Government Social Policy Research Articles

Integrating Servqual-Kano-QFD for Social Insurance Service Quality Improvement in Surabaya

For companies engaged in the service-providing sector, good service by meeting customer's desires and needs is a must in order to thrive competitively. This case study was conducted on service provided by the government social insurance company engaged in traffic accident insurance services in Surabaya. As an industry that provides service, customer satisfaction is of importance in order to gain trust from the public, reduce negative opinion in public, and support the objective of good governance. This study integrated the SERVQUAL-Kano method to evaluate customer satisfaction concerning 18 service attributes related to service provided by the social insurance company. Further efforts were then made to find solutions for service attributes with low satisfaction scores by using the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method. Therefore, the results can help to improve the quality of service. The results were in the form of a priority improvement design for strategic decision recommendations that can be implemented by the company to increase customer satisfaction.

Quality of Life and Related Factors Among Hepatitis B Virus Infected Individuals

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a health problem in the world, including Indonesia. We analyzed several factors associated with the quality of life of chronic hepatitis B patients. Methods: We obtained information from Hepatitis B patients using the WHO Quality of Life questionnaire. Data analysis conducted in this study was a chi-square test and a multivariate logistic regression model was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR). Results: Housewives with hepatitis B had a better quality of life than employees (P = 0.002), after adjusted with age, sex, and medicine regularly, they had 21 times higher quality of life (OR = 21.51, CI 1.448-319.432, P = 0.026). Lower income in the family had a higher good and very good quality life (P = 0.001), patients who covered by government social insurance feel a better quality of life (P = 0.006). Also hepatitis B patients who diagnosed less than or equal 2 years and duration treatment less than or equal 1 year were better quality life (P = 0.002; P = 0.001). Patients were not taking medicine regularly and infected from husband had a lesser quality of life (P = 0.006). After adjusted with age, sex and employment status, medicine regularly had 19 times higher quality of life than without (OR = 19.37, CI 1.144-327.785, P = 0.040). Patients who reacted and feel shocked and denial had better quality of life (P = 0.011). However, we could not find any association between sex, age, ethnics, marital status and educational background with quality of life (P = 0.962, P = 0.919, P = 0.320, P = 0.233 and P = 0.209, respectively). Conclusion: The quality of life of hepatitis B patients influenced by several factors including the length of time diagnosed, the environment support, routine treatment, complications, the severity of the disease and economic factors.

Beginning on an age-friendly journey: Barriers to implementing age-friendly initiatives.

ObjectiveTo explore the barriers to communities in New Zealand developing age‐friendly initiatives.MethodsA qualitative participatory approach underpinned this study. Semi‐structured digitally recorded individual interviews were undertaken with 24 government officials, local government steering group members and community representatives from an urban city, provincial city and a rural district. A general inductive data analytic process was undertaken. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines were followed to ensure rigour in this study.Results(a) Being at the beginning, (b) Minimal diversity and (c) Problems getting started were three key issues identified.ConclusionsNew Zealand is in the early stages of becoming age‐friendly. Findings from this study provide a place‐based New Zealand perspective and have influenced central government social policy and practice development, culminating in resources supporting local government and communities to successfully implement age‐friendly initiatives.

Abstract PS7-89: The socioeconomic impact of breast cancer in Brazil: An analysis of AMAZONA III cohort study

