scholarly journals When is Knowledge Acquisition Socially Beneficial in the Laffont–Tirole Regulatory Framework?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Zimper ◽  
Mpoifeng Molefinyane
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Closed Form Expression ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
True Cost ◽  
Effort Level ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Acquisition Costs

Abstract The Laffont–Tirole regulator observes the accounting costs of a firm but she can neither observe its true cost-type nor its chosen effort level. This paper considers a Laffont–Tirole regulator who could employ an expert to obtain better, albeit not perfect, knowledge about the firm’s true cost type. Both the welfare gains through superior allocations from better knowledge but also the knowledge acquisition costs increase in the ‘marginal deadweight losses from taxes’ parameter λ ≥ 0. We derive a closed-form expression of the overall welfare benefits from knowledge acquisition as a function in λ. We characterize parameter conditions such that knowledge acquisition could improve social welfare in dependence on the value of λ. For this case we show that knowledge acquisition strictly increases social welfare if and only if λ falls into the interval (λ *, ∞) whereby we present a sharp characterization of the critical threshold-value λ * ≥ 0. In other words, information acquisition through a regulator only increases welfare for economies with comparatively high deadweight losses from taxation whereas welfare is decreased whenever these deadweight losses are low.

scholarly journals Access to Social Security for the Rural Elderly in Vietnam

2019 ◽  
pp. 51-71
Author(s):  
Tran Quy Long
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Social ◽  
Agricultural Societies ◽  
Market Relations

The current situation of the socio-economic life of the elderly now in part reflects Vietnam’s historical characteristics. The socio-economic structure in Vietnam has changed drastically due to the development of market relations, migration, the transformation of traditional society and modern agricultural societies that are creating forms and levels of socio-economic risk for the elderly. Based on the data from two communes, the article shows that, older men are more likely to receive monthly social transfers than women. Elder ly people with higher education receive higher monthly social benefits than lower education one. The elderly in rural areas surveyed hardly enjoy any social welfare programmes. The only beneficiaries are those who must be 80 years or older without a pension or other allowance. Some older people are entitled to benefits but only from programmes not reserved for the elderly. In order to live, the elderly still have to work, mainly in agriculture. This fact reflects the contrast and inadequacy of retirement and health regulations, which stipulate that workers must stop working at a certain age. The enjoyment of social welfare differs between elderly groups with different personal and social characteristics. It can be said that elderly people in rural areas who are not entitled to social welfare benefits are “double disadvantaged”. This mandates that the policy should be aimed at all the elderly in ensuring social welfare. Along with this, it is necessary to have a roadmap to increase the level of monthly social welfare benefits for the elderly to gradually achieve the minimum living standard because the current level of support for the elderly in Vietnam is still much lower than the comparable level for the poor. The process of population ageing in Vietnam is bringing great opportunities as well as great challenges, requiring new approaches to pensions, social pensions, health and the social environment for the elderly in rural areas.

Product Proliferation under Rational Inattention: Application to Health Insurance

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 554-559
Author(s):  
Zach Y. Brown ◽  
Jihye Jeon
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Rational Inattention ◽  
Drug Insurance ◽  
Acquisition Costs ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Product Proliferation ◽  
To Receive

In markets with complicated products such as insurance, why do firms offer many products even when consumers appear to receive little benefit? We show that when consumers face information acquisition costs, firms may have an incentive to introduce many undifferentiated products. This allows firms to gain market share and increase markups. We document initial evidence consistent with the model using data from Medicare prescription drug insurance. Insurers that offer more duplicate or similar plans have higher-cost plans. These results suggest a role for policymakers to restrict product proliferation in markets with complicated products.

scholarly journals Why Do Policymakers Support Administrative Burdens? The Roles of Deservingness, Political Ideology, and Personal Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Baekgaard ◽  
Donald P Moynihan ◽  
Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Local Politicians

Abstract Administrative burdens affect peoples’ experience of public administration but there is, to date, limited evidence to as why policymakers are willing to accept and impose burdens. To address this gap, we draw from the policy design and administrative burden literatures to develop the concept of burden tolerance—the willingness of policymakers and people more generally to passively allow or actively impose state actions that result in others experiencing administrative burdens. Drawing on a survey experiment and observational data with Danish local politicians in a social welfare setting, we find that more right-wing politicians are more tolerant of burdens, but politicians are less willing to impose burdens on a welfare claimant perceived as being more deserving. Politicians with a personal experience of receiving welfare benefits themselves are less tolerant of burdens, while information about the psychological costs experienced by claimants did not reduce burden tolerance.

scholarly journals Optimal Monitoring Design

Econometrica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 2075-2107 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Georgiadis ◽  
Balazs Szentes
Keyword(s):  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Minimal Cost ◽  
Threshold Policy ◽  
Agent Model ◽  
Monitoring Design ◽  
Effort Level ◽  
Optimal Monitoring ◽  
Principal Agent Model ◽  
Optimal Information ◽  
Acquisition Strategy

