|
on Demographic Economics |
|
Issue of 2013‒07‒05
thirty-six papers chosen by Clarence Nkengne Tsimpo University of Montreal and World Bank Group |
| By: | Qingfang Wang |
| Abstract: | The number of ethnic minority and women-owned businesses has increased rapidly during the past few decades. However, the characteristics of these businesses and their owners differ by race, ethnicity, and gender. Using a confidential national survey of ethnic minority and women-owned businesses in the United States, this study examines ethnic minority- and women-owned businesses segmented by industrial sectors. Consistent with gender occupational segregation, male- and female- owned businesses have distinctive sectoral concentration patterns, with ethnic minority women- owned businesses highly concentrated in a limited number of industrial sectors. However, the relationship between business sectoral concentration and business performance is not uniform across ethnic and gender groups. Concentration in specific industrial sectors does not necessarily mean poor performance when measured by sales, size of employment or payrolls. However, for women-owned businesses, those sectors obviously pay less and have marginal profits, especially if considering the size of the firms. |
| Keywords: | ethnic business, female entrepreneurship, labor market segmentation, gender |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-34&r=dem |
| By: | Michelle Rendall (University of Zurich); Fatih Guvenen (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of education in the evolution of women's role in the society---specifically, in the labor market and in the marriage market. In particular, it attempts to understand a set of socio-economic trends since the 1950s, such as (i) the falling marriage rate and the rising divorce rate, (ii) the rising educational attainment of women, which now exceeds that of men's (iii) the rising average earnings of women relative to men (i.e., the gender wage gap), and (iv) the substantial rise in the labor force participation (and labor supply) of married women. These trends have potentially profound effects on the society and raise several interesting questions to study. We build a plausible model with education, marriage/divorce, and labor supply decisions in which these different trends are intimately related to each other. We focus on education because divorce laws typically allow spouses to keep a much larger fraction of the returns from their human capital upon divorce compared to their physical assets, making education a good insurance against divorce risk. The proposed framework generates a number of powerful amplification mechanisms, which lead to large rises in divorce rates and college enrollment of women and a fall in marriage rates from relatively modest exogenous driving forces. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed012:923&r=dem |
| By: | Polina Obolenskaya; Polly Vizard |
| Keywords: | health, health inequalities, primary care quality, adult mortality, social policy |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccwp:02&r=dem |
| By: | Xi Zhu; John Whalley; Xiliang Zhao |
| Abstract: | We argue that the demographic changes caused by the one child policy (OCP) may not harm China's long-term growth. This attributes to the higher human capital induced by the intergenerational transfer arrangement under China’s poor-functioning formal social security system. Parents raise their children and depend on them for support when they reach an advanced age. The decrease in the number of children prompted by the OCP resulted in parents investing more in their children’s educations to ensure retirement consumption. In addition, decreased childcare costs strengthen educational investment through an income effect. Using a calibrated model, a benchmark with the OCP is compared to three counterfactual experiments without the OCP. The output under the OCP is expected to be about 4 percent higher than it would be without the OCP in 2025 under moderate estimates. The output gain comes from a greatly increased educational investment driven by fewer children (11.4 years of schooling rather than 8.1). Our model sheds new light on the prospects of China's long-term growth by emphasizing the OCP's growth enhancing role through human capital formation under the intergenerational transfer arrangement. |
| JEL: | J13 O11 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19160&r=dem |
| By: | Wang, Xinxin; Chen, Kevin; Huang, Zuhui |
| Abstract: | Demographic transition due to population aging is an emerging issue throughout the developing world, and especially in China, which has undergone demographic transition more rapidly than most industrial economies. This paper quantifies the economic and distributional effects in the context of demographic transition using the integrated recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with top-down behavioral micro-simulation. The results show that the population aging slow down China’s economy growth rate due to the exhausted of demographic dividend with high cost of labor force. The consequences from the poverty and inequality index indicate that population aging has a negative impact to the reduction of poverty while it is positive as refers to the equality during the process of demographic transition. The average age within a household has a noticeable contribution to total inequality. These findings suggest that measures for stimulating the second demographic dividend should be carried out to promote the economic growth as well as the reduction of poverty. The inequality within the same household groups while with different household age should be put more emphasize on. What’s more, the social pension system should be improved, especially in rural China |
