Comparable Worth in a General Equilibrium Model of the U.S. Economy

This paper presents a computable general equilibrium model that simulates the effects on employment, output, wages, and economic efficiency of introducing comparable worth into the U.S. economy. The model calculates economy-wide aggregate impacts and disaggregated results for individuals grouped by sex, marital status, and education. The effects depend on the hiring rules that would accompany comparable worth, the source of existing male-female wage differentials, the extent of coverage of comparable worth, the intra-household behavior of married couples, and demand and supply elasticities. If, after comparable worth is introduced, employers are constrained to employ men and women in historical proportions, the adverse effects on aggregate employment, output, and efficiency would be much larger than if the employment constraint is based on applicant proportions. If existing wage gaps are the result of sex differences in productivity, the adverse of facts of comparable worth are relatively large; but if they are the result of discrimination, the efficiency losses are much smaller. If only part of the economy is subject to comparable worth, the efficiency loss is reduced under the productivity gap assumption, but increased if the wage gap is the result of discrimination. The redistributive effects of comparable worth on married men and women are sensitive to assumptions about intra-household behavior and the size of the gains from marriage. By contrast, unmarried women appear to benefit from comparable worth under most sets of assumptions while unmarried men lose.

Round Robin: A New Qualitative Methodology for Identifying Drivers of Violence Against Children

Violence affecting children (VAC) is a significant global health and human rights issue. This article highlights a new qualitative methodology, the Round Robin, for understanding the drivers of violence against children. Traditionally, qualitative research exploring VAC has focused on identifying the risk and protective factors which affect the likelihood a child will experience or witness violence. In recent years, scholars have recognised the need to situate children in their socio-cultural context and consider what causes risk and protective factors; that is, what drives violence at the structural and institutional levels of society. The Round Robin methodology sits within the participatory paradigm and contributes not only to the field of violence research, but to qualitative research more broadly, as it can be adapted to fit diverse social issues and contexts. The Round Robin combines focus groups and participatory techniques in an intensive three-day workshop model inspired by the World Café. In this paper, we firstly introduce the Round Robin methodology and situate it in relation to other approaches. We then describe and critique how the Round Robin methodology was piloted with 136 young people in Zimbabwe to identify drivers of violence affecting children. We then justify the methods used to collect data, and the strategy for data recording and analysis. We conclude by identifying the strengths and weaknesses we uncovered piloting this new methodology in Zimbabwe

Consumer confidence indices and stock markets’ meltdowns

Consumer confidence indices (CCIs) are a closely monitored barometer of countries’ economic health and an informative forecasting tool. Using European and US data, we provide a case study of the two recent stock market meltdowns (the post-dotcom bubble correction of 2000–2002 and the 2007–2009 decline at the beginning of the financial crisis) to contribute to the discussion on their appropriateness as proxies for stock markets’ investor sentiment. Investor sentiment should positively covary with stock market movements (DeLong, Shleifer, Summers, and Waldmann 1990); however, we find that the CCI–stock market relationship is not universally positive.We also do not find support for the information effect documented in the previous literature, but identify a more subtle relationship between consumer expectations about future household finances and stock market fluctuations

La relation de soin

L’apparition et le développement des droits de l’enfant, initiés par les textes internationaux, conduisent à considérer le mineur comme un sujet de droit, doté de liberté. Par conséquent, l’enfant doit être informé et participer aux décisions qui le concernent. La loi no 2002-305 du 4 mars 2002 relative à l’autorité parentale a pris acte de cette évolution. L’autorité parentale est conçue comme un devoir pour les parents qu’ils doivent exercer dans l’intérêt de l’enfant. Mais, les parents n’ont pas tout pouvoir sur le mineur, titulaire de droits, contre ou envers ses parents. Ces principes ont été repris par le Code de la santé publique et le consentement du mineur à l’acte ou au traitement médical doit être recherché par le médecin. Dans cette relation de soins, la difficulté pour le médecin consiste à déterminer la valeur qu’il doit accorder au consentement du mineur en cas de conflit avec les titulaires de l’autorité parentale. Si l’autorisation parentale aux soins reste le principe, le consentement du mineur doit être respecté dans un certain nombre d’hypothèses. Mais, le législateur a passé sous silence de nombreux actes pour lesquels le médecin hésitera entre autorisation parentale et consentement du mineur. Il aura alors tendance à faire un signalement au Procureur de la République afin que soit mise en place une mesure d’assistance éducative par le juge des enfants. La réalité juridique est cependant beaucoup plus nuancée et toutes les situations ne méritent pas d’être judiciarisées