This paper considers a Principal–Agent model with hidden action in which the Principal can monitor the Agent by acquiring independent signals conditional on effort at a constant marginal cost. The Principal aims to implement a target effort level at minimal cost. The main result of the paper is that the optimal information‐acquisition strategy is a two‐threshold policy and, consequently, the equilibrium contract specifies two possible wages for the Agent. This result provides a rationale for the frequently observed single‐bonus wage contracts.

scholarly journals Evidence on why firms use different disclosure outlets

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-291
Author(s):  
Alexey Feigin ◽  
Andrew Ferguson ◽  
Matthew Grosse ◽  
Tom Scott
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Information Content ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Abnormal Return ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Market Reactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Acquisition Costs

Purpose The purpose of this study is to consider why firms use different disclosure outlets. The authors argue that the firm's choice of disclosure outlet can be explained by voluntary disclosure theories and investigate whether the market response around different disclosure outlets varies. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate differences in the characteristics of firms purchasing analyst research, holding investor presentations or Open Briefings and compare market reactions around each disclosure event. Findings The authors find that firm incentives to reduce information acquisition costs or mitigate disclosure risk affect firm disclosure outlet choice, and mixed evidence in support of talent signalling motivations. There is a lower absolute abnormal return around Open Briefings and a higher signed abnormal return around purchased analyst research. Research limitations/implications The research is exploratory in nature and only considers a small subset of disclosure outlets. There may be differences in information content across disclosure outlets. Originality/value They show disclosure outlets are not homogenous and provide empirical evidence voluntary disclosure theories help explain differences between firms’ use of disclosure outlets. Considering the growing number of disclosure outlets available, disclosure outlet choice is likely to be an increasingly important topic in accounting research.

Social Welfare in India

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrivridhi Shukla ◽  
Arpita Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Insurance Fund ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Government ◽  
Private Corporations

India’s rapid economic growth is accompanied by economic inequality, poverty, and a range of social issues, thus, raising important questions concerning the breadth and depth of social protection and promotion policies prevalent in the country. The social welfare system in India is different for the formal and informal sectors of the economy. It consists of two largely parallel systems. With respect to the formal economy or the organized sector, it operates directly through the government, state-owned enterprises, and/ or private corporations that provide reasonably strong social protection to their employees through mandatory legislations spanning aspects such as payment of gratuity, employees’ provident fund, and the employees’ state insurance fund. In contrast, the informal or the unorganized sector is covered through a fragmented system of welfare schemes and benefits provided by the central government and the respective state governments. Along with tracing the historical evolution of India’s welfare system, this article outlines the constitutional place of welfare in the country. With respect to the informal sector of the economy, it provides an overview of some of the key promotion and protection-orientated welfare policies and schemes, including those that address poverty, unemployment, education, health and food insecurity. Further, it discusses the barriers experienced by people in accessing welfare benefits, such as corruption and bureaucratic hurdles, and challenges faced by the government in welfare provision, such as scale of operation and identification of the target population groups. Finally, it assesses the country’s welfare system in light of the Global Social Protection Floor Initiative of the ILO-UN.

Do Finnish young people support the Nordic welfare state?

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teemu Rantanen ◽  
Thomas Chalmers McLaughlin ◽  
Timo Toikko
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Government Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Welfare Attitudes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits. Design/methodology/approach – Social welfare attitudes were examined related to three themes: government responsibility, trust in society, and individual responsibility. A sample of 725 students from 12 high and vocational schools in south Finland was used for analysis. Findings – The data suggest that young people have a high regard for the importance of the government’s role as a social support and a mechanism of social welfare for all citizens. In addition, the results show that women highlight government responsibility more than men, and that men highlight the individual’s own responsibility for social issues. According to the results, there is a weak relationship between cultural values and social welfare attitudes. Collective values relate positively to an emphasis on trust in government and government responsibility for social problems, and relate negatively to an emphasis on individuals’ personal responsibility. Originality/value – The study shows that the main principles of the welfare state are still accepted by the Finnish youth, although recent speculations about the future of welfare states.

The Rise and Fall of Japan’s New Far Right: How Anti-Korean Discourses Went Mainstream

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-402
Author(s):  
Sharon J. Yoon ◽  
Yuki Asahina
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Organizational Decline ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Political Group

Why has right-wing activism in Japan, despite its persistence throughout the postwar era, only gained significant traction recently? Focusing on the Zaitokukai, an anti-Korean movement in Japan, this article demonstrates how the new Far Right were able to popularize formerly stigmatized right-wing ideas. The Zaitokukai represents a political group distinct from the traditional right and reflective of new Far Right movements spreading worldwide. In Japan, concerns about the growing influence of South Korea and China in the 1980s as well as the decline of left-wing norms opened up a discursive opportunity for the new Far Right. By framing Korean postcolonial minorities as undeserving recipients of social welfare benefits, the Zaitokukai mobilized perceptions of threat that has continued to powerfully influence public perceptions of Koreans even following the group’s organizational decline. While past research has focused on the new Far Right’s political influence, this article stresses their roles as ideological entrepreneurs.