| Keywords: | Demographic Transition, Economic Growth, Income Distribution, CGE model, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151276&r=dem |
| By: | Prettner, Klaus; Strulik, Holger |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of demographic change and human capital accumulation on trade and productivity of domestic firms. In so doing we integrate a micro-founded education and fertility decision of households into a model of international trade with firm heterogeneity. Our framework leads to four testable implications: i) the export share of a country increases in the education level of its population, ii) the export share of a country decreases in the birth rate of its population, iii) the average profitability of firms increases in the education level of a country, iv) the average profitability of firms decreases in the birth rate of a country. We find that all four implications are supported by empirical evidence for a panel of OECD countries from 1960 to 2010. Our results suggest that investments in human capital accumulation, especially in higher education, are an important determinant of a country's international competitiveness. Furthermore, falling birth rates need not be a serious concern with respect to productivity and international competitiveness of countries. -- |
| Keywords: | firm heterogeneity,international competitiveness,education,fertility decline |
| JEL: | F12 F14 I20 J11 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:159&r=dem |
| By: | Strulik, Holger |
| Abstract: | This paper extends the theory of optimal aging and death (Dalgaard and Strulik, 2010, 2013) towards uncertain death. Specifically, it is assumed that at any age the probability to survive depends on the number of health deficits accumulated. At the expense of less analytical tractability the model provides a formal description of aging as conceptualized in modern biology, i.e. as an inherently stochastic process according to which the timing of death of a person is not determined by his or her age but by the number of accumulated health deficits. The stochastic model basically confirms the earlier deterministic model with respect to its predictions on the association between income and life-expectancy across countries. -- |
| Keywords: | Aging,Longevity,Health,Savings,Preston Curve |
| JEL: | D91 J17 J26 I12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:160&r=dem |
| By: | Roy, Chandan |
| Abstract: | Every human being below the age of eighteen years is known as ‘child’ according to the universally accepted definition of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The need for special safeguard for the child had been stated in the Geneva Declaration, 1924. It was also proclaimed in that declaration that the child by the reason of his physical and mental immaturity needs this special safeguard including appropriate legal protection. The need to extend particular care to the child as stated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 Nov, 1959. In 1989, the world leaders recognized that Children should have human rights too and for that they need a special convention, i.e., a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standard and obligation. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights within child rights. The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. It spells out those basic human rights that every child should have wherever he may live: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child. Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to the human dignity and conducive for harmonious development of every child. By setting standards in health care; education; and legal, civil and social services, it tried to protect the basic Rights of every Child in this world. |
| Keywords: | Child Rights, Child Development, Health, Education, Child Labour, Child Abuse |
| JEL: | I15 I2 I25 J13 J21 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47906&r=dem |
| By: | Krauss, Alexander |
| Abstract: | One in six children age 6-14 are engaged in labor activities in Ghana, with child employment being the leading alternative to schooling. By exploring structural, institutional, geographic, monetary, demographic, and cultural factors affecting household decisions about child labor, the paper's main purpose is to identify the conditions and characteristics of working children, the root causes of their vulnerability, and thus help to inform decision-makers and actors who draft and implement public policy of possible ways to tackle child labor in Ghana. The paper empirically assesses the effects of individual, household, community, regional, and national factors on child labor simultaneously. Findings from the analysis indicate that the underlying causes of child labor vary from factors as widespread in their influence as the structure of the economy (which is largely shaped by family farming), demographics and relevant social norms to those as specific in their manifestation as the geographic isolation of particular groups in the North, a lack of higher returns to schooling up to the basic education level in rural areas, and the low priority and capacity to enforce anti-child labor laws. In addition, an interview conducted with the Minister of Education as well as interviews with Ghanaian children help identify specific interdependencies between child labor and schooling and highlight the societal and economic demand for children to be working. Finally, after identifying which constraints and enabling factors are most important, the paper outlines policy and reform approaches to tackle child labor in Ghana. |
