Pathways to a universal basic pension in Greece

Although basic pension had for years failed to catch the imagination of policy makers in Greece, it was suddenly brought to the agenda in the context of the severe crisis raging since November 2009. In May 2010 the government committed to a harsh austerity programme, aiming at fiscal consolidation, in return for a rescue package easing the sovereign debt crisis. The July 2010 pension reform, a key provision of the austerity programme, provided for the introduction of a near-universal basic pension from 2015. The paper attempts to explain why, paradoxically, the crisis made more realistic a universal basic pension in Greece. We argue, firstly, that social insurance pensions may be ripe for path-breaking reform if heavily subsidised in a non-transparent way, and, secondly, that any progress towards basic income is likely to be gradual, uneven and specific to the national policy context.Universal basic pension, Greece, economic crisis, 2010 reform

Three Essays on the European Sovereign Debt Crisis with a Special Focus on Greece

This dissertation consists of three chapters where I examine several aspects of the European sovereign debt crisis. The first chapter focuses on systemic risk. Following the financial crisis of 2007-08, both in academic as well as policy circles, much of the research has focused toward the systemic importance of financial institutions. Parallel to that research, but to somewhat lesser extent, there have been improvements in our understanding of how risk is transmitted from the financial system to the real economy. This chapter investigates a related yet distinct manifestation of systemic risk, namely systemic sovereign risk. Using data on sovereign credit default swap spreads from 11 euro member countries the study seeks to examine how the sovereign risk of one member country can affect others, as well as the overall impact in the system. The proposed work is based on the approach of Adrian and Brunnermeier (2010), used to assess systemic risk contributions among financial institutions. Focusing on sovereigns rather than financial institutions, this work will expand a small but growing body of literature examining the recent European sovereign debt crisis. In the second chapter I present a brief overview of the stylized facts for the Greek economy starting from the period after the end of the military dictatorship and the transition to democracy up until early 2016. In the third chapter I revisit the issue of fiscal sustainability in Greece in a retrospective framework, meaning that our interest lies in evaluating the sustainability of past fiscal policies and whether these can lead to a sustainable fiscal path. My empirical analysis uses annual data from 1970 to 2015 from a single source (AMECO). The econometric methodology is divided into two parts. In the first part, I focus on the sustainability of government debt using unit root tests that allow for structural breaks. In the second part, I test for cointegration between government revenues and expenditures with two procedures, namely the Bounds test of Pesaran and Shin and Johansen\u27s test. The results from both the unit root tests and the cointegration tests indicate Greek fiscal policy is unsustainable. In order to account for structural breaks, I employ the methodology of Bai (1997) and Bai and Perron (1998) and incorporate the breaks when testing for cointegration between government revenues and expenditures. The methodology employs the Dynamic OLS framework of Stock and Watson (1993). Even when I account for structural breaks, I find no evidence of strong form sustainability between the two series. However, my results do not reject the weak form sustainability of Quintos (1995). I argue that evidence of weak form sustainability for Greece can be interpreted as a higher risk of unsustainability, which can be used to explain Greece\u27s current fiscal distress

Disney\u27s Portrayal of Nonhuman Animals in Animated Films Between 2000 and 2010

This paper used the constant comparative method to examine the 12 animated features released by Disney between 2000 and 2010 for: (1) their representation of nonhuman animals (NHAs) and the portrayal of race, class, gender, and speciesism within this representation, (2) the ways they describe the relationship between humans and NHAs, and (3) whether they promote an animal rights perspective. Three major themes were identified: NHAs as stereotypes, family, and human/NHA dichotomy. Analysis of these themes revealed that Disney’s animated features promote speciesism and celebrate humanity’s superiority by justifying the subordination of NHAs to human agency. Furthermore, while Disney’s representation of NHAs remains largely anthropocentric, most of its animated features do not reflect the tenets of animal rights

LOKALNE SOCIJALNE NAKNADE U HRVATSKOJ: KOLIKO POKRIVAJU RIZIK OD SIROMAŠTVA I POTREBE OBITELJI S DJECOM?

Family policies and their impact on the well-being of families are a frequent topic of research. However, local social benefits are the least researched of such policies. This paper aims to explore the extent to which the most important cash and in-kind local social benefits offered by the Croatian capital Zagreb and by the country’s three largest cities (Split, Rijeka and Osijek) cover the costs of child-rearing and reduce child poverty. Using microsimulation techniques, the support provided to families with children is estimated, and the distributional impact of these policies is assessed. The results reveal that local benefits greatly complement central government policies and substantially increase support for families but with differences among cities; the policies of Zagreb and Rijeka prove to be the most generous and effective, followed by those of Split and Osijek. The main limitations of this study come from the use of microsimulation models: the assumption of full benefit take-up for some policies and the lack of simulation for other policies due to a lack of data. This is the first comprehensive study of family benefits at the central and local government levels in Croatia.Obiteljska politika i njen utjecaj na dobrobit obitelji česta su tema istraživanja. Međutim, lokalne socijalne naknade obično se u tim istraživanjima zanemaruju. Ovaj rad istražuje koliko najvažnije novčane naknade i naknade u naravi lokalne samouprave, koje pružaju glavni grad Hrvatske (Zagreb) i tri najveća grada (Split, Rijeka i Osijek), pokrivaju troškove brige o djeci i zaista smanjuju njihovo siromaštvo. Korištenjem mikrosimulacijskih tehnika procjenjuju se potpore obiteljima s djecom i njihovi distribucijski učinci. Rezultati pokazuju kako su lokalne naknade komplementarne naknadama središnje države i da značajno povećavaju potporu obiteljima, ali postoje razlike između gradova. Naknade Zagreba i Rijeke su najveće i najučinkovitije, a slijede ih naknade Splita i Osijeka. Glavna ograničenja ovog istraživanja proizlaze iz upotrebe mikrosimulacijskog modela. Naime, pretpostavlja se da svi potencijalni korisnici ostvaruju pravo na naknade, a određene naknade nije moguće simulirati zbog nedostatka podataka. Ovaj je rad prva sveobuhvatna studija o obiteljskim naknadama na razini središnje i lokalne države u Hrvatskoj

