Simulating the impact of regulation changes on the market for prostitution services

The paper draws on recent research on the economics of prostitution focussing on the role of stigma in shaping the interaction between demand and supply and the resulting sub-markets in which this activity is typically organised. Here we extend the framework to consider the role of reputation and stigma in determining policy decisions regarding the regulation of prostitution and show how sub-optimal outcomes (from the point of view of the welfare of sex workers) may prevail

Social Capital and Economic Development

The paper reviews the literature on social capital and development and identifies key properties of this concept that are then used in a model illustrating the potential welfare effects from social capital, in terms of both wellbeing and economic benefits. The model focuses on access to inputs into the growth process and identifies necessary conditions for benefits from social capital in terms of the availability of the right kind of intermediary making access to capital resources possible, and the presence of supportive institutions which make minimum human capital and complementary goods available.social capital, institutions, group lending, development

Social Capital and Economic Development

The paper reviews the literature on social capital and development and identifies key properties of this concept that are then used in a model illustrating the potential welfare effects from social capital, in terms of both wellbeing and economic benefits. The model focuses on access to inputs into the growth process and identifies necessary conditions for benefits from social capital in terms of the availability of the right kind of intermediary making access to capital resources possible, and the presence of supportive institutions which make minimum human capital and complementary goods available.social capital, institutions, group lending, development

Are We Getting It Right? Values and Life Satisfaction

The research agendas of psychologists and economists now have several overlaps, with behavioural economics providing theoretical and experimental study of the relationship between behaviour and choice, and hedonic psychology discussing appropriate measures of outcomes of choice in terms of overall utility or life satisfaction. Here we model the relationship between values (understood as principles guiding behaviour), choices and their final outcomes in terms of life satisfaction, and use data from the BHPS to assess whether our ideas on what is important in life (individual values) are broadly connected to what we experience as important in our lives (life satisfaction).life satisfaction, utility, values

The Costly Business of Trust

The paper provides a framework to analyses trust-based projects which can be used as a diagnostic tool to design more effective policy intervention, particularly addressing the problem of meeting users needs for which many microfinance scheme have come under criticism. the theory is developed on the basis of both secondary literature and direct empirical evidence from two micro-finance projects in Mexico. we illustrate how a system of trust is built, and derive general propositions regarding the specificity of trust, the role of trust brokers, and the policy of subsidising trust-building projects, that can be applied both to microfinance and other trust-based development projects. we aim, to provide a tool capable of identifying crucial actors in trust systems and the nature of the linkages between them, so that trust can be effectively operationalised and incorporated into policy design in order to improve projects' effectiveness and suitability to local conditions.

His and Hers: Exploring Gender Puzzles and the Meaning of Life Satisfaction

Our paper contributes to current debates around work-life balance and the efficiency and wellbeing costs associated with different models of work and childcare (Gregory and Connolly, 2008). It also contributes from a gender perspective to the life satisfaction literature by providing a test for the hypothesis that women and men with children attribute different meanings to overall life satisfaction. We begin by presenting a conventional model of life satisfaction for British parents in wave 8 of the British Household Panel Survey which includes childcare arrangements; and move on to discuss the possibility that women and men have a different understanding of what matters in life and what constitutes life satisfaction, and accordingly we explore the role of dimensions of life satisfaction in overall life satisfaction. Finally, we try to account for observed differences between women and men and explain some of the paradoxes encountered in the literature on women and work-life balance, and on policy based on happiness scores.

Time Packages and Their Effect on Life Satisfaction

The expected response of individuals to policy changes usually requires that they use their resources in a different way, according to the changed relative opportunity cost of undertaking each that the policy effects. However, it has often been noted that the allocation of time to different activities does not respond smoothly, and rather appears to be influenced by a range of non economic factors that lead to opportunity costs and trade-offs being different for different individuals, depending not just on the constraints they face, but also on the activities they are already ‘specialised’ at. In this paper we use the British Household Panel Survey to examine how time packages - the allocation of weekly hours to a combination of paid and unpaid work and leisure - affect life satisfaction, and the marginal returns from additional hours spent in paid work, overtime, caring and housework. We observe that for men in general, the marginal benefits of an additional hour of paid work, or extra work (in the form of overtime or a second job) are positive, while an additional hour of caring has a negative effect on life satisfaction. For men who are leisure rich, however, the marginal benefits of an additional hour of housework are positive. Leisure rich men appear to gain satisfaction from doing housework, in a way that other men do not. The same applies to women. Women are in general less satisfied by taking on overtime or second jobs, presumably preferring to use that discretionary time at home in leisure pursuits or with children. For women doing full-time paid work, the marginal effect of an additional hour of extra work (overtime or a second job) is negative; for women already stretched by full-time paid work, extra hours are an unwelcome burden. We discuss the role that different kinds of constraints, including gender attitudes, play in determining our results and the implications for policy design.happiness, time use

Family Values and Educational Choice

We look at the educational choice of parents for their children, when the level of education a¤ects individual values. This approach may be applied to the analysis of temporal changes in values and attitudes in a community of immigrants.