| Keywords: | Street Children,Youth and Governance,Primary Education,Children and Youth,Education For All |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6513&r=dem |
| By: | Slade, Peter |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150803&r=dem |
| By: | Joyce P. Jacobsen (Department of Economics, Wesleyan University) |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2012-010&r=dem |
| By: | Agbodji, Akoete Ega; Batana, Yele Maweki; Ouedraogo, Denis |
| Abstract: | The importance of gender equality is reflected not only in the Millennium Development Goals, but also in the World Bank's Gender Action Plan launched in 2007 as well as in other treaties and actions undertaken at regional and international levels. Unlike other work on gender and poverty, which is mostly based on monetary measurement, the present study makes use of a counting approach to examine gender issues in Burkina Faso and Togo using household surveys. Focusing on six dimensions (housing, basic utilities, assets, education, employment, and access to credit) largely recognized as Millennium Development Goal targets, the main findings of the study indicate that overall individuals are the most deprived in education in Burkina Faso, while the reverse situation is true in Togo. Gender inequality is observed in all dimensions since women always seem to be more deprived than men. The situation is also marked by regional disparities. Moreover, the assessment of dimensional contributions shows different patterns for each country. While employment proves to be the main contributor of gender inequality in Burkina Faso, three dimensions (assets, access to credit, and employment) account together for most of the total contribution to gender inequality in Togo. There is also a positive correlation between multidimensional deprivation and women's age in Burkina Faso, whereas both measures seem to be uncorrelated in Togo. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Development,Rural Poverty Reduction,Gender and Law,Regional Economic Development,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6522&r=dem |
| By: | Sonia R. Bhalotra; Guilhem Cassan; Irma Clots-Figueras; Lakshmi Iyer |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. To allow for politician identity to be correlated with constituency level voter preferences or characteristics that make religion salient, we use quasi-random variation in legislator identity generated by close elections between Muslim and non-Muslim candidates. We find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups. |
| JEL: | H41 I15 J13 P16 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19173&r=dem |
| By: | Beatty, Timothy K.M.; Lin, Biing-Hwan; Smith, Travis A. |
| Abstract: | Secular trends in health outcomes related to dietary quality have changed substantially over the past three decades. The objective of this study is to decompose changes in dietary quality over 1977-2008 into the biological effects of age, contemporaneous effects of time period and group membership effects related to birth cohort. Dietary quality is measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005). Using an Age-Period-Cohort (APC) model, findings suggest HEI-2005 scores follow a U-shaped trajectory over the typical American's lifetime (aged 2-79 y), with the lowest scores observed during early-to-mid adulthood (20-50 y, HEI = 54). Period effects largely increase throughout the sample period over 1977-2008. By examining over 100 birth cohorts (1898-2005), results show that those born in the first half of the 20th century have similar levels of dietary quality. However, following the end of the second World War, a substantial decrease in HEI-2005 scores is observed for those born between 1950 and 1990. Although recent cohorts in the 1990's and early 2000's have yet to fully age, preliminary estimates suggest dietary quality may be on the rebound. While nutritional and epidemiological studies tend to focus on secular trends (or period effects) this study suggests cohorts play an important role in characterizing changes in dietary quality. |
| Keywords: | Diet quality, nutrition, Age Period Cohort, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, I14, D39, I32, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151426&r=dem |
| By: | Brecht, Henrike; Deichmann, Uwe; Wang, Hyoung Gun |
