Economic Support Policies Research Articles

What factors drive the satisfaction of citizens with governments’ responses to COVID-19?

ObjectivesThis research scrutinizes the important factors influencing the satisfaction of citizens concerning their governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic based on an open-sourced survey of 14 countries. MethodsTo collect information on public sentiment regarding governments’ reactions to COVID-19, we consider five factors for analysis: number of confirmed cases per million population, number of deaths per million population, and governments’ containment and health policies, stringency policies, and economic support policies. We examine the Kendall correlations of variables in the 14 countries and use the wild bootstrap method for regression models to find important regressors. ResultsOur results show that people pay stronger attention to the results of their governments’ battle against COVID-19 (number of confirmed cases and deaths per million population) rather than to what policies they initiate. Health policy and economic support do influence the approval of any national response to COVID-19. We also find that public satisfaction in Japan and South Korea toward the two governments’ responses to the pandemic varies greatly compared to that of other countries’ citizens to their governments’ responses. ConclusionsThe results herein offer some suggestions to governments when initiating policies to balance public health, livelihoods, and economic support.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual Minority Populations in Brazil: An Analysis of Social/Racial Disparities in Maintaining Social Distancing and a Description of Sexual Behavior.

We conducted a web-based survey to understand the impact of social distancing measures on Brazilian MSM and transgender/non-binary lives. A total of 3486 respondents were included in this analysis and the great majority were cismen (98%). The median age was 32 years (IQR: 27–40), 44% non-white, 36% low schooling and 38% low income. Most of participants reported HIV negative/unknown status (77%). Participants on-PrEP reported more condomless anal sex than those off-PrEP. Conversely, 24% off-PrEP were at substantial HIV-risk. PrEP/ART continuation were reported by the majority, despite reports of impediments to medication refill. Transgender/non-binary reported more mental health problems and challenges to access health care. Social and racial disparities were associated with unattainability of maintaining social distancing. Tailored social and economic support policies during COVID-19 pandemic should be made available to these populations. Challenges for PrEP/ART access will demand the implementation of innovative solutions to avoid the expansion of the HIV epidemic.

The Sustainability Issue; What Meaning for the Economic and Human Activity?

The sustainability issue, understood as a good relationship between humankind and nature, can offer the opportunity to analyze certain aspects of the economic theory. If we admit that the stability in economy is a natural condition for linear growth and instead the conjuncture is a trouble for growth due to the loss of natural balance, some consequences will follow. The long fight against instability has not been won, always struggling between inflation and deflation. It follows that the fight against inflation first and then deflation couldn’t counter the real malaise of the global economy: the instability. That is the deviation of economic systems from the natural path of balance with nature. Therefore, the results obtained struggling with monetary alterations, although significant, would be temporary and unable to solve the core of the matter. It follows that the economic support policies have essentially addressed the formal aspect, I would say just indicative of the imbalance, without obtaining stable results in the natural balance recovery. From this point of view, the interventions of fiscal policy, despite some good tests obtained by trying to reduce the strength of the 2008-2010 financial crisis, have not solved however the poisonous aftermath of deflation. Moreover, during the last decade, the health of global economic systems has always required, to be maintained, a defense in the form of supporting policies through neo-Keynesian interventions. And not only that. Because the monetary policy used all its weapons, even unconventional ones, to defeat deflation: nonetheless, it didn’t achieve anything but just a mitigation of phenomena. Always provided, anyway, that the wave of new liquidity continues, as requested by the markets. The point is therefore which is the exit strategy from this situation, considering that the progressive exhaustion of the resources of fiscal and monetary policies sets the expectation of a potential progressive recession on a global basis. Well, according to the sustainability theory the recession is not a bad thing in itself, but it’s rather a cure whose impact we must learn to measure, having the view to mitigate the most negative social effects.

경제적 어려움을 경험한 집단의 가족생활만족도와 영향요인 (Family Life Satisfaction and the Influencing Factors of a Group Experienced Economic Difficulties)