Abstract INTRODUCTIONPatients diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) in Brazil are on average 54 years old and the majority (70%) have stage II-III. Age and clinical stage have a negative impact on patient personal life and labor productivity. The socioeconomic status is a fundamental part of the population’s health, which includes marital and employment status. Our aim was to analyze the socioeconomic impact of BC diagnosis which is poorly studied in low or middle-income countries. METHODSThis is a cross-sectional study including patients from AMAZONA III cohort study. Eligible patients were female aged > 18 years with diagnosis of any stage invasive BC from 2016 to 2018 in 24 participating hospitals in Brazil. The present analysis evaluated the marital and employment status at baseline and at 1-year follow-up after BC diagnosis. Patients with missing data were excluded and women older than 60 years, retirement age in Brazil, were not included in this analysis. A multivariate Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was adjusted to assess which patients’ characteristics associated with job loss and relationship status. The characteristics evaluated were age (⇐ 50 vs. > 50 years), educational level (Illiterate to completed first degree or completed second degree vs. higher), personal income (no income – 2 minimum wages vs. 2 to 5 minimum wages vs. more than 5 minimum wages), clinical-stage (I-III vs. IV), molecular subtype (luminal, HER2 positive vs. triple negative), surgery type (breast conserving surgery vs. any type of mastectomy), and systemic treatment (chemotherapy vs. hormonal therapy vs. none). The significance level was set at 5%. All analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). RESULTSFrom a total of 1257 patients with evaluable employment status, 655 patients (52.1%) had working activity at the time of BC diagnosis. After 1 year of follow-up, there was an absolute decrease of 5.3% in patients’ employment (52.1% to 46.8%; p= 0.0075). Loss of employment was higher in older patient > 50 years (8.7%), lower educational level (9.9%), those earning 2-5 minimum wages (11.2%), stage I-III (7%), triple negative (6.9%), mastectomy (9.9%) and treatment with hormone therapy (11%). Patients with higher educational level (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.36-0.94, p=0.0265) were at lower risk of employment loss whereas patients with personal income of more than 2 minimum wages (RR 1.83, 95% CI 1.08-3.10, p=0.0236) and mastectomy (RR 2.16, 95% CI 1.47-3.17, p=0.0015) were at higher risk of being unemployed loss after 1 year of diagnosis. Other factors such as age, clinical stage, BC subtype and treatment were not independently associated with unemployment. A total of 1947 patients had marital status information at baseline. Of those, 1182 (60.7%) were married or in common-law marriage at BC diagnosis. After 1 year of follow-up, 52 (2.7%) of these women loss their relationship (60.7% vs. 58%; p=0.08). Loss of relationships was higher (5.2%) in younger patients (≤ 50 years), lower educational level (4.9%), no income or up to 2 minimum wages (5.4%), stage IV (7.7%), HER2 positive (5.5%), mastectomy (5.4%) and treatment with hormone therapy (5.5%). None of the variables evaluated such as age, educational level, personal income, clinical-stage, molecular subtype, surgery type and systemic treatment, were significantly associated with change of marital status for patients previously married or in common-law marriage. CONCLUSION The socioeconomic impact of BC diagnosis was minimal at 1-year follow-up in Brazil. Nonetheless personal income and surgery type were associated with higher chance of unemployment whereas no specific variables were related to marital status change. Government social policies specifically for work return remains critical for BC patients in short-term after BC diagnosis. Citation Format: Gustavo Werutsky, Daniela Dornelles Rosa, Carlos Barrios, Eduardo Cronemberger, Geraldo Queiroz, Jose Bines, Mahira Lopes Rosa, Rafaela Gomes, Ana P Heck, Laura Freitas, Arthur F da Silva, Matheus Rodrigues, Andre P Fay, Sergio Simon. The socioeconomic impact of breast cancer in Brazil: An analysis of AMAZONA III cohort study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS7-89.

International Experience Integration of Openness and Transparency Level Evaluation of Socially Oriented Non-Governmental Organizations into Russian Practice

This article deals with international experience integration of openness and transparency level evaluation of activities by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) into the Russian practice. The object of this study is socially oriented non-governmental organizations — both those that receive financial support from the state and those that do not. The subject of the study is the transparency and openness of the socially oriented non-governmental organizations of the Sverdlovsk region. The article proposes the following hypothesis: the government provides financial support to exceptionally transparent and open socially oriented non-governmental organizations; the most popular socially oriented non-governmental organizations are considered the most transparent, and the state financial support is provided to them. To evaluate the level of openness and transparency of non- governmental organizations the authors use quantitative methodology for websites monitoring of non-governmental organizations. The indicators proposed allow for the evaluation of the current level of openness of socially oriented non-governmental organizations. In addition, the article assesses available statistics to evaluate the popularity indicator of specific socially oriented non-governmental organizations.
 Keywords: non-governmental organization, openness and transparency of NGOs, financial support, social partnership, government social policy

