Policy Targets Research Articles

Associations between a Novel Measure of Census Tract-Level Credit Insecurity and Frequent Mental Distress in US Urban Areas, 2020.

Access to and utilization of consumer credit remains an understudied social determinant of health. We examined associations between a novel, small-area, multidimensional credit insecurity index (CII), and the prevalence of self-reported frequent mental distress across US cities in 2020. The census tract-level CII was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York using Census population information and a nationally representative sample of anonymized Equifax credit report data. The CII was calculated for tracts in 766 cities displayed on the City Health Dashboard at the time of analysis, predominantly representing cities with over 50,000 residents. The CII combined data on tract-level participation in the formal credit economy with information on the percent of individuals without revolving credit, percent with high credit utilization, and percent with deep subprime credit scores. Tracts were classified as credit-assured, credit-likely, mid-tier, at-risk, or credit-insecure. We used linear regression to examine associations between the CII and a modeled tract-level measure of frequent mental distress, obtained from the CDC PLACES project. Regression models were adjusted for neighborhood economic and demographic characteristics. We examined effect modification by US region by including two-way interaction terms in regression models. In adjusted models, credit-insecure tracts had a modestly higher prevalence of frequent mental distress (prevalence difference = 0.38 percentage points; 95% CI = 0.32, 0.44), compared to credit-assured tracts. Associations were most pronounced in the Midwest. Local factors impacting credit access and utilization are often modifiable. The CII, a novel indicator of community financial well-being, may be an independent predictor of neighborhood health in US cities and could illuminate policy targets to improve access to desirable credit products and downstream health outcomes.

Is information policy conducive to carbon emission efficiency? A quasi-natural experiment approach

ABSTRACT Under the drive of China’s carbon neutral target policy, informatization has become an effective means for China to coordinate economic development and achieve a low-carbon pathway. Taking China’s information benefiting people pilot policy in 2014 as a quasi-natural experiment, we deploy a difference-in-differences regression to investigate how informatization affects carbon emission efficiency (CEE) in 282 cities in China. We find that information benefiting people pilot policy effectively promotes CEE. Further, for China as a whole, the information benefiting people policy will enhance CEE by promoting green technology innovation; for developed eastern regions, both green technology innovation and digital financial inclusion are well-mediated positive transmission variables. Taken together, the findings of this paper fill the academic gaps for the green effect of informatization policy and help the government to provide valuable references for effective guidance on CEE improvement.

Profiles of tobacco smokers and ex-smokers in a large-scale random sample survey across Wales: an unsupervised machine-learning cluster analysis

BackgroundThe Welsh government recently set a target to be smoke-free by 2030, which means reducing the prevalence of tobacco smoking in adults to 5% by then. The goal is to improve health and population life expectancy. To support this strategy, we identified profile groups with different sets of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics within the population of smokers. We compared these profiles to those identified in the ex-smoker population to provide a broader understanding of smokers and inform targeting of interventions and policy. MethodsWe did a cross-sectional study using data from the National Survey for Wales. This survey is a random sample telephone survey of individuals aged 16 years and older across Wales carried out from Sept 1, 2021 to Jan 31, 2022, weighted to be representative of the Welsh population. For the smoking subgroup, we did a weighted hierarchical cluster analysis with multiple imputation to impute missing data and repeated it for ex-smokers. In total, 63 survey variables were used in the analysis. These variables included smoking history, e-cigarette use, sociodemographics, lifestyle factors, individual-level deprivation, general health and long-term conditions, mental health, and wellbeing. FindingsAmong the 6407 respondents (weighted proportions: 49% male, 51% female; 28% aged 16–34 years, 46% aged 35–44 years, 26% aged ≥65 years; 95% white, 5% other ethnicity), 841 (13%) smoked and 2136 (33%) were ex-smokers. Four distinctive profiles of smokers were identified, the groups were of relatively comparable size and characterised by similarities described as (1) high-risk alcohol drinkers and without children; (2) single, mostly in social housing, and poor health and mental health; (3) mostly single, younger, tried e-cigarettes, and poor mental health; (4) older couples and poor health; when comparing the groups with each other. Cluster quality and validation statistics were considered fair: silhouette coefficient=0·09, Dunn index (Dunn2)=1·06. Generally, ex-smoker clusters differed from smoking clusters because of themes related to increased sickness, better affluence, employment, and older age (≥75 years). InterpretationThis study suggests that not all smokers are the same, and they do not fall into one coherent group. Smoking cessation interventions to improve the health of ageing populations might need a different approach to consider a wider context or motivations to inform targeted quitting. It is acknowledged that smoking might be underreported because of perceived social unacceptability. FundingPublic Health Wales.