Koren Abstract: 본 연구는 경제적 어려움을 경험한 집단의 가족생활만족도와 그 영향요인을 파악하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 제12차 복지패널 자료를 이용하여 총 6,444명을 대상으로, 지난 1년간 경제적 어려움 집단 1,131명, 경제적 외의 어려움 경험집단 2,201명, 그리고 어떠한 어려움도 경험하지 않은 집단 3,112명을 구분하여 분석하였다. 본 연구의 주요결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 가족생활만족도는 전체집단이 7점 중 5.50이었고, 경제적 어려움 집단(5.04)이 다른 하위집단에 비해 만족도가 가장 낮았으며, 경제적 요인(가계수지지표, 비상자금지표, 중기부채부담지표, 장기부채부담지표, 주관적 수입만족도) 및 심리적 요인(우울감, 자아존중감), 가족관계적 요인(배우자 및 자녀관계 만족도, 성역할관, 가정생활 스트레스) 모두 경제적 어려움 집단이 가장 부정적으로 나타났다. 둘째, 경제적 어려움 집단의 가족생활만족도는 우울감과 가정생활 스트레스가 낮을수록, 자아존중감과 배우자․자녀관계만족도가 높을수록 만족도가 높았다. 전체 및 다른 하위집단 비교해보면, 심리적 요인과 가족관계적 요인은 유사한 결과를 보였으나, 경제적 요인은 경제적 어려움 집단에서는 유의하지 않았던 요인이 다른 집단에서는 부분적으로 유의하였다. 셋째, 위계적 회귀분석을 통하여 사회인구학적, 경제적, 심리적, 가족관계적 요인들이 가족생활만족도를 어느 정도 설명하는지를 살펴본 결과, 전체 및 하위집단별 집단 모두에서 가장 영향력이 큰 것은 가족관계적 요인이었으며, 심리적 요인, 경제적 요인, 사회인구학적 요인의 순으로 나타났다. 이상의 연구 결론을 기초로 경제적 어려움을 겪고 있는 집단에 대한 정책적 지원 및 심리상담을 통한 심리적 지지 및 관계 개선의 필요성을 제안하였다. English Abstract: The purpose of this study was to find family life satisfaction and its influence on a group that experienced economic difficulties. Data were obtained from 2017 12th Korea Welfare Panel Study, and 1,131 subjects, who had experienced economic difficulties for last year, were selected (economic difficulty experienced group). A total of 2,201 subjects, who had experienced other difficulties except for economic difficulties (other difficulty experienced group) and 3,112 subjects who had no any difficulties (no difficulty experienced group) were selected. Main results were as follows: First, family life satisfaction measured by a 7 point Likert scale revealed 5.50 for the total group, 5.04 for economic difficulty experienced group, 5.41 for the other difficulty experienced group, and 5.74 for no difficulty experienced group. For economic factors (expenditure/income index, monthly expenditure/total liquid asset index, total debt/total liquid asset index, total debt/total asset index, subjective income satisfaction), the levels of the group that experienced economic difficulties were the lowest out of the three groups. For psychological factors (depression, self-esteem), the group that experienced economic difficulties showed the most negative levels of three groups. For the family relation factors (spouse relation satisfaction, child relation satisfaction, stress from daily life), the group that experienced economic difficulties showed the most negative levels out of the three groups. Second, for the group experienced economic difficulties, family life satisfaction for men (husbands) was lower than that for women (wives). In addition, a lower depression and stress from daily life were associated with a higher self-esteem and spouse-child relation satisfaction, and the higher family life satisfaction. Furthermore, psychological factors and family relation factors had significant effects on family life satisfaction for all three groups. In contrast, economic factors, which did not show significant effect on family life satisfaction for the economic difficulty experienced group, had partially significant effects on family life satisfaction for other two groups. Third, a comparison of the influence levels based on the results of hierarchical regression analysis, family relation factors were the strongest factors influencing family life satisfaction, followed in order by the psychological factor, economic factors, and socio-demographic factor. Finally, based on the above main results, to enhance the family life satisfaction of the families who were having economic difficulties, and economic support policy would be necessary. On the other hand, family’s economic improvement might be not easy in a short period time. In that sense, psychological support programs, such as spouse support program, stress reducing program, and improving family relationship program might be helpful in enhancing family life satisfaction on the short term.

Mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste: Energy efficiency, environmental impact and economic feasibility analysis

Abstract Municipal solid waste (MSW) is treated mainly via landfill and incineration in most countries. As the effectiveness of source-point waste classification always cannot be guaranteed especially in developing countries, the introduction of mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) systems is a possible solution, for MBT can separate the biodegradable fraction and recover recyclables from mixed waste streams. Using life cycle assessment, scenario analysis and other methods, the energy, environmental and economic performance of MBT and other mainstream MSW treatment technologies are analyzed and compared. The results showed that raw MSW landfill was the worst management option. Incineration had higher energy efficiency (20.5% energy recovery), but the large amounts of chemicals consumption for fly ash and exhaust treatment were also issues leading to relatively higher life cycle environmental impacts. MBT had the highest energy efficiency when connected with biogas purification systems (38.5% energy recovery), and could significantly avoid pollution than the other two technologies. Moreover, MBT was well-adapted to changing MSW composition, making it a promising supplementary to MSW source separation. However, MBT had weak economic performance and required an economic support policy. Our findings show that product revenue needs to be increased, and infrastructure sharing between MSW treatment facilities should also be encouraged.

