scholarly journals Brazil’s Bolsa Família Programme

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Henrique Paiva ◽  
Tereza Cristina Cotta ◽  
Armando Barrientos
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Public Commitment ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Good Policy

The first experiences with conditional cash transfers (CCTs) took place in the mid-1990s in Brazil, at the local level. They were later adopted at the national level in Mexico (in 1997, with the Prospera programme), in Brazil (by 2001, with several CCTs), as well as in other Latin American countries. In 2003, the Bolsa Família programme unified previous national CCTs and massively expanded their number of beneficiaries. It managed to reach almost a quarter of the Brazilian population and became the most progressive cash transfer made by the state. Over time, numerous evaluations measured the programme’s impacts on the reduction of poverty and inequality and the improvement of education and health indicators. Domestically, these impacts, together with strong support by researchers and multilateral organizations, eventually translated this ‘good policy’ (quality design and implementation) into ‘good politics’ (political support from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries alike, and public commitment to the programme’s maintenance by all relevant political forces). The Bolsa Família ‘model’ is now adopted in sixty-seven different countries according to the World Bank in 2017.

Anti-Poverty Transfers and Poverty Reduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Barrientos
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Program

This chapter examines the role that public policy initiatives—specifically anti-poverty transfers—have played in the reduction of poverty and inequality in Brazil. A number of anti-poverty initiatives are considered in turn, and not just the widely known Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer program. The analysis establishes that such transfers—including conditional cash transfers—have proved surprisingly effective, even helping to tackle long-standing income inequality. It is recognized that explicit anti-poverty initiatives were not the only drivers of the reduced incidence of poverty and inequality: factors such as growth and improved access to labor markets also played a role. However, progress is now threatened by the recent economic and political crisis.

Using the Error in Pre-Election Polls to Test for the Presence of Pork

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig McIntosh ◽  
Jacob Allen
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Direct Function ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Margin Of Error ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Election Polls

Abstract Polls are used by politicians, voters, and businesspeople alike to form expectations over political outcomes. In an electoral system with ‘pork' at the national level, local economic prospects will be a direct function of political support. Because every poll comes with its margin of error, we can exploit the error in sub-national polls to test for whether forward-looking investment in the economy adjusts to shocks in local political behavior. The covariance between the strength of this adjustment and local-level characteristics allows us to identify the locations in which strong ‘pork' contracts exist. To illustrate the technique, we provide a theoretical foundation and an empirical exercise using data on Ugandan micro-entrepreneurs during the 2001 presidential election. We find evidence that investor behavior responds in a small but significant way to surprises in electoral support, and this responsiveness is strongest in ‘core' electoral districts.

Defining Preterm Birth and Stillbirth in the Western Pacific: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 101053952110260
Author(s):  
Mairead Connolly ◽  
Laura Phung ◽  
Elise Farrington ◽  
Michelle J. L. Scoullar ◽  
Alyce N. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
National Level ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
World Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Preterm birth and stillbirth are important global perinatal health indicators. Definitions of these indicators can differ between countries, affecting comparability of preterm birth and stillbirth rates across countries. This study aimed to document national-level adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) definitions of preterm birth and stillbirth in the WHO Western Pacific region. A systematic search of government health websites and 4 electronic databases was conducted. Any official report or published study describing the national definition of preterm birth or stillbirth published between 2000 and 2020 was eligible for inclusion. A total of 58 data sources from 21 countries were identified. There was considerable variation in how preterm birth and stillbirth was defined across the region. The most frequently used lower gestational age threshold for viability of preterm birth was 28 weeks gestation (range 20-28 weeks), and stillbirth was most frequently classified from 20 weeks gestation (range 12-28 weeks). High-income countries more frequently used earlier gestational ages for preterm birth and stillbirth compared with low- to middle-income countries. The findings highlight the importance of clear, standardized, internationally comparable definitions for perinatal indicators. Further research is needed to determine the impact on regional preterm birth and stillbirth rates.

scholarly journals Local-Level Democratic Backsliding? The Consolidation of Aspiring Dominant-Party Regimes in Hungary and Poland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Conor O'Dwyer ◽  
Matthew Stenberg
Keyword(s):  
Local Politics ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Strategic Coordination ◽  
The Future ◽  
Two Factors

Abstract Aspiring dominant-party regimes often institute major institutional and political reforms at the national level to ensure they retain control. However, subnational politics is an important, under-studied, component of regime consolidation. This study uses mayoral races in Hungary and Poland from 2006 to 2018 to examine two factors that may inhibit dominant-party regime consolidation in local politics: the use of two-round, i.e. runoff, electoral systems and strategic coordination among opposition parties. While we find little evidence that strategic coordination can lead to widespread opposition success in single-round systems, we do find that increasing the number of candidates decreases the likelihood of the nationally dominant party winning in the first round while not affecting the second round. As such, two-round mayoral elections may be an important buffer to dominant-party regime consolidation and may provide a training ground for the future opposition.