Appraisal of IgM Kappa/IgM Lambda Variations Using HevyLite® After Rituximab As Consolidation Therapy in Patients with Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia

Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 4879-4879
Author(s):  
Jean-Richard Eveillard ◽  
Achouak Achour ◽  
Françoise N'Go Sack ◽  
Adrian Tempescul ◽  
Ronan LE Calloc'h ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Partial Response ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Light Chain ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Light Chains ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Chop Regimen ◽  
Gamma Receptor ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Abstract 4879 Background: In Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM), response rates to rituximab (RTX) range from 30% to 75%. RTX is also known to generate a transient IgM flare in some patients. Our study aimed to characterize this phenomenon using the newly Hevylite® assay developed by The Binding Site that specifically quantifies IgM-kappa(K) and IgM-lambda(L). Methods: Between 2007 and 2009, 33 WM patients received a 6-course fludarabine-based regimen, 32 as first and 1 as second line. Partial response (PR), defined as a reduction ≥50% but <90% in baseline monoclonal peak (BMP) on serum protein electrophoresis (SPE), was the minimal goal. Two of the 32 patients treated at first line needed further treatment with CHOP regimen to reach the minimal PR. All received 4 consecutive weekly IV injections of 375 mg/m2 of RTX as consolidation. All were tested using the SPAplus analyzer for residual IgM-K and IgM-L at first and fourth injection. Monoclonal IgM-K or IgM-L level variations and IgM-K/IgM-L ratios were analyzed. SPE and immunofixation (IF) were performed 3 months after the fourth RTX injection to evaluate the impact of consolidation on response. Results: Of the 33 tested, at a variation threshold ≥20% relative to baseline IgM levels, 3 subgroups were defined: 15 or 45.5%, the no-flare patients, showed an increase or a decrease <20%, 11 or 33.3%, the flare patients, showed an increase ≥20% while 7 or 21.2%, the anti-flare patients, showed a decrease ≥20%. In the no-flare subgroup, there was no significant difference in monoclonal K (9) and L (6) light chains while in the 18 but 1 patients of the merged flare and anti-flare subgroups, monoclonal K light chain was overrepresented as there were 17 K vs 1 L (p<0.05). A highest initial IgM-K/L ratio (p<0.005) characterized the flare subgroup. No association was seen with demographic and hematologic characteristics and RTX pharmacokinetics. Regarding Fc gamma receptor (FcγR) IIIa-158 polymorphism, 10 patients were defined as VF and 5 as FF in the no-flare subgroup, 3 as VF, 3 as FF and 1 as VV in the anti-flare subgroup, 3 as VF and 8 as FF in the flare subgroup, with no statistically significant difference between the last 2 subgroups (p=0.22). We also analyzed the data without defining a critical threshold in monoclonal IgM level variations. Patients were, then, separated in 2 subgroups: 17 flare patients and 16 anti-flare patients. Monoclonal K light chain was overrepresented in the 2 subgroups, with 13 K vs 4 L in flare patients and 13 K vs 3 L in anti-flare patients; no statistically significant difference was found between them regarding monoclonal K and L light chains (p=0.32). No association was seen with demographic and hematologic characteristics and RTX pharmacokinetics. Regarding FcgR IIIa-158 polymorphism, there was a statistically significant difference (p=0.03) as 12 patients were of the FF subtype and 5 of the VF one in the flare subgroup while 4 were of the FF subtype, 11 of the VF one and 1 of the VV one in the anti-flare subgroup. At response evaluation 3 months after the fourth injection of RTX, all patients were screened for SPE and 22 for IF. When we compared the 17 patients of the flare subgroup to the 16 ones of the anti-flare subgroup, no patient vs 1 reached complete remission defined as disappearance of BMP on SPE and negativity of IF, 1 vs 6 advanced to very good partial response defined as a decrease ≥90% in BMP on SPE and positivity of IF and the remaining 16 vs 9 improved their partial response by a mean additional reduction of 20% (range: 0–30%) vs 18.75% (range: 0–50%) in BMP, but there was no statistically significant difference in this regard (p=0.79). Conclusions: Using Hevylite® assay, monoclonal IgM up and down variations of at least 20% following RTX occurred in up to 54.5% of our patients and this raised to 100% when no threshold value was considered. Such assay provides a reliable and highly sensitive quantitative assessment, especially in patients whose monoclonal IgM was at low concentration. Patients of the flare subgroup were predominantly of the FF subtype of FcgR IIIa-158 polymorphism while patients of the anti-flare subgroup were predominantly of VF subtype, which was statistically significant. It is tempting to hypothesize a difference in RTX mechanism of action, with ADCC predominating in the anti-flare subgroup and CDC in the flare subgroup. It would be of interest to assess such an hypothesis on a larger cohort and to analyze its impact on response profile. Disclosures: Pietrantuono: The Binding Site: Employment.

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