Effects Of Policy Measures Research Articles

The Dragon Turns around and the Elephant Moves Forward: Inequality in China and India under Globalization

This article tends to suggest that the strategy of embracing globalization has been helpful in raising GDP growth in China and India. The higher growth record also coincided with increasing income inequality, wealth inequality and regional inequality. While China seems to have made some success in making a turnaround in inequality, in India inequalities are on the rise. The present study attributes the observed trend to the nature of structural change and the resultant employment generation in terms of both its quantity and its quality. FDI and trade under globalization also worked towards increasing inequalities. The key issue is why globalization as implemented in India failed to generate employment unlike what happened in China. India seems to have been not adequately successful in globalizing at ‘our terms and at our own pace’, whereas China has been able to successfully manage its transition to the global market, which in turn, at least partly, explains the observed differences in the trend in growth and inequality in these two countries. At the same time, while there have been targeted and effective policy measures in China to address inequalities, in India, such policies are yet to show up their results.

Introduction: Youth Employment and the Private Sector in Africa

This introductory article of the IDS Bulletin maps out the African youth employment challenge from a policy perspective. While policymakers have endorsed the role of the private sector as a job generator, it remains unclear whether, and under what conditions, the formal private sector generates enough and decent jobs. This IDS Bulletin begins to fill that gap. Contributors address questions including: to what extent do formal private enterprises create decent, secure jobs for young people? What obstacles do young adults face when trying to access jobs in the formal private sector? What additional difficulties are present in fragile and conflict-affected settings? And, how can policies ensure the formal private sector does not reproduce and entrench insecure and vulnerable employment? The articles in this issue demonstrate the importance of effective policy measures to ensure that private sector growth creates sufficient numbers of decent, secure jobs to provide employment to African youth.

Effect of Subsidies and Tax Deductions on Promoting the Construction of Long-Life Quality Houses in Japan.

Securing a quantity of houses for citizens has been the priority of housing policies in Japan. However, these policies shifted from quantity to quality in the 21st century, including the promotion of “long-life quality housing (LLQH)”, which contributes to a sustainable and healthy society for the residential sector. Since then, various policies have been introduced at the national and prefectural (local) levels to promote the construction of LLQH. Using panel data for 47 prefectures across seven years, this study aims to analyze the factors that Japanese households choose when constructing LLQH. Although various research on LLQH and similar housing exists, this study is the first attempt to empirically explore the factors that promote LLQH. We found that policy measures covering only LLQH were generally effective in promoting the construction of LLQH, and these policy measures were more effective than those covering both LLQH and other types of housing. National-level measures tended to be effective, whereas prefectural-level measures were not. Furthermore, although the effects of individual measures differed, the overall effects of policy measures were confirmed. In conclusion, providing economic incentives had a positive effect on promoting LLQH, and such measures were successful in achieving the intended purpose.

Stakeholder Participation in Natura 2000 Management Program: Case Study of Slovenia

The Natura 2000 network, which is one of the largest networks of protected areas in the world, is the core pillar in the European Union’s biodiversity conservation policy. To achieve the national enforcement of Natura 2000 and to overcome implementation problems, effective policy measures are needed, and participation among different stakeholders is required. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the process of formulation of the Natura 2000 Management Program (2015–2020) in Slovenia based on a set of criteria and indicators for the evaluation of a participatory process, and to present the differences between the stakeholders’ evaluations according to their role in the implementation process. For that purpose, stakeholders were divided into two groups—stakeholders from project partner’s institution, and others. The research was done in two steps: First, in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 representatives of the key stakeholders’ institutions or organizations that were involved in the formulation of the Natura 2000 Management Program were carried out; in the second, a survey with 266 stakeholders involved in the formulation and decision-making process was conducted. Overall, the results show that the participatory process was well organized, independent and fair; however, not all of the requisite conditions for successful participation were fulfilled, as was shown with the sub-criteria of transparency. The only difference between the groups exists in the evaluations of the sub-criteria transparency of the process. The group of stakeholders from the project’s partner institutions were more satisfied with the transparency of the process, as the average value was 3.36, compared to the others where the average value of satisfaction was 2.80. This indicates the need for an improved, novel, and innovative approach that leads to multi-level governance.