Effect of different economic support policies on the optimal synthesis and operation of a distributed energy supply system with renewable energy sources for an industrial area

Economic support policies are widely adopted in European countries in order to promote a more efficient energy usage and the growth of renewable energy technologies. On one hand these schemes allow us to reduce the overall pollutant emissions and the total cost from the point of view of the energy systems, but on the other hand their social impact in terms of economic investment needs to be evaluated. The aim of this paper is to compare the social cost of the application of each incentive with the correspondent CO2 emission reduction and overall energy saving. A Mixed Integer Linear Programming optimization procedure is used to evaluate the effect of different economic support policies on the optimal configuration and operation of a distributed energy supply system of an industrial area located in the north-east of Italy. The minimized objective function is the total annual cost for owning, operating and maintaining the whole energy system. The expectation is that a proper mix of renewable energy technologies and cogeneration systems will be included in the optimal solution, depending on the amount and nature of the supporting policies, highlighting the incentives that promote a real environmental benefit.

Technological Options to Ameliorate Waste Treatment of Intensive Pig Production in China: An Analysis Based on Bio-Economic Model

Ameliorating waste treatment by technological improvements affects the economic and the ecological-environment benefits of intensive pig production. The objective of the research was to develop and test a method to determine the technical optimization to ameliorate waste treatment methods and gain insight into the relationship between technological options and the economic and ecological effects. We developed an integrated bio-economic model which incorporates the farming production and waste disposal systems to simulate the impact of technological improvements in pig manure treatment on economic and environmental benefits for the case of a pilot farm in Beijing, China. Based on different waste treatment technology options, three scenarios are applied for the simulation analysis of the model. The simulation results reveal that the economic-environmental benefits of the livestock farm could be improved by reducing the cropland manure application and increasing the composting production with the current technologies. Nevertheless, the technical efficiency, the waste treatment capacity and the economic benefits could be further improved by the introduction of new technologies. It implies that technological and economic support policies should be implemented comprehensively on waste disposal and resource utilization to promote sustainable development in intensive livestock production in China.

Divergent growth trajectories in China’s chemical industry: the case of the newly developed industrial parks in Shanghai, Nanjing and Ningbo

In the late 1990’s, the “new-economy” industries in China proved to be relatively vulnerable and were strongly hit by the financial crisis in Asia. As a result, a new economic support policy was introduced in China’s Yangtze Delta region, which put greater emphasis on the support of traditional industrial sectors, including the chemical industry. This paper investigates the effects of the growth of this industry, as well as the potential and current problems emerging from new growth paths. It compares the growth of three newly developed chemical industry parks in Shanghai, Nanjing and Ningbo. The paper is based on an institutional perspective of clustering processes arguing that regional industrialization is subject to formal and informal institutions which shape the growth paths and contribute to divergent regional trajectories. Although these industrial parks all benefit from the general economic upswing in China, their development is influenced by different business models, economic contexts, goals and strategies, leaving room for divergence and specialization. Due to the existing structure of operations, these parks have a great deal of potential but also face substantial challenges, such as the establishment of internal networks and close customer linkages. It is argued that this might limit their innovative capability in the future. Furthermore, their growth prospects differ depending on future government policies.

Evaluating the need for economic support policies in promoting greenhouse gas emission reduction measures in the building sector: The case of Greece

During the last decade the CO 2 emissions from the residential and tertiary sectors have been rising continuously. This is cause for concern but also an area to be targeted for emission reduction measures in national action plans. This paper proposes a methodological framework, using the Greek building sector (characterized by an aging building stock constructed mostly in the period before 1980) as a case study for the examination of the economic attractiveness of possible measures, which incorporates crucial parameters such as local climate, use of buildings, age of building stock, etc. that affect the energy conservation potential and consequently the economic performance of available measures. Utilizing this framework, the approach is able to classify measures into three categories, namely ‘win–win’ cases (i.e. where the implementation of emission reduction measures presents a net economic benefit for end-users), measures that require the implementation of appropriate economic support policies in order to make them economically attractive for end-users, and measures that have excessive cost. The results indicate that the emissions reduction potential of ‘win–win’ cases is significant. They also demonstrate how individual measures can provide significant reductions if carefully targeted economic support policies are applied. Finally, sensitivity analyses performed with respect to the discount rate applied indicate that it has a substantial impact on the economic performance of some measures and consequently on the magnitude of the ‘win–win’ potential associated to emissions reduction.

Ten Years of the Urban Programme 1981-91: The Impact and Implications of its Assistance to Small Businesses

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study of small business land and premises support schemes operating under the Urban Program me (UP) in the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Haringey. The results of this study are used to evaluate whether politics makes a difference to policy outcomes in local areas. The article indicates that there are crucial differences in the policies of the two boroughs studied and that several key elements of the two boroughs' different approaches to small business support were particularly successful, such as low business rates and the targeting of niche market businesses. However, both boroughs failed to integrate effectively their UP policies within a wider economic development strategy. Given that the type of small business support policies examined here continue to form an important part of contemporary local economic policy, the author argues that these findings offer important lessons. It is recommended that this issue of co-ordination must be addressed by all bodies administering local economic support policies in the future.