Tax Literacy: A Canadian Perspective

Tax systems are complex structures that can be difficult for individuals to navigate. Understanding the way taxes are calculated and liabilities are assessed matters a lot when personal saving for retirement and education, and much of the government's social policy apparatus, are closely integrated with the tax system. This study uses a survey to measure individuals' knowledge about basic elements of the personal income tax, their perception of their own tax knowledge, and their tax-filing behaviour. One would hope that tax-literate Canadians would have a high level of knowledge of the way taxes work, and a realistic appreciation of the limits of their knowledge, and thus that they could make informed decisions, for example, when filing their tax returns. The survey data show that Canadians have good knowledge of basic tax facts but struggle when asked more complex questions regarding the progressivity of the income tax. Results were generally consistent across provinces with the notable exception of respondents in Quebec, who had higher marks on the authors' tax quiz but lower self-assessed tax knowledge. The measurement instrument employed in the study will allow for a refinement of research exploring the drivers of tax compliance as well as political attitudes toward taxes and redistribution.

Social security measures in indian railways- an empirical study of workers' perceptions of diesel locomotive works

In human life, there are two stages of dependency childhood and old age. Apart from them in the intervening years of adult life a person is likely occur to spells during which he/she cannot earn a living. Such spells are sickness, maternity, disablement arising out of employment injury etc. Social security system aims to help individuals in such times of dependency. It is an indispensable part of the government social policy and an important tool to prevent contingencies and provide a decent standard of life. The study endeavours to examine the perceptions of workers towards the social security measures implemented in Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) which is a second production unit of Indian Railways. The study is organised in four sections. Section I contains introduction while a brief knowledge about the selected organisations has been discussed in Section II. Objectives of study along-with research methodology have been described in Section III. Section IV contains major findings of the study and on that basis, conclusion is drawn that indicated in Section V.

Territorial inequality: an agent-based approach in modelling of social policy

The article proposes a methodological approach for assessing the territorial inequality based on an agent-oriented spatial model. The main decisions are made in the model at the microeconomic level by households and enterprises with spatial coordinates. Then they are aggregated to the level of regions, industries and the economy as a whole. The evaluation of the indicators according to the criterion of social justice is carried out using two groups of methods: firstly, statistical, primarily the Gini coefficients (which are based on the households’ incomes in regions or country as a whole), and secondly, methods for constructing isoelastic social welfare functions at the national and regional or zonal levels, which are based on the households’ utility functions and include the inequality rejection coefficient. Each value of the coefficient corresponds to a certain concept of social justice. This second group of methods is related to the original approach of the author. The model simulates the development of the government social policy, which is carried out by changing taxes and transfers and taking into account the degree of territorial inequality. Model calculations consider pensions and five types of monetary transfers in a fixed structure: unemployment benefits, child benefits, poverty benefits, social aid and basic income benefits. In a series of experiments, the effect on territorial inequality of changes in the total value of social transfers (with their fixed structure) and tax rates in accordance with the proportionality coefficients was assessed. It is used as a toolkit for changing the system of taxes and transfers and for supporting social policy to reduce spatial inequalities in Russia.

