POVERTY, WELL-BEING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: OFFICIAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MEASURES IN POSTMODERN SOCIETIES

Poverty and well-being are concepts that cannot be separated, and research on poverty is implicitly linked to welfare economics. Poverty, in the complex conditions of modern societies affected by financial and economic crises, requires a clear definition and measures as accurate as possible. The paper presents some issues related to official methods and techniques for estimating poverty. Three steps necessary for poverty measurement are introduced and, also, multidimensional and poverty dynamics analyses are highlighted as important issues for poverty eradication policies. Results on youth poverty dynamics, the duration and recurrence of poverty and the perpetuation of poverty in EU countries are presented. The concepts of poverty risk, as well as some results of the search for key factors influencing the likelihood of being at risk of poverty, is discussed. Traditionally the living standard of households is measured by income, but recently other tools for measuring well-being in the broader framework of postmodern societies have been developed. As examples are some experimental methods and techniques for estimating poverty introduced in the U.S. and the European Union. Also, in the context of discussions related to the design of policies for sustainable development, some aspects of well-being measures in ecological economics are presented

The Global Financial Crisis: Management of Deficits and Debts

The boom of world trade, the unprecedented openness of domestic markets, regional integration, and the persistence and magnitude of globalisation are as many challenges to the management of the internal balance between revenues and expenditures, both in the context of international, regional, national, and company mechanisms, and for the individual households and consumers. The coexistence of foreign deficits/trade and domestic deficits/ budget at macro level, at the same time with the accumulation of high levels of indebtedness of the states, non-financial corporate entities, and individual households requires, in the context of the present global financial crisis, new theoretical and practical approaches, new institutions, and new policies capable to secure the sustainability of growth, and to diminish the risk of increasingly unpredictable disturbances.global financial crisis, deficit management, indebtness rate, net landing and net borrowing, foreign/trade deficit, domestic/budgerary deficit

Institution, Gender, and Economic Development: A Case Study of Two Igbo Village

This dissertation explores new directions in economic theory based on field research in two Igbo villages in Nigeria (Umuluwe - representative of traditional Igbo villages and Obigo - representative of suburban, more modern, Igbo villages). Results from Ultimatum and Dictator Games played in Umuluwe show the importance of cultural context in economic behavior (endogenous preferences). The importance of endogenous preferences, as opposed to concepts of Pareto efficiency and Potential Pareto Improvement. The information provided by the 2001 survey, regarding the age, ocupation, education, income, number of children, affiliation to different associations, and other data, allows us to compare the social-economic characteristics of the villagers in Umuluwe and Obigbo. The migration between Umuluwe and Obigbo is analysed. Young people from Umuluwe migrate to Obigbo in search of better employment and education opportunities while retired people from Obigbo return to Umuluwe. In addition to the human flows, the the income flows from Obigbo to Umuluwe reveal a symbiotic rural-suburban relationship between the two villages. As modernization changed the traditional socio-economic structure and institution, it also enhanced the role of the symbiotic relationship between the two villages in Igbo society within the traditonal cultural matrix (based on the patrilineal polygamous extended family). Based on the survey results, the labor market decision-making in the two villages is examined using a binary logit model. The occupational structure revealed for Umuluwe and Obigbo villages is analyzed in combination with personal characteristics, households demograhics, and economic conditions in the village of residence. This study allows us to conduct the discussion regarding the probability of an individual to have a paid occupation vs. a non-paid occupation at two levels: (1) decision-making of male vs. female villages and (2) decision-making of Umuluwe vs. Obigbo residents. The results are consistent with the traditional cultural and institutional pattern in Igbo society.

Analysing drivers of and barriers to the sustainable development: hidden economy and hidden migration

The actual global crisis seems to influence negatively the sustainable development in EU countries. At least partially the informal economy escapes from the official registered GDP and hidden migration from the official demographic statistics. This can affect in a significant way the measurement of sustainable development and consequently policies in this field. Coming from general accepted findings of the theory, we concentrate on evaluating the reasons of agents to be involved in hidden economy and estimating the size of this part of economy. Today, there are evidences of a tendency to extended hidden migration together with an increasing official migration usually from eastern EU members to western countries. In a sense, hidden migration could be in relation with informal economy. Using some indirect procedures, we try to estimate the size of hidden migration and its impact on the official side of economy and its potential growth in the future. The main application of the developed methodology is in case of Romania.informal income; inactive population; emigration potential; hidden migration

Estimating SME’s risk of bankruptcy using stochastic methods: Romanian Development Regions

