Managing Migration through Conflicting Policies: an Option-theory Perspective

Recent European legislation on immigration has revealed a particular paradox on migration policies. On the one hand, the trend of recent legislation points to the increasing closure of frontiers (OECD 1999, 2001,2004), trying to limit the immigrants’ stock. On the other hand, there is an increase in regularization, i.e., European policies are becoming less tight. Our aim here is to develop a theoretical model that tries to explain if it is better for the government to tighten or relax limits for immigrants in order to control migration inflows better. To this end, we use a real option approach to migration choice that assumes that the decision to migrate can be described as an irreversible investment decision. In our model the government has in mind a specific upper bound on immigrants, and the policies adopted (admission requirements or regularizations) are signals for each potential migrant that reveal information about this limit. Our results show that promoting uncertainty over this migration upper bound may improve the government’s control on migration inflows (quotas). This could explain that the paradox of counterbalancing policies is not an odd evidence. In particular, we show that if the government controls the information related to the immigration stock it could delay the mass entry of immigrants, maintaining the required stock in the long run and controlling the flows in the short-run.immigration, real option

The paradox between the european pillar of social rights and eu economic governance: spanish reforms to wage-setting institutions and the working poor

The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) was announced as a new platform for advancing social policy in the European Union. Among the principles and rights enshrined in the EPSR, the Commission has included the right of workers to be paid fair wages. However, in the context of EU Economic Governance, the EU country- specific recommendations steer national wage-setting institutions in the opposite direction. The outcomes sought by EU Economic Governance and the EPSR thus produce a paradox. This paper presents the Spanish case as an example of this paradox. More specifically, it assesses the reforms the Spanish Government made to minimum wage rules and the collective bargaining system during the financial crisis. In the end, all those reforms have led to wage stagnation and devaluation, causing an increasing number of working poo

Bangsawan Prampoewan Enlightened Peranakan Chinese Women From Early Twentieth Century Java

The end of the nineteenth century witnessed paradox among the Chinese in colonial Java. On one hand, they were prospering economically, but were nonetheless held in contempt by the Dutch, encountered legal discrimination and faced challenges if they wanted to educate their children in European schools. Their marginal position motivated them do their utmost to become “civilized subjects”, on a par with Europeans, but they were also inspired to reinvent their Chinese identity. This contribution will highlight role played by “enlightened” Chinese, the kaoem moeda bangsa Tjina. Central to this movement were the Chinese girls known to the public as bangsawan prampoewan (the noblewomen), who wrote letters the newspaper and creating a gendered public sphere. They also performed western classical music in public. Considering the inspirational impact of bangsawan prampoewan's enlightening achievements on non-Chinese women, it is appropriate to include them into the narrative of the history of the nation's women's movements

Workfare – The Reinvention of the Social

The presentation aims on refocusing the mainstream debate, starting from looking at work as the central reference rather than seeing the constituting problem of workfare as one of social policy/social security. Of course, at the end the objective is a clearer understanding of how measures aiming on work and employment integration can meaningfully be utilised for responsible policy making. For this, an introductory step will look at what we are actually dealing with when we talk about workfare. Then a second step will very briefly present the EUropean political debate, returning thereafter to the question what we are actually dealing with when we talk about workfare. Then, in a third step, a paradox is presented: the gain of employment, going hand in hand with a loss of work. The conclusion will discuss in the fourth step workfare in the light of power and life.workfare; social policy; Comparative social research

Recovery and reconstruction : Europe after the Second World War

1945 was a watershed in the economic history of Europe. It marked the end of the worst of all wars but also the beggining of a quarter century of undprecendented economic and social progress. This paradox is explained by three factors: strong supply-side foundations, at least in western Europe; the Marshall Plan; and the revival of the German economy as foundational pillar of the European division of labour. By contrast, in Eastern Europe, the foundations for recovery were undermined by the war-induced demographic disaster, which limited postwar growth

Towards a knowledge society: the portuguese case

Economies are moving towards competitive stadiums based on knowledge and innovation. The changing environment and the level of globalization demand important efforts in order to sustain competitive advantages. Portugal has experienced a remarkable evolution since its adhesion to the European Union in several fields: economic development, Research & Development (R&D) consolidation, health parameters and social cohesion. As other developed economies, Portugal started its journey towards a knowledge-based economy and has been consolidating an innovation system during the last 35 years. The following report aims to analyze the evolution of a system since its creation to its last transformation within a globalized context. Challenges such as the lack of maturity of the system, the economic crisis, the European paradox, and closing the gap with other European countries are addressed in the next chapters. Likewise, recommendations on these points are provided by the end of the report as potential solutions