LEGAL STATUS OF EMPLOYEES IN THE UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIAL REPUBLIC (1921–1928)

The aim of the work is to study the legal status of employees in the Ukrainian SSR in 1921–1928, which had its own peculiar features due to the new economic policy implementation by the Soviet government (hereinafter referred to as the NEP). The methodology involves the adherence to the principles of objectivity, scientific character, and historicism, which facilitated the coherent disclosure of the prerequisites, content and consequences of the Soviet government social policy implementation in the Ukrainian SSR, and highlighted the legal status of employees and the specifics of its codification. The combination of historical and legal methods contributed to the consistency of the research, as well as enabled us to assert the novelty of the material under consideration. The historical research of the NEP in the combination with the regulatory and legal framework analysis creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary scientific inquiries. The use of general scientific methods, such as systematization, generalization, chronological and comparative method, historical and legislative method, provides us with a tool to trace the influence of the legal component on the history of the NEP introduction and development in the Ukrainian SSR during the specified period. The scientific novelty aims at providing a detailed historical and legal analysis of the content of the Ukrainian SSR legislation system concerning the legal status of employees during the NEP period. The authors comprehensively investigate its positive aspects, downsides and prospects for practical application in the specified period.The Conclusions. The article has newly provided an article-by-article analysis of regulatory and legal framework, that codified the legal status of Ukrainian SSR employees during the new economic policy (1921–1928). The historical and legislative review of legal provisions enabled us to identify their positive aspects, drawbacks, and prospects for practical application. With the beginning of the curtailment of the NEP, the activities of social insurance authorities changed, they began to focus on the industrial development of the country.The policy implemented by the Soviet government in the late 1920s under the leadership of Josef Stalin, demonstrated an expeditious movement towards authoritarianism, which is incompatible with market relations and special care for the "cogs" (little people) of the system. A system based on the Command and Administration system methods of managing the economy is gradually being formed. The increased exploitation of peasants and workers, the use of violence and political repression changed the legal status of employees in many sectors of the economy.

Per Capita Income Inequality in Czech Households Before, During and After the Economic and Financial Crisis

The study tackles the issue of distribution inequality in equalized per capita income in households defined by multiple grouping criteria in the Czech Republic before, during and after the economic and financial crisis. The factors were economic status of the household head, number of children, education and the NUTS 3 administrative regions. Interval grouped per capita income data assembled within the EU-SILC framework via quota sampling were received from czso.cz for 2008, 2012 and 2016. Indicators of income level, variation, quantiles, medial and Gini index were calculated for the respective household groups. Income concentration in the Czech Republic is considerably low among OECD states and still decreasing due to government social and economic policy and favourable phase of the economic cycle. The largest income inequality was detected in the self-employed, jobless and qualified employees, households with 3 or more children, single-parent families with dependants, households with one or both tertiary educated parents or households residing in Prague or Středočeský region. The threat of poverty is imminent in the jobless, economically inactive pensioners, unqualified labourers and households with 3 or more children. Geographically, the poverty affects households mostly in Moravskoslezský or Ústecký regions. Government measures evidently helped reduce income inequality, poverty and social exclusion in Ústecký region in 2008. The least affected regions by poverty were Prague and Středočeský region. Significant differences in income level or concentration of income distributions by regional and other household grouping criteria were revealed.

Local government, social policy and social assistance: development paths since 1989/1990

The paper discusses the first and second local government reform in Poland. The article describes the essence of social assistance institutions: social assistance centers, county family assistance centers and regional social policy centers. The article ends with consideration of the place of social assistance in local government social policy.

Heterogeneidades das políticas estaduais de distanciamento social diante da COVID-19: aspectos políticos e técnico-administrativos

Resumo Este artigo tem o objetivo de analisar a liderança dos governos estaduais brasileiros na implementação de políticas de distanciamento social para o enfrentamento da disseminação da COVID-19. Pressupõe-se que as políticas de distanciamento social são heterogêneas, apesar da liderança dos governos, ou seja, apresentam certo grau de assimetria nas restrições do funcionamento do comércio e de atividades com potencial de aglomeração de pessoas. Diante disso, foram combinados os debates sobre processo de produção de políticas públicas e sobre autonomia e federalismo, para investigar a influência dos fatores políticos ou técnico-administrativos nas políticas estaduais. Os seguintes procedimentos metodológicos foram utilizados: análise de conteúdo de 134 normativas estaduais; mapeamento do alinhamento político-partidário dos governadores estaduais ao presidente da República; análise dos recursos médico-hospitalares de cada unidade da federação baseada no Cadastro Nacional de Estabelecimentos de Saúde (CNES). O contexto emergencial revelou baixa coordenação interfederativa pelo governo federal, provocando uma competição entre entes federativos e forte liderança estadual na gestão da crise no âmbito local. A pesquisa mostra, por um lado, que as decisões sobre as políticas de distanciamento social não podem ser explicadas por fatores políticos; e por outro, a correspondência entre a capacidade do sistema de saúde local e o nível de rigor das políticas de distanciamento social. Conclui-se que, na atual situação de transtorno social intenso, preferiu-se a racionalidade técnica a barganhas políticas.

