scholarly journals A place-based approach to population sustainability: Demographic and economic change at the local level in Fife, Scotland

2021 ◽  
pp. 026909422110574
Author(s):  
David McCollum ◽  
Hebe Nicholson ◽  
Paula Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Economic Change ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Population Sustainability ◽  
Policy Measures

Population sustainability is a prevalent yet nebulous concept within academic and policy debates surrounding the nature and consequences of demographic and economic change. This research seeks to add nuance to understandings of population sustainability in ageing societies. The fiscal challenges posed by population ageing mean that more and more states are implementing specific policies in response to it, with limited degrees of success thus far. This investigation examines place-based understandings of population sustainability on the part of local stakeholders in a region of Scotland, a country facing significant demographic challenges and which is enacting policy measures specifically aimed at promoting population sustainability. The findings suggest that the on-the-ground realities of population sustainability are nuanced and complex. As such, there is scope for greater attention to the diversity and complexities of population and economic change at the sub-national scale in broader academic conceptualisations of and policy responses to the increasingly pressing issue of population sustainability.

Old Age Pensions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Mathieu Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
Old Age Poverty ◽  
Future Outcomes ◽  
Social Security Benefits

This chapter gives an overview of the type of pension system existing in Europe. Contributive and redistributive systems are opposed but the chapter shows that pension systems are more often a mix of both. The chapter shows how these systems have been more or less effective in tackling old age poverty in most countries and it points to the main challenges that these systems are facing, namely population ageing and low labour-force participation. The major reforms that have been implemented to ensure future sustainability of pension systems are presented but a number of additional changes that should be implemented are discussed. The chapter also presents projections for future outcomes and the link between demographic challenges and social security benefits is highlighted.

scholarly journals The macroeconomic effects of COVID-19 in Montenegro: a Bayesian VARX approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordana Djurovic ◽  
Vasilije Djurovic ◽  
Martin M. Bojaj
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Capital Stock ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Health Expenditures ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Out Of Sample ◽  
Policy Measures

Abstract This study examines, diagnoses, and assesses appropriate macroeconomic policy responses of the Montenegrin Government to the outbreak of COVID-19. The model econometrically measures the macroeconomic costs using a Bayesian VARX Litterman/Minessota prior to the pandemic disease in terms of demand and supply loss due to illness and closed activities and their effects on GDP growth in various pandemic scenarios. We explore five economic scenarios—shocks—using the available data from January 2006 to December 2019, following real out-of-sample forecasts generated from January 2020 to December 2020. Sensitivity scenarios spanning January 2020 to June 2020 from ± 10 to ± 60% were analyzed. We observed what happens to the supply and demand sides, namely, GDP, tourism, capital stock, human capital, health expenditures, economic freedom, and unemployment. The results show a toll on the GDP, tourism, unemployment, capital stock, and especially human capital for 2020. The recommended policy measures are public finance spending initiatives focused on securing employment and keeping highly qualified staff in Montenegrin companies. Considering all uncertainties, the rebound of the Montenegrin economy could take a few years to reach pre-COVID 19 output levels.

Some Useful Sources

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-694
Author(s):  
Michael McGann ◽  
Dina Bowman ◽  
Simon Biggs ◽  
Helen Kimberley
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Age Discrimination ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Early Exit ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Working Lives

Issues related to population ageing and longer working lives span diverse research areas and are linked to a number of conceptual and policy debates. Here we provide details of texts which allow quick access to key debates in the different domains covered by the contributions. We focus first on social policy, retirement and pensions. We then provide key sources on the changing experiences and perceptions of retirement; age-discrimination, human resource management and older workers; and early exit, mature-age unemployment and activating older workers.

scholarly journals On the Demographics and the Severity of the Social Security Crisis

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 1001-1028
Author(s):  
Emin Gahramanov
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
Intertemporal Consumption ◽  
Policy Analysts ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Pension Benefits ◽  
Changing Demographics

Abstract Changing demographics across the world threatens the sustainability of pension benefits. Yet there is widespread sentiment among some business and policy analysts that in the presence of population ageing, more elderly people would mean more old-age consumption and robust business opportunities across all spending dimensions. In this paper we look at a micro-level analysis of intertemporal consumption/saving behavior, and find that in the presence of notable heterogeneity with respect to the consumer impatience and rationality degree, different demographic challenges and likely policy responses would imply greatly varying and significant consumption changes at old age. We also touch upon the associated issues of welfare analysis and transitional effects and discuss various complexities and challenges for policy implications and economic projections.