Modelling Farm Growth and Its Impact on Agricultural Land Use: A Country Scale Application of an Agent-Based Model

The ongoing economic pressure on farmers has resulted in lower gross margins, lower income, and a continuous decrease in the number of farmers in large parts of the world. Most remaining farmers upscale their activities by taking over the land of their former competitors, resulting in a decrease in agricultural employment and an increase in average farm size, accompanied by specialisation and new management techniques. Understanding these significant trends and their impact on the land use and environment requires a deeper knowledge of the mechanisms involved and the impacts of different policy measures. These processes are ideally represented through agent-based modelling. Currently, agent-based models are rarely for larger regions. This paper presents ADAM (Agricultural Dynamics through Agent-based Modelling), using it for the case study of Belgium. ADAM was created to obtain insights in past and current agricultural trends and to explore possible effects of policy measures. ADAM simulates the evolution of a farmer population and their farms at a fine scale on the country level. It produces yearly outputs on the number of farms, their size, and the type of farming activity on every parcel. Results show that ADAM is capable of adequately modelling a farmer population according to past trends and that it can be used to explore the results of a business-as-usual scenario, therefore showing the possibility of creating agent-based models for larger scale real-world applications.

Social Mobility Barriers for Roma: Discrimination and Informal Institutions

This article attempts to identify and document social mobility barriers for Roma. We have identified two types of social mobility barriers: the cost of exit from the traditional Roma community, and the cost of entry into the mainstream society. Most of the existing policy and academic debate on the social and economic marginalisation of Roma has focused almost entirely on entry barriers. The main contribution of the current paper to the existing literature is to draw attention to exit barriers, which usually are neglected in the public debate and the academic literature. In the current paper we show that understanding both types of social mobility barriers for Roma is crucial for designing effective policy measures.

Exploring the effectiveness of demand management policy in reducing traffic congestion and environmental pollution: Car-free day and odd-even plate measures for Bandung city in Indonesia

Traffic congestion has been a major problem in big cities around the world, not to mention several large cities in Indonesia. Bandung is the second largest metropolitan area after Jakarta in Indonesia which suffers from extreme levels of congestion. With a high number of motorcycles and large private car population, congestion in this city is ever growing worsening the environment. While the local authorities struggle to find resources to fund capital intensive capacity expansion projects, this research explores the use of cost effective demand management policy measures to reduce the congestion and pollution. This study aims at assessing two relatively under-researched demand management policy measures that restrict vehicle flows viz., car-free day and odd-even plate schemes to investigate the effect on traffic congestion and the environment. SATURN traffic network modelling software has been used to predict the route choices of vehicles. Bandung city road network and origin destination matrix have been adapted to simulate the two measures during the peak hour. As well as providing the necessary inputs to a pollutant emission estimation model, traffic network modelling output forms the basis for assessing the congestion levels. Results show that both car-free day and odd-even plate measures have unintended consequences that undermine their effectiveness which if addressed could make them highly beneficial solutions. Car-free day scheme reduces the traffic flow levels in the vicinity of scheme but diverts the vehicle flow elsewhere to other routes which may adversely affect the congestion/pollution. Odd-even plate scheme is very effective at the beginning of its implementation but the performance gradually diminishes as drivers start to adapt by buying a second vehicle or even using fake number plates.

Stranded at Sea: Photographic Representations of the Rohingya in the 2015 Bay of Bengal Crisis

Visual representations can contribute to shaping how the general public perceives and engages with issues of forced migration. In 2015, thousands of Rohingya became stranded in the Bay of Bengal when smugglers abandoned them on unseaworthy boats and regional governments refused their disembarkation. Their ordeal made headlines across the globe and photographs documenting the crisis were widely disseminated. This paper applies visual-social semiotics to four of these photographs from an Agence France-Presse public exhibition. Our analysis suggests that the features in the photographs transcend the conventional “threat versus victim” dualism that typically characterizes such representations, to capture both the suffering and agency of the people at the centre of the crisis. This occurs in two ways: first, the Rohingya are depicted as proactive and enacting agency, and not just as powerless people in need of rescue. Second, the juxtaposition of mundane aspects with more dramatic frames offers a tangible pathway for viewers to connect with the circumstances of the people depicted. These visual representations were effective in triggering international concern and policy responses in 2015. However, such photographs’ longer-term potential for shifting public perceptions of displacement and forced migration—and by extension, effective policy measures—remains largely indeterminate.

