FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR WELFARE BENEFICIARIES IN POLAND. NECESSITY OR REDUNDANT ACTIVITY?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22T (1 (tematyczny)) ◽  
pp. 16-23
Author(s):  
Mateusz Trochymiak

Article discusses issue of professionalization of welfare assistance institutions in Poland in topic of financial education service for beneficiaries. Supporting welfare beneficiaries in making financially reasonable decisions is common practice among developed countries, where massive consumption favors consumer habits, that contribute to fall into poverty trap. Actions taken in aim to raise consumer awareness won’t replace social security institutions but may have positive impact as a preventive measure. Article is based on experiences from the project “Potentials – new forms of social capital in city Przasnysz”.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kulondwa Safari ◽  
Charity Njoka ◽  
Mugisho Guershom Munkwa

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of financial literacy on personal retirement planning in Bukavu city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is a Sub-Saharan underdeveloped country with a weak pension and social security system.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a structural equation modeling and a sample of 361 public sector employees selected in Bukavu city in the DRC. The data were collected through a survey questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using SPSS and SMART PLS software.FindingsThe results from the study revealed that financial literacy has a significant impact on personal retirement planning. Two constructs of financial literacy, respectively, computation capability and financial knowledge were found to have a significant impact on personal retirement planning, while financial education and attitudes toward financial products were found not significant in explaining personal retirement planning.Practical implicationsThe findings from this study can be used by policy makers in the DRC to design socioeconomic programs, aiming to increase the level of financial literacy in the country and awareness on personal retirement planning.Originality/valueThe reviewed studies were based mostly on developed countries, and countries were the social security system works effectively. We have not found a study on financial literacy and retirement planning that has been conducted in the DRC, which is a country with specific characteristics compared to developed countries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-672
Author(s):  
Diego A. B. Marconatto ◽  
Luciano Barin-Cruz ◽  
Eugenio Pedrozo

Abstract Lending groups (LGs) and social capital are two central elements to the many microfinance solutions operating around the world. However, LG effectiveness in reducing transaction costs and lending risks for microfinance institutions (MFIs) is mediated by institutional environments. Starting from this assumption, we discuss the existent interactions between the institutional environments of developed (Anglo-Saxon and communitarian) and developing countries with different stocks of social capital (individual, network and institutional) and the influences of this interaction on LG effectiveness. In order to do so, we applied the institutional perspective of O. Williamson to build a theoretical framework to examine the interaction of all these conditions, allowing for analysis of their main relations within the microfinance context. Based on this framework, we propose on the one hand that in developing and Anglo-Saxon developed nations, stocks of both individual and network social capital are the most important for an LG's effectiveness. However, in Anglo-Saxon countries, these two stocks of social capital are complemented by formal contracting devices. In communitarian developed countries, on the other hand, the stocks of institutional social capital have a stronger positive impact on LG dynamics.


2019 ◽  
pp. 128-134
Author(s):  
Ksenia V. Bagmet

The article provides an empirical test of the hypothesis of the influence of the level of economic development of the country on the level of development of its social capital based on panel data analysis. In this study, the Indices of Social Development elaborated by the International Institute of Social Studies under World Bank support are used as an indicators of social capital development as they best meet the requirements for complexity (include six integrated indicators of Civic Activism, Clubs and Associations, Intergroup Cohesion, Interpersonal Safety and Trust, Gender Equality, Inclusion of Minorities), comprehensiveness of measurement, sustainability. In order to provide an empirical analysis, we built a panel that includes data for 20 countries divided into four groups according to the level of economic development. The first G7 countries (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom); the second group is the economically developed countries, EU members and Turkey, the third group is the new EU member states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania); to the fourth group – post-Soviet republics (Armenia, Georgia, Russian Federation, Ukraine). The analysis shows that the parameters of economic development of countries cannot be completely excluded from the determinants of social capital. Indicators show that the slowdown in economic growth leads to greater cohesion among people in communities, social control over the efficiency of distribution and use of funds, and enforcement of property rights. The level of tolerance to racial diversity and the likelihood of negative externalities will depend on the change in the rate of economic growth. Also, increasing the well-being of people will have a positive impact on the level of citizens’ personal safety, reducing the level of crime, increasing trust. Key words: social capital, economic growth, determinant, indice of social development.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3663
Author(s):  
Zun Shen ◽  
Qingfeng Wu ◽  
Zhi Wang ◽  
Guoyi Chen ◽  
Bin Lin

(1) Background: Diabetic retinopathy, one of the most serious complications of diabetes, is the primary cause of blindness in developed countries. Therefore, the prediction of diabetic retinopathy has a positive impact on its early detection and treatment. The prediction of diabetic retinopathy based on high-dimensional and small-sample-structured datasets (such as biochemical data and physical data) was the problem to be solved in this study. (2) Methods: This study proposed the XGB-Stacking model with the foundation of XGBoost and stacking. First, a wrapped feature selection algorithm, XGBIBS (Improved Backward Search Based on XGBoost), was used to reduce data feature redundancy and improve the effect of a single ensemble learning classifier. Second, in view of the slight limitation of a single classifier, a stacking model fusion method, Sel-Stacking (Select-Stacking), which keeps Label-Proba as the input matrix of meta-classifier and determines the optimal combination of learners by a global search, was used in the XGB-Stacking model. (3) Results: XGBIBS greatly improved the prediction accuracy and the feature reduction rate of a single classifier. Compared to a single classifier, the accuracy of the Sel-Stacking model was improved to varying degrees. Experiments proved that the prediction model of XGB-Stacking based on the XGBIBS algorithm and the Sel-Stacking method made effective predictions on diabetes retinopathy. (4) Conclusion: The XGB-Stacking prediction model of diabetic retinopathy based on biochemical and physical data had outstanding performance. This is highly significant to improve the screening efficiency of diabetes retinopathy and reduce the cost of diagnosis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángela Martínez-Pérez ◽  
Marie-Michele Beauchesne

