Implications of different income distributions for future residential energy demand in the U.S.

Future income distribution will affect energy demand and its interactions with various societal priorities. Most future model simulations assume a single average consumer and thus miss this important demand determinant. We quantify long-term implications of alternative future income distributions for state-level residential energy demand, investment, greenhouse gas (GHG), and pollutant emission patterns in the United States (U.S.) by incorporating income quintiles into the residential energy sector of the Global Change Analysis Model with 50-state disaggregation (GCAM-USA). We find that if the income distribution within each U.S. state becomes more egalitarian than present, what means that the difference on income between the richest and poorest decreases over time, residential energy demand could be 10% (4-14% across states) higher in 2100. This increase of residential energy demand will directly reduce energy poverty, with a very modest increment on economywide CO2 emissions (1-2%). On the other hand, if U.S. states transition to a less equitable income distribution than present, with the difference between richest and poorest increasing over time, residential energy demand could be 19% (12-26% across states) lower. While this study focuses on a single sector, we conclude that to improve understanding of synergies and tradeoffs across multiple societal goals such as energy access, emissions, and investments, future model simulations should explicitly consider subregional income distribution impacts.

Earning opportunities and informal payment as influencing factors in medical students’ speciality choice

Background The Hungarian primary care system faces a severe shortage of family physicians. Medical students’ perceptions of family medicine need to be known and medical students need to be given appropriate and comprehensible information about this speciality. The expected future salary is an important factor in career choice. Most of the family doctors are self-employed and the practices have a corrected capitation-type financing. Although the majority of health care services are covered by social health insurance and are provided for the insured patients free of charge, informal payment is an existing phenomenon with different motivations and consequences. This study aimed to investigate medical students’ knowledge about their future earning opportunities and their attitudes towards informal payment. Methods A cross sectional survey with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Each of the four Hungarian medical universities were represented by their medical students who attended family medicine lectures in person from December 2019 to April 2020. The students were asked about their career plans, about their estimations of current and ideal expected salaries and about the effect of expected income for the choice of specialisation. Their attitudes towards informal payment were assessed. Results Response rate was 67.3% (N = 465/691). Almost two-thirds of the participants were women. Only 5% of the respondents (N = 23/462) plan to work as a family doctor in the future. The vast majority (91.9%) of the students had already thought about their future income. On a 10-point Likert scale (1 = ‘no influence’, 10 = ‘very big influence’) 76% answered that the expected future income exerts a considerable (≥5 Likert points) influence on their career choice in general. The mean of the ideal expected monthly income of the residents, GPs and other specialists was €1154 ± 648, €1696 ± 904 and €2174 ± 1594, respectively. The mean of the monthly income for a GP, as estimated by the studenst, was €1140 in rural and €1122 in urban settings. More than four-fifths of the students (N = 375/453) rejected the practice of informal payment. Conclusions Expected salaray is one important aspect in the career choice of medical students, students wish to have more information on this topic. The reported ideal incomes are higher than those expected. This points to a relevant gap. However, most of the students do not accept informal payment as a possibility to close this gap. The expected and the ideal income differ from the real incomes of Hungarian GPs – this indicates the need of bringing objectoive information to the students to enhance attractivity of GP as a carer choice.

An Empirical Study on the Influence of Asset-backed Securitization on the Profitability and Liquidity of Commercial Banks of China

This paper uses the panel data of Chinese commercial banks to analyze the impact of credit asset-backed securitization on the profitability and liquidity of Chinese commercial banks. The results show that there is a significant negative correlation between asset-backed securitization and the profitability of commercial banks in China. The main reason for this phenomenon is that China’s credit asset-backed securitization is still in the pilot stage. The main purpose of asset-backed securitization is not to improve the level of profitability, but to broaden the financing channels, in addition, the high transaction cost of asset-backed securitization is also an important reason. However, there is no significant correlation between asset-backed securitization and the liquidity of commercial banks in China. The reason is that although asset-backed securitization can make the future income of banks cash in advance, considering the efficiency of capital use and the rationality of assets and liabilities, banks will use these funds to make new loans, which reduces the liquidity of banks.

