Economic Policy Commons^™

Mortality Effects Of Regulatory Costs And Policy Evaluation Criteria, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Risk regulations directly reduce risks, but they may produce offsetting risk increases. Regulated risks generate a substitution effect, as individuals' risk-averting actions will diminish. Recognition of these effects alters benefit-cost criteria and the value-of-life estimates pertinent to policy analysis. Particularly expensive risk regulations may be counterproductive. The expenditure level that will lead to the loss of one statistical life equals the value of life divided by the marginal propensity to spend on health. Regulations with a cost of $30 million to $70 million per life saved will, on balance, have a net adverse effect on mortality because of these linkages.

Public Policies For The Working Poor: The Earned Income Tax Credit Versus Minimum Wage Legislation, Richard V. Burkhauser, Andrew J. Glenn

Center for Policy Research

This paper first documents the decades-long erosion of the link between low wages and low household income. It then simulates the consequences of this determination on the relative gains of programs designed to help the working poor—minimum wage increases under the Fair Labor Standards Act and increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Using data from the Current Population Survey it is found that increases in the EITC between 1989 and 1992 were far more target-efficient than was the increase in the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.25 and that the 1993 extension of the EITC is far more …

Supplement: Directory Of Egyptian Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations, Salwa Sharawi Gomaa

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

Economics As A Conceptual Resource For The Study Of Public Management, David, L. Weimer, Aidan, R. Vining

Centre for Public Policy Studies : CPPS Working Paper Series

Four related bodies of knowledge inform the study and practice of public management. Broadest in scope is knowledge about the political processes that place demands, provide opportunities, and impose constraints on public managers. Next broadest in scope is policy analysis, which provides the conceptual foundations and craft skills for determining what government should do and how it should be done. Organizational design, a subset of policy analysis, gives insight into how the public sector can be organized to facilitate the effective delivery of goods and services. Narrowest in scope, but most directly relevant to the practice of management, is knowledge …

Unemployment And Training Reform: A Critical Analysis Of Australian Federal Government Policy 1983 To 1993, S. J. Bark

Theses : Honours

Unemployment levels in Australia are a problem that have confronted governments since the mid-1970's. Since the 1983 election, Labor Government policy has sought to combat unemployment by linking training reform within the parameters of economic restructuring. This thesis argues from a critical perspective that Australian Labor Government unemployment and training reform policies aim to develop people's economic potential rather than their personal potential. To this end, six policy documents form the basis of the analysis. There are four Reports (Australia Reconstructed, 'Finn', 'Carmichael' and 'Mayer'), one Policy Statement (One Nation), and one Discussion Paper ('The Employment Green Paper'). The thesis …

Indirect Transfers In Trade Among Former Soviet Union Republics: Sources, Patterns, And Policy Responses In The Post-Soviet Period, Lucjan T. Orlowski

WCBT Faculty Publications

Reports on indirect transfers in trade among the former Soviet Union Republics. The Former Soviet Union (FSU) was composed of 15 republics which were very unevenly endowed with human, physical and natural resources. To contain regional imbalances within the Union and to integrate all republics into a tight and centrally commanded division of labour, the central government operated a scheme of vertical fiscal redistribution between the Union budget and the republican budgets. Through this system poorer republics became net receivers of direct transfers and richer republics became net donors. This scheme, which collapsed with the dissolution of the Union in …

Puerto Rican And African-American Males: Current Challenges, Promising Strategies, Sonia M. Pérez

Trotter Review

Before the beginning of the next century, the Hispanic, African-American, and other “minority” populations in the United States are expected to increase at a faster rate than the white population. In fact, the Census Bureau projects that Latinos will become the largest minority and, together with African Americans, will constitute one-fourth (25.5 percent) of the U.S. labor force by the year 2010. However, despite some gains, increases in population have not been proportionate to increases in voting and buying power—or to comparable increases in economic success or socioeconomic stability—for a significant proportion of either Latinos or African Americans. Moreover, inaccurate …

Singapore's Motor Vehicle Policy: Review Of Recent Changes And A Suggested Alternative, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper reviews recent developments in motor vehicle policy in Singapore, viz. the motor vehicle quota and weekend car schemes as well as regulations on cars entering and leaving Singapore. The adoption of a vehicle quota system over and above tax restraints on car ownership has made the job of the planner easier but has resulted in a great deal of price uncertainty in the motor vehicle market. The attendant result of price uncertainty has been speculation or rent seeking, necessitating several adjustments to the rules for the vehicle quota scheme in an attempt to counter speculation. This paper proposes …

The Entrepreneurial State Goes To Europe: State Economic Policies And Europe 1992, John J. Carroll, William E. Hudson, Mark S. Hyde

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article investigates state-level export programs in response to the emerging new economic and political regime of Europe 1992. Little related export promotion activity is found, even in states reputed to have the most active entrepreneurial policies. The authors conclude that states have few resources to invest in export promotion and are inappropriate jurisdictions around which to organize such policy, despite the much touted "entrepreneurial state."