Performance management in hybrid organisations: A study in social housing

The nature and role of social housing across the European States is growing more diverse every decade. From the wide range of social housing as a percentage of total housing stock, the many different housing options provided, to the vast array of housing allocation mechanisms and differing levels of equity delivered by such mechanisms, social housing across Europe presents an increasingly complex social challenge. As such a one-size-fits-all solution to these challenges is unlikely to present itself, and researchers are therefore forced to focus on the specifics of a region or state—this is the case with this study.Within the UK, Housing Associations (HAs) have played a fundamental role within successive government social housing policies for at least three decades. However, through a succession of legislative changes, welfare reform and the deregulation of their non-profit social role, HAs have been fundamentally challenged, and are now exposed to competition from private registered providers.This study poses the overarching research question; what role does performance management play in the transition to a competitive hybridised social housing sector? Exploring this question, the paper analyses the effect of this transition through institutional isomorphism and considers specifically how a sample of English HAs sense uncertainty within the social housing sector and respond to the coercive, normative, and mimetic isomorphic pressures at play.This study finds the primary mechanism by which HAs appear to sense and respond to external changes within the sector is through their strategic performance measurement systems and metrics. Social, political, and competitive changes in the sector are ‘sensed’ as a misalignment within the existing strategic performance metrics, exerting isomorphic pressures on the organisational governance team to respond by realigning the performance metrics with the sensed changes. In this way, we posit that strategic performance measurement is linked to and plays a much more pivotal role, in the hybridisation of third-sector organisations than previously reported within the literature.Examples of such realignment include the increased use of benchmarking performance as a normative practice, and the replication of perceived best practice from the private sector to remain competitive and sustainable. Such changes reflect on an increasingly hybridised position for HAs, which now focus on improving business-critical activities, rather than simply producing performance data as a means of demonstrating good governance and compliance to their regulatory body.

Preventable harm: creating a mental health crisis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the preventable harm created by the adoption of austerity measures in 2010, added to the welfare reforms introduced in 2008 which, collectively, have negative implications for population mental health in the UK. Design/methodology/approach A critical reflection of published research papers and key policy documents in this area. Findings Negative mental health consequences of the combined impact of welfare reforms and austerity measures in the UK since 2010 are identified when relating to disability benefit assessments, and to the increased punitive conditionality applied to disability benefit claimants, as those in greatest need now live in fear of making a claim for financial support from the state or of losing benefits to which they are entitled. Research limitations/implications This paper identifies the creation of preventable harm by social policy reforms, commonly known as “welfare reforms”. The implications for social scientists are the disregard of academic peer-reviewed social policy research by policymakers, and the adoption of critically challenged policy-based research as used to justify political objectives. Practical implications The negative mental health impact of UK government social policy reforms has been identified and highlights the human consequences of the adoption of the biopsychosocial model of assessment. Social implications Reducing the numbers of sick and disabled people claiming long-term disability benefit has increased the numbers claiming unemployment benefit, with no notable increase in the numbers of disabled people in paid employment and with many service users in greatest need living in fear of the next enforced disability assessment. Originality/value This paper demonstrates the preventable harm created by the use of a flawed disability assessment model, together with the adoption of punitive conditionality and the increased suicides linked to UK welfare reforms which are influenced by American social policies.