Using a worldview lens to examine complex policy issues: a historical review of bushfire management in the South West of Australia

ABSTRACTThe scale and intensity of bushfire activity in Australia is likely to increase as a result of climate change. Effective bushfire management policy measures are therefore essential to minimise the interrelated social, environmental and economic impacts of fire in the landscape. This paper presents a historical review of bushfire management in the South West of Australia (SW): a bushfire prone and biodiverse region. Using a worldview framework to analyse key policy documents and literature, the paper demonstrates that the evolution of complex policy sectors such as bushfire management, is influenced not only by scientific and technical developments but also as a result of changing worldviews. Adapting the Integrative Worldview Framework (IWF), seven worldview categories that dominated particular periods of history in Australia are presented. These worldview categories are then used to examine the evolution of bushfire management practice, policy and institutional arrangements relevant to the SW. The argument presented herein is that a better understanding of worldviews and how they influence complex and contentious policy fields such as bushfire management, is useful for policy analysis, reflexive practice and research. The paper suggests an integrative worldview approach, which enables opportunities for exchanges and constructive conflict between stakeholders and agencies with diverse worldviews, could contribute to creating more sustainable bushfire management. Finally, it is argued that opportunities for Indigenous and Western worldview exchanges in the bushfire management sector, through collaborative knowledge partnerships could assist the sector in both management practice and policy formulation.

What Influences the Choice Between Private Car and Public Transport for Shopping Trips? Impact of Socio-economic and Built Environment Factors

Shifting toward sustainable daily travel will play a significant role in the future of sustainable development and the lowering of carbon emissions. This study provides an in-depth comparison of transport mode choice and corresponding CO2 emissions between private cars and public transport used for shopping trips based on individual data from a travel survey conducted in Shenyang, China. The analysis found that bus travel accounted for the majority of motorized transportation. Public transport users were closely distributed along the bus or metro lines, and aggregated private car users were mainly clustered within the second circumferential road. Furthermore, average per trip emissions for private car travel were 8-fold that of public transport. Binary logistic regression modeling was employed to examine factors that were related to the choice between private car and public transport, and the results indicated that car ownership and gender were the most important factors in explaining the preference of car driving. Age and per capita monthly income were negatively correlated with car driving. In addition, there were also negative impacts associated to the built environment factors of access to the closest metro stations and the number of bus stops near the residence on car driving. This study is vital to formulate more effective transportation policy measures in the future development for a sustainable low-carbon city. DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 775 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Factors to Facilitate Building Long-Life Quality Housing

Securing quantity of houses was the priority of housing policies in Japan since the World War II, but the policies have been shifted from quantity to quality in the 21st century, including promotion of long-life quality housing. Since then, various policy measures have been introduced in national and prefectural levels to promote building long-life quality houses. In this study, we analyzed the factors that the Japanese households choose to build long-life quality houses using panel data of 47 prefectures for seven years. We found that policy measures that cover only long-life quality houses were basically effective to promote building long-life quality houses, but policy measures that cover not only long-life quality houses but also other types of house were more effective. The national-level measures tended to be effective, while the prefectural-level measures were not. In addition, although the effects of individual measures differed, overall effect of policy measures were confirmed. It is concluded that providing economic incentives had positive impact on promoting long-life quality houses and such policy measures were successful to achieve the purpose. Therefore, to further increase long-life quality houses, it will be effective to continue subsidies or deduction of taxes.

Option generation for policy measures and packages: An assessment of the KonSULT knowledgebase

ObjectiveOption generation is an essential element in the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), but is also one of the areas of greatest weakness. This paper focuses on the assessment of a measure option generator as a decision-support tool to enhance the development of SUMPs. Its aim is to assess whether this option generation facility can assist cities in developing more effective policy measures and packages and, if so, in which contexts it is most helpful. MethodsAfter reviewing the literature the paper proposes nine criteria which such tools should satisfy. It briefly describes the option generator within the Knowledgebase on Sustainable Urban Land use and Transport, KonSULT. It then describes a survey in which KonSULT was tested by nine cities from across Europe. It uses the results to assess the option generator against the nine criteria. ResultsThe nine cities all found that KonSULT contributed to their understanding of the option generation process for SUMPs, and to their awareness of the range of policy measures available and their use in packages. Of them, five identified new policy measures, and seven new approaches to packaging such measures. Not surprisingly, a facility such as KonSULT was more valuable for those with less experience of urban transport policy, which suggests that it should be promoted in particular for training programmes, for younger professionals, and to cities embarking on SUMP development for the first time. DiscussionThe research methodology did not allow us to assess KonSULT against the criteria of treatment of transferability and of ability to reflect the aspirations of different types of user. These are areas for further testing. Indeed, there remains a dearth of literature on the specific issue of policy transferability.