| Abstract: | Which cities have the highest risk of human and economic losses due to natural hazards? And how will urban exposure to major hazards change over the coming decades? This paper develops a global urban disaster risk index that evaluates the mortality and economic risks from disasters in 1,943 cities in developing countries. Concentrations of population, infrastructure, and economic activities in cities contribute to increased exposure and susceptibility to natural hazards. The three components of this risk measure are urban hazard characteristics, exposure, and vulnerability. For earthquakes, cyclones, floods, and landslides, single hazard risk indices are developed. In addition, a multi-hazard index gives a holistic picture of current city risk. Demographic-economic projection of city population growth to 2050 suggests that exposure to earthquake and cyclone risk in developing country cities will more than double from today's levels. Global urban risk analysis, as presented in this paper, can inform the prioritization of resources for disaster risk management and urban planning and promote the shift toward managing risks rather than emergencies. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Hazard Risk Management,Food&Beverage Industry,Natural Disasters,Insurance&Risk Mitigation |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6506&r=dem |
| By: | Kitty Stewart |
| Keywords: | social policy, early childhood, early years, pre-school, early intervention |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccwp:04&r=dem |
| By: | Emma Tominey |
| Abstract: | Female labor supply can insure households against shocks to paternal employment. The paper estimates whether the female labor supply response to a paternal employment shock differs by eligibility to maternity employment protection. We exploit time-state variation in the implementation of unpaid maternity leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the US which increased employment protection from 0 to 12 weeks. We find that mothers eligible for FMLA speed up their return to work in response to a paternal shock, with a conditional probability of being in work 53% higher than in households with no paternal shock. In contrast, there was a negligible insurance response for mothers with no employment protection. |
| Keywords: | Female labor Supply; Insurance; Maternity Leave |
| JEL: | I30 J13 J20 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:13/11&r=dem |
| By: | Nancy E. Reichman; Hope Corman; Kelly Noonan |
| Abstract: | We exploit the occurrence of postpartum depression (PPD), which has a random component according to the medical community, to estimate causal effects of a salient form of mental illness on couples’ relationship status. We estimate single-equation models as well as bivariate probit models that address the endogeneity of PPD. We find that this relatively prevalent mental illness reduces the probability the couples are married (by 22–24%) as well the probability that they are living together (married or cohabiting) (by 24–26%) three years after the birth of the child. Models stratified by relationship status at the time of the birth indicate that PPD makes it more likely that unions dissolve (particularly among baseline cohabitors) and less likely that unions are formed (particularly among baseline non-cohabitors). The findings contribute to the literature on the effects of mental illness on relationships and to the broader literature on socioeconomic status and health. |
| JEL: | I10 J12 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19164&r=dem |
| By: | Malene Kallestrup-Lamb (Aarhus University and CREATES); Anders Bredahl Kock (Aarhus University and CREATES); Johannes Tang Kristensen (Aarhus University and CREATES) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Danish register data to explain the retirement decision of workers in 1990 and 1998.Many variables might be conjectured to influence this decision such as demographic, socio-economic, financially and health related variables as well as all the same factors for the spouse in case the individual is married. In total we have access to 399 individual specific variables that all could potentially impact the retirement decision.We use variants of the Lasso and the adaptive Lasso applied to logistic regression in order to uncover determinants of the retirement decision. To the best of our knowledge this is the first application of these estimators in microeconometrics to a problem of this type and scale. Furthermore, we investigate whether the factors influencing the retirement decision are stable over time, gender and marital status. It is found that this is the case for core variables such as age, income, wealth and general health. We also point out themost important differences between these groups and explain why these might be present. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, Register data, High-dimensional data, Lasso, Adaptive Lasso, Oracle property, Logistic regression |
| JEL: | C01 C25 J0 J14 J62 |
| Date: | 2013–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:create:2013-21&r=dem |
| By: | Zhong, Yi; Awokuse, Titus O. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151297&r=dem |
| By: | Peter Arcidiacono; Cory Koedel |
| Abstract: | Conditional on enrollment, African American students are substantially less likely to graduate from 4-year public universities than white students. Using administrative micro data from Missouri, we decompose the graduation gap between African Americans and whites into four factors: (1) racial differences in how students sort to universities, (2) racial differences in how students sort to initial majors, (3) racial differences in school quality prior to entry, and (4) racial differences in other observed pre-entry skills. Pre-entry skills explain 65 and 86 percent of the gap for women and men respectively. A small role is found for differential sorting into college, particularly for women, and this is driven by African Americans being disproportionately represented at urban schools and the schools at the very bottom of the quality distribution. |
