Universal Basic Income as emergency measure and enduring reform

Universal Basic Income – or UBI – is being promoted across the political spectrum as a potential emergency response to COVID-19. It is being discussed by many around the world as a more effective way of addressing immediate needs, in the wake of business closures, job losses, falling incomes and rising destitution and inequality, as well as a possible stimulus package for economic recovery as restrictions on mobility and consumer spending are eased in the following months. It has great potential to not only provide a safety net during the pandemic but also give people the economic security they need to flexibly seek out new employment, training and entrepreneurship opportunities or continue important care work. Part of its appeal is its simple administration as a universal payment to all citizens without costly and complicated means-testing. It could provide emergency income support quickly to all those who need it – plugging the gaps in the patchy coverage offered by the Government’s existing support schemes. In the long run, studies show that UBI can deliver a number of benefits – notably eradicating poverty and homelessness, dramatically reducing inequality, alleviating stress and mental illness, reducing crime and domestic violence, and empowering employees to demand better working conditions and seek more meaningful and socially valuable work, even providing an alternative source of sustenance in the purported transition to a fully-automated post-work society. However, the evidence is mixed and based on partial experimental data. Studies demonstrate that UBI cannot do everything expected of it by its very diverse proponents with political visions pulling in divergent directions. The multiple benefits imputed to UBI are often in direct tension with one another. These tensions mean that it is unlikely UBI can be delivered effectively whilst also remaining affordable and without compromising its celebrated ability to simplify the tax-benefit system. This working paper explores the potential pitfalls of institutionalising UBI as both emergency measure and enduring policy. It was originally written for the Lib Dem Business and Entrepreneurs Network taskforce as a briefing on the role UBI may play during and after the crisis, but speaks to wider debates about its origins, efficacy and prospects. The paper argues that emergency basic income seems necessary to protect livelihoods during the crisis – but that questions remain over what form it should take, how much, how long and how universal. If used too hastily during the pandemic UBI could pose health risks in encouraging people to start spending too soon, increasing exposure to the coronavirus. If used as economic stimulus coming out of the lockdown, it could consolidate prevailing trends in consumer behaviour and working patterns to strengthen the competitive position of large online retailers and tech giants like Amazon, threatening small businesses. Although UBI would have a positive impact on the growing consumer debt crisis – precipitating a debt jubilee – it cannot alone reform the underlying structural causes of mounting debt, falling real wages and diverging income shares between asset-owners and workers. UBI risks becoming a public subsidy for asset-owners – especially Silicon Valley and the emerging platform corporations of the digital economy to continue exploiting gig workers and zero-hour contractors while extracting value from the free labour that produces data and avoiding paying the taxes required to fund a UBI in the first place. UBI could offer the financial support people need to continue doing the socially valuable yet under-valued work of caring for children, the elderly and vulnerable, as well as domestic labour in the home and volunteering in the community – work often done by women. But UBI does not necessarily lead to greater gender equality, a more equitable division of labour or a revaluation of the paid and unpaid work done in society. Other, more structural reforms to work, tax and welfare systems are required. This working paper argues that an alternative in the form of Universal Basic Services (UBS) could probably deliver much more effectively many of the benefits often claimed for UBI. UBS is a more direct way of providing for basic human needs – shelter, food, transport and digital connectivity, alongside healthcare and education – through publicly-funded services, coordinated democratically though socialised markets at the local level. For UBS to make the impact hoped for, it would need to be complemented by considerably enhanced state investment in Universal Basic Infrastructure (UBIS), technological innovation, place-based industrial strategy, lifelong education, skills training and jobs creation. UBI can then act as a short-term measure to deal with immediate epidemiological and economic crises, and medium-term transitional bridge towards a more long-term vision for a renewed public realm and entrepreneurial state

Beyond the pandemic : building back better from crises in Asia and the Pacific

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created the worst crisis in Asia and the Pacific since World War II. Across the Asia-Pacific region, as across the world, countries have suffered sudden economic contractions, along with interruptions to trade, broken supply chains, and with the collapse of international tourism – leading to widespread job losses and increases in poverty. In all countries, the economic shock caused by the pandemic has exposed many structural weaknesses and fault-lines – notably in health and social protection systems, in digital connectivity and skills, as well as the extent to which our production and consumption patterns have been destroying the environment. As countries now work to stem the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, they also need to address these weaknesses – to build back better. Beyond the pandemic: Building back better from crises in Asia and the Pacific. The theme study for the 77th Commission session analyses the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic in countries of Asia and the Pacific, takes stock of action so far, and sets out a policy agenda for building back better grounded in regional cooperation and centered around four critical interconnected areas: broadening social protection, investing in a sustained recovery, strengthening connectivity and supply chains; and mending a broken relationship with nature

