An Untold Story of Groundwater Replenishment in India: Impact of Long-Term Policy Interventions

2019 ◽  
pp. 205-218
Author(s):  
Abhijit Mukherjee ◽  
Soumendra Nath Bhanja
Keyword(s):  
Policy Interventions

scholarly journals Capital Structure and The Profitability of Listed Retail Firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
Jason Stephen Kasozi
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Order Theory ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Pecking Order Theory ◽  
Policy Interventions

The South African retail sector continues to experience a decline in sales and returns amidst growing external competition and a drop in consumer confidence stemming from the recent credit downgrades in the country. Yet, firms in this sector appear to maintain high debt to equity levels. This study investigated whether the capital structure practices of these firms influence their profitability. A Panel data methodology, using three regression estimators, is applied to a balanced sample of 16 retail firms listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) during the period 2008-2016. The analysis estimates functions relating capital structure composition with the return on assets (ROA). Results reveal a statistically significant but negative relationship between all measures of debt (short-term, long-term, total debt) with profitability, suggesting a possible inclination towards the pecking order theory of financing behaviour, for listed retail firms. Additionally, retail firms are highly leveraged yet over 75% of this debt is short-term in nature. Policy interventions need to investigate the current restrictions on long-term debt financing which offers longerterm and affordable financing, to boost returns. While this study’s methodology differs slightly from earlier studies, it incorporates vital aspects from these studies, and simultaneously specifies a possible model fit.  This helps to capture unique but salient characteristics like the transitional effects of debt financing on firm profitability.  It therefore delivers some unique findings on the financing behaviour of retail firms that both in form policy change, while stimulating further research on the phenomenon. 

scholarly journals “The way things get done around here…” Exploring spatial biographies, social policy and governance in the North East of England

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 655-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Warren
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Health Related

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that the application of social policy in the North East of England is often characterised by tension and conflict. The agencies and professionals charged with implementation of Westminster driven policies constantly seek to deploy their knowledge of local conditions in order to make them both practical and palatable. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the region via established literature from history, geography, sociology and social policy. The paper gives illustrations via empirical work which has evaluated initiatives to improve the health of long term health-related benefit recipients and to sustain individuals in employment in the region. Findings Central to the paper’s argument is the notion of “biographies of place”. The core of this idea is that places have biographies in the same way as individuals and possess specific identities. These biographies have been shaped by the intersections between environment, history, culture and economic and social policy. The paper identifies the region’s economic development, subsequent decline and the alliance of labour politics and industrial employers around a common consensus that sought economic prosperity and social progress via a vision of “modernisation” as a key component of this biography. Originality/value The paper argues that an appreciation of these spatial biographies can result in innovative and more effective social policy interventions with the potential to address issues that affect entire localities.

Improving Economic Opportunity in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-89
Author(s):  
Jared Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Opportunity ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Regressive Tax ◽  
Investments In Children ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Work Supports

This chapter examines barriers to economic opportunity and mobility in the United States and offers near- and long-term policies to reduce these barriers. These barriers include high levels of income inequality, unequal access to educational opportunities, residential segregation by income, inadequate investments in children and certain areas, and disparities between economic conditions in rural relative to metro areas. In the near-term, running tight labor markets, infrastructure investment, direct job creation, healthcare and other work supports, and apprenticeships could reduce these barriers. Longer term solutions invoke policy interventions targeting inequality, inadequate housing, income and wage stagnation, nutritional and health support, the criminal justice system, and educational access. It is also crucial to avoid policies that keep opportunity barriers in place, such as reducing the provision of public healthcare, regressive tax cuts, and budget cuts to programs that help low- and moderate-income families.