Ecological Pressure of Carbon Footprint in Passenger Transport: Spatio-Temporal Changes and Regional Disparities

Passenger transport has become a significant producer of carbon emissions in China, thus strongly contributing to climate change. In this paper, we first propose a model of ecological pressure of the carbon footprint in passenger transport (EPcfpt). In the model, the EPcfpt values of all the provinces and autonomous regions of China are calculated and analyzed during the period of 2006–2015. For the outlier EPcfpt values of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, the research areas are classified into two scenarios: the first scenario (all the provinces and autonomous regions) and the second scenario (not including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin). The global spatial autocorrelation analysis of the first scenario shows that the EPcfpt might be randomly distributed, while it shows positive spatial autocorrelation in the second scenario. Furthermore, we carry out the local spatial autocorrelation analysis of the second scenario, and find that the low aggregation areas are the most common type and are mainly located in the west of China. Then the disparities in EPcfpt between China’s Eight Comprehensive Economic Zones are further analyzed. Finally, we put forward a number of policy recommendations in relation to the spatio-temporal changes and the regional disparities of EPcfpt in China. This study provides related references for proposing effective policy measures to reduce the ecological pressure of carbon emissions from the passenger transport sector.

Public Beliefs About Obesity Relative to Other Major Health Risks: Representative Cross-Sectional Surveys in the USA, the UK, and Germany.

Overweight and obesity are among the leading risk factors for death worldwide. Scientists believe that the increase in obesity is primarily due to environmental changes and thus favor obesity prevention measures targeting the environment. However, it is less clear what lay people perceive as causes of obesity, and which measures they deem acceptable and promising in fighting it. This article compares lay beliefs about obesity with beliefs about other major health risks sharing certain similarities with obesity (alcohol and tobacco dependence, depression) in three countries with high obesity rates. Computer-assisted face-to-face interviews with representative samples in the UK (N = 1,216) and Germany (N = 973) and an online survey in the USA (N = 982) tapping beliefs about locus of responsibility, liability for treatment costs, and effectiveness of policy measures. In each country, respondents attributed responsibility for obesity primarily to the individual; the same pattern emerged for alcohol and tobacco dependence, but not for depression (ps < .01). The higher the attribution of personal responsibility, the more strongly respondents endorsed individual liability for treatment costs (ps < .01). Respondents judged information and fiscal policies as most and least effective, respectively, in obesity prevention. Respondents' views about obesity are similar to those about addictions; however, they regard fiscal and regulatory policies as less effective for obesity than for addictions. Raising awareness about environmental drivers of obesity and framing policy measures by reference to the fight against tobacco and alcohol could increase public support of obesity-targeted policies.

"It just forces hardship": impacts of government financial penalties on non-vaccinating parents.

Despite strong evidence confirming vaccination is safe and effective, some parents choose not to vaccinate their children. In 2016, the Australian Government introduced legislation strengthening links between vaccination compliance and some government payments. We interviewed thirty-one non-vaccinating parents about the impacts of this policy. Data analysis produced three key themes: 'questioning policy integrity', 'minimising impact' and 'holding my ground'. Affected parents offset reduced income by removing children from early childhood learning, reducing work commitments, moving residence to reduce living costs and accessing informal childcare arrangements. Parents reported a greater commitment to their decision not to vaccinate and an increased desire to maintain control over health choices for their children including an unprecedented willingness to become involved in protest action. Our study identifies why financial penalties have not been an effective policy measure for this sample of non-vaccinating parents, an understanding which may assist in the development of future legislation.