Inflation targeting and fiscal policy volatility: Evidence from developing countries

This paper studies the effect of inflation targeting (IT) on fiscal policy volatility. Using data for 83 developing countries over 1985-2020, estimations based on impact analysis methods reveal that IT adoption reduces fiscal policy volatility. This result is robust when using a wide set of alternative specifications related to additional control variables, different samples, alternative measures of the main variables, or alternative estimation methods. Consequently, contributing to the ongoing literature on fiscal policy volatility, our results suggest that reforms of the monetary policy management in the form of IT adoption may provide a useful policy for fighting fiscal discretion towards a reduction of fiscal policy volatility.

Target and Performance: Evidence from China’s Air Quality Management

Taking China’s air quality management during the 13th 5-Year Plan (2016–2020) as a case, this study empirically examines the impact of mandatory policy target set by the higher-level government on the performance of lower-level government in achieving the target. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental target value and target completion rate. In addition, the inverted U-shaped relationship is moderated by local economic growth rate. Specifically, economic growth impairs the positive effect of environmental target value on environmental performance before the turning point but alleviating the negative effect after the turning point. Moreover, higher-level attention can strengthen the target setting effect for local governments. Therefore, a successful target-based performance management system needs the reasonable design for the target difficulty and coordination of conflicting targets.

Impact of the Financial Resources Allocated to Education in Each Region on Family Investment in Education at the Compulsory School Level

Compulsory education has a vital role in the process of national development, so financial education funding is a public expense that must be guaranteed and implemented by all regional governments. And family education investment also plays an important role in education as the supplementary funding for every school-age child to receive education. Due to data limitations, the number of studies on the relationship between the two is relatively small, so this paper, based on the micro-database of the China Education and Finance Household Survey (CIEFR-HS), examines in depth the impact of financial education funding on household education inputs during the compulsory education stage, and accordingly makes recommendations for policy targeting. The result reveals that the local financial expenditures on compulsory education have a significant crowding-in effect on families education investment. The present study provides novel evidence on the relationship between educational investment and household investment and accordingly makes recommendations for policy targeting.

Does increased intellectual property rights protection foster innovation in developing countries? A literature review of innovation and catch‐up

AbstractThis paper contributes to the debate on the role of innovation and intellectual property rights (IPRs) in catch‐up policies in developing countries (DCs). We survey the literature on four key points. First, we review the neoclassical and evolutionary theoretical foundations of innovation and catch‐up. Second, we examine why some countries lag behind, in particular in terms of path dependency and multiplicity of convergence dynamics. From this follows the question of how to foster innovation in DCs. We examine the issues of IPRs protection in a third point and industrial policies in a fourth point. Strengthening IPRs protection is often recommended by international institutions. However, the related literature shows that their impact is strongly non‐linear, as the optimal level for DCs is initially low, then increases as the countries develop. This result is robust to a wide range of models and methods. Finally, the literature reveals that industrial policies can be crucial in fostering innovation in DCs, even though their implementation faces serious challenges, in particular the appropriate targeting of industrial policies, and rent‐seeking behaviours in a deteriorated institutional environment.

Target rate factors in short rate models

This study investigates the risk associated with the uncertainties in the central bank monetary policy targets in the context of short interest rate models. A class of models is proposed which admits two channels of interest rate risk. In a prototypical case, the short duration channel handles the uncertainties in the target rates decided in the forthcoming Federal Open Market Committee meetings. The target rate factors can be calibrated on the market values of the Fed funds futures. The long duration channel has traditional risk factors. The episodes following the Covid-19 outbreak and the 2022 rate hikes are used as examples in an empirical study.

