scholarly journals Do party system parameters explain differences in legislative organization? Fragmentation, polarization, and the density of regulation in European parliaments, 1945–2009

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110024
Author(s):  
Ulrich Sieberer ◽  
Daniel Höhmann

The article studies whether the party system characteristics fragmentation and ideological polarization increase the density of institutional regulation in parliaments. It introduces a comprehensive time-series-cross-sectional dataset of standing orders in 15 Western European parliaments that allows studying how densely various fields of legislative activity such as lawmaking, controlling the government, and creating publicity were regulated over a period of more than 60 years. Descriptively, the data show increased regulation in all areas but also some variation between countries. Dynamic panel regression analyses for non-stationary time series find no systematic effect of fragmentation or polarization on the density of regulation indicating that large parts of legislative organization change for reasons unrelated to party system dynamics. We identify changes in the environment of legislatures such as increasing complexity and professionalization of politics, technological change, and Europeanization as potential drivers of such Pareto-efficient reforms.

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lajos Horváth ◽  
Marie Hušková ◽  
Gregory Rice ◽  
Jia Wang

We consider the problem of estimating the common time of a change in the mean parameters of panel data when dependence is allowed between the cross-sectional units in the form of a common factor. A CUSUM type estimator is proposed, and we establish first and second order asymptotics that can be used to derive consistent confidence intervals for the time of change. Our results improve upon existing theory in two primary directions. Firstly, the conditions we impose on the model errors only pertain to the order of their long run moments, and hence our results hold for nearly all stationary time series models of interest, including nonlinear time series like the ARCH and GARCH processes. Secondly, we study how the asymptotic distribution and norming sequences of the estimator depend on the magnitude of the changes in each cross-section and the common factor loadings. The performance of our results in finite samples is demonstrated with a Monte Carlo simulation study, and we consider applications to two real data sets: the exchange rates of 23 currencies with respect to the US dollar, and the GDP per capita in 113 countries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betina Berghaus ◽  
Axel Bücher

In recent years, stationary time series models based on copula functions became increasingly popular in econometrics to model nonlinear temporal and cross-sectional dependencies. Within these models, we consider the problem of testing the goodness-of-fit of the parametric form of the underlying copula. Our approach is based on a dependent multiplier bootstrap and it can be applied to any stationary, strongly mixing time series. The method extends recent i.i.d. results by Kojadinovic et al. (2011) and shares the same computational benefits compared to methods based on a parametric bootstrap. The finite-sample performance of our approach is investigated by Monte Carlo experiments for the case of copula-based Markovian time series models.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-07
Author(s):  
Alfred Eboh

Background: The hawking of wares by children has been a serious issue confronting the Nigerian society. Children hawk in some of the most horrible conditions conceivable, where they face a serious risk of injury, chronic illness, kidnapping, rape or death. Objective: The focus of this study was to assess the perceived effects of street hawking on the well-being of children in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State. Methods: The population of this study consists of parents of the street hawkers in Anyigba while cross-sectional survey design was used through the purposive sampling technique to choose the sample size of one hundred and sixty-two (162) respondents. The validated structured questionnaire and In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) served as the instruments for the data collection respectively. The hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square at a predetermined 0.05 level of significance. The quantitative data were analysed with the aid of the SPSS (version 20). Results: The results indicated among others that street hawking had significant social implications and physical consequences on children's moral behaviour as well as health status in the study area. Conclusion: The study, therefore, concluded that the government of Kogi State should carry out an enlightenment campaign through the media and religious institutions on the negative consequences of street hawking are recommended as panacea. Also, the child right act instrument and its implementation should be strengthened in order to curb street hawking in the study area.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42
Author(s):  
Yulia Farida Yahya ◽  
Fifa Argentina ◽  
Rusmawardiana Rusmawardiana

Scabies is a parasitic infestation of the skin, that is affecting on the low income and crowded community in many tropical countries, especially developing countries such as Indonesia. Scabies infestation increases the incidence of secondary pyoderma include impetigo, folliculitis, cellulitis, ecthyma, abscess. Secondary pyoderma is a skin infection disease mainly caused by     group A Streptococcus (GAS) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA). Pyoderma is a risk factor for the glomerulonephritis infection, rheumatic diseases, which significantly increases morbidity and mortality, causing the government burden. The aim of this study is  determining the etiology and correlation of pyoderma infection in scabies patient. To determine sosio-demographic included sex, age in pediatric patients in primary schools (SD) in the district of Kertapati Palembang. The study design was cross sectional, and study samples were new scabies patients in the elementary school (age 6-14-year-old) with or without pyoderma. Clinical findings included history, physical examination and diagnostic procedure, which was investigation of skin scraping specimen material (SSB = skin surface biopsy) in confirmation with dermoscopic polar examination (DS) to show Sarcoptes scabiei mites. Microbiological examination with Gram stain identified the etiology of pyoderma.  Results of this study shows that there was a significance relationship between scabies infestation and pyoderma in children in elementary school. Staphylococcus aureus dan GAS are the most common caused of pyoderma in pediatric patients with scabies. Conclusion is there is a significant correlation between scabies and pyoderma. There is  a need to provide scabies and pyoderma medication at primary care health center as well as counseling for prevention in Palembang area with crowded population periodically.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Ni Nyoman Novita ◽  
Gusman Arsyad