Household and community responses to impacts of climate change in the rural hills of Nepal

The research was designed to answer how households and local communities in rural Nepal are responding to the impacts of climate change. Using four villages as case study units, a mixed method approach was adopted in a multi-scaled process carried out at community, district and national levels. The research found that adaptation practices being adopted differ according to household well-being and are largely governed by access to education, information and resources within the community. Responses such as livelihood and income diversification, internal migration, share cropping, taking consumption loans, use of alternative energy and use of bio-pesticides were found to mostly vary according to well-being status of the interviewees. Development of adaptation plans, strategies and support mechanisms should take account of the different adaptation practices and needs of households. If such individual situations are not considered, adaptation responses may be ineffective or even be maladaptive and increase vulnerability. The research also found that the autonomous, unplanned and reactive nature of adaptation practices chosen by rural communities can contribute to further inequity and unequal power relations. The knowledge generated from this research contributes to understanding of how climate change contributes to vulnerability, but also how local practices and lack of an effective climate policy or response measures may magnify the effects of many existing drivers of vulnerability in terms of maladaptation and increasing social inequalities.

Endogenous Ranking in the Two-Sector Urn-Ball Matching Process

This paper contributes to the debate concerning micro-foundations of matching functions in frictional labor markets. The focus is on a particular matching regime, i.e., the so-called urn-ball process. It is shown that in a twosector economy, even in the presence of heterogeneous workers, the assumption of applicants-ranking may be misleading. Instead, the choice concerning the adoption of either ranking or no-ranking behavior is endogenous and it is affected by both the tightness of the two sectors and the composition of the labor force in terms of skills. Moreover it is proved that exogenous shocks may change the form of the matching function. This result casts additional doubts on the assumption of exogenous matching function often made in empirical works aimed at assessing the effectiveness of policy measures.

System Dynamics Modeling of Households' Electricity Consumption and Cost-Income Ratio: a Case Study of Latvia

Abstract Increased energy efficiency of the building sector is high on the list of priorities for energy policy since better energy efficiency would help to reduce impact on climate change and increase security of energy supply. One aim of the present study was to find a relative effect of growth of demand for energy services due to changes in income, energy consumption per unit of demand due to technological development, changes in electricity price and household income on household electricity consumption in Latvia. The method applied included system dynamics modeling and data from a household survey regarding the relationship between electricity saving activities and the electricity cost-income ratio. The results revealed that, in direct contrast to the expected, a potential reduction of the electricity consumption is rather insensitive to electricity price and electricity cost-income ratio, and that the efficiency of technologies could be the main drivers for future electricity savings. The results suggest that support to advancement of technologies and faster replacement of inefficient ones rather than influencing the energy price could be effective energy policy measures. The model, developed in the study could be used in similar assessments in other countries.

Varieties of agri-environmental schemes in China: A quantitative assessment

Agri-environmental schemes have become an effective policy measure to prompt farmers to protect rural farmland and landscapes. In recent years, 17 provincial governments including Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangxi and Guangdong have shown increasing interest in promoting local experimentation with agri-environmental schemes. Based on two waves of farmer survey data in Eastern, Middle and Western China conducted in 2012 and 2015, this paper conducts a comparative study of three agricultural environmental policy models: the farmland protection fund model in Chengdu city (the Chengdu model), the farmland eco-compensation model in Suzhou city (the Suzhou model), and the conventional farmland protection model in Wuhan (the Wuhan model). Our quantitative analyses show that: agri-environmental schemes in China have significantly enhanced farmer enthusiasm toward farmland protection and lifted their policy satisfaction. Yet, the improvement in farmer knowledge of farmland ecological functions is limited; different agri-environmental models have diverse policy effects. Overall, the Chengdu model characterized by a combination of pension insurance and agricultural insurance benefits works better than the Suzhou model. Farmer participation in rural farmland and landscape protection is affected by multiple factors, among which education is the most significant.

Effects of Policy Measures and Moderating Factors on Climate Change Adaptation Among Private Forest Owners in Sweden

ABSTRACTThreats associated with climate change may damage forests. To encourage adaptation in countries with a lot of privately owned forest, policy measures directed at private forest owners may be implemented. By means of policy scenarios, the present study examined the effects of two hypothetical policies: an advice and an economic incentive, on climate change adaptation among private forest owners in Sweden (n = 753 and n = 729). Both policies strengthened the intention to adapt although results also revealed that individual variables (i.e., forest values) and a contextual variable (i.e., being in an encouraging social risk management context) were important for the owners’ response. Production forest values and social risk management context furthermore moderated the effect of policy on intention to adapt, suggesting that the economic incentive was mainly more effective than the advice among owners with strong production values and among owners in less encouraging social risk management contexts.