Estratégias de coping em adolescentes de uma instituição de qualificação socioprofissional

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as estratégias de coping utilizadas por adolescentes de uma instituição de qualificação socioprofissional. Participaram da pesquisa 76 adolescentes (dos sexos masculino e feminino). Para a identificação das estratégias foi utilizado o inventário de estratégias de coping. As mais utilizadas foram: suporte social, autocontrole e reavaliação positiva; e as menos utilizadas foram fuga-esquiva, afastamento e confronto. Não foram encontradas diferenças no uso de estratégias entre os sexos. Os eventos estressores relatados com maior frequência foram conflitos com pais. Em eventos estressores ocorridos na interação com adultos, a estratégia fuga-esquiva foi a mais utilizada

The distributional impact of recurrent immovable property taxation in Greece

During the last decade, Greece faced one of the most severe debt crises among developed countries, leading to Economic Adjustment Programs in order to avoid a disorderly default. Public expenditure was cut, tax rates were increased and new taxes were introduced aiming at restoring public finances. Prominent among the latter were recurrent property taxes that were playing a very minor role before the crisis. These taxes helped boosting public revenues but were hugely unpopular. The paper examines in detail their distributional impact and finds that they led to increases in inequality and (relative) poverty. The result is stronger in the case of inequality indices that are relatively more sensitive to changes close to the bottom of the distribution and poverty indices that are sensitive to the distribution of income among the poor

Η μεταβολή και η κατάργηση της επιχειρησιακής συνήθειας

Η παρούσα διατριβή ερευνά τους τρόπους μεταβολής ή κατάργησης της πρακτικής της εκμετάλλευσης. Η μεταβολή και κατάργηση της πρακτικής είναι άρρηκτα συνδεδεμένη με τη νομική φύση της και για τον λόγο αυτό η εργασία εξετάζει τόσο τις τρεις θεωρίες για τη νομική φύση της όσο και τις προϋποθέσεις δημιουργίας της πρακτικής της εκμετάλλευσης. Η εργασία συντάσσεται με τη συμβατική θεωρία, η οποία στηρίζεται στην ερμηνεία των σιωπηρών δηλώσεων βουλήσεως των μερών, όπως αυτή συνάγεται από τη συμπεριφορά του εργοδότη και των εργαζομένων και τις συντρέχουσες περιστάσεις. Εφ’ όσον η πρακτική καθίσταται περιεχόμενο των ατομικών συμβάσεων εργασίας, η μεταβολή ή κατάργησή της μονομερώς από τον εργοδότη δεν είναι δυνατή, αλλά μπορεί να επιτευχθεί με νεότερη σύμβαση τροποποιητική ή καταργητική της πρακτικής, με τη δημιουργία αντίθετης (αρνητικής) πρακτικής, με την ενεργοποίηση ρητρών ανάκλησης, με τροποποιητική καταγγελία και σπανιότερα με βάση την ΑΚ 388 σε περίπτωση απρόοπτης μεταβολής των συνθηκών. Στην εργασία, τέλος, υποστηρίζεται ότι οι νομοθετικές αξιολογήσεις ως προς τον έλεγχο των ΓΟΣ που ενυπάρχουν στον Ν. 2251/1994 και οι οποίες εμπλουτίζουν ερμηνευτικά την ΑΚ 281, μπορούν να εφαρμόζονται αναλογικώς και επί των συμβάσεων εξαρτημένης εργασίας και να οδηγούν σε ένα παρεμφερή δικαστικό έλεγχο των προδιατυπωμένων γενικών όρων εργασίας.The present dissertation explores the ways of change and abolishment of an enterprise’s customary practice. The change and abolishment of an enterprise’s customary practice is inseparably linked to its legal power and on that score the study examines the three theories on the legal nature of customary practice in relation to the conditions under which it is formed. This thesis accepts the contractual theory, which is based on interpreting and ascertaining the underlying will of the parties, on the basis of the employer’s and the employees’ behaviour in view of the all relevant circumstances. Whenever a customary practice becomes content of the individual employment contract, the employer may not unilaterally change or abolish it. It may be changed or abolished either via a newer agreement that amends or abolishes the customary practice, or by formation of a negative customary practice, or by activation of revocation contract clauses, by amending notice (of an employment contract) and only rarely according to article 388 of the Civil Code in case of an unforeseen change of circumstances. Finally the study takes into account the fact that the legislative assessments in terms of the control of the general terms of a contract included in l. 2251/1994 that enrich the interpretation of article 281 of the Civil Code, may also be applicable to labour contracts. Thus a uniform judicial review of pre-formulated general terms of employment may be achieved