The Political Economy of Crisis Responses

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Agnar Freyr Helgason
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Welfare ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Crisis Responses

Chapter 3, by Agnar Freyr Helgason, offers a review of political economy theories of crises responses. He starts by explaining the broad perspectives of the Keynesian and Austrian schools and then probes more deeply into recent work on government policy responses to economic crises, with a focus on the economic welfare of populations or households. The role of the welfare state and its importance during periods of crisis is considered, as well as the role of government policy more broadly, either that directed at the economy generally or at specific population groups. Key policy debates are covered, for example austerity versus stimulus, as well as mixed approaches.

icct Report, December 2016: Foreign Terrorist Fighters

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 148-186
Author(s):  
Tanya Mehra
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Rehabilitative Measures

This article is based on a paper which was developed for the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s Foreign Terrorist Fighters (ftf) Working Group. It takes stock of the current trends and dynamics related to the ftf phenomenon and identifies some of the gaps that still need to be addressed. The distinction between home-grown terrorists and (returning) ftfs is fading, the difference between isil/Da’esh inspired or directed terrorist attacks is becoming more fluid and the nexus between terrorism and crime is more prominent, which clearly indicates that terrorism can manifest itself in many different ways. The involvement of returning ftfs in some terrorist attacks is a stark reminder of the potential threat returning ftfs pose. The data also indicates a demographic change with a more prominent role of female ftfs and children being recruited and used in hostilities or involved in terrorist attacks. The current trends underline the need for a comprehensive, tailored and multidisciplinary approach including the involvement of stakeholders at the local level to adequately address the evolving aspects of the ftf phenomenon. This paper provides a short overview of policy responses which can broadly be grouped into preventive, criminal, administrative and rehabilitative measures. The ftf related responses could have several human rights implications and states are encouraged to develop a comprehensive approach to address the ftf phenomenon in full respect of human rights.

The Triumph of Novelty over Experience? Social Policy Responses to Demographic Crises in Hungary and Poland since EU Enlargement

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 984-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Inglot
Keyword(s):  
Family Policy ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Domain I

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. During the past two decades, many European countries, including Germany, Italy, and Spain in the west, and Poland and Hungary in the east, encountered prolonged demographic crises. These challenges first became evident in the late 1990s as fertility rates declined rapidly, much below the level necessary to ensure a simple replacement of generations. Moreover, since the EU accession, mass labor migration from the new Member States to the more developed western European countries added yet another dimension to the growing population problems. This article attempts to explain variation in governmental policy responses to these developments between two countries, Poland and Hungary. Hungary, owing to its long-term tradition of relatively generous and extensive social programs directed to families, youth, and children, should be expected to handle its population emergency much better than Poland. Yet, the opposite has happened. In the last few years, Poland has proposed and implemented several innovative measures to address fertility and migration pressures while Hungary has remained committed to its traditional social policies in this domain. I will analyze and compare the two cases by examining a combination of historical factors related to the legacies of demographic emergencies defined in terms of national strength and survival, and by examining the politics of family policy, with a special focus on the creation of coalitions of governmental and/or nongovernmental actors that either facilitate or obstruct effective policy innovation.

Introduction: Politics and Current Challenges of Demography in Central and Eastern Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-892
Author(s):  
Tsveta Petrova ◽  
Tomasz Inglot
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Europe Today

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. In this article, we introduce a multidisciplinary and multimethod, special section on the intersection of politics, policy, and the current challenges of demography in Hungary and Poland. We argue that aging, declining fertility, and migration as well as their politicization all deserve urgent attention as some of the most pressing concerns for most of Central and Eastern Europe today. Accordingly, we first use European Commission data to paint a comparative picture of the demographic challenges that the region faces. We then introduce the article contributions in the special section that examine aging, declining fertility, and migration. Next we turn to the question of the politicization of these demographic challenges. We discuss how the proposed special section speaks to two important but previously rarely linked debates taking place within the social sciences today: (1) the voluminous literature on the demographic changes and policies in Central and Eastern Europe, including their ethnic and cultural dimensions, and (2) the expanding scholarship on the rise of nationalist populism and decline in the quality of liberal democracy in the region. Lastly, we summarize the arguments of the contributing authors, who pay closer attention to policy responses to and the politicization of the demographic challenges faced by Central and Eastern Europe.

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