Responses of Swiss interest rates and stock prices to ECB policy surprises

We employ local projections to analyse the responses of Swiss asset prices to scheduled policy decisions of the European Central Bank (ECB) as a case study of ECB policy spillovers to European countries outside the euro area. Focusing on ECB policy shocks that are related to different policy instruments of the ECB, our empirical results leave the impression that surprises related to the ECB target policy rate and to the ECB’s longer-term forward guidance or its asset purchases tend to move Swiss interest rates and stock prices in the same direction. Shocks explicitly designed to capture pure ECB monetary policy and information effect shocks are weakly associated with movements in Swiss asset prices on average.

Association of Food Consumption According to the Degree of Processing and Sociodemographic Conditions in Older Adults.

Several factors can impact food consumption in older adults, including those of sociodemographic, physiological, and chronic non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the association of food consumption according to its degree of processing with sociodemographic conditions in community-dwelling older adults. Food intake was evaluated from 24-h recall data. All food items were classified according to the degree of processing into four groups as follows: in natura or minimally processed, culinary ingredients, processed, and ultra-processed foods. Food groups were considered dependent variables in a quantile regression model, adjusting for sex, age, schooling, ethnicity, and number of residents. Women and individuals with higher levels of education had lower consumption of in natura or minimally processed foods and higher consumption of ultra-processed foods. The yellow or indigenous ethnicity presented the lowest consumption of processed foods; older people who lived with three or more individuals had the highest consumption of culinary ingredients, whereas the older people who lived with one to two people had the highest consumption of processed foods and the lowest consumption of ultra-processed. These groups may be the target of educational and public policies to improve diet quality and contribute to quality of life in older ages.

The Role of Law in the Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation

As a participant of the Paris Agreement, Indonesia is obliged to carry out its obligations to reduce emission levels in its territory. An effort carried out by the Government is through the development and utilization of new, renewable energy and energy conservation. However, the said policy has not been implemented optimally. This article aims to analyze the role of law in optimizing policies in the field of new, renewable energy and energy conservation. This article was prepared using normative legal study through statutory and conceptual approach. The results of this research show that the current legal system has not been able to support new, renewable energy and energy conservation policies. One of the problems faced is business licensing, which occurs as a result of problems in every aspect of the legal system. Therefore, the Government needs to established policies through harmonization of regulations, increase capacity of the licensing system and its supporting elements, as well as increase the role of superiors and supervisors to create a business licensing system to achieve policy targets.

Revisiting the policy ecology framework for implementation of evidence-based practices in mental health settings

BackgroundOver the past three decades, policy actors and actions have been highly influential in supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in mental health settings. An early examination of these actions resulted in the Policy Ecology Framework (PEF), which was originally developed as a tactical primer for state and local mental health regulators in the field of child mental health. However, the policy landscape for implementation has evolved significantly since the original PEF was published. An interrogation of the strategies originally proposed in the PEF is necessary to provide an updated menu of strategies to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of policy action and promote system improvement.ObjectivesThis paper builds upon the original PEF to address changes in the policy landscape for the implementation of mental health EBPs between 2009 and 2022. We review the current state of policy strategies that support the implementation of EBPs in mental health care and outline key areas for policy-oriented implementation research. Our review identifies policy strategies at federal, state, agency, and organizational levels, and highlights developments in the social context in which EBPs are implemented. Furthermore, our review is organized around some key changes that occurred across each PEF domain that span organizational, agency, political, and social contexts along with subdomains within each area.DiscussionWe present an updated menu of policy strategies to support the implementation of EBPs in mental health settings. This updated menu of strategies considers the broad range of conceptual developments and changes in the policy landscape. These developments have occurred across the organizational, agency, political, and social contexts and are important for policymakers to consider in the context of supporting the implementation of EBPs.SummaryThe updated PEF expands and enhances the specification of policy levers currently available, and identifies policy targets that are underdeveloped (e.g., de-implementation and sustainment) but are becoming visible opportunities for policy to support system improvement. The updated PEF clarifies current policy efforts within the field of implementation science in health to conceptualize and better operationalize the role of policy in the implementation of EBPs.

