Costa Rica's socioeconomic problems will outlast Solis

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lame Duck ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
Socioeconomic Problems

Subject Midway through his term, Solis is a lame duck president. Significance President Luis Guillermo Solis's first two years in power have been largely ineffectual. Opposition in Congress together with divisions in his party and his lack of experience have hindered much-needed reforms in areas such as social security. Strong results for the opposition in February's municipal elections have further limited the government's room for manoeuvre. Impacts Social demands and the economic slowdown will see public debt steadily rise this year. Efforts to introduce tax reforms are unlikely to make it through the divided Congress. Solis's successor will inherit the problems of this administration and may be no better placed to address them.

Nicaragua protests signal dialogue, not regime change

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Security Reforms ◽  
Economic Slowdown

Significance The protests pose the greatest threat to President Daniel Ortega since he took power in 2007. The president’s eventual withdrawal of the social security reforms that had sparked the unrest has, instead of restoring order, emboldened protesters, who are now pushing for further political concessions and have called for a mass anti-government demonstration to be held tomorrow. Impacts Businesses may postpone investment decisions until after the national dialogue, posing a risk of economic slowdown. Damage to the reputation of the security forces threatens to foster long-term resentment, undermining law enforcement. The protests may spur anti-corruption protests in other parts of the region, such as Guatemala.

Moreno will aim for first-round win in Ecuador

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
External Financing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Ruling Party

Subject Presidential hopefuls. Significance On October 1, Ecuador's ruling party, Alianza Pais, nominated former Vice President Lenin Moreno as its presidential candidate in the elections of February 19. The news has boosted the government, raising hopes of a victory in the first round of the elections. However, the possibility a candidate from the right winning in a second round cannot be discounted. Impacts Managing the economic slowdown will be one of the main challenges for the government in the lead-up to the election. Securing external financing and maintaining relatively high levels of public spending will remain a priority. Opposition candidates will try to make gains from the economic slowdown, the rise in public debt and corruption allegations.

EU can become a trendsetter and bolster world GDP

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Budget Deficits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Face ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Global Influence ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Debt Levels

Subject The global reach of Germany's fiscal scope. Significance The focus on euro-area debt fragility perhaps obscures the fact that the bloc and broader EU have strengthened their fiscal position. They can afford to take action in the face of the global and local economic slowdown. Public debt levels and budget deficits have shrunk since 2014, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, which enjoy substantial budget surpluses and moderate debt levels. Impacts Action would prevent the EU from looking feeble and unable to respond to, let alone influence, shifts in global economic conditions. A change in perceptions of the EU and its capabilities might boost local and global sentiment, multiplying the influence of any stimulus. Illustrating Germany's global influence, it bought 89.4 billion of dollars of goods from China in 2018 and 57.7 billion dollars of US goods.

Briceno’s difficulties will benefit Belize’s UDP

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sharp Drop ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
The Government

Significance Belize’s economic slowdown is proving prolonged, driven by the sharp drop in tourist arrivals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has reduced spending and announced an austerity budget for 2021-22. Tourism looks likely to pick up somewhat this year, but high public debt and unemployment will weigh on economic activity into 2022. Impacts Failure to agree a debt restructuring could force Belize to seek an IMF loan. Protracted debt negotiations will deter investment in the short term. Ongoing vaccine uptake in the United States will be crucial for Belize’s tourism sector, as it is the main tourism source country.

Ecuador’s Lasso weathers early storm but clouds loom

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
The Political ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Downward Pressure ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
International Investors

Significance He appears to have weathered this early political storm, achieving notable successes in areas such as tax reform. However, the political outlook remains uncertain, with a likely COVID-19 resurgence heralding new challenges in 2022. Impacts Containing the spread of the Omicron variant will be a priority for Lasso in the coming months. A pandemic resurgence would place downward pressure on economic growth and tax collection. Tax reforms will please international investors and support efforts to attract foreign direct investment to stimulate economic activity.

Health system responsiveness in Iran: a cross-sectional study in hospitals of Mazandaran province

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roya Malekzadeh ◽  
Samereh Yaghoubian ◽  
Edris Hasanpoor ◽  
Matina Ghasemi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Mazandaran Province ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
System Responsiveness ◽  
Care System

Purpose Responsiveness is a reaction to the reasonable expectations of patients regarding ethical and non-clinical aspects of the health-care system. Responsiveness is a characteristic of health-care system and the observance of the patient’s rights. The purpose of this study is to compare the responsiveness of the health-care system based on the hospital ownership in Mazandaran province in Iran. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional study design was used on 1,083 patients referred to public and private hospitals and hospitals affiliated to social security organization in Mazandaran province in 2017. The World Health Organization’s responsibility questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA results are presented is the results section. Findings All responsiveness dimensions were salient for respondents. The response rate in the selected hospitals was very close, which ranged from 85.7 to 90.2%, and there was no significant difference between public, private and social security hospitals (p > 0.05). The most crucial responsiveness dimension in hospitals was autonomy. Originality/value In the current study, the dimensions of communication and confidentiality were identified as priority dimensions based on the least score for breeding actions to improve the responsiveness of the health-care system. At the end, some useful recommendations such as re-engineering the processes, training to engage the employees with patients and encouraging them to fill the gap were suggested.

