Social Welfare Commons^™

Happiness Research And Cost-Benefit Analysis, Matthew D. Adler, Eric A. Posner

Faculty Scholarship

A growing body of research on happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) shows, among other things, that people adapt to many injuries more rapidly than is commonly thought, fail to predict the degree of adaptation and hence overestimate the impact of those injuries on their SWB, and, similarly, enjoy small or moderate rather than significant changes in SWBg in response to significant changes in income. Some researchers believe that these findings pose a challenge to cost-benefit analysis, and argue that project evaluation decision-procedures based on economic premises should be replaced with procedures that directly maximize subjective well-being. This view turns out …

Contingent Valuation Studies And Health Policy, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Youth With Disabilities: A Maine Workforce Development Review, Ahmen Cabral, Margaret Vishneau, Marty Zanghi Msw

Children, Youth, & Families

Legislation that has occurred over many years, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Workforce Investment Act, has come together with advances in educational strategies to create a climate in which young job seekers with disabilities are able to develop their skills and advocate for necessary accommodations in the workplace. It is well known in the workforce development community that early exposure to the workplace itself and to workforce development programs can improve the employment outcomes for persons with disabilities by enabling youth to develop workforce skills and areas of career interest. However, even though knowledge and interest …

Clean, Green, And Not So Mean: Can Business Save The World?, Andy Spackman, Celia Ross, Christy Donaldson, Louise Feldman, Patrick Griffis, Elizabeth Stephan, Laurie Bridges, Baseema Krkoska, Tony Lin, Mark Siciliano

Library Faculty Research

No matter how you define it, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hot topic. From community investing to business ethics to environmental sustainability and beyond, proponents of CSR view the business landscape through a lens that focuses less on profitability and more on the greater good.

“Doing well by doing good” is the business world’s new mantra. Concepts of CSR, green business, social entrepreneurship, and peace through commerce have become a focus of research and are inspiring the next generation of businesspeople. The 2010 BRASS Program gave attendees an expert’s view of certain niches within the broader realm of ethical …

The Emerging Civil Society In China And Its Impact On Democratization, Haolu Wang

Honors Theses

Recent years have seen an emerging civil society in an authoritarian China. The authoritarian embrace of civil society challenges the conventional wisdom that civil society is closely linked to democracy. In Beijing, the rhetoric of civil society linked less to democracy than to modernization. However, does civil society development have any impact on democratization in authoritarian regimes? The thesis tries to provide a tentative answer by studying civil society and democratization in post-Mao China. As a result of economic development and political reforms, gradual political liberalization has marked a shift of state-society relations that gives rise to a certain degree …

Solving The Childcare And Flexibility Puzzle: How Working Parents Make The Best Feasible Choices And What That Means For Public Policy, Arthur C. Emlen

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

This monograph’s contribution to knowledge was two-fold: 1) reliable measures of the quality of childcare as perceived and assessed by the parents themselves; and 2) discovery that the quality of the care chosen by working parents depends upon the amount of flexibility they can muster from their immediate environment at work, at home, or from accommodating childcare providers. It doesn’t matter which source of flexibility works best for them. It’s the flexibility that allows optimum choice. The findings suggest that public policy should recognize the vast diversity of parental choices and the flexibility needed to improve their choices. That means …

Prevalence, Nature, Context And Impact Of Alcohol Use In India: Recommendations For Practice And Research, S. Prabhu, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya) Phd, Catherine N. Dulmus Phd, K. S. Ratheeshkumar

Brown School Faculty Publications

Presently alcohol policy in India takes a moral stand rather than a scientific approach towards understanding and dealing with the problem of alcoholism. To effectively address this social problem in India, public policy must take into account the nature, extent of the problem and the context in which it occurs. This literature review examines the nature, prevalence and impact of alcohol use and misuse in India, within its historical and cultural contexts, as a beginning step to inform policy. Recommendations for practice and future research directions are suggested.

Vulnerability And Disability In Darfur, Maria Kett, Jean-Francois Trani

Brown School Faculty Publications

The difficulties faced by persons with disabilities throughout the displacement process contribute to their increased vulnerability.

Welfare As Happiness, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan S. Masur

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Cost Of Legal Aid, Elizabeth Lyons

Global Tides

I first became aware of the British’s struggle with their Legal Aid system while interning with a nonprofit organization in London that conducted research on Legal Aid with the goal of improving individuals’ access to justice. The British have supported Legal Aid for over sixty years; however, during this time it has reached an unsustainable level its current budget being two billion pounds. Since the government simply cannot afford a program this large, it has fallen prey to periodic budget cuts within the past few decades. Many British individuals are concerned that the quality of the services will diminish as …

El Sistema De Pensiones Español: ¿Puede La Inmigración Prevenir Una Crisis Futura?, Gregory J. Sanford

CMC Senior Theses

El envejecimiento de la población, una baja tasa de natalidad y la inminente jubilación de la generación “baby-boom” han aumentado preocupación para la estabilidad del sistema de pensiones en España. Según muchos estudios, el sistema de pensiones va a sufrir un déficit en el año 2030. Esta tesis investiga si la inmigración puede ayudar a evitar una futura crisis de pensiones y ofrece otras soluciones que en combinación con la inmigración pueden asegurar la estabilidad del sistema de pensiones en el largo plazo.

Population aging, a low birthrate, and the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation has increased concern …

Performance Measures And Pilot Evaluation Of Georgia’S Medical Assistance Program For Population Below The Poverty Line, Tamar Chitashvili

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

In recent years the Georgian health care system has been undergoing fundamental reforms aimed at improving the population’s health status by increasing financial and geographic access to high-quality health care. To address limited financial access to health services of the poor, and protect them from catastrophic expenditures associated with illnesses and improve equity, the government restructured the centralized, financially and administratively unsustainable social security system, with a liberal welfare system focusing on providing a safety net for the poor.

Communities Of Color In Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile, Ann Curry-Stevens, Amanda Cross-Hemmer, Coalition Of Communities Of Color

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Existing data that informs decision making in Multnomah County inadequately captures the lived experiences of communities of color. Rarely do existing reports include dimensions of race and ethnicity. Much research has been undertaken without the involvement of those most affected by the decisions guided by the research. The impact is that communities of color are rarely visible at the level of policy. Data has been used to obscure and oppress rather than to empower communities and eliminate disparities. This is not acceptable, and leads to inequitable policy and devastating outcomes for people of color.

"Communities of Color in Multnomah County: …

The Parent As (Mere) Educational Trustee: Whose Education Is It, Anyway?, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this Article is two-fold. First, the Article argues that the parent’s right to educate his or her children is strictly circumscribed by the parent’s duty to ensure that children learn habits of critical reasoning and reflection. The law has long recognized that the state’s duty to educate children is superior to any parental right. Indeed, the “parentalist” position to the contrary rests on an inflation of rights that is, in fact, a radical departure from longstanding legal norms. Indeed, at common law the parent had “a sacred right” to the custody of his child, and the parent’s …

Clackamas County Alternate Work Week Pilot Project, Masami Nishishiba, Jana Bitton, Dennis Kurtz, Charlene Zil

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

In November 2008, Clackamas County, Oregon began a one-year pilot program: switching employees to an alternate four-day work week, with 10-hour workdays (typically 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday). About 828 of Clackamas County's 1,800 employees were affected by the program, which does not extend to emergency service providers.

This report summarizes the evaluation of Clackamas County’s alternate work week pilot project based on the data collected between November 2008 and July 2009.