Welfare Considerations Research Articles

Hysteresis in Potential Output and Monetary Policy

AbstractWe show that actively stabilizing economic activity plays a more prominent role in the conduct of monetary policy when potential output is subject to hysteresis. We augment a basic New Keynesian model by hysteresis in potential output and contrast simulation outcomes of this extended model to the standard model. We find that considering hysteresis allows for a more realistic amplification of macroeconomic shocks and persistent movements in output after monetary shocks. Our central policy implication of active output gap stabilization arises from stability analyses and welfare considerations.

English

India launched a nationwide Family Planning Programmed in 1952. India is first country in world to launch such a A separate department of family Planning was created in 1966 in ministry of health. In 1977, Janata Government formulated a new population policy ruling out compulsion. The acceptance of programme was made purely voluntary. Also Janata government named FP dept. as department of family Welfare. The allocation for these programmes was just 0.1 crore in First Five year plan. It has increased to 6.3 crores merged with health in eleventh five year plan. INTRODUCTION: India is second most populous country in world sustaining 16.7 percent as world population on 2.4 percent of world's surface area. Realizing that high population growth is inevitable during initial phases as demographic transition and there is urgent need to accurate pace of transition. India became first country to formulate a National family planning programme in 1952. The objective of policy was reducing birth rate to extent necessary to stabilize population at a level consistent with requirement of national economy. The first five year plan stated that the main appeal for family planning is based on considerations of health and welfare of family. Family limitation or spacing of children is necessary and desirable in order to secure better health for mother and better care and upbringing of children. Measures directed to this end should, therefore, form part of public health programme. This statement preceded international conference on population and development (ICPD) 1994 by for decades. 1

EFFECTS OF CAPTURE-RELATED INJURY ON POSTCAPTURE MOVEMENT OF WHITE-TAILED DEER

Capture-related injuries or deaths of wildlife study subjects pose concerns to researchers, from considerations for animal welfare to inflated project costs and biased data. Capture myopathy (CM) is an injury that can affect an animal's survival ≤ 30 days postrelease, but is often difficult to detect without close monitoring and immediate necropsy. We evaluated the influence of capture and handling on postcapture movement in an attempt to characterize movement rates of animals suffering from CM. We captured and global positioning system-collared 95 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in central and northern New York during 2006-2008. Six juveniles died within 30 days postrelease, and necropsy reports indicated that two suffered CM (2%). We compared postcapture movement rates for juveniles that survived >30 days with those that died ≤ 30 days postcapture. Survivor movement rates (43.74 m/hr, SD = 3.53, n = 28) were significantly higher than rates for deer that died within 30 days (17.70 m/hr, SD = 1.57, n = 6) (P<0.01). Additionally, movement rates of juveniles that died of CM (15.1 m/hr) were 5.1 m/hr lower than those for juveniles that died of other causes ≤ 30 days postcapture (20.2 m/hr), but we were unable to evaluate this statistically because of insufficient sample size. We found no difference in vital rates (temperature, heart rate, respiration rate) during handling between survivors and juveniles that died within 30 days postcapture but observed that survivors were in better body condition at capture. These results suggest that deer likely to die within the 30-day CM window can be identified soon after capture, provided that intensive movement data are collected. Further, even if necropsy reports are unavailable, these animals should be censored from analysis because their behavior is not representative of movements of surviving animals.

Immigration and election outcomes — Evidence from city districts in Hamburg

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of immigration on local election outcomes. Our analysis makes use of data on city districts in Hamburg, Germany, during a period of substantial inflows of immigrants and asylum seekers. We find significant and robust effects for changes in foreigner shares on the electoral success of parties that built up a distinctive reputation in immigration politics. In particular, our fixed-effects estimates indicate a positive effect for xenophobic, extreme right-wing parties and an adverse effect for the Green party that actively campaigned for liberal immigration policies and minority rights. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that non-economic determinants and welfare state considerations are important in shaping individual attitudes towards immigration.

The Silent Success of Customs Unions

While “mega FTAs” and WTO-driven efforts at multilateral liberalisation dominate the agenda, customs unions (CU) are the silent success story of regional integration. Throughout the world, CUs have been superseding earlier FTAs, as new unions were formed or old ones expanded. Due to problems of measurement, this fact appears to have gone largely unnoticed so far. We show that the proliferation of CUs is driven by national social welfare considerations: even allowing for lobbying, CUs lead to higher social welfare than any other bilateral trade agreement. Thus, even the most ambitious mega FTAs may eventually turn into “mega CUs”.

