gaps revealed by this study can be summarised as: the Deferred Pay Act is the only policy driving officially recorded remittance inflows to Lesotho and which facilitated the creation of remittances‐linked savings product by the banking sector; there are restrictions on remittance outflows for immigrants working in the country, though planned to be eliminated; most of remittances transfer products offered by various institutions suit regular income earners with bank accounts, the adoption of mobile‐phone based transfers adoption is low and the mobile‐phone based transfer products cannot be used to make international transfers; there is lack of adoption of remittances‐linked financial products by financial intermediaries and relevant government ministries; the benefits packaged with the remittances‐ linked savings accounts are less attractive; and most of the remittances services providers are concentrated in urban centres. These findings show there is a need to develop policies and programmes for harnessing remittances for development. This study concluded by suggesting policy options for facilitating remittances inflows through regular channels and promoting positive impact of remittances on development

Doing Business in South Africa

[Excerpt] This brochure illustrates important features of doing business in South Africa. The legal system within which business operates is closely based on overseas, particularly English, models. The concepts and rules will be familiar to overseas investors and trading partners

Reforming pensions in Zambia : an analysis of existing schemes and options for reform

All of Zambia's pension schemes are deficient in design, financing, and administration. This report urges that Zambia restructure its social protection system to complement its new economic strategy. That restructuring must address such basic problems as macroeconomic fluctuations and an unstable financial sector; high inflation rates and politically-motivated low-yield investments and loans; income ceilings irregularly adjusted for inflation; overgenerous public sector pension benefits; and inadequate management of pension fund operations. In the short and medium term, the objectives should be to settle outstanding pension claims, revise early retirement provisions and investment policies, and improve capabilities for administering statutory pension funds. In the long term the objectives should be to convert the Zambia National Provident Fund (ZNPF) into a modest basic pension scheme for private sector employees, and subsequently integrate civil servants and public sector employees into that scheme; establish regulatory provisions to develop and supervise private pension funds; and establish an administrative mechanism to review social protection policy and to supervise and coordinate its application by all agencies.Public Health Promotion,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance

eWOM for public institutions: application to the case of the Portuguese Army

Social media platforms provide easy access to the public opinion (called electronic word-of-mouth), which can be collected and analyzed to extract knowledge about the reputation of an organization. Monitoring this reputation in the public sector may bring several benefits for its institutions, especially in supporting decision-making and developing marketing campaigns. Thus, to offer a solution aimed at the needs of this sector, the goal of this research was to develop a methodology capable of extracting relevant information about eWOM in social media, using text mining and natural language processing techniques. Our goal was achieved through a methodology capable of handling the small amount of information regarding public state organizations in social media. Additionally, our work was validated using the context of the Portuguese Army and revealed the potential to provide indicators of institutional reputation. Our results present one of the first cases of the application of this type of techniques to an Army organization and to understand its negative reputation among the population.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

eWOM for public institutions: application to the case of the Portuguese Army

Social media platforms provide easy access to the public opinion (called electronic word-of-mouth), which can be collected and analyzed to extract knowledge about the reputation of an organization. Monitoring this reputation in the public sector may bring several benefits for its institutions, especially in supporting decision-making and developing marketing campaigns. Thus, to offer a solution aimed at the needs of this sector, the goal of this research was to develop a methodology capable of extracting relevant information about eWOM in social media, using text mining and natural language processing techniques. Our goal was achieved through a methodology capable of handling the small amount of information regarding public state organizations in social media. Additionally, our work was validated using the context of the Portuguese Army and revealed the potential to provide indicators of institutional reputation. Our results present one of the first cases of the application of this type of techniques to an Army organization and to understand its negative reputation among the population

Balancing Justice Needs and Private Property in Constitutional Takings Provisions: A Comparative Assessment of India, Australia, and the United States

This Article explores the relationship between justice needs and private property in the constitutional takings provisions of the Indian, Australian, and American constitutions. Building upon established scholarship, it develops a theoretical framework within which to consider the way in which a state balances the requirement to provide minimal levels of justice for its citizens through the re-distribution of goods and resources with the need to protect the private property of individuals. We summarize this framework in what we refer to as the “Justice Needs-Protection of Private Property Continuum.” Using the framework developed, the Article provides an outline of the takings provisions found in the Indian, Australian, and American constitutions. Part I examines Article 300A of the Constitution of India, which contains the scope of the power of compulsory acquisition exercised by the Indian state. Part II assesses Section 51(xxxi) of the Australian Constitution which, unlike its American and Indian counterparts, operates as both a grant of power to the federal government, as well as a limitation imposed upon that power, which may, it seems, operate so as to provide some minimal protection for individual private property interests. Part III considers the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution which, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, provides perhaps the most robust means among the three jurisdictions considered for protecting the individual private property interests as against state takings. The Conclusion offers comparative reflections on the nature of the takings provision found in each jurisdiction.Krithika Ashok, Paul T. Babie, & John V. Ort