Government failures and non-performing loans in European countries: a spatial approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Ofria ◽  
Massimo Mucciardi
Keyword(s):  
Public Debt ◽  
Geographically Weighted Regression ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Weighted Regression ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Ols Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

PurposeThe purpose is to analyze the spatially varying impacts of corruption and public debt as % of GDP (proxies of government failures) on non-performing loans (NPLs) in European countries; comparing two periods: one prior to the crisis of 2007 and another one after that. The authors first modeled the NPLs with an ordinary lest square (OLS) regression and found clear evidence of spatial instability in the distribution of the residuals. As a second step, the authors utilized the geographically weighted regression (GWR) to explore regional variations in the relationship between NPLs and the proxies of “Government failures”.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first modeled the NPL with an OLS regression and found clear evidence of spatial instability in the distribution of the residuals. As a second step, the author utilized the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) (Fotheringham et al., 2002) to explore regional variations in the relationship between NPLs and proxies of “Government failures” (corruption and public debt as % of GDP).FindingsThe results confirm that corruption and public debt as % of GDP, after the crisis of 2007, have affected significantly on NPLs of the EU countries and the following countries neighboring the EU: Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Montenegro, and Turkey.Originality/valueIn a spatial prospective, unprecedented in the literature, this research focused on the impact of corruption and public debt as % of GDP on NPLs in European countries. The positive correlation, as expected, between public debt and NPLs highlights that fiscal problems in Eurozone countries have led to an important rise of problem loans. The impact of institutional corruption on NPLs reports that the higher the corruption, the higher is the level of NPLs.

The impact of quality management practices on knowledge management processes: a study of a social security corporation in Jordan

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ata Al Shraah ◽  
Ayman Abu-Rumman ◽  
Faisal Al Madi ◽  
Fawwaz Ali Farhan Alhammad ◽  
Ayah Ahmad AlJboor
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Management Practices ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
General Director

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the impact of total quality practices on knowledge management (KM) processes across a Social Security Corporation (SSC) in Jordan and explore the best approach to improve KM processes using quality management.Design/methodology/approachThis study followed a quantitative methodology: a conceptual model was developed based on an extensive review of the related literature; an online survey was developed and distributed using the SSC's intranet; and 384 surveys were completed and used in the statistical analysis. The two-stage approach of structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze and interpret the data, and was used to validate the conceptual model of this research.FindingsBased on the statistical analysis it was found that six out of seven independent factors relating to quality management practices were confirmed to have a significant impact on the knowledge management processes (KMPs). Building upon the findings an agenda for improving KM processes using quality management is proposed.Originality/valueThis study was conducted in one organization namely the SSC because it is the largest public service organization in Jordan and offers compulsory services. The inclusion of other public organizations and companies may reflect different findings. Future research may collect data from other service industries to get a more comprehensive perspective from developing countries such as Jordan. Moreover, the population of this study included only the General Director, General Director Assistants, and Administrative Managers. Front-line employees were excluded from the data collection because the study was conducted solely from a managerial perspective.

COVID-19 may hit less resilient EU eastern areas more

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Past ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
Clear Cases ◽  
The Impact

Significance At least in the EU’s eleven eastern member states (EU-11), there has been significant if slow progress in lifting standards of living across the board in the past decade. However, progress is uneven and the impact of the economic slowdown due to lockdowns in the past year may well have affected disproportionately already poorer regions. Impacts Some governments, notably Hungary’s, will put political loyalty above need in directing recovery funds to the localities. People in ‘left-behind’ regions may seek a better life in relatively prosperous capital cities or abroad. There is scope for countries and regions to learn from each other given clear cases of significant development in the past decade.

System and neural network analysis of intent to buy and willingness to pay insurance premium

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjay Tolani ◽  
Ananth Rao ◽  
Genanew B. Worku ◽  
Mohamed Osman
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Security Benefits

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze significant determinants to assess the probability of insureds’ intent to buy (ITB) insurance and willingness to pay (WTP) quantum of dollars for security benefits. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the Double Hurdle Model (DHM) and Neural Network (NN) architecture to analyze the insureds’ behavior for ITB and WTP. The authors apply these frameworks to all the 503 insureds of a branch of a leading insurer in the United Arab Emirates. Findings The DHM identified age, loans & liabilities, body mass index, travel outside the UAE, salary and country of origin (Middle Eastern and African) as significant determinants to predict WTP for social security benefits. In addition to these determinants, NN architecture identified insurance replacement, holding multiple citizenship, age of parents, mortgages, country of origin: Americas, length of travel, income of previous year and medical conditions of insured as additional important determinants to predict WTP for social security benefits; thus, NN is found to be superior to DHM due to its lowest RMSE and AIC in the holdout sample and also its flexibility and no assumptions unlike econometric models. Research limitations/implications Insureds’ data used from one UAE Branch limit the generalizability of empirical findings. Practical implications The study findings will enable the insurers to appropriately design the insurance products that match the insurers’ behavior of ITB and WTP for social security benefits. Social implications The study findings have the potential for insurance institutions to be more flexible in their insurance practices through public–private partnerships. Originality/value This is the authors’ original research work.

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