COVID-19, job loss, and underemployment: who is affected?

This paper seeks to examine the short-term adverse effects of the labor market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on employment by estimating and comparing the probability of job loss, underemployment, and employment gain in January, April, and July 2020. Using data from the Philippine Labor Force Survey, we find that the workers who were most vulnerable to job loss and underemployment amid the COVID-19 pandemic are male, less educated, and those working in sectors that are either with limited operational capacity or not allowed to open at all. On a positive note, the results also suggest that males and less-educated individuals are more likely to gain employment after being jobless in the previous quarter. A policy recommendation is to establish an institutionalized social insurance program, such as an unemployment insurance facility, to protect a wider range of workers from the negative shocks to the labor market.

Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?

Introduction: Following a period of strict lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced policies in which citizens were expected to avoid crowded places using common sense, as advised by the WHO. We argue that the ambiguity in the recommendation to “avoid crowded places” implicitly forces individuals to make a complex strategic decision.Methods: Using a Dutch representative sample of 1,048 participants [42% male, mean age=43.78years (SD=12.53), we examine the effect of context on the decision to visit a hypothetical recreational hotspot under the policy recommendation to “avoid crowded places.” We randomize four levels of context on the crowdedness “on the streets” (no context, low, medium, and high context). Subsequently, participants are asked to estimate the percentage of others going out in the same situation. Finally, we assess the impact of a selection of personal characteristics on the likelihood of visiting a crowded place.Results: Respondents are proportionally more likely to go in a low context and high context, compared to no context (diff=0.121, p<0.000, and diff=0.034, p<0.05, respectively) and middle context (diff=0.125, p<0.000, and diff=0.037, p<0.05, respectively). Low context information also decreases the expectation of others going out (−2.63%, z=4.68, p<0.000). High context information increases the expected percentage of others going out (significant only for medium to high context; 2.94%, z=7.34, p<0.001). Furthermore, we show that education, age, and health and risk attitude are all predictive of the likelihood to visit a crowded place, notwithstanding the context.Discussion: Although there is a strong inclination to avoid crowded places during the COVID-19 pandemic (81%), we find two context-driven exceptions: when people expect to avoid crowded spots (in the “low” context, i.e., strategical decision-making) and when people expect others to go (social influence). The freedom provided by ambiguous public policy is implicitly asking more from the population than it initially seems. “Use your common sense” is often the accompanied advice, but our results show that more and better information concerning the context is essential to enable us to make an optimal decision for ourselves, and for society.

Mind the gap: From recommendation to practice in crisis management. Exploring the gap between the “lessons identified” during exercise cygnus and the UK government response to COVID-19

The failure to learn lessons from crises is a common observation. The UK Government has been criticized for its response to the COVID-19 crisis. Many critics have highlighted the Government’s apparent failure to learn the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, which made recommendations to improve the UK’s response to a pandemic. This article compares and contrasts the UK Government’s response with the exercise recommendations. It critiques the gaps using current crisis management literature and argues that to avoid future failings, more emphasis is needed on the effectiveness of recommendations from exercises. If this is not done, exercise lessons identified, and their recommendations will not be operationalized. This article argues that the successful transition from policy recommendation to practice requires recommendations to be contextualized, so they are feasible and practical, before they can be institutionalized. It introduces a practical framework and organizational actions on how future exercises can close the gap from lessons identified to be learned and shape practice.

Approach to Hygienic Water and Cleanliness Facilities for Rural Ugandans

This research contributes to the detailed discussion about the approach to secure, hygienic water and cleanliness in Uganda and its pastoral regions. The relationship between the sanitation and clean water access with destitution is also discussed. Although this document is not leading towards the policy recommendation but it is an overall idea of how Uganda progressed because of the provisions adopted by the government, local and international organizations, and NGOs, and how the country lacked before these steps taken. Most of the data mentioned is taken from the house surveys of a decade 2002-2013 alongside the qualitative data. Literature review is also considered and is divided in two sections: first included researches related to water accessibility and usage, while the second section included researches related to work done and progress for diarrheal diseases and sanitation. Afterwards, methodologies were discussed where, firstly, trends and then the limitations in access to the basic necessities of life that is clean water and hygiene are mentioned. At last, the implementations and how they affected the rural Ugandans was discussed.