| JEL: | I23 J15 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19188&r=dem |
| By: | Giles, John; Wang, Dewen; Park, Albert |
| Abstract: | This paper first reviews the history of social insurance policy and coverage in urban China, documenting the evolution in the coverage of pensions and medical and unemployment insurance for both local residents and migrants, and highlighting obstacles to expanding coverage. The paper then uses two waves of the China Urban Labor Survey, conducted in 2005 and 2010, to examine the correlates of social insurance participation before and after implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law. A higher labor tax wedge is associated with a lower probability that local employed residents participate in social insurance programs, but is not associated with participation of wage-earning migrants, who are more likely to be dissuaded by fragmentation of the social insurance system. The existing gender gap in social insurance coverage is explained by differences in coverage across industrial sectors and firm ownership classes in which men and women work. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics&Finance,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Social Protections&Assistance,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Wages, Compensation&Benefits |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6497&r=dem |
| By: | Ruth Lupton; Polina Obolenskaya |
| Keywords: | social policy, education, labour education policy, educational inequalities |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccwp:03&r=dem |
| By: | Dhaval M. Dave; Sandra L. Decker; Robert Kaestner; Kosali Ilayperuma Simon |
| Abstract: | A substantial body of research has found that expansions in Medicaid eligibility increased enrollment in Medicaid, reduced the rate of uninsured, and reduced the rate of private health insurance coverage (i.e., crowd out). Notably, there has been little research that has examined the mechanism by which crowd-out occurs. This study examines the effects of expansions in Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women in the late 1980s and the early 1990s on labor supply, which is one of the possible mechanisms underlying crowd out. Estimates suggest that the 20 percentage point increase in Medicaid eligibility during the sample period was associated with a 6% to 7% decrease in the probability that a woman who gave birth in the past year was employed. Among unmarried women with less than a high school education, the change in Medicaid eligibility reduced employment by approximately 13% to 16%. |
| JEL: | D1 J01 J08 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19161&r=dem |
| By: | Sophie BOUTILLIER (Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation. ULCO) |
| Abstract: | Les femmes ont toujours travaillé. Mais, leur activité n’a été reconnue officiellement qu’à partir de la fin du 19e siècle avec le développement de l’emploi salarié et les premières lois sociales. En matière d’entrepreneuriat, la situation est comparable, la femme a joué un rôle important dans l’entreprise en tant que conjoint. A l’heure actuelle, les femmes représentent 30% des entrepreneurs. Mais, la femme est-elle un entrepreneur comme les autres ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons mené une enquête à Dunkerque (Nord, France), ville dans laquelle l’emploi a été longtemps salarié (ouvrier) et masculin. L’entrepreneuriat féminin est un phénomène nouveau à Dunkerque. Women have always worked, but their activity was only recognized by the law at the end of the 19th century with the development of salaried employment and the first social laws. The situation is quite the same for entrepreneurship; the woman has played an important role in the entreprise with the status of the entrepreneur’s wife. Today 30% of the entreprises are founded by women. But is woman an entrepreneur like the others? We will try to answer to this question with an investigation achieved in Dunkirk (North of France), where employment was during a long time salaried employment for (men) workers. In this town, female entrepreneurship is a new phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneuriat féminin, Dunkerque, Nord |
| JEL: | L26 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:riidoc:267&r=dem |
| By: | Ana Amélia Camarano |
| Abstract: | O artigo discute avanços e contradições de algumas ações propostas pelo Estatuto do Idoso, considerando que, em 2013, este completará dez anos. Tem como objetivo principal regular os direitos das pessoas idosas em múltiplas esferas e dimensões. Apresenta em uma única e ampla peça legal muitas das leis e políticas previamente aprovadas. Incorpora novos elementos e enfoques, dando um tratamento integral ao estabelecimento de medidas que visam proporcionar o bem-estar dos idosos, com uma visão de longo prazo. A essência do Estatuto está nas normas gerais que dispõem sobre a “proteção integral” aos idosos. Afirma que estes gozam de todos os direitos inerentes à pessoa humana e que o envelhecimento é um direito personalíssimo e a sua proteção, um direito social. Os principais direitos estabelecidos são: direito à vida, à proteção, à