Engaging Vulnerable Romani Youth in Provision of Early Childhood Services

In this chapter, the importance of early childhood services to the later educational achievement, well-being, and future income of Romani youth is elaborated, especially from the perspective of the roles that youth can play in supporting their younger peers. Education policies may have different consequences for young Roma who sometimes choose assimilation to avoid discrimination—sometimes without success. As a result of the cross-generational neglect of Romani ethnicity, some Romani children and youth believe that success is only part of the identity of non-Roma, while performing well at school can be perceived by Romani youth as a non-Roma behavior. Involvement of young people in the provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) may be an answer, dealing with both the youth and the absence of non-formal ECEC. There are many approaches to building positive awareness about ethnic identity. Initiatives such as the Romani Early Years Network support greater involvement of Roma and successfully promote the idea of ECEC provided in local contexts such as homes or community centers. The role of Romani youth is irreplaceable in this work.

19. Damages for death and personal injuries

The law relating to damages for personal injuries is a large and complicated subject. Where a living claimant sues, the award will usually be for a lump sum to compensate for such matters as loss of future income, pain, suffering and loss of amenity. This once and for all payment has the advantage of finality and is preferred by many claimants, but there may be occasions where it is inappropriate. The chapter focuses on what damages are awarded for in tort law and how they are calculated, as well as some of the criticisms and problems that such calculations often raise. It discusses types of action for damages, calculation of loss of earnings and other losses and intangible losses.

Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceptions and sentiments of tourism employees: evidence from a small island tourism economy in the Caribbean

PurposeBuilding on tourism crisis studies and behavioral economics, this study describes a national survey conducted among 439 Aruban tourism and nontourism employees.Design/methodology/approachRegression analysis was subsequently conducted to analyze the relationship between experienced well-being, crisis duration and tourism and nontourism employee sentiments.FindingsThe findings indicate that tourism employee sentiments are generally, and significantly, more negative and their concerns about the future are significantly more pessimistic than nontourism employees. The results show that the experienced well-being and expected duration of the COVID-19 crisis have a significant negative effect on tourism employees' sentiments. The paper provides several policies and industry recommendations for strengthening tourism employee well-being and economic resilience. Several avenues for future research are presented.Originality/valueThe current study contributes to this literature by showing that the increased pessimism and negativity of the tourism employees as compared to nontourism employees during the current pandemic influence their thoughts about future income and earnings as well as future purchases.

Changes in fertility plans during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: the role of occupation and income vulnerability

The health and economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent human history. We investigate the role of objective and subjective indicators of economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 crisis in young Italians’ fertility plans during the year 2020. We use unique repeated cross-sectional data, collected at different time points during the pandemic (March and October/November 2020) together with pre-COVID data (2016). The data offer a standard fertility intention question pre- and during-COVID, and also a direct question on whether pre-COVID fertility plans have been confirmed, postponed or abandoned. We find that individuals with more vulnerable occupations show a lower probability of definitely intending to have a(nother) child in the short-term and a higher probability of having abandoned their pre-COVID fertility plan in March 2020, while in October 2020 changes in fertility plans did not vary by occupation. Instead, those who suffered from a negative income shock and those with negative expectations on their future income and occupation are more likely to abandon their pre-pandemic fertility plan compared to their better off counterparts, and these differences hold both in March and October. Overall, economic uncertainty generated by the pandemic seems to have similarly affected men and women’s fertility intentions. Our findings point to the fact that the unequal economic consequences of the pandemic also produced and will produce heterogeneous effects on fertility intentions.

Analysis of Factors Affecting the Decision of the JABODETABEK Community in Using Equity Crowdfunding Platform

This research analyzes the factors that influence the decision to use the equity funding platform in Indonesia. Equity crowdfunding platform is a platform that organizes the crowdfunding process, where investors will receive an equity instrument that provides a share of ownership or a share of future income. This research model is compiled based on the merging of previous research models related to the intention to use the equity funding platform, such as Financing Objectives, Number of Shares Assigned, Number of Inquiries, Familiarity with the Company or Its Product, Target Attractiveness and Campaign Specification. Sources of data were collected from respondents using the equity crowdfunding platform who are JABODETABEK people through a questionnaire, and obtained 428 respondents. The data were analyzed using the SmartPLS 3, and the results show that the variable Familiarity with the Company or Its Product and Target Attractiveness affects people's decisions in using the equity crowdfunding platform.