Conservation in Ecuador\u27s Sangay-Podocarpus Connectivity Corridor: A Study of Coproductive Capacities

Connectivity conservation, a growing topic across science, policy, and management, is considered an important supplement to protected areas. A diversity of ecological corridors is emerging to restore fragmented landscapes, preserve intact habitats, protect biodiversity, and improve resilience to climate change. Despite increasing expertise and resources for planning corridors, many initiatives face challenges mobilizing science and governance to implement corridors on the ground. In many cases, biophysical science is supplemented with social science to better understand the human elements of connectivity. Similarly, collaboration and partnership are heralded as essential for effective governance of corridors. However, less is known about how these domains interact. One way to view the interplay of science and governance is through the lens of coproductive capacities, a theoretical framework organized around normative, cognitive, social, and material capacities to effect scientifically-informed social change. Given the challenges in implementing corridors, novel tools are needed to integrate science and governance. To advance this effort, my study explores how coproductive capacities support a transition from planning to implementation in the Sangay-Podocarpus Connectivity Corridor (Corredor de Conectividad Sangay-Podocarpus; CCSP), the first corridor formally designated by Ecuador’s national government, linking national parks across a region of extraordinary biodiversity. The landscape is a complex mosaic of land uses and jurisdictions; this complexity is mirrored in the CCSP’s governance model, wherein representatives from government, NGO, and academic institutions collaborate in thematic working groups. I conducted in-depth, semi- structured interviews with stakeholders familiar with the role of science and governance of the CCSP, primarily government officials, conservationists, university researchers, and protected area managers. I collected additional data through field visits around the corridor and from public documents. Findings indicate that the CCSP possesses strong normative capacities, highlighted by a common vision for social-ecological wellbeing in the corridor and shared understanding of threats. Cognitive capacities are supported by biophysical science but lack integration with social science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Social capacities vary, depending on the scale of governance concerned. Material capacities are compromised by insufficient and inconsistent funding and human resources. A crosscutting theme, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a significant role in the CCSP’s trajectory since 2020. This study suggests that neither robust science nor collaboration in governance alone are sufficient for implementing corridors. Rather, implementation depends on strong and diverse capacities which are highly interdependent. While this case study is context-specific, it highlights the need for ample, targeted capacity-building resources to support and sustain connectivity conservation that achieves social and ecological goals

Inequalities, labour inclusion and the future of work in Latin America

The study of labour market inclusion serves to analyse the processes whereby people join the labour market and the characteristics of the jobs that they obtain. This publication analyses the labour market inclusion challenges that various groups in situations of vulnerability face in terms of the future of work, in particular women, young people, people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples. Labour markets in Latin America are undergoing significant interrelated and overlapping changes that threaten to exacerbate existing inequalities. These changes include those related to economic globalization and the restructuring of international trade; population ageing and migration; the digital economy and workplace automation; and climate change and the challenge of ensuring a just transition. Future labour trends call for an urgent reduction in the structural inequalities that define the region's labour markets to ensure that everyone can work together to meet emerging challenges and that countries and territories can take advantage of new opportunities to implement inclusive and sustainable development models.Foreword .-- Introduction. Labour inclusion in the context of the future of work / Mariana Huepe .-- Chapter I. Major global trends and their impact on labour inclusion / Jürgen Weller .-- Chapter II. The structural challenges of gender inequality and women’s autonomy in the workplace of the future / Camila Baron, Lucía Scuro .-- Chapter III. Challenges and recommendations for the labour inclusion of young people in Latin America / Andrés Espejo, Sonia Gontero, Denisse Gelber, Javiera Ravest .-- Chapter IV. Challenges and recommendations for labour inclusion of the Afrodescendent population / Mariana Huepe .-- Chapter V. The Indigenous Peoples of Latin America-Abya Yala: the centrality of the role of collective rights in a transformative economic recovery / Malva-marina Pedrero .-- Conclusions. Labour inclusion policies: an integrated, sustainable strategy with a territorial approach / Mariana Huepe

Parenting

Parenting is a lifelong task and parents are always remaining as a parent. Parenting in the present situation faces many challenges which need to be reviewed and understood with profuse equanimity and alacrity. This book tries to consider the process of parenting in different conditions such as during COVID-19 lockdown, in the refugee camps, and in different cultural structures and economic conditions. Situations that families face due to changing conditions such as global changes which cause lifestyles, immigration patterns, social conflicts, and raising children with developmental disabilities have been discussed. Topics such as professional concern with child care and education, gender roles and caregiving, and father’s involvement in parenting, have been covered in different chapters of the book