Policy design receptivity and target populations: A social construction framework approach to climate change policy

AbstractThe public‐elite policy feedback mechanism of the Social Construction Framework (SCF) postulates that the public rewards policymakers for the appropriate distribution of benefits and burdens to target populations. In this article we test a key part of this dynamic by examining public receptivity to policy design features as a function of target population choice. We conduct a national survey experiment of approximately 3350 Americans. Our instrument asks respondents to indicate support or opposition to a range of policy tools in a suite of six climate change policies, but varies who would be responsible for options based upon Schneider and Ingram's idealized types. Our research design tests the independent effects of deservingness and power foundational to the construction of target populations in the SCF. We find, in general, deservingness to be a stronger predictor of support for policy tools than notions of power. We also identify situations where deservingness acts independently of power in ways not anticipated by the SCF—notably public favor for burdens on powerful groups. Our findings offer implications for theoretical and empirical development of the SCF regarding the influence of policymakers' perceptions of public acceptance of policy design in crafting public policies.

Offshore wind power in the Asia-Pacific: Expert elicitation on costs and policies

Offshore wind power is an important technology option for decarbonising the electricity sector. An emerging region for the deployment of offshore wind is the Asia-Pacific. We conduct an expert elicitation of future cost expectations for offshore wind in the Asia-Pacific region, covering fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies. We also examine views on policies that support the more rapid cost reductions for fixed bottom and floating offshore wind. We find expectations of decreases in the average levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) to USD72/MWh in 2040 (fixed-bottom) and USD81/MWh in 2050 (floating). The largest factors contributing to falling technology costs are identified as installation costs and capital costs for turbines and foundations, along with increased capacity factors. The creation of policy targets along with improved regulatory streamlining are identified as important policy measures that governments could implement to support technology cost reductions. We also find that preferred policy mixes depend on the level of technological maturity. Competitive tendering processes are identified as important for both technologies, but floating offshore wind auctions should be introduced after technology costs have fallen. In the near term, other policies are identified as more important for floating offshore technologies.

Farm typologies for understanding farm systems and improving agricultural policy

CONTEXTFarm typologies help to identify patterns across a wide range of farm systems and describe heterogeneity in agriculture concisely. They can also support the design of agricultural policies by providing information and knowledge about policy target groups. For example, voluntary agri-environmental schemes could be tailored to specific agricultural landscapes and farm types. Farm typologies, however, are often developed from scratch, with limited connection to previous studies and policy making. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study is to clarify the purposes of farm typologies in research and agricultural policy making and to develop a framework that allows to increase the usefulness and usability of farm typologies for agricultural policy making. METHODSBased on a review of 13 systematically identified overview studies on farm typologies, we develop a framework that establishes connections between the purposes of farm typologies along the different stages of the policy process. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe find multiple purposes for farm typologies, the two most common of which are for understanding the characteristics, heterogeneity, and development of farm systems and for policy making. The newly developed framework suggests that connecting knowledge across these purposes could improve the validity, transferability, and relevance of farm typologies for agricultural policy making. Our framework also provides an entry point for encouraging cooperation between developers and users of typologies, and for the improvement of typologies through new data (including behavioural data) and methods such as machine learning. We conclude that future research can build on the existing work on farm typologies but must be aware of the specific challenges that are associated with the use of farm typologies in the policy process. SIGNIFICANCEKnowledge of the prospects and challenges of using farm typologies allows to increase the usefulness and usabilityof these typologies and can contribute to the design of targeted and tailored agricultural policy instruments. By increasing the acceptance, perceived fairness, and legitimacy, this can improve their effectiveness and efficiency, which is urgently needed for a successful transformation to a more sustainable agricultural sector.

Information and Spillovers from Targeting Policy in Peru’s Anchoveta Fishery

This paper establishes that a targeted policy backfires because it reveals information about nontargeted units. In the world’s largest fishery, the regulator attempts to reduce the harvesting of juvenile fish by temporarily closing areas where the share of juvenile catch is high. By combining administrative microdata with biologically richer data from fishing firms, I isolate variation in closures that is due to the regulator’s lower-resolution data. I estimate substantial temporal and spatial spillovers from closures. Closures increase total juvenile catch by 48 percent because closure announcements implicitly signal that fishing before, just outside, and after closures is high productivity. (JEL D83, O13, Q21, Q22, Q28)