Fiscal Smell Tests: A Mid-Term Reality Check Of Massachusetts Finances, Joseph S. Slavet, Joseph R. Barresi

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

In his latest budget message the Governor points to achievement of a "real, but fragile fiscal balance. " On the credit side of the ledger, he cites four balanced budgets, reduced reliance on one-time revenues, no new taxes, five tax cuts, no deficit borrowing, and a triple upgrade in bond rating. On the debit side are continued spending pressures, slow tax revenue growth and burdensome levels of debt.

But is the fiscal condition of the Commonwealth stable, albeit fragile? Or would a careful reading of the numbers transmit another message?

The purpose of this report is to measure the Commonwealth's …

The Rationale For Structural Adjustment: A Layman's Guide, Marcelo M. Giugale

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

Introduction (The Economics And Politics Of Structural Adjustment In Egypt), Hans Löfgren

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

The Politics Of Adjustment In Africa With Special Reference To Egypt, Trevor Parfitt

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

The Nationalization Of The Imf: The Nature And Evolution Of The Official Discourse On Economic Reform In Egypt (1987-1991), Mourad Magdi Wahba

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

The Importance Of Employer Accommodation On The Job Duration Of Workers With Disabilities: A Hazard Model Approach, Richard V. Burkhauser, J.S. Butler, Yang Woo Kim

Center for Policy Research

In line with policies long in place in Western Europe, United States disability policy is now attempting to intervene directly in the labor market to increase the employment of people with disabilities. Beginning in July, 1992, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 required employers to provide reasonable accommodation to workers with disabilities. Here we use a continuous time hazard model on retrospective data from the 1978 Social Security Survey of Disability and Work to estimate the effect of employer accommodation on the subsequent job tenure of workers who suffer a work limiting health impairment. We show that the risk …

A Symbolic Balanced Budget Amendment, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Housing The Homeless Through Expanding Access To Existing Housing Subsidies, Barbara Sard

New England Journal of Public Policy

The premise of this article is that homelessness in America today is essentially a product of the lack of affordable housing for very low-income people. The article outlines this central income/housing gap analysis as the factual predicate of the goal to alleviate homelessness through securing subsidized housing resources for the homeless and imminently homeless. It explains why, based on the nature and number of annually available housing subsidies, expanding access to existing housing subsidies is a valuable, workable, short-term, at least partial solution to the immediate crisis of lack of affordable housing, albeit one which does not negate the acknowledged …

Build Homes Not Bombs: Get A Better Economy To Boot!, Richard Krushnic

New England Journal of Public Policy

Our nation has a rare opportunity to shift resources from military to civilian activities for the next few years. A budget pact is supposed to prevent transfers of funds from the military to domestic programs during fiscal years 1992 and 1993, but the pact is cracking in light of the sudden collapse of the Soviet military and the dismemberment of the Soviet Union. While jobs are lost when funds are shifted out of the military, the funds don't disappear - they are used for alternative federal expenditures, paying federal debt, or tax reduction. Many alternative expenditure patterns are available to …

The Housing Crisis Enters The 1990s, Peter Dreier, Richard Appelbaum

New England Journal of Public Policy

Homelessness in the United States is a symptom of a much deeper economic and housing crisis — a widening gap between incomes and housing prices. With the end of the Cold War, the nation has the resources to solve these problems, but to do so it must mobilize the political will. This article examines the roots of crisis, the public policies and market forces that created it, and policy recommendations to solve the problem. Key to forging a solution is building the political coalition needed to create a broad public consensus.

It'll Take More Than A Miracle: Income In Single-Mother Families In Massachusetts, 1979-1987, Chris Tilly, Randy Albelda

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

Through the 1980s, the Massachusetts economy grew rapidly. Most Massachusetts families benefited from this economic boom, and saw their incomes rise much more rapidly than the U.S. average. But Massachusetts single mothers and their children, who started out with lower incomes than other families, experienced only minimal income growth, and fell further behind other families in the Bay State. In this paper, we analyze income differences among family types in Massachusetts. We pay special attention to the problems of single mothers, and offer a set of policy recommendations to address these problems.

