Highlighting and Interpreting Current Empirical Facets of the Greek Educational Pathogeny: A Sociological Approach

This paper aims at highlighting and interpreting current empirical facets of the Greek educational pathogeny through a sociological approach. Especially, the paper tries to investigate the relationship between education and employment in modern Greece based on the annual statistical report of KANEP/GSEE, choosing both selected facets and sociologically interpreted issues such as public and private expenditure, trends on specialties, outcomes of initial training teacher’s profile etc. According to this data, the main political challenge is based on both the decrease of public expenditure and the maintenance of significantly high levels of household expenditure. Additionally, current trends, such as «brain drain» or migration of highly educated people, prove that Greek public universities’ learning outcomes remain competitive and effective through the framework of a global labour market, notwithstanding the harsh critique blaming them for «statism» and mismatching with the labour needs.

An Analysis of Factors Affecting Private Expenditure on Education in India

Private expenditure on education is a determining factor for ensuring an individual’s educational progress. Though the government provides a vast infrastructure at minimal cost, the individuals have to incur cost from their pockets for various purposes. In this study, we have analysed the various influences on private expenditure on education based on National Sample Survey 71st round conducted in 2014. We have found that household consumer expenditure, respondent’s age, medium of instruction dummy, private coaching dummy and household computer dummy affect private expenditure on education positively, and household size, rural dummy, female dummy, social group dummies, minority religion dummy and type of school dummy affect private expenditure on education negatively. The important policy implications are the tendency to spend less for the female child needs to be amended and the male and female child needs to be given same preference when it comes to expenditure on education. Family planning should be implemented effectively to keep the household size reasonably small for better educational access of an individual. The weaker social groups such as STs, SCs and OBCs and the minorities should be supported well by scholarships and stipends for furthering their education. The number of government institutions should increase to provide low-cost education to society. English medium schools should be made to offer more seats for the financially weak. Private coaching should be made as redundant as possible by improving teaching in the schools. For having computer in households, the financially weak should get some subsidy or may be community computer centres can cater to their needs at reduced cost or free of cost. JEL: I25, I22

Poverty Relief Programs in Postcommunist Countries: A Case Study on the Albanian and Chinese Programs

Social assistance is a cash transfer program targeting the poorest households. China has created the Dibao (DB), meaning minimum livelihood guarantee, the most extensive unconditional cash transfer program globally with over 70 million people covered, whereas in Albania, the Ndhime Ekonomike (NE) meaning financial help covers around 15% of the total working-age population. Both programs are means-tested, have strict requirements for eligibility, and have been enlarged and modified in time to improve targeting and tackling leakage. In this article, we will look at similarities and common issues first, and then calculate the cost of enlarging both programs to all working-age population with no means-testing. We argue that a UBI (universal basic income) can increase private expenditure in health and education while costing less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in both countries’ rural areas. We will conclude by looking at how the COVID-19 outbreak is pushing developing countries toward a UBI by first adopting a temporary basic income (TBI).

The impact of public coverage of newer hepatitis C medications on utilization, adherence, and costs in British Columbia

Background Sofosbuvir and ledipasvir-sofosbuvir are both newer direct-acting antiviral agents for the treatment of hepatitis C. The high list prices for both drugs have led to concern about the budget impact for public drug coverage programs. Therefore, we studied the impact of public prescription drug coverage for both drugs on utilization, adherence, and public and private expenditure in British Columbia, Canada. Methods We used provincial administrative claims data from January 2014 to June 2017 for all individuals historically tested for either hepatitis C and/or human immunodeficiency virus. Using interrupted time series analysis, we examined the impact of public insurance coverage on treatment uptake, adherence (proportion of days covered), and public and private expenditures. Results Over our study period, 4,462 treatment initiations were eligible for analysis (1,131 sofosbuvir and 3,331 ledipasvir-sofosbuvir, which include 19 patients initiated on both treatments). We found the start of public coverage for sofosbuvir and ledipasvir-sofosbuvir increased treatment uptake by 154%. Adherence rates were consistently high and did not change with public coverage. Finally, public expenditure increased after the policy change, and crowded out some private expenditure. Conclusion Public coverage for high-cost drugs for hepatitis C dramatically increased use of these drugs, but did not reduce adherence. From a health policy perspective, public payers should be prepared for increased treatment uptake following the availability of public coverage. However, they should not be concerned that populations without private insurance coverage will be less adherent and not finish their treatment course.

Do you have time to take a walk together? Private and joint time within the household*

We develop a theoretical model for the intra-household allocation of time and consumption that distinguishes between partners’ joint and private leisure. Estimating the model using time use data leads to five findings. First, the intra-household expenditure distribution correlates with relative wages, consistent with the collective model. Second, men put relatively more weight on private expenditure and composite leisure. Third, joint and private leisure are imperfect substitutes. Fourth, joint and private leisure are independent of the wage distribution, suggesting that togetherness does not substitute for economic factors. Fifth, higher female wages imply higher childcare hours for women, but lower for men.