Mid-term policy considerations of the EU green deal

The European Green Deal is a comprehensive strategy aiming to fully decarbonize the economy by 2050, with a key target of a 55 % reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. This study contributes to the debate around the European Green Deal by providing insights from different dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models for the six largest European countries and the Union itself. We discuss four policy targets consistent with a 55 % emissions cut by 2030, using carbon prices as the main policy tool. The study reveals that defining fair climate targets for a group of relatively heterogeneous countries like the European ones is challenging. Simple approaches, such as achieving the same CO2 emissions per capita in 2030 or the same emissions over GDP, lead to vastly different policy efforts measured by carbon prices and welfare losses in our model.Implementing a common set of climate policies and tools defined by the European Commission may seem fair, but it results in varying impacts on emissions across countries. The same carbon price has an asymmetric effect on emissions and welfare. Alternatively, achieving the same emission reduction requires different carbon prices for different countries. For example, Spain needs a carbon price of 151 €/tCO2, while Poland only needs 71 €/tCO2 to achieve the target. This asymmetry sparks a debate on determining the right climate target for each country. The article aims to open this discussion rather than provide a definitive answer.

Policy Analysis on China's PVs Policies from 2012 to 2022: A Content Analysis

As an abundant and renewable energy source, photovoltaic solar energy has garnered substantial investments over the past decade, emerging as a pivotal tool in the global effort to decarbonize. In this process, China has transitioned from being primarily an "Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)" for Western countries in the photovoltaic industry to a key player in the global photovoltaic landscape. This transformation has significantly reshaped the global supply and demand dynamics for photovoltaic products. This research employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods to categorize and analyze 192 policy documents issued by the central government of China between 2012 and 2022. By scrutinizing policy action areas, policy instruments, and policy targets, this paper elucidates China's nationally led, top-down approach to photovoltaic development. The goal is to offer an overarching perspective on the types and evolution of PV policies implemented by the Chinese central government. This study addresses gaps in knowledge within the realm of Chinese decarbonization and offers pertinent policy recommendations.

부양기대와 정책신뢰가 중고령자의 노후불안에 미치는 영향

This study was conducted to identify the effects of Support Expectation and Policy Trust on Anxiety about aging in middle-aged adults and to verify the mediating effect of Preparation for old age. In the process, the importance of the economic domain was emphasized as one aspect of Anxiety about aging, and the measurement tool was modified and supplemented to include questions about it. For this study, an online survey was conducted targeting the middle-aged between the ages of 45 and 64 all over the country, and the data of 558 people who completed the survey were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that Support Expectation had a positive effect on Anxiety about aging, and Policy Trust had a negative effect on it. Preparation for old age has a negative effect on Anxiety about aging, and Support Expectation and Policy Trust both have an indirect effect on Anxiety about aging through Preparation for old age. In order to reduce anxiety about aging, it is necessary to establish a policy that can secure reliability and effectiveness by collecting diverse opinions from policy targets and fully understanding practical needs. In addition, various programs and services should be prepared to provide knowledge and information that will help the middle-aged prepare for old age.

The limits of voluntary measures: Packaging the plastic pollution problem in Australia

AbstractThe massive global growth in the production, use, and disposal of plastic materials has generated a pollution crisis in many countries. In Australia, debates about how to address this multi‐faceted challenge have lacked the political urgency necessary for adopting strong reform measures. Consistent with the early stages of other sustainability debates, the industrial producers and distributors of plastic materials have been successful in prioritising voluntary measures, such as recycling materials and local authority collection schemes, to mitigate the problem, instead of agreeing to implement enforceable reduction targets. This paper examines Australian measures to manage plastic waste with a focus on how particular policy instruments were favoured and endured and how a greater focus on the full range of policy instruments—market based, regulatory, and voluntary—could generate more effective solutions.Points for practitioners Choice of effective policy instruments is crucial for tackling sustainability problems. Policy instruments employed by Australian governments to manage plastic waste have been ineffective. Moreover, policy settings do not support effective co‐ordination between key stakeholders for the reduction of plastic pollution. Policy advisors should recognise the limits of voluntary approaches and market‐based mechanisms, and consider introducing clear and mandatory pathways to achieve policy targets.