Veto Power and Wealth: Analysis of the Development of the Swiss Old Age Security

Switzerland was one of the last OECD-countries to introduce a program for old age security – the AHV. For many decades, expenditures both in absolute terms and as a portion of GDP remained low in OECD comparison. In the 1970ies however, expenditures exploded – within 10 years, the expenditures as a percentage of GDP doubled. This article explains this astonishing development by applying the veto player theory. Veto player theory is useful to determine changes in the policy stability. The higher the policy stability, the more difficult it is to move away from the political status quo. The lower the policy stability, the more probable it is that reforms and changes in government programs can be achieved. This article shows that the policy stability was particularly high in the constitution phase (from 1890 to 1947) and the consolidation phase (from 1974 to the present) and low in the phase in between (from 1948 to 1973), when the foundation for the expansion was set.Veto player theory, Political Institutions, Direct Democracy, Social Spending

REFORMING THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS OF LOW-SKILLED LABOR IN THE UAE

By establishing a central licensing authority (CLA) in the UAE that is managed by reputable placement agencies in the UAE and overseen by a government entity (including but not limited to MoHRE) can largely resolve many issues involved in the recruitment process, while imposing minimum administrative costs. The CLA has two key responsibilities, the first of which is to reform the recruitment process through Models 1-3, and the second is to create a clearing house for jobseekers and employers

Tennis serve data may elude some as serves get too fast

© 2019, Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. In our response to Krawczyk (2019), we emphasize the following points: (1) Our theoretical model incorporates a Tullock contest function which is the most commonly used tool in modelling any strategic contest, and controls for both the server’s and the receiver’s effort. (2) The panel nature of our data set allows us to control for unobserved heterogeneity at both the player and the match level and minimizes the omitted variable bias. (3) There is a difference between ‘risk’ and ‘effort.’ (4) There is a strong empirical pattern in our dataset which is robust to the use of different methodologies whether it is linear or semi-parametric. (5) Finally, given that Pope and Schweitzer (2011) was published in the top journal in the field and received a considerable number of citations, it should not come as a surprise that we apply their theoretical and empirical framework to tennis, which, like golf, has a well-defined reference point

Tennis serve data may elude some as serves get too fast

© 2019, Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. In our response to Krawczyk (2019), we emphasize the following points: (1) Our theoretical model incorporates a Tullock contest function which is the most commonly used tool in modelling any strategic contest, and controls for both the server’s and the receiver’s effort. (2) The panel nature of our data set allows us to control for unobserved heterogeneity at both the player and the match level and minimizes the omitted variable bias. (3) There is a difference between ‘risk’ and ‘effort.’ (4) There is a strong empirical pattern in our dataset which is robust to the use of different methodologies whether it is linear or semi-parametric. (5) Finally, given that Pope and Schweitzer (2011) was published in the top journal in the field and received a considerable number of citations, it should not come as a surprise that we apply their theoretical and empirical framework to tennis, which, like golf, has a well-defined reference point

The Political Consequences of Ethnic Tension: Theory and Evidence

By counting the number of articles published in major US newspapers containing carefully selected keywords, we construct a time varying measure of ethnic tension. Then, we empirically test the predictions of a theoretical model by using the aforementioned measure, and investigate how ethnic tension affects presidential approval ratings by different ethnic groups. Our results show that while ethnic tension decreases the approval by white voters, the opposite is true for the approval by African American voters. Further scrutiny reveals that this may be explained by the fact that government transfers to African Americans increase as a result of higher ethnic tension

Revisiting the democracy-private investment nexus: Does inequality matter?

© 2018 Association for Comparative Economic Studies Contrary to the predictions of a large theoretical literature, recent cross-country evidence suggests autocracies can generate statistically indistinguishable levels of private investment compared to democracies. We argue that the previous exclusion of inequality explains part of this puzzle. We model current investment as a function of investors’ beliefs about future tax rates, which are conditioned by the constraints on the Executive in setting tax rates and expropriating tax revenues. In democracies, where tax rates reflect the preferences of the median voter, investment declines with rising inequality. In autocracies, investor beliefs about future tax rates reflect the relative power of Elites compared to the Executive. As inequality rises, the increased resources available to Elites constrains the Executive\u27s ability to expropriate more tax revenues. The heterogeneous determinants of investor beliefs can explain the observed pattern of investment across regime types. We first test our predictions at the macro-level with cross-country data. We then test the behavioral underpinnings of our model with a novel laboratory experiment showing how inequality affects individual-level investment behavior dependent upon regime type. Results from both types of analyses show that when inequality is taken into account autocracies can generate similar levels of investment to democracies

Early Adolescents’ Food Selection After Evaluating the Healthiness of Remote Peers’ Food Choices

This study investigates whether asking early adolescents to evaluate the food choices of remote peers improves their own food selection. Participants were students from fifth (N = 219, Mage = 9.30 years) and sixth grades (N = 248, Mage = 10.28 years) of varying nationalities living in the United Arab Emirates (race and ethnicity were not collected). Students saw peers\u27 healthy or unhealthy food choices before picking their own food. In some conditions, students also critically evaluated the healthiness of the peers\u27 choices. Evaluation of peer choices led to healthier decisions (d = .53) to the point that it offsets the negative impact of observing unhealthy peer choices. This effect is larger for sixth graders compared to fifth graders

Behavioral phenotype in five individuals with de novo mutations within the GRIN2B gene

Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is often associated with behavioral problems or disorders. Mutations in the GRIN2B gene (MRD6, MIM613970) have been identified as a common cause of ID (prevalence of 0.5 – 1% in individuals with ID) associated with EEG and behavioral problems. Methods: We assessed five GRIN2B mutation carriers aged between 3 and 14 years clinically and via standardized questionnaires to delineate a detailed behavioral phenotype. Parents and teachers rated problem behavior of their affected children by completing the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC) and the Conners’ Rating Scales Revised (CRS-R:L). Results: All individuals had mild to severe ID and needed guidance in daily routine. They showed characteristic behavior problems with prominent hyperactivity, impulsivity, distractibility and a short attention span. Stereotypies, sleeping problems and a friendly but boundless social behavior were commonly reported. Conclusion: Our observations provide an initial delineation of the behavioral phenotype of GRIN2B mutation carriers

Veto Power and Wealth: Analysis of the Development of the Swiss Old Age Security

Switzerland was one of the last OECD-countries to introduce a program for old age security “ the AHV. For many decades, expenditures both in absolute terms and as a portion of GDP remained low in OECD comparison. In the 1970ies however, expenditures exploded “ within 10 years, the expenditures as a percentage of GDP doubled. This article explains this astonishing development by applying the veto player theory. Veto player theory is useful to determine changes in the policy stability. The higher the policy stability, the more difficult it is to move away from the political status quo. The lower the policy stability, the more probable it is that reforms and changes in government programs can be achieved. This article shows that the policy stability was particularly high in the constitution phase (from 1890 to 1947) and the consolidation phase (from 1974 to the present) and low in the phase in between (from 1948 to 1973), when the foundation for the expansion was set