Employer-Provided Health Insurance and the Incidence of "Job-Lock": Is There a Consensus?

Several recent developments in health care in the United States include declining health care coverage, particularly that provided by employers, and a noticeable shift in the burden of medical care costs to employees. If these developments cause employees to feel locked into their jobs, optimal job matches in the labor force will not take place. Partly in response, the federal government has passed laws protecting health coverage for workers who switch jobs, with the passage of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 and later the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996. In this paper we summarize the current literature on the topic and present some findings using the National Health Interview Survey, focusing on the 1997-2003 period. Our findings are consistent with recent assertions that there is some evidence of job-lock. Working Paper 06-5

Cost implications of agricultural land degradation in Ghana:

"An economywide, multimarket model is constructed for Ghana and the effects of agricultural soil erosion on crop yields are explicitly modeled at the subnational regional level for eight main staple crops. The model is used to evaluate the aggregate economic costs of soil erosion by taking into account economywide linkages between production and consumption, across sectors and agricultural subsectors. To fill a gap in the literature regarding economic cost analysis of soil erosion, this paper also analyzes the poverty implications of land degradation. The model predicts that land degradation reduces agricultural income in Ghana by a total of US$4.2 billion over the period 2006–2015, which is approximately five percent of total agricultural GDP in these ten years. The effect of soil loss on poverty is also significant at the national level, equivalent to a 5.4 percentage point increase in the poverty rate in 2015 compared to the case of no soil loss. Moreover, soil loss causes a slowing of poverty reduction over time in the three northern regions, which currently have the highest poverty rates in the country. Sustainable land management (SLM) is the key to reducing agricultural soil loss. The present findings indicate that through the adoption of conventional SLM practices, the declining trend in land productivity can be reversed, and that use of a combination of conventional and modern SLM practices would generate an aggregate economic benefit of US$6.4 billion over the period 2006–2015. SLM practices would therefore significantly reduce poverty in Ghana, particularly in the three northern regions." Authors' AbstractLand degradation, Costs, Agricultural soil loss, Economywide modeling, Modeling cost of land degradation,

Export Performance and Investment Behaviour of Firms in Ghana

From the theoretical literature a strong relationship between export performance and investment behaviour at the firm level is expected. A 2003 survey of 100 Ghanaian enterprises is used to analyse the factors that influence the investment and exporting behaviour of firms using a simultaneous equation model to allow for the endogeneity of investment and exporting. In addition, the different factors that influence the investment and export decisions in different sectors are investigated. However, no significant positive relationship between exporting and investment could be found. There seems rather to be a negative association, which might be explained by constraints in the access to capital. On the other hand there are several factors that work in the same direction, for example, younger firms, larger firms and more efficient firms are more likely to invest and more likely to export. --

Responding to Economic Shocks in Ghana: The Agricultural Sector as a Social Safety Net

The objective of this paper is to document, assess and characterize the role Ghana's agriculture has played as a safety net when the urban labor market suffered economic shocks. The study explores how agriculture influences non-agricultural dependent households. Specific attention is given to the implicit value of the informal insurance role that rural households play in supporting family members who lose jobs acquired after migrating to urban areas. The paper analyses Ghanaian agriculture's social security role in the late 1980s and 1990s. This well documented period in Ghanaian economic literature, coincides with both natural and macro policy shocks and the policy measures taken to cope with the shocks.Ghana, labor, migration, rural development, safety nets, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

IN SITU RAMAN SPECTROELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUE AS TOOL FOR INVESTIGATING THE PROPERTIES OF ELECTROACTIVE SYSTEMS