Trade Deficit of Bangladesh with China: Patterns, Propensity and Policy Implications

This paper aims to examine export, import and trade intensity, export specialization index, Herfindahl-Hirschman index for bilateral concentration and diversification indices to analyze the specializations, structure and trends of deficit in bilateral trade between Bangladesh and China from 1995 to 2018 and policy recommendations in this regard. The results reveal that the gap of export and import intensity between Bangladesh and China is widening rapidly perennial. The export specialization indices expose very significant outcomes where among the analyzed 16 sectors; 6 sectors exhibit high specialization, 3 sectors demonstrate medium, 3 sectors exhibit low and the rest of the 4 sectors disclose no specialization for Bangladesh’s export to China. The findings of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) reveal that from 1995 to 2010 the export of Bangladesh to China concentrated within few sectors but from the year 2011 to 2018 the export has been reclassifying steadily into diversification. The overall analysis of the indices suggests the necessity to be improved of the level of intra-industry trade between China and Bangladesh. Moreover, emphasis should be given to the sectors having a high specialization that endure the capacity to narrow the trade deficit. Furthermore, the export baskets of Bangladesh to China require to be diversified. Hereafter, various measures and implications are also suggested in the policy recommendation for further improvement.

Lessons from abroad for funding long-term care in England: a prospective policy transfer perspective on official documents

PurposeMany governments stress the importance of “learning from abroad”. An analysis of official documents over a period of some 20 years examines learning from abroad in the case of funding long-term care in England through the lens of prospective policy transfer.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses the eight “official” documents in England that examined funding LTC from 1999 to 2019. It uses interpretive content analysis in a deductive approach that focuses on both manifest and latent content.FindingsOnly four of the eight documents gave more than a token level of attention to other nations, and of the remaining four, none fully satisfied the criteria or followed the recommendations of prospective policy transfer. Moreover, a rather limited pool of lessons from other nations is examined. Much of the material is rather descriptive, with limited explicit attention towards goals, problems, settings and policy performance, and a clear recommendation explicitly associated with a clear lesson or policy recommendation is rare.Originality/valueThis is the first analysis of the eight official documents that have discussed funding long-term care in England.

Ex Post Review and Expert Policymaking: When Does Oversight Reduce Accountability?

Ex post review is a common feature of policymaking institutions. We consider an environment in which an expert agent makes a policy recommendation, which can then be accepted or rejected by an overseer whose policy goals differ from those of the agent. The theory suggests that both behavior and optimal institutional design are sensitive to several factors, including actors' preference alignment, the importance of the policy decision, and the uncertainty about the correct policy choice. We characterize the types of situations in which ex post review creates incentives for the agent to make pathological policy choices. In these situations, ex post review can reduce accountability of the agent to overseer wishes and ultimately provide incentives to set aside review entirely. The theory also offers testable predictions about policy recommendations and the overseer's acceptance or rejection of these recommendations.

Philippine National Police Initiatives in the Promotion of Peace and Order in Iligan City: Basis for Policy Recommendation

This study aimed to determine the extent of the Philippine National Police Operation initiatives in the promotion of peace and order in Iligan City as a basis for policy recommendation. This study made use of a non-experimental quantitative research design utilizing the descriptive correlational technique, frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation, paired t-test, and Pearson-r correlations. The respondents exhibited a high level of response that the Philippine National Police always performed the police operational procedure initiatives in the promotion of peace and order. The finding showed that overall, there was a significant relationship between the frequency of implementation of police operations and the crime rate in terms of Index and non-index crime. Further studies are warranted.