Reducing the Impact of Unemployment through Work-Sharing: Some Industrial Relations Considerations

1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah M. Meltz ◽  
Frank Reid
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
National Level ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Work Sharing ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Impact

The Canadian Government has introduced a work-sharing program in which lay offs are avoided by reducing the work week and using unemployment insurance funds to pay workers short-time compensation. Compared to the lay-off alternative, there appear to be economic benefits to work-sharing for both management and employees. Reaction to the scheme has been generally positive at the union local level and the firm level, but it has been negative at the national level of both labour and management. These divergent views can be explained mainly as a result of short-run versus long-run perspectives. Managers at the firm level see the immediate benefit of improved labour relations and the avoidance of the costs of hiring and training replacements for laid-off workers who do not respond when recalled. The national business leaders are more concerned with work incentive and efficiency aspects of work-sharing.

scholarly journals Underneath Kyoto: Emerging Subnational Government Initiatives and Incipient Issue-Bundling Opportunities in China and the United States

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Koehn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Stabilization Policies

At present, progress in mitigating global GHG emissions is impeded by political stalemate at the national level in the United States and the People's Republic of China. Through the conceptual lenses of multilevel governance and framing politics, the article analyzes emerging policy initiatives among subnational governments in both countries. Effective subnational emission-mitigating action requires framing climatic-stabilization policies in terms of local co-benefits associated with environmental protection, health promotion, and economic advantage. In an impressive group of US states and cities, and increasingly at the local level in China, public concerns about air pollution, consumption and waste management, traffic congestion, health threats, the ability to attract tourists, and/or diminishing resources are legitimizing policy developments that carry the co-benefit of controlling GHG emissions. A co-benefits framing strategy that links individual and community concerns for morbidity, mortality, stress reduction, and healthy human development for all with GHG-emission limitation/reduction is especially likely to resonate powerfully at the subnational level throughout China and the United States.

Portugal: 19 July 1987

1987 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Economic Regime

THE PORTUGUESE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 19 JULY 1987 initiated a profound change in the Portuguese party system and in the system of government. From 1974 onwards, Portugal had moved peacefully towards a democratic political system, enshrined in the 1976 Constitution. This evolution lasted about eight years and culminated in the revision of the Constitution in 1982. From 1982 onwards the present political regime has been a democratic one, coexisting with a capitalist economic regime attenuated by state monopoly in key sectors and by public companies which were nationalized between 1974 and 1976. It is also since 1982 that the system of government has been semi-presidential. There is pure representativeness as referendums do not exist at national level and have never been regulated at local level. But the government is semi-presidential in the sense that, owing to French influence, it attempts to balance Parliament with the election of the President of the Republic by direct and universal suffrage.

Integrating Slum Upgrading and Vulnerability Reduction in Mozambique

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Mathias Spaliviero
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Vulnerability Reduction ◽  
Extreme Flood ◽  
Slum Upgrading

Due to its location, Mozambique suffers from cyclical flooding associated with heavy rains and cyclones. In recent years, extreme flood events affected millions of people, disrupting the economic recovery process that followed the peace agreement in 1992. Despite this natural threat, most of the population continues to live in flood prone areas both in rural environment, due to the dependency on agricultural activities, and in urban environment, since unsafe zones are often the only affordable option for new settlers. This paper presents a brief analytical review on different issues related with urban informal settlements, or slums, based on different project activities developed by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Mozambique. The aim is to identify applicable strategies to reduce vulnerability in urban slums, where approximately 70 percent of the urban population live. The implemented project activities target different organisational levels in an integrated manner, seeking for active involvement of the Government, local authorities and communities at each implementation stage, from decision-making to practical implementation. They consist of three main components: 1) supporting policy-making in order to ensure sustainable urban development, 2) delivering a comprehensive training and capacity building based on the mainstreaming concept of “Learning How to Live with Floods” as valid alternative to resettlement, and 3) facilitating participatory land use planning coupled with physical upgrading interventions at the local level. In the long-term, the intention of UN-HABITAT is to progressively focus on community-based slum upgrading and vulnerability reduction activities, coordinated by local authorities and actively monitored by central institutions, in improving and managing basic services and infrastructures (i.e. water supply, drainage, sanitation, waste management, road network, etc). This type of bottom-up experiences should then represent a basis for setting up a slum upgrading intervention strategy to be applied at the national level.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND ETIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF IUFD: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY AT TERTIARY CARE CENTRE