saúde, ao trabalho, à previdência social, à educação, à cultura, ao lazer, à moradia e ao voto. Muito embora as leis aprovadas no estatuto signifiquem grandes avanços no sentido de políticas sociais de inclusão dos idosos, não foram estabelecidas prioridades para a sua implementação nem fontes para o seu financiamento. Por isso, os custos de algumas das medidas propostas estão sendo divididos com a sociedade, o que pode ameaçar a solidariedade intergeracional. Sugerem-se algumas mudanças no Estatuto do Idoso visando adequá-lo à nova realidade demográfica e social, tendo como parâmetro o princípio básico do Plano de Madri. Dentre elas, citam-se: a mudança no limite inferior da idade que define a população idosa de 60 para 65 anos; o estabelecimento de fontes de financiamento para cada medida proposta; medidas que ajudem a família a cuidar do idoso dependente, tanto no domicílio quanto no hospital; e a inclusão nos serviços de saúde de ações que possam promover uma morte digna para aqueles que se encontram acometidos por uma doença terminal. This article discusses advances and contradictions of some proposed actions by Elder’s Bill of Rights. This Bill was approved in 2003. Its main objective is to regulate the rights of older people in multiple spheres and dimensions. It gathers in a single document many of the bills and policies previously passed. It incorporates new elements, looking to establish measures to provide the welfare of the elderly in the long run. The essence of the Bill is the general rules which provide for the ‘full protection’for the elderly. It sets that they should have all the rights inherent to the human beings and that aging is a highly personal right and their protection a social right. The main established rights are: the right to life, protection, health, labor, social security, social assistance, education, culture, leisure, housing and voting. Although the actions proposed mean great advances towards social inclusion of the elderly, it has not been established priorities for their implementation and nor sources for their founding. Therefore, the costs of some of the proposed measures are being shared with the society, which could threaten intergenerational solidarity. It is suggested some changes in the Bill in order to adapt it to demographic and social changes, having as parameter the basic principle of the Madrid Plan. They are: changes in the lower limit of the age that defines elderly population, from 60 to 65 years, the establishment of funding sources for each proposed action, help for families to take care of the dependent elderly, both at home and in the hospital. It also considers the need of the health services to offer actions that can promote a dignified death for those who are suffering from a terminal illness. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1840&r=dem |
| By: | Vi˜noles, Maria V.; You, Wen; Nayga, Rodolfo M. Jr. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151274&r=dem |
| By: | Hoyt Bleakley; Joseph P. Ferrie |
| Abstract: | The state of Georgia allocated most of its land to the public through a system of lotteries. These episodes provide unusual opportunities to assess the long-term impact of large shocks to wealth, as winning was uncorrelated with individual characteristics and participation was nearly universal among the eligible population of adult white male Georgians. We use this episode to examine the idea that the lower tail of the wealth distribution reflects in part a wealth-based poverty trap because of limited access to capital. Using wealth measured in the 1850 Census manuscripts, we follow up on a sample of men eligible to win in the 1832 Cherokee Land Lottery. We assess the impact of lottery winning on the distribution of wealth 18 years after the fact. Winners are on average richer (by an amount close to the median of 1850 wealth), but mainly due to a (net) shifting of mass from the middle to the upper tail of the wealth distribution. The lower tail is largely unaffected. |
| JEL: | D31 I38 J01 J24 J62 N31 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19175&r=dem |
| By: | Smith, Trenton G.; Stillman, Steven; Craig, Stuart |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research supports the \economic insecurity" theory of obesity, which posits that uncertainty with respect to one's material well- being may be an important root cause of the modern obesity epidemic. This literature has been limited in the past by a lack of reliable measures of economic insecurity. In this paper we use the newly developed Economic Security Index to explain changes in U.S. adult obesity rates as measured by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 1988{2010, a period capturing much of the recent rapid rise in obesity. We nd a robust positive and statistically signicant relationship between obesity and economic insecurity that holds for nearly every age, gender, and race/ethnicity group in our data, both in cross-section and over time. |
| Keywords: | obesity, body mass index, economic insecurity, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151419&r=dem |
| By: | Rawlings, Laura; Murthy, Sheila; Winder, Natalia |
