Canberra struggles with emissions targets

Significance The report comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison lobbies his National Party partners in the governing coalition to back a target of net zero emissions by 2050 prior to next month’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. Impacts Much-needed investment in the renewables sector may not materialise without a more positive government approach to the sector. Australian businesses may face trade sanctions as a result of the government’s failure to adopt binding emission targets. Public subsidies for investment in coal and gas could lead to higher power bills for consumers.

Inequalities in income security in later age in Latin America

This paper examines inequalities in income security in later age. Three dimensions of inequality are considered: (i) inequalities in access to income support across countries and types of schemes; (ii) inequalities in the level of support within countries; and (iii) trends in gender inequality. Scheme stratification reinforces inequalities across socioeconomic groups and gender. More egalitarian, and sustainable, outcomes in later age income security in Latin America require policy reforms aimed at the incorporation of excluded groups and the withdrawal of public subsidies supporting privileged retirees.

Epidemiological study of osteonecrosis of the femoral head using the national registry of designated intractable diseases in Japan

ABSTRACT Objectives We aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) using the designated intractable diseases (DID) database in Japan. Methods Data on patients who had received public subsidies for medical costs due to ONFH from 2012 to 2013 were extracted from the DID database. The incidence and prevalence of ONFH, distribution of gender, age, and the prevalence of associated risk factors were assessed. These epidemiological characteristics were compared with those of another nationwide ONFH survey conducted during a similar period. Results Data on 3264 newly diagnosed patients (incident cases) and 20,042 patients registered until 2013 (prevalent cases) were evaluated. The corrected annual incidence and prevalence of ONFH per 100,000 were 3.0 and 18.2–19.2, respectively. The ratio of males to females was 1.4 in 2012 and 1.2 in 2013, respectively. Peak distribution was observed at ages 40s and 60s in males and females, respectively. The prevalence of the risk factors were steroid-associated: 39%, alcohol-associated: 30%, both: 4%, and none: 27%. Conclusions The DID database data showed a similar distribution of gender and age to that in other nationwide surveys but lower incidence and prevalence of ONFH. Sampling bias may affect the epidemiological characteristics of ONFH.

Sheltered Employment Centres: Sustainability and Social Value

Sheltered employment centres are social enterprises where at least 70% of their workers have disabilities. They are a way of helping people with disabilities to work in good working conditions and of allowing disadvantaged people to live a full life. However, some people criticise these businesses for being ghettos where public subsidies are used inefficiently. Our paper aims to test if this criticism is valid by analysing whether these companies provide social and economic value to society in return for public funding and are also economically sustainable over time. Using a sample of 997 Spanish sheltered employment centres, a descriptive analysis of the main variables has been carried out. Additionally, the results of a PART algorithm show the relationship between these companies and economic sustainability. Our findings corroborate that these firms are economically sustainable and, at the same time, socially sustainable. These results highlight the great work that such companies perform for society and the country’s economy.

The instrumentation of public subsidies for private schools: Different regulatory models with concurrent equity implications

The availability of public funding for private schools, in both primary and secondary education, has become a common feature in a number of OECD countries. The expansion of public subsidies for privately owned schools has consequences that go far beyond the involvement of private actors in the provision of education. These include deepening forms of regulatory governance in educational systems and the blurring of frontiers between public and private education. Public subsidies for privately owned schools have been adopted following diverse rationalities and in pursuit of different goals. In light of the diversity, this research examines the regulatory configurations of private subsidized education provision across OECD countries, from a policy instruments’ perspective. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the article identifies four models of regulation of private subsidized education, and analyses why and how these models have been problematized and have evolved accordingly. The paper pays particular attention to recent educational reforms adopted, in most cases, to tackle the equity challenges posed by publicly subsidized private provision. Finally, the paper elaborates on the implications that this form of provision has for public education and the achievement of equity goals, and reflects on the potential and limits of regulatory reforms when confronting these issues.

The political economy of academic publishing: On the commodification of a public good

This paper provides an institutional and empirical analysis of the highly concentrated market of academic publishing, characterized by over proportionally high profit margins for publishing companies. The availability of latest research findings is an important issue for researchers, universities and politicians alike. Open access (OA) publication provides a promising but also costly solution to overcome this problem. However, in this paper we argue that OA publication costs are an important, but by far not the only way for academic publishers to gain access to public funding. In contrast, our study provides a comprehensive overview of the channels through which public expenditure benefits big academic publishing companies. Furthermore, we offer the results of an explorative case study, where we estimate the annual financial flows of public expenditures in Austria for the field of social sciences. In all, these expenditures add up to about 66.55 to 103.2 million € a year, which amounts to a fourth of total public funding for this field. Against this background, we contribute to the debate whether and to what extent public subsidies are justified for economically successful companies.

Integrated Social Value at Universities: A Guarantee for Public Subsidies

The objective of this work was to monetize the integrated social value generated by a university during an academic year to justify the use of public grants received and determine their relationship with the institution’s stakeholders. Monetization allows us to analyze the efficiency in the use of received subsidies. The methodology used herein was the polyhedral model, which was applied to a university during the 2017–2018 academic year in order to reflect the financial and social accounting of the institution, its relationship with stakeholders, and its efficiency in economic and social management. The results of the study highlighted the monetization of the activity of the UVic-UCC over the course of 2017–2018, guaranteeing the economic and social efficiency and dynamization of the University, as well as information regarding the return to the Public Administration by the institution and the good use of the grants it received. The monetization of economic transactions and the value variables of stakeholders allowed us to assess the impact of the institution and the added value it created. The findings indicated that the integrated social value of the UVic-UCC in the 2017–2018 academic year was EUR 64,268,260, and this guaranteed the good economic and social management of the institution and the good use of the grants it received.

Paying for appeasement: On the moderating role of public subsidies in East Central European party politics

Focusing on the relationship between the access of political parties to direct public funding and electoral support for anti-political-establishment (e.g. populist, extremist) parties (APEp), this article tries to fill an important gap in the literature. Whereas previous contributions, mostly focused on the United States or established democracies in Western Europe, have presented contradictory findings, our study of 19 new democracies in East Central Europe clearly shows that the absence of state subsidies for political parties boosts support for those with an anti-political-establishment character. More importantly, and taking into account the minimum legal payout threshold that grants parties access to public subsidies, our results show that the more restrictive the regulations and the greater the difficulties faced by parties in obtaining state help, the higher the support for APEp. Our findings have obvious implications for the development of post-Communist party systems and the future of legislative (party funding) reform in the region.