The electrochemical polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer as conducting polymer was synthesized on various working electrodes (WE) which includes gold (Au), platinum (Pt), glassy carbon (GC) and Fluorinated Tin Oxide (FTO) in different electrolytic solvent medium. The solutes used in the aqueous medium (H2O) was potassium chloride (KCl) salt and sodium polystyrene sulfonate (NaPSS) and the solute used in the organic solvent medium which is acetonitrile (ACN) was tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6). A thin film of the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylendioxythiophene) (PEDOT), electrochemically polymerized on FTO, Au, Pt and GC, were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CVs) in order to elucidate the electrochemical properties of the PEDOT films polymerized using different electrolyte media. In situ Raman spectroscopy measurements were carried out for PEDOT films electropolymerized on Au in different electrolyte solvent medium and the spectra and its corresponding images were obtained and compared accordingly to explain the doping process of the PEDOT film. UV-Vis spectroscopy measurements were also performed on the films on FTO to present a study on the p-doping of the PEDOT films which was in tandem with the characterization of Raman spectra measurements

MULTINOMIAL LOGISTIC ANALYSIS OF “SUSU” CONTRIBUTION IN GHANA

The study employs cumulative multinomial logistic regression model to analyze “susu” (a micro-saving mechanism for collection of deposits that is common on the West African markets) contribution in Ghana. Evidence from the analysis of 1,630 contributors randomly sampled indicates that between male and female contributors, the former are more likely to contribute higher amounts than the latter. The paper, therefore, avers that “susu” institutions must target their marketing campaigns at incomeearning males. Additionally, there is evidence to conclude that the number of years of contribution, the number of years a contributor has been in business, marital status and gender are predictors of ‘susu’ contribution in Ghana

Positive Impact of Coronavirus Disease – 19 on Purchase Intentions of Life Insurance Companies in an Emerging Economy

The general economic situation has resulted in a global recession across the world leading to insurance industries all over the world serving as a form of protection for people who look for rescue and relief. The widespread of the infection has impacted many governments across the world and financially weakened some businesses as well as the social wellbeing of people. The pandemic could also be seen as having a positive impact amidst the pandemic. The conspicuous impact of the global pandemic on insurance industry in Ghana is the upsurge in health, travel and even business claims. The research was carried out in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana's second largest metropolis. This study utilized the convenience sampling as it involved customers, both potential and actual, of Life Insurance Companies in Kumasi who were willing and available to partake in the study. The interrogation involved thirty (30) respondents. According to the findings, some respondents viewed Life Insurance policies in Ghana positively, while others viewed them adversely, based on their experience and opinion. Customers evaluate their contacts with life insurance companies based on their previous experiences, which influences their decision to buy. Keywords: Coronavirus Disease- 19, Purchas Intentions, Life Assurance Insurance Companies DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-1-04 Publication date: January 31st 202

Against the Herd: Contrarian Investment Strategies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

This study seeks to investigate herd behaviour among equity mutual fund managers and the performance of mutual funds that trade against the herd in South Africa. The behaviour of mutual funds has an effect on the stability and volatility of stock markets, the ultimate returns to the investors. The study builds upon the efficient market hypothesis, portfolio theory and behavioural finance to provide evidence of the behaviour of mutual funds in an emerging market context using the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishney (1991) measure of herding is used to ascertain the behaviour of mutual funds over the period 2006 to 2012. Institutional investors in South Africa are susceptible to the behavioural bias of herding and this phenomenon influences the performance of their funds. Funds that trade in the opposite direction of herd funds are able to put up a superior performance over time. Superior performance, however, does not entice mutual fund investors to invest less in under-performing funds and more in funds that recently show superior performance. These findings imply that following investment waves does not culminate in superior returns in the stock market. Consequently, mutual funds that take an opposite direction to herd funds help stabilize the stock market and lessen the severity of bear markets. This study categorizes mutual funds into ‘herding’ and ‘contrarian’ and provides an insight into the performance of each category. Investors who oppose herd behaviour realize greater returns over time while stabilizing the markets at the same time

Food Crisis In Africa

ABSTRACT in most cases the chronic food crisis in Africa has been ascribed to natural calamities such as drought. it is the primary objective of this paper to examine the political, economic and social factors which have and continue to militate against food production in Africa The paper while accepting that natural disasters have contributed to the food crisis makes it vividly clear that the policies of development by various, African governments have contributed most greatly to Africa\u27s food predicament Kata Kunci : food crisi