A european equivalence scale for public in-kind transfers

This paper introduces a theory-based equivalence scale for public in-kind transfers, which justifies comparison of distributions of extended income (cash income plus the value of public services) between European countries. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed equivalence scale in an empirical analysis of the effects of public health care, long-term care, education and childcare expenditure on estimates of income inequality and poverty for 24 European countries. The empirical results show significant effects of public in-kind transfers on the level of income inequality and poverty for all countries. Over the period 2006–2018, inequality and poverty estimates display rather different trends across European countries.This work has been supported by the second Network for the analysis of EU-SILC (Net-SILC2) coordinated by CEPS/INSTEAD (Luxembourg). Financial support from Eurostat, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, and the Norwegian Research Council (grant number 261985) is gratefully acknowledged

No country for old men? Increasing the retirement age in the Armed Forces

An ageing workforce due to low fertility rates and higher life expectancies challenges modern industrialized economies. To secure economic welfare and the balance of public budgets, governments worldwide implement reforms to increase the retirement age. This trend towards higher retirement age confronts a defense sector that for centuries has been in search of an age structure characterized by ‘youth and vigor’. We study the economic gains to society from increasing the special retirement age for military personnel in the Norwegian Armed Forces. By combining the literatures on pension, personnel, and military economics, we identify mechanisms crucial to the outcome of a special retirement age reform. Monte Carlo simulation is applied to illustrate the potential impact on the economic net gains of uncertain variables. We find that an increase in the retirement age provides substantial net benefits to society, even under fairly negative assumptions about the consequences for retention, motivation and efforts, and the value of elderly personnel in the Armed Forces

No country for old men? Increasing the retirement age in the Armed Forces

An ageing workforce due to low fertility rates and higher life expectancies challenges modern industrialized economies. To secure economic welfare and the balance of public budgets, governments worldwide implement reforms to increase the retirement age. This trend towards higher retirement age confronts a defense sector that for centuries has been in search of an age structure characterized by ‘youth and vigor’. We study the economic gains to society from increasing the special retirement age for military personnel in the Norwegian Armed Forces. By combining the literatures on pension, personnel, and military economics, we identify mechanisms crucial to the outcome of a special retirement age reform. Monte Carlo simulation is applied to illustrate the potential impact on the economic net gains of uncertain variables. We find that an increase in the retirement age provides substantial net benefits to society, even under fairly negative assumptions about the consequences for retention, motivation and efforts, and the value of elderly personnel in the Armed Forces

Expanding the Norwegian Armed Forces in the Time of Corona: Benefit-Cost Analysis in the Context of High Unemployment Rate

Could the Armed Forces in advanced economies exploit the high unemployment during the corona pandemic to provide jobs to unemployed and strengthen nations’ security and defense? Unemployment is expensive for individuals and societies. If a public sector is supposed to expand in size in the future, one mitigation policy against high unemployment is to accelerate the recruitment plan. In Norway, policymakers plan for a gradual expansion of the Armed Forces towards 2024. In this article, we calculate the costs and benefits to the Norwegian society from a personnel strategy that exploits the dramatic hike in unemployment rates to recruit new personnel immediately. We identify potential benefits and costs through a literature review of the scholarship on the costs of job displacement. Then, we build a benefit-cost model that calculate the net gains to society under several Norwegian economic futures. The results show that an immediate increase in personnel recruitment makes economic and societal sense if the macroeconomic conditions in Norway remain severe over half a year after program initiation and as long as the Norwegian Armed Forces target skills that are prevalent among unemployed

Fordelingseffekter av offentlig tjenesteproduksjon i Europa.

Formålet med denne artikkelen er å belyse hvordan inntektsulikhet og fattigdom varierer mellom europeiske land, når verdien av offentlige tjenester inngår i inntektsbegrepet. De tradisjonelle fordelingsstudiene basert på inntekt etter skatt gir et ufullstendig bilde av den økonomiske situasjonen til individer og hushold fordi det ikke tas hensyn til at den inntektsskatten innbyggerne betaler kommer tilbake til husholdene i form av utdanning, helse og andre offentlige tjenester som er gratis eller sterkt subsidiert. Fravær av skattefinansierte offentlige tjenester ville ha medført at innbyggerne i stedet måtte ha kjøpt disse tjenestene i markedet. Derfor vil det være relevant å sammenligne resultatene for utvidet inntekt (inntekt etter skatt pluss verdien av offentlige tjenester) med en hypotetisk situasjon (kontrafaktisk inntekt) der innbyggerne må kjøpe tjenestene i markedet, samtidig som de slipper å betale skatter som finansierer de offentlige tjenestene. Vi presenterer resultater for økonomisk ulikhet og fattigdom i perioden 2006 til 2015 i 23 europeiske land. For alle 23 land finner vi at ulikhet og fattigdom blir betydelig redusert når det tas hensyn til verdien av offentlige tjenester.publishedVersio