Jevons Paradox And The Economic Implications For Europe

Energy consumption has increased considerably in the past two hundred years despite more efficient technology advancements. This positive correlation between increased energy consumption and increased efficiency is known as Jevons Paradox. Increased energy consumption should be of concern because all the inputs to economic production come from the environment and the consumption of resources from the ecosystem will cause an economic slowdown. Additionally, the consumption of natural resources to provide energy is an irreversible process, worsening the human condition instead of improving human welfare. Therefore, sustainable development policies need to be considered to end the continued excess consumption, beyond sustainable levels, of natural resources and the potential resulting conflicts. To design environmentally sustainable policies, the effect of economic activity, of resource utilization, and increased efficiency must be understood. In this paper, we attempt to illustrate how energy consumption alters the natural state of the economy and the environment. Further, using energy data from the Energy Information Administration we develop models that provide empirical support that Jevons Paradox may exist on a macro level for the countries of Europe. Specifically, eighteen European countries are examined. Finally, the resulting policy implications and the applications for an ecological economic approach are explored

Wealth Inequality in the Netherlands, c. 1950-2015 : The paradox of a Northern European welfare state

This paper reviews the available evidence on post-war trends in Dutch private wealth inequality using a range of scattered sources. Wealth tax records suggest a substantial decline in inequality to the 1970s and, more tentatively, a gradual rise thereafter. In the post-1990 years, Gini-coefficients of private wealth inequality range from 0.8 to 0.9, which is at the high end of the international comparison. Such high levels of private wealth inequality contrast with relatively low levels of net income inequality; a paradox that the Netherlands share with other Northern European welfare states. We hypothesise that publicly funded life-time income security limits the wealth-formation by ordinary Dutch households, while the redistributive taxes required to finance this system are targeting income rather than wealth.</p

COLLATERAL'S IMPORTANCE IN SMES FINANCING: WHAT IS THE BANKS' RESPONSE? SOME EVIDENCE FOR ROMANIA

Searching for funding, SMEs' managers face various obstacles arising from information asymmetry, lack of experience, severe market conditions, and insufficient or unsatisfactory collaterals for banks (OECD 2006; Badulescu and Badulescu 2010; OECD 2000 and 2004; Lin and Sun 2006; Toivanen and Cresy, 2000). The collateral issue is extensively discussed in literature - preventing moral hazard, the alignment the interests (Stiglitz and Weiss 1981:393-410; Chan and Thakor 1987:345-363; Jiménez and Saurina 2004), a means to discipline the borrowers behaviour (ex post) given the existence of a credible threat (Aghion and Bolton 1992:473-494), or even banking behaviour on the market (Manove et al. 2001:726-744, Argentiero 2009). In the same time we find that the perception of firms, revealed by National Bank of Romania (NBR 2010) survey data, show that banks still use the collateral as a measure of pressure, in special in crisis times. For an important part of managers, the bank increased the level of required collateral for existing, renewing or new credits, asking for new covenants, revealing a paradox of crisis time: while the bank loans remained the favourite method of external financing needs of business, the banks often reduce their availability. Although the bank loan remains the favorite mean to support the growth ambitions, the higher level of collateral or lending costs are seen as principal obstacles by the majority of manager in EU. According to NBR survey, the influence of risk factors related to collateral had a climax at the end of 2008 and 2009, when the banks have tightened the requirement for loan guarantee. Using National Bank of Romania (NBR 2010) survey data, we show that the banks still use the collateral as a measure of pressure, in special in crisis times. For an important part of managers, the bank increased the level of required collateral for existing, renewing or new credits, asking for new covenants, revealing a paradox of crisis time: while the bank loans remained the favorite method of external financing needs of business, the banks often reduce their availability. According to NBR survey, the influence of risk factors related to collateral had a boom at the end of 2008 and 2009, when the banks have tightened the requirement for loan guarantee. Following the European trend in straightening the credit conditions, Romanian market had a more pregnant evolution with a rapid deterioration of these conditions during the second and the third quarter of 2008. In general terms, the seeking for higher percentage of coverage with real estate collaterals, paradoxically, makes banks more vulnerable, given their pro-cyclical behaviour, feeding the real estate market crisis.SMEs lending, collateral, credit standards