In order to undertake this analysis, we classify …

Reality Or Illusion: The Importance Of Creaming On Job Placement Rates In Job Training Partnership Act Programs, Kathryn H. Anderson, Richard V. Burkhauser, Jennie E. Raymond

Center for Policy Research

Critics of the Job Partnership Training Act of 1982 (JTPA) argue that most of its job placement success has been the result of the "creaming" of participants--that is, of serving individuals who are most employable at the expense of those most in need. Using a bivariate probit model of JTPA trainee selection and job placement success, this paper analyzes the selection of JTPA past recipients. It provides a first approximation of the importance of nonrandom selection on job placement rates. Creaming is found to take place within service delivery areas (SDAs), especially with respect to the avoidance of eligible high …

W(H)Ither The Middle Class? A Dynamic View, Greg J. Duncan, Timothy M, Smeeding, Willard Rodgers

Center for Policy Research

A constant theme throughout the history of the U.S. has been the growth of the middle class and the promise of its growth for the elimination of poverty. By the late 1980s, social analysts sensed a decline in the size of the American middle class which later was verified through cross-section analysis of wage and salary and income distribution data. Using time series from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for prime-age males, this study moves beyond verification of the shrinking of the middle class. The analysis examines changes in both income and wealth and finds that wealth increases reinforced …

How People With Disabilities Fare When Public Policies Change--Past, Present, And Future, Richard V. Burkhauser, Robert H. Haveman, Barbara L. Wolfe

Center for Policy Research

In this paper the authors analyze the effects of two decades of federal disability policy and macroeconomic fluctuation on the well-being of men with disabilities. Their findings indicate that both have dramatically affected the economic well-being of people with disabilities both absolutely and relative to people without disabilities. Using data from the Current Population Survey (19681988) they find that by 1987 the households of white or well-educated male heads with disabilities had fully recovered from the program cuts and recession of the early 1980s. However, to a large extent this recovery was due to additional earnings by spouses. Alternatively, the …

Modeling Application For Disability Insurance As A Retirement Decision: A Hazard Model Approach Using Choice-Based Sampling, Richard V. Burkhauser, J.S. Butler, Yang Woo Kim, George A. Slotsve

Center for Policy Research

This paper models the decision to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefitsas a special case of a more general dynamic retirement decision model. It uses a multi-state, continuous-time hazard to test the effect of policy variables on the speed at which workers applyfor benefits following the onset of a work limitation. Policy variables are found to matter. A higher expected replacement rate increases the risk of application. This effect is significant in asmall sample of the general population and in a sample which also includes a weighted choice-based sample of disability insurance applicants.

A Cautionary Tale Of European Disability Policies: Lessons For The United States, Leo Arts, Richard V. Burkhauser, Philip De Jong

Center for Policy Research

Variations in the size of the population receiving disability payments across countries cannot be explained by simple differences in health. Rather, the process to disability is shaped by both social and medical factors. When governments ignore this reality, a policy generated disability epidemic is possible. This paper compares disability policies in The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and the United States. It argues that the extraordinary increase in Dutch disability rolls in the 1970s was caused by a general government policy to reduce official unemployment. And that by the end of the 1980s, this policy had left Holland with a hidden unemployment …

Disability Or Work: Handicap Policy Choices, Richard V. Burkhauser

Center for Policy Research

Cross-national comparisons of disability programs and disabled populations show that the social environment workers with handicaps face can be as important as their health in affecting their movement into disability. In this context, Richard Burkhauser reviews American disability policy over the business cycles of the past two decades. He finds that strong economic recovery has, in general, overcome the sharp drop in the well-being of people with handicaps brought on by the recession and the reduction in program benefits in the early 1980s. However, the doubly handicapped, those with both health limitations and poor work skills, have not recovered.

Defense Cuts: What Might Connecticut Expect On The Manufacturing Employment Front?, Bruce D. Wundt

New England Journal of Public Policy

Connecticut has enjoyed considerable economic prosperity as a result of its reliance on the defense industry. However, as a consequence of reductions in federal spending on defense, this favorable trend of many years is reversing, unfortunately, while the region is also experiencing a general economic slowdown. Many Connecticut industries must prepare for a new era of reducing their dependence on defense contracts and diversify into new markets and products. State policymakers can help during these uncertain times by encouraging private and public retraining of labor resources and the expansion of industries that will promote economic stability.

Effects Of A Reemployment Bonus Under Differing Benefit Entitlements, Or, Why The Illinois Experiment Worked, Carl Davidson, Stephen A. Woodbury

Conference Papers

Fifty-eight percent of the workers enrolled in the Illinois Claimant Bonus experiment were eligible for 38 weeks of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits--26 weeks of state-regular benefits plus 12 weeks of Federal Supplemental Compensation (FSC). The other 42 percent were eligible for only 26 weeks of state-regular UI benefits. We find that the Claimant Bonus treatment--an offer of $500 in cash for rapid reemployment--reduced the duration of insured unemployment by about 1.8 weeks for workers who were eligible for 38 weeks of UI benefits, but by only about 0.75 week for the workers who were eligible for 26 weeks of UI. …

Analysis Of The United States Trustee Program, M. Shannon Goetsch

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Funding The Gulf Of Maine Program, Craig Freshley

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This report identifies and analyzes non governmental funding options for the Gulf of Maine Program