Perlindungan dan Kesejahteraan Anak dalam Perkawinan di Bawah Umur

Abstract: A person who will get marriage must meet the administrative and subtantive requirements. These requirements have positive role to echieve the goal and wisdom of marriage for each side. Marriage is permited at the age of 19 years for man and 16 years for woman. Nevertheless the request of dispensation for marriage can be proposed by anyone who needs it because of some reasons. This, of course, would open the opportunity of underage marriage to happen. The dispensation for marriage should be based on the consideration of welfare and goodness of children and family. Even welfare and goodness of children should be put over the interests of parents and family magnitude as a form of the protection of children. Marriage under the age of a regulated- norm of law violates the protection and the welfare of children though they have received legal dispensation from the court . Such marriage would disturb the development of the children’s potential and cause the loss of getting social welfare.

To Tag or not to Tag: Animal Welfare, Conservation, and Stakeholder Considerations in Fish Tracking Studies That Use Electronic Tags

The advent and widespread adoption of electronic tags (including biotelemetry and biologging devices) for tracking animals has provided unprecedented information on the biology, management, and conservation of fish in the world’s oceans and inland waters. However, use of these tools is not without controversy. Even when scientific and management objectives may best be achieved using electronic tags, it is increasingly important to further consider other factors such as the welfare of tagged animals (i.e., the role of training and science-based surgical guidelines, anesthetic use, inability to maintain sterile conditions in field environments), the ethics of tagging threatened species vs. using surrogates, stakeholder perspectives on tagging (including aboriginals), as well as use of data emanating from such studies (e.g., by fishers to facilitate exploitation). Failure to do so will have the potential to create conflict and undermine scientific, management and public confidence in the use of this powerful tool. Indeed, there are already a number of examples of where tracking studies using electronic tags have been halted based on concerns raised by researchers, authorities, or stakeholders. Here we present a candid evaluation of several factors that should be considered when determining when to tag or not to tag fish with electronicmore » devices. It is not our objective to judge the merit of previous studies. Rather, we hope to stimulate debate and discussion regarding the use of electronic tags to study fish. Relatedly, there is a need for more research to address these questions (e.g., what level of cleanliness is needed when conducting surgeries, what type of training should be required for fish surgery) including human dimensions studies to understand perspectives of different actors including society as a whole with respect to tagging and tracking studies.« less

Culture of Disengagement in Engineering Education?

Much has been made of the importance of training ethical, socially conscious engineers, but does US engineering education actually encourage neophytes to take seriously their professional responsibility to public welfare? Counter to such ideals of engagement, I argue that students’ interest in public welfare concerns may actually decline over the course of their engineering education. Using unique longitudinal survey data of students at four colleges, this article examines (a) how students’ public welfare beliefs change during their engineering education, (b) whether engineering programs emphasize engagement, and (c) whether these program emphases are related to students’ public welfare beliefs. I track four specific public welfare considerations: the importance to students of professional/ethical responsibilities, understanding the consequences of technology, understanding how people use machines, and social consciousness. Suggesting a culture of disengagement, I find that the cultural emphases of students’ engineering programs are directly related to their public welfare commitments and students’ public welfare concerns decline significantly over the course of their engineering education. However, these findings also suggest that if engineering programs can dismantle the ideological pillars of disengagement in their local climates, they may foster more engaged engineers.

Overcoming Household Shocks: Do Asset-Accumulation Strategies Matter?

This paper is motivated by the observation that the type and the combination of assets are associated with the likelihood of poor households' experience of shock. Focusing on the case of adivasi households in the south Indian state of Kerala, we find that the type, number and combinations of specific assets (primarily social and physical capital) yield varied magnitudes of association with households' experience of shock, which is a measure of vulnerability. Thus, going beyond mere welfare considerations, social policies that prioritise and sequence the type and combination of asset building based on contextual factors help minimise the incidence of shocks and improve livelihood choices.

Furry and Feathered Family Members—A Critical Review of Their Role in Palliative Care

This article presents a comprehensive critical review of the peer-reviewed literature on palliative care and companion animals (CAs), reporting on the evidence and knowledge base regarding CAs and their role for people at end of life. PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for studies pertaining to CAs, end of life, and hospice palliative care. Six studies dealt specifically with empirical research. The remaining literature addressed the topic peripherally or anecdotally. The evidence for efficacy and the knowledge base about the role of CAs at end of life in hospice and palliative care is weak. Further efforts are required to study the conditions under which CAs may be beneficial for patient care, including acceptability to staff, family, and other patients, and with consideration of welfare for the animals involved.