| Abstract: | The recently released United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) social protection strategic framework and the World Bank social protection and labor strategy call for taking a systems approach to social protection as a way to help countries, communities, families and children enhance resilience, equity and opportunity.This note outlines common ground in the World Bank and UNICEF approaches to building social protection systems, using a focus on children to illustrate the premise and promise of a systems approach. It is part of a broader commitment by both agencies to increase collaboration across different stakeholders governments, development partners, and others in developing and strengthening social protection systems and expanding their coverage. |
| Keywords: | Social Risk Management,Street Children,Children and Youth,Social Cohesion,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:78652&r=dem |
| By: | Joyce P. Jacobsen (Department of Economics, Wesleyan University) |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2012-009&r=dem |
| By: | Sen, Shonel |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151147&r=dem |
| By: | John Hills |
| Keywords: | social policy, benefits, distributions of economic outcomes, income poverty, tax and benefit policy, wealth inequality |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccwp:05&r=dem |
| By: | Devarajan, Shantayanan; Go, Delfin S.; Maliszewska, Maryla; Osorio-Rodarte, Israel; Timmer, Hans |
| Abstract: | After an impressive acceleration in growth and poverty reduction since the mid-1990s, many African countries continue to register robust growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Will this growth persist, given the tepid recovery in developed countries, numerous weather shocks, and civil conflicts in Africa? This paper"stress tests"African economies. The findings indicate that Africa's long-term growth is fairly impervious to a prolonged recession in high-income countries. Growth is, however, much more sensitive to a disruption of capital flows to the region, and to internal shocks, such as civil conflict and drought, even if the latter follow historical patterns. The broad policy implication is that with proper domestic production conditions African countries can sustain robust long-term growth. Because of the economic dominance of the agriculture sector and the share of food in household budgets, countries will need to increase the resilience of agriculture and protect it from unfavorable climate change impacts, such as drought. As in the past, civil conflicts and violence will pose by far the greatest threat to Africa's performance. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets,Rural Poverty Reduction,Achieving Shared Growth,Climate Change Economics |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6517&r=dem |
| By: | Lykke Andersen (Institute for Advanced Development Studies); Marcelo Cardona (Institute for Advanced Development Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a simple way to measure livelihood diversification, and uses this measure together with income levels to classify Bolivian households by level of vulnerability. Regression analysis is then carried out to determine the factors and strategies associated with high resilience or high vulnerability. The results show that the single most important strategy for resilience is to have a working and income earning spouse in the household. This is still much too uncommon in Bolivia. A second important factor is the age of the head of household. Young families are considerably more vulnerable than more mature families, as they have not had time to build up assets that can provide alternative sources of livelihood. One of the most surprising results of the study is that urban households are considerably more vulnerable to adverse shocks than rural households, whereas gender and ethnicity are irrelevant. The paper finishes with a comprehensive list of policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Livelihood diversification, resilience, vulnerability, external shocks, Bolivia |
| JEL: | D33 I32 O54 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adv:wpaper:201302&r=dem |
| By: | Smith, Travis A. |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates heterogeneous eects of food source (food away from home, at home and from school) on child dietary quality. Using a quantile estimator designed for panel data, two non-consecutive days of intake are used to identify the eect of food source across the unconditional distribution of dietary quality. Main results suggest that food away from home has a negative impact on dietary quality for all children except those falling in the very lowest portion of the unconditional distribution. As compared to home-prepared food, school food is found to increase dietary quality for children falling in the bottom quartile of the distribution. For children with a very high underlying proneness to consume a healthful diet, food from school has a negative eect. While food consumed under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs may not benet every child (especially at the mean), it does improve the diets of many children whom otherwise would have poorer dietary quality. The implication is that U.S. schools are fertile grounds to improve nutrition skill formation, especially for the most disadvantaged. |
| Keywords: | Unconditional quantiles, panel data, dietary quality, school food programs, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Public Economics, C31, D39, I12, I18, |
| Date: | 2013–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151212&r=dem |