Unbanked in India: A qualitative analysis of 24 years of financial inclusion policies

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087281988118
Author(s):  
Gaurav R Sinha ◽  
Lissette M Piedra
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
The Other ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Complex Information

Social work has historically engaged in pioneering interventions to improve the financial well-being of people. India is an interesting case as it has the highest number of unbanked people on one side and numerous policy interventions on the other. Using systematic review and Gioia methodology, we analyzed 24 years of financial inclusion policies. Our analysis revealed that the efficacy of policies was impeded by flawed designs, as the policymakers preferred ‘quick fixes’ over long-term solutions. Our study highlights the need for learning from the past and organizing complex information in a way that helps policymakers in taking informed policy design decisions.

scholarly journals Impact of national interventions to promote responsible antibiotic use: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Mingjie Lim ◽  
Shweta Rajkumar Singh ◽  
Minh Cam Duong ◽  
Helena Legido-Quigley ◽  
Li Yang Hsu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
National Level ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Antibiotic Consumption ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Global recognition of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as an urgent public health problem has galvanized national and international efforts. Chief among these are interventions to curb the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. However, the impact of these initiatives is not fully understood, making it difficult to assess the expected effectiveness and sustainability of further policy interventions. We conducted a systematic review to summarize existing evidence for the impact of nationally enforced interventions to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use in humans. Methods We searched seven databases and examined reference lists of retrieved articles. To be included, articles had to evaluate the impact of national responsible use initiatives. We excluded studies that only described policy implementations. Results We identified 34 articles detailing interventions in 21 high- and upper-middle-income countries. Interventions addressing inappropriate antibiotic access included antibiotic committees, clinical guidelines and prescribing restrictions. There was consistent evidence that these were effective at reducing antibiotic consumption and prescription. Interventions targeting inappropriate antibiotic demand consisted of education campaigns for healthcare professionals and the general public. Evidence for this was mixed, with several studies showing no impact on overall antibiotic consumption. Conclusions National-level interventions to reduce inappropriate access to antibiotics can be effective. However, evidence is limited to high- and upper-middle-income countries, and more evidence is needed on the long-term sustained impact of interventions. There should also be a simultaneous push towards standardized outcome measures to enable comparisons of interventions in different settings.

scholarly journals Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges of Green Finance in Italy: An Analysis of the Biomass Production Sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Falcone ◽  
Edgardo Sica
Keyword(s):  
Government Policies ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Production Sector ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Green Finance ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Financial Issues

The present paper provides empirical evidence of the opportunities and challenges surrounding green finance (GF), looking at the financial issues that might prevent the investment decisions of green companies. To this end, we explore the case of Italian biomass producers by means of a discourse analysis supported by a survey administered to a pool of experts. Although our findings suggest that GF provides an opportunity for achieving environmentally sustainable innovation pathways, experts recognize that it does not actually prevent biomass producers from facing institutional and financial criticalities in funding their investment projects. Such criticalities include: uncertainty about government policies, the minimal involvement of financial suppliers in the biomass sector, the short-term orientation of financial instruments and the limited knowledge of financing options and technical expertise within companies. The results indicate that effective policy interventions should ensure that objectives are orientated towards the long term with the aim of reducing the risks perceived by financial institutions in funding biomass producers.

scholarly journals Dietary fat choices in Finland. Long-term trends and short-term changes, 1978–2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 73-77
Author(s):  
Piia Jallinoja ◽  
Nina Kahma ◽  
Satu Helakorpi ◽  
Mari Niva ◽  
Mikko Jauho
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Fat ◽  
Dietary Fats ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Conflicting Interests

Dietary fat has long been a target of several Finnish policy sectors with conflicting interests. Changes in fat use from animal to vegetable fats have often been characterized as “a public policy success story”, in which policy interventions have led to healthier diets. The aim of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the developments in the consumption of different fat products, and to explore whether and what kind of other developments there may have been besides the general change from animal to vegetable fats. Based on population statistics between 1978 and 2014, the study shows that instead of a uniform transformation from animal to vegetable fats, there have been multiple developments simultaneously, and not all of them unambiguously agree with the "success story" discourse. The changes were related to novel fat products, health policy interventions, cultural trends, public debates on dietary fats, and fad diets.