Dynamic instabilities induced by asymmetric influence: Prisoners' dilemma game on small-world networks

A two-dimensional small-world type network, subject to spatial prisoners' dilemma dynamics and containing an influential node defined as a special node with a finite density of directed random links to the other nodes in the network, is numerically investigated. It is shown that the degree of cooperation does not remain at a steady state level but displays a punctuated equilibrium type behavior manifested by the existence of sudden breakdowns of cooperation. The breakdown of cooperation is linked to an imitation of a successful selfish strategy of the influential node. It is also found that while the breakdown of cooperation occurs suddenly, the recovery of it requires longer time. This recovery time may, depending on the degree of steady state cooperation, either increase or decrease with an increasing number of long range connections.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Genetic fine mapping and genomic annotation defines causal mechanisms at type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci.

We performed fine mapping of 39 established type 2 diabetes (T2D) loci in 27,206 cases and 57,574 controls of European ancestry. We identified 49 distinct association signals at these loci, including five mapping in or near KCNQ1. 'Credible sets' of the variants most likely to drive each distinct signal mapped predominantly to noncoding sequence, implying that association with T2D is mediated through gene regulation. Credible set variants were enriched for overlap with FOXA2 chromatin immunoprecipitation binding sites in human islet and liver cells, including at MTNR1B, where fine mapping implicated rs10830963 as driving T2D association. We confirmed that the T2D risk allele for this SNP increases FOXA2-bound enhancer activity in islet- and liver-derived cells. We observed allele-specific differences in NEUROD1 binding in islet-derived cells, consistent with evidence that the T2D risk allele increases islet MTNR1B expression. Our study demonstrates how integration of genetic and genomic information can define molecular mechanisms through which variants underlying association signals exert their effects on disease

The Relationship Between Narratives and Security Practices: Pushing the Boundaries of Military Instruments in Japan

Japanese security policy has undergone significant changes lately. Japanese policymakers have recently argued over advancing Japan’s Self-Defense Forces with new weapon systems. In particular, the Abe government has decided to pur- chase long-range cruise missiles for its new F-35A jetfighters, and to reconstruct a newly-built helicopter carrier into an aircraft carrier. While specific policy proposals continued di- viding policymakers and other stakeholders, the underlying story specifying Japan’s place in East Asia, the rise of China, the threat of North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, the tight security relationship with the United States and the vulnerability of the Japanese archipelago has faced lit- tle core criticism. The lack of alternative national security narratives suggests the emergence of a Japanese security consensus in the mid-2010s. The strength of the narrative in deterring policymakers to refrain from critique, through the significant costs incurred by opposition, could also sug- gest a hegemonic narrative (but not necessarily a consensus). We find that the dominant narrative provided a necessary foundation for unorthodox policy proposals, which arguably enabled the Abe government to push through military in- strument expansions in the Self-Defense Forces, a move far from politically sustainable only a decade earlier

The Relationship between Narratives and Security Practices : Pushing the Boundaries of Military Instruments in Japan

Japanese security policy has undergone significant changes lately. Japanese policymakers have recently argued over advancing Japan's Self-Defense Forces with new weapon systems. In particular, the Abe government has decided to purchase long-range cruise missiles for its new F-35A jetfighters, and to reconstruct a newly-built helicopter carrier into an aircraft carrier. While specific policy proposals continued dividing policymakers and other stakeholders, the underlying story specifying Japan's place in East Asia, the rise of China, the threat of North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, the tight security relationship with the United States and the vulnerability of the Japanese archipelago has faced little core criticism. The lack of alternative national security narratives suggests the emergence of a Japanese security consensus in the mid-2010s. The strength of the narrative in deterring policymakers to refrain from critique, through the significant costs incurred by opposition, could also suggest a hegemonic narrative (but not necessarily a consensus). We find that the dominant narrative provided a necessary foundation for unorthodox policy proposals, which arguably enabled the Abe government to push through military instrument expansions in the Self-Defense Forces, moves far from politically sustainable only a decade earlier.