Implementation of IMD in hospitals has decreased from the previous year and has not reached the target set by the government. Some IMD implementation processes have not been carried out according to applicable standards. So that babies do not get an IMD in accordance with existing SOPs. The purpose of this study was to determine the determinant factors associated with the implementation of the IMD by midwives in the Midwifery and Maternity Room Emergency Room (IGD) at the Anutapura General Hospital in Palu. This research method is analytical with cross sectional approach. The population of this study was that all midwives in the obstetrics emergency room and maternity room at Anutapura Palu Hospital were 37 respondents. The sample in this study is total sampling. The analysis used was univariate, and bivariate analysis using the chi square test with a confidence level of 95% (α = 0.05). The results of statistical tests on variable knowledge of midwives with the implementation of IMD p value: 0.018 (p value <0.05). APN training with the implementation of IMD p value: 0.697 (p value> 0.05). length of work with the implementation of IMD p value: 0.029 (p value <0.05). and peer support with the implementation of IMD p value: 0.007 (p value <0.05). Conclusions there is a relationship between knowledge, length of work, peer support with the implementation of the IMD, and training factors that have nothing to do with IMD implementation. The strongest factor in the relationship is peer support. It is recommended that the Anutarapura Palu Hospital be able to motivate midwives so that they can further enhance their role in the implementation and provide support to their colleagues so that the implementation of the IMD can be carried out in accordance with applicable standards.Keywords: Knowledge, APN Training, Duration of work, Implementation of IMD


Author(s):  
Kenneth E. Parku ◽  
Yvonne Ayerki Lamptey

The practice of trade union pluralism at an enterprise level is seen as problematic for both the management of enterprises and the trade union movement. The problems arise from inter-union rivalries, competition and disputes over demarcations of privileges and rights. This article explores the practice of trade union pluralism at the enterprise level in Ghana with the aim of creating awareness of the effect of the practice on the general trade union movement. This qualitative study employed a cross-sectional design and used purposive and snowball sampling methods in selecting the participants. The data was analysed thematically. The findings from the study show that union pluralism is stimulating the decline in general union membership, the breakaway of local unions from the federations, and employers’ classification of workers based on their qualifications once they are employed by organisations, and their assignment to specific unions (automatic membership at enterprise level). It is suggested that employment laws encourage union breakaways, which weakens the unions especially at the enterprise level. It is recommended that the state, labour officials and policy-makers should enforce labour laws, especially regarding freedom of association, and consider revisiting or amending some labour laws to curb their abuse. The government and labour institutions need to work together to operationalise the implementation of legal provisions on freedom of association or consider amending the provisions to curb the existing abuse.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e049069
Author(s):  
Atsushi Miyawaki ◽  
Takahiro Tabuchi ◽  
Yasutake Tomata ◽  
Yusuke Tsugawa

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between participation in government subsidies for domestic travel (subsidise up to 50% of all travel expenses) introduced nationally in Japan on 22 July 2020 and the incidence of symptoms indicative of COVID-19 infections.DesignCross-sectional analysis of nationally representative survey data.SettingInternet survey conducted between 25 August and 30 September 2020 in Japan. Sampling weights were used to calculate national estimates.Participants25 482 survey respondents (50.3% (12 809) women; mean (SD) age, 48.8 (17.4) years).Main outcome measuresIncidence rate of five symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 infection (high fever, sore throat, cough, headache, and smell and taste disorder) within the past month of the survey, after adjustment for characteristics of individuals and prefecture fixed effects (effectively comparing individuals living in the same prefecture).ResultsAt the time of the survey, 3289 (12.9%) participated in the subsidy programme. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that participants in the subsidy programme exhibited higher incidence of high fever (adjusted rate, 4.7% for participants vs 3.7% for non-participants; adjusted OR (aOR) 1.83; 95% CI 1.34 to 2.48; p<0.001), sore throat (19.8% vs 11.3%; aOR 2.09; 95% CI 1.37 to 3.19; p=0.002), cough (19.0% vs 11.3%; aOR 1.96; 95% CI 1.26 to 3.01; p=0.008), headache (29.2% vs 25.5%; aOR 1.24; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.44; p=0.006) and smell and taste disorder (2.6% vs 1.8%; aOR 1.98; 95% CI 1.15 to 3.40; p=0.01) compared with non-participants. These findings remained qualitatively unaffected by additional adjustment for the use of 17 preventative measures (eg, social distancing, wearing masks and handwashing) and fear against the COVID-19 infection.ConclusionsThe participation of the government subsidy programme for domestic travel was associated with a higher probability of exhibiting symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 infection.


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