Despite the recognized importance of tourism as an engine of economic growth in developed countries, research on the antecedents of innovation in this sector has been sparse, especially in the context of tourism clusters. Scholars have suggested that social capital is a key determinant of firm innovation in the context of tourism clusters, but empirical evidence has been lacking. The aim of this article is to empirically study the interplay between social capital and innovation in the context of tourism clusters at firm level. More specifically, we analyzed the effects of closed networks and diverse networks on firm innovation using a sample of 215 hospitality and tourism firms located in the World Heritage Cities of Spain. Results showed an inverted-U-shaped relationship between closed networks and firm innovation. Consistent with existing literature, these findings suggest that whereas a certain degree of strength and density helps to promote innovation, a critical point may exist beyond which innovation stabilizes or deteriorates when the information of the network becomes too redundant. In addition, we found that diverse networks positively moderated the relationship between closed networks and firm innovation. In other words, structural holes appear to mitigate the negative effects arising from excess strength and density and encourage the development of innovations beyond what a firm relying solely on closed networks could achieve. In practice, these results suggest firms in tourism clusters should not exclusively focus on typical closed networks but also create connections with diverse agents to maximize their potential for innovation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim Polyakov

In recent years, all economically developed countries of the world experience formation of knowledge economy as the highest stage of postindustrial economy development. International companies, basing their activity on accumulation of human capital according to the principles of innovativeness, scientific nature, continuity and progressiveness, play an important role in activation of this process. Owing to global nature of their activity it influences all spheres of human life in the world, improving it, as well as having an adverse impact (enhancement of poverty in some regions of the word, environment pollution, etc.). Achievement of these conditions of sustainable economic growth is possible just by the way of prevention of the adverse impact, which, among other things, depends on the active social position of the management of international companies. Therefore this paper is aimed at identification of priority focuses of socially responsible activity of international companies. This goal was achieved through generalization of basic program initiatives of the activity of three companies, leading in innovations (Apple, Samsung and IBM). Adoption of the above-mentioned initiatives by other companies of the world as guides while developing their own development strategy has to facilitate the growth of positive effects from enhancement of knowledge economy in the world.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (4I-II) ◽  
pp. 467-482
Author(s):  
Nuzhat Ahmad ◽  
Mahpara Sadaqa

The research addresses the missing link between social capital and analyses of household welfare and poverty. First the relationship between social capital and household welfare is analysed using a social capital index and a heterogeneity index. The social capital index is calculated using different dimensions: density of membership, attendance at meetings, cash and kind contributions and decision making in local organisations/associations. Heterogeneity index is based on differences in incomes, ethnicity, education and political affiliations in the composition of organisations. Endogeneity of social capital with household expenditure is tested through an Instrumental Variable approach. The relationship between social capital and probability of being poor is analysed through a logit model. The analysis uses data collected form 1050 households in and around the cities of Karachi, Lahore and Quetta. The main results indicate that social capital (however measured) has a positive impact on the welfare of the household. The study concludes that social capital and human capital have the same returns. A powerful result of the research is that households with social capital at their disposal are likely to be less poor and that poverty is less when households share risks though building associations and through collective action. The research has some policy implications which can be useful in building up social capital in the country.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Oshio ◽  
Kemmyo Sugiyama

Abstract Background: The adverse impact of caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and the positive impact of social capital (SC) on health are both well understood. This study examined the moderating effect of SC on the association between family caregiving and caregivers’ psychological distress (PD).Methods: We used longitudinal data from 27,869 individuals born between 1946 and 1955. The data were collected from a 14-wave nationwide longitudinal survey conducted from 2005 to 2018. We estimated dynamic panel data (DPD) models, which could control for an individual’s time-invariant attributes in a dynamic framework. We did this to examine how SC moderated the association between informal caregiving and a caregiver’s PD (defined by a Kessler score of 13 or higher). We also examined how the results varied over time, as the caregiver’s age advanced.Results: Of the respondents aged 50–73 years, 12.5% of women and 8.4% of men provided care to their older parents or spouses. The DPD model results showed that the onset of caregiving increased the probability of PD (M 3.4%) by 2.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6%–2.7%) and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.5%–1.6%) for women and men, respectively. SC moderated the association between caregiving and a caregiver’s PD by 53.4% (95%: 30.4%–76.4%) and 84.9% (95% CI: 62.0%–107.8%) for women and men, respectively. We also observed that the moderating effect of SC on a caregiver’s PD increased as the caregiver’s age advanced in both women and men, preventing a deterioration in the psychological impact of caregiving. Conclusions: The results underscore the moderating effect of SC on the association between caregiving and PD. This suggests the need to keep family caregivers from being socially isolated, especially as they get older.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document