Abnormal Profit Opportunities and the Informational Advantage of High Frequency Trading

In a frictionless and competitive economy, where high frequency (HF) traders possess no market power, this paper characterizes necessary and sufficient conditions on the price process and information sets for HF traders to earn abnormal trading profits. Two sufficient conditions shown to generate abnormal returns are that HF trading enables the observation of short-term price momentum/reversals, not otherwise visible, or it enables the observation of signals correlated to future price movements. The welfare considerations of the existence of such abnormal trading profits are also discussed.

Caza de focas en la OMC: Bienestar animal y moralidad pública en debate

Long evaded, the question of animal welfare makes its entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The recent seal hunt debate creates the break with the eviction tradition of this question through the protection of public morality. The issue of this debate is the following: Is the Community regulation on products derived from seals in conformity with WTO law? This question was discussed again on the 29-30 April 2013 at the WTO headquarters in Geneva . On one side, Canada and Norway as complainants. On the other, the European Union (EU) defending the legitimacy of its trade restriction. Adopted in 2009, the EU Seal products regulation came into force in 2010. It consists in prohibiting the importation and marketing of seal products. Theoretically ambitious for animal welfare protection, its exceptions are weakening the moral force of this ban, far from being general. This paper aims to present its main inconsistencies and innovations towards animal welfare consideration through public morality at WTO.

Political Selection and the Concentration of Political Power

This paper studies the effects of power-concentrating institutions on the quality of political selection, i.e., the voters’ capacity to identify and empower competent politicians. In our model, candidates are privately informed about their abilities and are driven by office rents as well as welfare considerations. We show that variations in power concentration involve a trade-off. On the one hand, higher concentration of power enables the voters’ preferred politician to enforce larger parts of his agenda. On the other hand, higher power concentration increases electoral stakes and thereby induces stronger policy distortions. We identify a negative relation between the optimal level of power concentration and the extent of office motivation. In particular, full concentration of power is desirable if and only if politicians are mostly welfare oriented. The results of an empirical analysis are in line with this prediction.

Conflicting and Complementary Ethics of Animal Welfare Considerations in Reintroductions

Despite differences in focus, goals, and strategies between conservation biology and animal welfare, both are inextricably linked in many ways, and greater consideration of animal welfare, although important in its own right, also has considerable potential to contribute to conservation success. Nevertheless, animal welfare and animal ethics are not always considered explicitly within conservation practice. We systematically reviewed the recent scientific peer-reviewed and online gray literature on reintroductions of captive-bred and wild-caught animals (mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles) to quantify the occurrence of animal welfare issues. We considered monitoring that could be indicative of the animal's welfare status and supportive management actions that could improve animal welfare (regardless of whether the aim was explicitly animal-welfare orientated). Potential welfare issues (of variable nature and extent) were recorded in 67% of 199 projects reviewed; the most common were mortality >50%, dispersal or loss of animals, disease, and human conflict. Most (>70%) projects monitored survival, 18% assessed body condition, and 2% monitored stress levels. Animal welfare, explicitly, was referred to in 6% of projects. Supportive actions, most commonly use of on-site prerelease pens and provision of supplemental food or water, were implemented in 79% of projects, although the extent and duration of support varied. Practitioners can address animal-welfare issues in reintroductions by considering the potential implications for individual animals at all stages of the release process using the decision tree presented. We urge practitioners to report potential animal-welfare issues, describe mitigation actions, and evaluate their efficacy to facilitate transparent evaluation of common moral dilemmas and to advance communal strategies for dealing with them. Currently, comparative mortality rates, health risks, postrelease stress, effectiveness of supportive measures, and behavior of individuals warrant further research to improve animal welfare in reintroductions and to increase success of such projects.

Policy-based reasoning in duty of care cases

This paper seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the role of policy-based reasoning in the determination of duty of care questions. In order to do this, the first part explores the distinction between considerations of interpersonal justice and considerations of community welfare in the determination of duty questions. While imperfect, the distinction illuminates the nature of the factors taken into account by courts in determining duty of care questions and has practical as well as theoretical implications. The second part of the paper analyses the respective roles of interpersonal justice considerations and community welfare considerations in a sample of first instance and intermediate appellate cases from England and Canada. That study suggests that community welfare considerations play a far less significant role in determining duty cases at the first instance and intermediate appellate level than at the ultimate appellate level. Analysis of the cases also reveals significant differences between the English and Canadian courts in their approaches to the interpersonal justice and community welfare aspects of duty of care questions.