International System Change Compass: The Global Implications of Achieving the European Green Deal

The interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution cannot wait for humans to spend years discussing solutions, policies, and institutions. National and international systems have to change faster, which means redefining the goals that governments set themselves and the ways that everyone works to reach those goals.The International System Change Compass sets out the scope of the change needed. On their own, emissions reductions through incremental efficiency gains will lead to disaster. Minor changes within the current economic system won't solve the resource crisis; they won't solve the biodiversity crisis; and they won't address fundamental injustices across the world and within societies. Only a holistic approach toward system change that addresses the impact of Europe's resource usage and overall consumption footprint can achieve the inclusive transition needed to save our planet and provide a fair future for us all

Asia-Pacific tech monitor. Vol. 37, No. 3, Jul - Sep 2020

The year 2020 has been particularly challenging for the world due to COVID-19. The pandemic has imposed serious challenges for countries to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, this is the year that Science, technology and innovation have demonstrated its true value by providing innovative solutions to adapt, manage and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. The potential of emerging technologies in coping up with COVID-19 and post pandemic solutions has been endless specially for recovery of businesses, industries and economies. These technologies, particularly the fourth industrial revolution technologies, have helped not only in the healthcare sector but also provided adaptive solutions during lockdown such as remote working, online learning and indoor workout platforms.Introductory Note ... 2 Technology Market Scan ... 3 Technology Scan: Emerging technologies to fight Covid-19 ... 8 Special Theme: Technological innovations to control COVID-19 pandemic Digital innovations for COVI D-19 management Present applications, gaps and future strategies Suresh Munuswamy ... 14 The Fourth Industrial Revolution A new endless frontier Kalenzi Cornelius, So Young Kim, Sang Yup Lee ... 17 Technological Interventions and Strategies for combating Covid-19 in India An overview H. Purushotham, Bhavya Manjeera ... 24 Innovative technological interventions to respond COV ID-19 and Flattening the Curve Experiences of the Republic of Korea Joon-young Hur ... 36 Tech Events ... 40 Tech Ventures & Opportunities ... 41 Business Coach Start-up Venture Creation ... 42 Technology Transfer ... 44 Venture Financing ... 48 Managing Innovation ... 51 Green Productivity ... 54 Tech Opportunities Technology Offers ... 5

Asia-Pacific trade facilitation report 2021 : supply chains of critical goods amid the covid-19 pandemic disruptions, recovery, and resilience

This report reviews the impact of trade facilitation initiatives in Asia and the Pacific since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic began and discusses how to increase supply chain resilience. Supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic have underscored the need for digital and paperless trade procedures. A special chapter examines the pandemic&rsquo;s impact on the supply chains of critical goods such as vaccines, personal protective equipment, and food, and provides policy suggestions for enhancing supply chain resilience and trade facilitation. This is the third biennial progress report on trade facilitation implementation in Asia and the Pacific jointly prepared by the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.</p

Mapping research infrastructures to enhance the resilience of science systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

The overarching lesson from the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is that Africa is poorly equipped in Research Infrastructures (RIs), especially in Virtual RI (VRI) such as data and high-speed internet connectivity, reliable mobile networks and cloud computing facilities that allow for real-time collaboration environments in research, teaching, and learning. Adequate RIs (physical and virtual), which include human resources, modern and fully equipped classrooms are essential to success, especially in the current era of COVID-19 and digital transformations across the globe. This situation is expected to continue, going forward. However, VRIs need to be accompanied by Physical RIs (PRIs). A vital PRI in Africa is electricity, which still poses significant challenge to HEIs in Africa. On this backdrop, this project on Mapping RIs to Enhance the Resilience of Science Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focuses on one overarching goal: to investigate the current RIs landscape, both physical and virtual, in Africa and make recommendations to guide the formulation, implementation and governance of new policies and practices, as well as the revision of existing policies and practices on RIs

The market-s reaction on (alternative) M&A announcements in the automotive industry - an event study approach

The automotive industry is currently experiencing the biggest transformation in its history. Pressure from technological disruption, the emergence of new competitors and changing consumer demands require established OEMs to revise and innovate their business models. This work project takes an external perspective to investigate the influence of (alternative) M&A announcements on the automotive OEM’s equity value. It is proposed to be examined by means of an event study to shed light on the shareholders’ evaluation of external innovation. Overall, this work project provides insights for the OEM’s management and investors on how the market reacts to (alternative) deal-making in the automotive industry