The political economy of the disability insurance: theory and evidence of gubernatorial learning

Abstract The dramatic rise in the disability insurance (DI) rolls in the last 20 years has been the subject of much controversy. While the relationship between DI and labor force participation has been the subject of a growing literature, the mechanism of this transition from employment to DI remains unclear. We hypothesize that one mechanism is the state-level administration of the program which creates a classic principal-agent problem. We analyze the conflict of interests for Disability Determination Services agencies between Social Security Administration (SSA) standards and state gubernatorial political interests interacted with the increased demand for disability insurance as an alternative for low-skilled employment during the period of 1982 to 2013. We find evidence that multi-term governors allow a greater fraction of applicants than do first-term governors, but only up to year 2000, when allowance rates started to decrease over time. We develop a model that illustrates how these differences can be due to the type of monitoring conducted by the SSA. We provide additional evidence supporting this hypothesis analyzing how the effects interact with economic and political constraints. JEL codes H55, I18, I38, G22</jats:p

Is there a subjective well-being premium in voluntary sector employment?

Previous studies have found that employment in the voluntary sector offers a so-called ‘job satisfaction premium’: despite lower salaries, voluntary sector employees are more satisfied with their jobs than workers in other sectors. This paper examines whether voluntary sector employees also experience a subjective well-being premium. Using data from the UK Annual Population Survey 2012/2013, we find that voluntary sector employees do have higher levels of subjective well-being but this subjective well-being premium is not evenly distributed between men and women. Men score higher on happiness and life satisfaction. However, women in the voluntary sector have lower levels of life satisfaction compared with their counterparts in the public sector. We discuss the implications of our findings for policy and practice in the voluntary sector in the UK

Honesty above all else? Expectations and perceptions of political conduct in three established democracies

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the ESRC (grant number RES-000-22-3459) and British Academy (grant numbers SG-101785 and SG-52322). They would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions

The 3-methylglutaconic acidurias: what’s new?

The heterogeneous group of 3-methylglutaconic aciduria (3-MGA-uria) syndromes includes several inborn errors of metabolism biochemically characterized by increased urinary excretion of 3-methylglutaconic acid. Five distinct types have been recognized: 3-methylglutaconic aciduria type I is an inborn error of leucine catabolism; the additional four types all affect mitochondrial function through different pathomechanisms. We provide an overview of the expanding clinical spectrum of the 3-MGA-uria types and provide the newest insights into the underlying pathomechanisms. A diagnostic approach to the patient with 3-MGA-uria is presented, and we search for the connection between urinary 3-MGA excretion and mitochondrial dysfunction

Imitators of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is described by transient narrowing of the airways after exercise. It occurs in approximately 10% of the general population, while athletes may show a higher prevalence, especially in cold weather and ice rink athletes. Diagnosis of EIB is often made on the basis of self-reported symptoms without objective lung function tests, however, the presence of EIB can not be accurately determined on the basis of symptoms and may be under-, over-, or misdiagnosed. The goal of this review is to describe other clinical entities that mimic asthma or EIB symptoms and can be confused with EIB

institutional framework of in action against land degradation

While econometric and spatial data are increasingly helpful to quantify and locate the extent and costs of land degradation, there is still little understanding of the contextual factors that determine or influence the land users' practices that aggravate or counteract land degradation. In this chapter, we take an institutional economic approach to analyse the persistence of degrading practices, the low adoption of sustainable land management (SLM), or the eventual organisational reaction to land degradation. The chapter reviews four examples of land degradation in different contexts to reveal the multiple driving forces and contextual factors. We then propose a conceptual framework to better understand the incentive structure and factors determining the land users' decision making. A layered analysis of the social phenomena is applied, following Williamson (2000). The chapter shows how actions at different layers can help improve land management. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations for the institutional economic analysis of land degradation

Perspectives on Disconnects Between Scientific Information and Management Decisions on Post-fire Recovery in Western US

Environmental regulations frequently mandate the use of "best available" science, but ensuring that it is used in decisions around the use and protection of natural resources is often challenging. In the Western US, this relationship between science and management is at the forefront of post-fire land management decisions. Recent fires, post-fire threats (e.g. flooding, erosion), and the role of fire in ecosystem health combine to make post-fire management highly visible and often controversial. This paper uses post-fire management to present a framework for understanding why disconnects between science and management decisions may occur. We argue that attributes of agencies, such as their political or financial incentives, can limit how effectively science is incorporated into decision-making. At the other end of the spectrum, the lack of synthesis or limited data in science can result in disconnects between science-based analysis of post-fire effects and agency policy and decisions. Disconnects also occur because of the interaction between the attributes of agencies and the attributes of science, such as their different spatial and temporal scales of interest. After offering examples of these disconnects in post-fire treatment, the paper concludes with recommendations to reduce disconnects by improving monitoring, increasing synthesis of scientific findings, and directing social-science research toward identifying and deepening understanding of these disconnects

Analysing constitutional reform in Britain: Insights from economic approaches

Over the last decade, the British state has been profoundly restructured. These changes challenge scholars to develop accounts capable of providing a unified analysis of the various reforms and of enabling their effects to be identified. While there is now a large literature on constitutional change in Britain, most of these studies focus on individual institutions and neglect the reforms’ collective nature and effects. To develop a more unified analysis of the reforms and their consequences, we need an account of what institutions are and of how they work. Economic analyses of institutions provide such an account, helping us to identify the common operating logics that underpin different institutions along with their effects. Insights from the economic approach to institutions are drawn on to explore how the constitutional reforms in Britain affect the distribution of decision-making authority and the nature of political accountability