Veterinary clinical research – legal, ethical and welfare considerations

Veterinary clinical research – legal, ethical and welfare considerations

Religious Slaughter: Data from Surveys and Spot-Check Visits in Italy and Animal Welfare Issues

The public is becoming increasingly concerned about how nonhuman animals are treated, and many studies show that European citizens are concerned about farm animal welfare. Religious slaughter has always been a controversial and emotive subject, caught between animal welfare considerations, cultural and human rights issues. There is considerable variation in current practices, and the rules regarding religious requirements are still confusing. Similarly, consumer demands and concerns also need to be addressed. Therefore, there is a need for information relating to slaughter techniques as well as product range, consumer expectations, market share, and socioeconomic issues. This research aims at identifying the procedures for current methods of religious slaughter in Italy. Conventional slaughter is performed with prior stunning; kosher slaughter is practiced without stunning. Halal slaughter is performed for most of the animals without stunning. Halal slaughter with prior stunning is accepted for 5.9% of small ruminants. Questionnaires were sent to regional health authorities, and spot-check visits were conducted on cattle, sheep, and poultry abattoirs in Italy from October 2008 to March 2009. The observed parameters are discussed in regards to the risk to animal welfare. Observations not only on restraining methods, but also on post-cut, clinical indicators of consciousness are considered. This research is the first, systematic attempt to analyze the methods of religious slaughter and to discuss the implications for animal welfare.

Religious Slaughter: Promoting a Dialogue about the Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing

Both the Muslim and Jewish faiths have specific rules for the method of killing religiously acceptable nonhuman animals. Animal slaughter without stunning prior to cutting the throat for the production of food suitable for consumption for Muslim and Jewish people, called religious slaughter, has been a contested issue for a long time in Europe (see Vialles, 1994). When the method of electrical stunning was first introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century, this contested issue led to a “science versus religion” war about the animals’ pain and consciousness at time of killing. Electrical stunning of animals prior to slaughter was welcome and widely accepted, according to Burt (2001), because it addressed issues of civilized, or humane, behaviour and technology that were important to the meat industry. The first scientific textbook for the meat industry, by Leighton and Douglas (1910), described the goal of the industry as producing the optimum amount of meat of the best quality in the shortest time (Burt, 2001, p. 87ff ), and indicated that from about 1927, introduction of electric stunning before slaughter presented new possibilities for achieving such a goal. This new method of stunning presented options of efficiency, low cost, and hygiene as well as the possibility of meeting animal welfare considerations. It also seemed a win-win technology that could be operated with relatively little skill compared to, say, wielding a poleaxe. In the words of Muller (1932), one of its pioneers, the technology indicated “the higher standard of modern civilization” (p. 487, cited in Burt, 2001). However, this technology was strongly rejected by the Jewish communities, which took issue with injuries to the animals prior to having their throats cut and claimed that the Jewish method of slaughter, shechita, was already addressing animal pain and was ensuring animals’ unconsciousness with the simple cut of the throat. This claim was based on the thorough training of the

Pig welfare and what you can tell from the carcase

QUALITY-oriented meat production has grown during the past decade and its aim is to improve the harmonisation of product characteristics and consumer demands. Consumer concerns about quality are not limited...

Bringing Corporate Welfare In

AbstractOne of the consequences of the post-2008 global economic crisis is that it has thrust into the public spotlight the issue of state provision for corporations, putting paid to the myth that capitalism and businesses could ultimately be more profitable, more efficient and more competitive without state interference and direct support. The reality is that corporations of every size and within every sector depend on government support in some way. Hence, while the measures taken by governments in response to the global crisis have been exceptional in their scale, they are not exceptional by design. Rather, direct and indirect state support to corporations – referred to here as corporate welfare – is commonplace and is deeply embedded within the state's operations with various forms of assistance being delivered through social policies. In such an environment, the fact that social policy has very little to say about ‘corporate welfare’ is a serious omission. Bringing corporate welfare into social policy analysis reinforces the potential defence of the welfare state and, at the same time, increases our understanding of how best to balance the needs of private businesses with those of citizens on the one hand, and the burden of paying for welfare on the other. To this end, this paper argues for a deeper recognition, understanding, consideration and embedding of corporate welfare in social policy analysis. The first half of the paper advances conceptually the analysis of corporate welfare, mapping corporate and social welfare along a continuum. The second half provides some empirical evidence of the relative size of corporate and social welfare provision in a number of OECD countries.