scholarly journals Essential Farmworkers and the Pandemic Crisis: Migrant Labour Conditions, and Legal and Political Responses in Italy and Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Alessandra Corrado ◽  
Letizia Palumbo
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Food System ◽  
Vegetable Production ◽  
Migrant Farmworkers ◽  
Labour Demand ◽  
Migrant Labour ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Supply Chain Dynamics ◽  
Working And Living Conditions

AbstractThe agri-food system across Europe relies heavily on migrant labour. Border lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic immobilised thousands of foreign farmworkers, giving rise to fears of labour shortages and food production losses in EU countries. Farmers’ organisations sought institutional interventions to address this labour demand. Although migrant workers have become a fundamental component of core sectors in recent decades, it is only in the current health emergency that they were recognised as ‘essential’ workers. The chapter analyses the working conditions of migrant farmworkers alongside national debates and institutional interventions in Italy and Spain during the pandemic. It provides a critical comparative analysis of legal and policy interventions to address migrants’ situations of vulnerability. Both countries depend on important contingents of EU and non-EU migrant farmworkers, especially in fruit and vegetable production; moreover, they present common aspects in supply chain dynamics and labour market policies, but also specific differences in labour, migration and social policies. Both adopted measures to face the condition of irregularity of migrant workers in order to respond to labour demand in the agri-food sector and to provide these workers with safe working and living conditions during the pandemic. However, these interventions reveal shortcomings that significantly limit their impact and outcomes, calling into question to what extent migrant workers are really considered as ‘essential’ in a long-term perspective and, therefore, to what extent the current pandemic constitutes an opportunity for a new push to enforce labour and migrant rights.

scholarly journals Patient-made Long Covid changed COVID-19 (and the production of science, too)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Perego ◽  
Felicity Callard
Keyword(s):  
Grey Literature ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Production ◽  
Visual Narratives ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Patient Activism ◽  
Disease Pathways

Background: Significant knowledge about long-term symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection has been produced by patients, which made Long Covid. Objective: To document and analyse such knowledge, outline how it changed understanding of COVID-19, and specify ethical and socio-political challenges associated with its development.Methods: Analysis of publicly available materials on Long Covid by people with Long Covid, largely in English and Italian, and across media and genre. Results: Those with Long Covid have made epistemic contributions across multiple media, including: oral, written and visual narratives, testimonies and arguments; quantitative and qualitative research; grey literature, essays, opinion pieces and commentaries; and advocacy and policy interventions. Discussion: Patient knowledge contributed to shifting assumptions concerning COVID-19 symptoms and disease pathways; phasing and duration; classification and naming of illness; disease morbidity; and who is affected. Patients’ use of a wide range of media challenged the conventional scientific production of epistemic claims. Many ethical and political challenges lie ahead, including exploitation of patients, their knowledge, and their data.Conclusions: Long Covid patient activism and research have been instrumental to key epistemic shifts that have changed understandings of COVID-19. They have also changed – possibly permanently – how science and medical knowledge are produced. Patient expertise must be routinely integrated into medicine beyond the current pandemic. We also need to ensure the ethical use of patient-led expertise and patient-produced data in Long Covid. Patient contribution: Both authors are patients and researchers with Long Covid, who have contributed to making ‘Long Covid', and to advocacy around its definition and recognition.

The Adivasi Land Question in the Neoliberal Era

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Bhattacharya ◽  
Snehashish Bhattacharya ◽  
Kaveri Gill
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
Primary Survey ◽  
Land Prices ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Land Question

Rural economic structure is witnessing incremental changes as a response to public policy interventions. One of the aspects of this change is the increasing importance of households who own land but do not cultivate the land constraining the long-term growth in the economy. The chapter, firstly, presents evidences (from secondary sources as well as primary survey in nine villages in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh) on the importance of noncultivating households owning land. Secondly, reasons for these households not to sell land are also presented. This chapter suggests two conditions, which encourage the growth of noncultivating households: increasing land prices and rental income earned by these households.

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