Nowadays, Romania has a functional market economy. Retrospective financial analysis is used to increase theprofitability and value of an economic entity searching for sources of capital and an efficient allocation. This analysisrequires certain financial methods and techniques to assess firm’s financial performance at a given moment. Economic theoryhas always been interested in developing methods to predict the risk of bankruptcy. One of the methods commonly used incurrent financial analysis is to determine the areas where the risk of bankruptcy is higher using the Score function. This paperpresents the theory of the Score function method for financial analysis of an economic entity and then applies it for SMEs inRomanian development regions. The bankruptcy risk for some SMEs is approximated and the strengths and weaknesses offinancial management in order to design new strategies are identified. Changes induced by the current economic and financialcrisis may involve, when the probability is a priori, an exchange of the bankruptcy rate. The techniques presented and appliedin this paper, allowed us, for each considered region, to obtain a general picture of the economic and financial situation ofSMEs and allowed for a global diagnosis and a synthesis of their economic and financial situation

Understanding The Brain-Drain From The Capital District Of New York State

The Capital District Region of New York State, home to twenty-five colleges and universities with a combined 14,000 students per year is attempting to leverage this educational resource to transform its economy away from its traditional government services, industrial, and manufacturing base towards high-technology.  Millions of dollars have been invested to develop the infrastructure necessary to have economic growth fueled by high-technology.  However, many of these highly skilled college graduates leave the area.  This exodus, or brain drain, is a major concern for regional economic developers and policy-makers because the social and economic vitality of a region is at risk.  For the high-tech industry to be successful in any region there must be complementary support industries and services.  Therefore, the retention of college graduates in various fields, not just those in technology disciplines, of study is vital for regional economic development.  Due to the considerable threat that the brain drain poses for a region in terms of social and economic vitality, one must have a complete understanding of the problem before attempting to correct it.  This study will answer the following questions: (1) How big is brain drain from the region; (2) What are the characteristics of the graduates who leave the region; (3) What are the differences between the graduates that stay in the region and those that leave; and (4) What factors can be changed to increase the probability of retaining graduates?

Distributional Impact of Globalization-Induced Migration: Evidence from a Nigerian Village

One of the contentious issues about the globalization process is the mechanism by which globalization affects poverty and inequality. This paper explores one of the various strands of the globalization?inequality?poverty nexus. Using microlevel survey data from over 300 poor households in the small village of Umuluwe (about 30 miles west of the regional capital of Owerri) in Southeast Nigeria, the paper investigates whether individuals who migrate from the village to take advantage of the urban-biased globalization process do better than non-migrant villagers. The paper concludes that while the migrant villagers tend to earn slightly higher incomes than the non-migrant villagers, the poverty profiles of both categories of households are essentially the same. In other words, and contrary to conventional wisdom, globalization has not succeeded in alleviating poverty amongst the poor villagers who explicitly took advantage of the process. The paper argues that, by changing relative prices in the urban areas, structural adjustment appears to have eliminated any advantage that globalization may have bequeathed to the migrant villagers.migration, Nigeria, poverty, prices

Urban Sprawl: Scenario Analyses For Public Policy - Makers

This paper examines the likely effects of public-policy on residential development in the Wappinger Creek Watershed within Dutchess County in the Hudson River Valley of New York State.  An econometric model is used in combination with Monte Carlo simulation to project residential development in a spatial format using a Geographic Information System (GIS).  GIS was used to extract data with bio-geophysical attributes, such as slope, soil, and location characteristics, to project growth trends for residential use of undeveloped land parcels due to changes in public policy.  Detailed scenarios present stakeholders the economic, social, and environmental implications of a possible course of action.  The results indicate that public-policy can be effectively used to counteract the effects of urban sprawl and increased population

Whose Standards? (B) Reaching The Assessment Puzzle

Love it or hate it, assessment has become the new reality on college and university campuses. Although measuring student achievement of course outcomes is not an easy task, assessment does not need to be a complex or painful experience. This paper describes the methods used to assess student achievement of the stated course outcomes in introductory level economics courses at two different colleges, the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) and Siena College, during the 2007 academic year. Specifically, we outline the course assessment activities that are used. We examine whether there are differences in the attainment of the course objectives of the students at the two very different institutions. Finally, we argue that an assessment exam designed using the course objectives is a better assessment tool than a standardized test

CURRENT COORDINATES OF ROMANIAN VULNERABLE GROUPS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

Often, in European Union and Romanian legal documents or in research reports, the term ‘vulnerable group’ is used similarly to disadvantaged, marginalized, excluded or risk group; all these concepts are related to the broader phenomenon of poverty. The common sense for vulnerability is ‘weakness’, ‘lack of defense’, ‘lack of means’. Vulnerable groups are groups without support, which are often in a chronic state of poverty, being unable to take advantage of opportunities or to defend themselves against problems that may arise. This paper presents a brief analysis of the structure and size of vulnerable groups in the European Union and an analysis of their particularities for Romania. The paper also proposes a systematic treatment, but not of all the consequences of the global crisis on Romanian vulnerable groups. The main features of the Roma minority and vulnerable women from Romania, their demographic profile and spatial distribution, the employment policies for these vulnerable groups are highlighted