Competition in financial services

In the financial services sector, the failure of a single institution can have a compounding effect on the sector, and on national and global economies. In particular, there is systemic risk from inter-institution lending, and this effect is more complex in Australia due to the small number of major players. In retail banking in Australia, following a similar practice in most developed countries, if an unsecured creditor is a retail depositor, their deposit is insured by the government. That is, if a retail bank fails, the Federal Government will make the depositors whole. The regulatory system, particularly the prudential regulatory system, is designed to protect depositors’ and borrowers’ interests, and this protects the interest of the government. The effect is that regulatory policy on banking has prioritised stability in consideration of the sovereign risk associated with the risk of retail bank failure. However, this approach also creates a policy dilemma. The dilemma concerns the extent to which the retail banking sector can attain the benefits of the vigorous rivalry from effective and efficient competition, without unduly risking stability and the potential of a devastating call on the public purse. Specifically, in the context of effective and efficient competition, there is limited competitiveness in retail banking in Australia. This is reflected in the static state of market share between the four major banks, and very slow and marginal improvements gains even by strong second tier competitors. Furthermore, the retail banking sector’s capacity for product and service innovation is limited. Although the absence of vigorous rivalry is conducive to stability within the retail banking sector, it is likely to detract from the welfare of retail banking consumers. Furthermore, the level of innovation may not be as high as is feasible and barriers, including prudential regulatory barriers to entry or expansion, mean that the extent of rivalry is unlikely to change without some form of promotion of competition. The paper consequently makes a four-point recommendation for the removal of the ‘four pillars’ policy:  The four major banks are protected by an implicit government guarantee that impacts market operation with little observable benefit to consumers, and may be a source of consumer disutility.  The four pillars policy has prompted increased vertical integration within the sector, particularly in the area of mortgage products.  There are sufficient merger protections provided by Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).  Competition and contestability arise when there are reasonably low barriers to entry and exit from the sector. It is not clear that low barriers to entry exist in Australia, and evidence to support this view comes from the failure of international banks to gain a significant toehold in the retail banking sector in Australia. One deterrent to entry is the regulatory focus on the four pillars. The authors recognise that this position is at odds with the view of the Financial System Inquiry. However, the rationale in the report of the Inquiry was to prevent mergers, and the current competition law achieves this objective. The paper recommends two specific policies to promote competition in retail banking without the structural intervention that would otherwise be required to improve the intensity of competition in the retail banking sector:  Introduce bank account number portability. This would use ‘know your customer’ and central database systems in a similar form to those that have been used for mobile number portability in Australia for the last decade and a half.  Introduce customer access to data held by banks to allow third parties to compare bank offerings across all banks.  Significantly, these two recommendations are consistent with the productivity proposals issued by the UK Government in July 2015. The research paper also examines crowd equity funding as a disruptive force in the banking sector, and recommends that crowd equity funding be permitted with the following safeguards:  ASIC should take an active role in monitoring crowd equity funding and be willing to sue in case of fraudulent action.  Any intermediary online platform should have a financial services licence with limited duty of care.  There should be a cap for business raisings through crowd equity funding of $2 million in a 12-month period.  Crowd equity funding is a social phenomenon. Through its use of social media, it has attracted people who have previously never been interested in investing in companies. Instead of being feared, this interest should be nurtured through the promotion of investors’ financial education

New Pathways: evaluating the implementation of a major work- related programme in Northern England

The evaluative research upon which this paper is based is focussed on the implementation of a three-year programme “Pathways to Success” (usually shortened to “Pathways”) in South Yorkshire, England. It is part of a much larger regional regeneration project funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) from 2001-2004. The Pathways programme is concerned with developing innovative curricula for the 14-19 age range in four Local Education Authorities (LEAs)1 and is taking place in 76 secondary (high) schools. A team from Sheffield Hallam University was responsible for evaluating the success of the Pathways programme and our findings reported here refer to the first year of implementation.</p

Research on approaches to public funding and development of tertiary education within selected OECD nations

No abstract available