The establishment of neoliberalism in Mexico

Neoliberalism established itself in Mexico a system of government and economic and social policy in a long process over 35 years since 1981. It began with the financial crisis of 1982, caused by the fall in oil prices and growth in interest rates when Paul Volcker headed the US financial policy. In Mexico the crisis led to a repayment crisis and a debt renegotiation with the IMF and the banking system. The government nationalized the retail banks in September, but in December a new government began a transformation of society based on the predominance of private enterprise and the market as an allocation mechanism. JEL codes : B52

Income Inequality and Government Transfers in Mexico

We analyze microdata from Mexico's survey on household income and expenditures (ENIGH) to study the evolution of income inequality in Mexico over 2004-16, identify its sources, and investigate how it was affected by government social policy. We find evidence of only a small decline in inequality over this period. The observed decline may be attributed to government transfers, notably targeted cash transfers (Prospera) and non-contributory pensions. In 2016, those two programs accounted for more than two thirds of the reduction in the Gini coefficient due to government transfers. Other transfer programs such as farmland subsidies (Proagro), government scholarships, and non-monetary transfers for medical expenditures have not been as effective.

Privatization of Social Security Retirement Systems: Lessons and Comparisons from Chile, Argentina, and the United States

Retirement pensions are traditionally provided through government social insurance systems, which pool risks broadly across the population and provide benefits that are set in law. In contrast, under privatized systems, workers’ benefits depend on their own individual account balances and investment returns, with little or no redistribution and pooling of risk across the population. In 1981, Chile became the first country to fully privatize its social security retirement system, setting an example that Argentina and numerous other countries later emulated. More than two decades later, both Chile and Argentina undertook “re-reforms” to their privatized systems, with Chile maintaining its privatized system while Argentina returned to a fully public system. The United States also confronted efforts to privatize its Social Security system around the same time periods—in the early 1980s and the early 2000s—but ultimately chose to strengthen the existing system rather than privatizing. This article examines and contrasts these three countries’ experiences in the 1980s-90s and 2005-08, probing the factors that led to or prevented privatization. While finances usually provided the stated pretext for reform, privatization is now widely acknowledged to worsen the financial challenges faced by pension systems. Ultimately, neoliberal ideologies were pivotal in putting privatization on the policy agenda, and institutional structures and interest group mobilization helped to shape the outcomes of the privatization effort.

Privatization

Privatization of social welfare services in Canada is promoted by national, provincial, regional and municipal governments through initiatives that emphasize public-private partnerships. Together with encouraging these partnerships as a privatization strategy, government also reduces public funding and replaces it with private sector contracting for social provision. An exploratory study of the Healthy Babies/ Healthy Children (HBHC) program found an increasing acceptance of privatization by service providers in Ontario. These findings illustrate the argument that government creates the context for market-based solutions. But can market-based solutions really solve social problems, and is this the intention of government social policy?

Corporations and the American Welfare State: Adversaries or Allies?

One of the most widely held views about American political life is that business is hostile to the welfare state. In the 1970s, David Vogel asked why American businessmen “distrusted their state.” Kim Phillips-Fein has written of the “businessmen's crusade against the New Deal.” Jane Mayer and Nancy MacLean have recounted the efforts of the Koch Brothers and their wealthy allies to remake American politics in a more conservative direction. What could be more uncontroversial than the view that American business is broadly opposed to government social policies?

Income Inequality and Government Transfers in Mexico

We analyze microdata from Mexico's survey on household income and expenditures (ENIGH) to study the evolution of income inequality in Mexico over 2004-16, identify its sources, and investigate how it was affected by government social policy. We find evidence of only a small decline in inequality over this period. The observed decline may be attributed to government transfers, notably targeted cash transfers (Prospera) and non-contributory pensions. In 2016, those two programs accounted for more than two thirds of the reduction in the Gini coefficient due to government transfers. Other transfer programs such as farmland subsidies (Proagro), government scholarships, and non-monetary transfers for medical expenditures have not been as effective.