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-34
Author(s):  
Deepali Jain ◽  
Uma Jain ◽  
Japhia David
Keyword(s):  
Gestational Age ◽  
Fetal Death ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
National Level ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Fetal Mortality ◽  
Hypertensive Disorder ◽  
Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction:- IUFD occurrence without warning in a previously normal pregnancy is really a challenge to obstetrician and distressing situation for parents. It becomes crucial to identify specic probable cause of fetal death, to prevent the re-occurance and get the corrective measures. Prenatal mortality is still of one of the top most health indicators in measuring the quality and impact of health services in developing countries Still birth is a useful index to measure the values of antenatal and intranatal care. To decrease the fetal mortality rate, evaluation, documentation and audit of the etiology and the associated risk factors for stillbirth is required. Material and method :- The present study aims at studying the various causes related to IUFD. Prospective observational study conducted on 112 patients at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kamla Raja Hospital, G.R. Medical College and J.A. Group of Hospitals, Gwalior (M.P.) for 18 months. All those cases who were diagnosed as intrauterine dead fetus at the time of admission with gestational age >24 weeks pregnancy were included in the study. All those investigation available at the centre of mother and father were noted and details were taken. Epidemiological evaluation of causes of fetal death was done. Record of the method of induction and mode of delivery taken. RESULTS :-Total 112 cases found during the study period were included . We found maximum cases unbooked - 71.43%, which were mainly emergency admissions. Majority of the IUFD cases- 77.67% were found to lie in the age group of 20-30 yrs, most of them were primigravida 62.5%., maximum cases of IUFD were of the gestational age 31-35 weeks- 47.32%. Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy- 23.3 % cases were found to be the major associated cause followed by Antepartum Haemorrhage 11.5%, Severe anaemia 15.1%, diabetes- 14.2% jaundice - 9.8%. congenital anomaly- 9.8%. Oligohydromnios- 8.9% and IUGR were also found to be associated with IUFD, forming an indirect reason. 39.29% cases were unexplained. 86.6% cases delivered vaginally. 10.7% cases had to undergo LSCS and only 2.68% cases underwent laparotomy for rupture uterus. 11.61% cases were of macerated IUFD baby indicating long term neglected IUFD. 39.78% and 38.39% IUFD were of 2.0-2.5 kg and 1.5-2.0 kg. This show strong corelation with LBW and IUGR. CONCLUSION:- Unexplained cases, hypertensive disorder, anemia and diabetes were the major causes for IUFD. In spite of advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities a major cause of fetal death remain unexplained because of poverty, illiteracy, unawareness and inaccessibility of a health centre. Undoubtedly, continued surveillance of stillbirth rates is wanted for both high- and low-risk pregnancies at a state and national level.

scholarly journals Cross-national comparisons of health indicators require standardized definitions and common data sources

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Tolonen ◽  
Jaakko Reinikainen ◽  
Päivikki Koponen ◽  
Hanna Elonheimo ◽  
Luigi Palmieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Health ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Prevention And Health Promotion ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Obesity Hypertension

Abstract Background Health indicators are used to monitor the health status and determinants of health of the population and population sub-groups, identify existing or emerging health problems which would require prevention and health promotion activities, help to target health care resources in the most adequate way as well as for evaluation of the success of public health actions both at the national and international level. The quality and validity of the health indicator depends both on available data and used indicator definition. In this study we will evaluate existing knowledge about comparability of different data sources for definition of health indicators, compare how selected health indicators presented in different international databases possibly differ, and finally, present the results from a case study from Finland on comparability of health indicators derived from different data sources at national level. Methods For comparisons, four health indicators were selected that were commonly available in international databases and available for the Finnish case study. These were prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and asthma in the adult populations. Our evaluation has three parts: 1) a scoping review of the latest literature, 2) comparison of the prevalences presented in different international databases, and 3) a case study using data from Finland. Results Literature shows that comparability of estimated outcomes for health indicators using different data sources such as self-reported questionnaire data from surveys, measured data from surveys or data from administrative health registers, varies between indicators. Also, the case study from Finland showed that diseases which require regular health care visits such as diabetes, comparability is high while for health outcomes which can remain asymptomatic for a long time such as hypertension, comparability is lower. In different international health related databases, country specific results differ due to variations in the used data sources but also due to differences in indicator definitions. Conclusions Reliable comparison of the health indicators over time and between regions within a country or across the countries requires common indicator definitions, similar data sources and standardized data collection methods.

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