Policy Purposes Research Articles

An Assessment of the Diversity of Indigenous Forage Plant Species of the Dry Season in Dry lands of North Western Ethiopia: Implication for their Conservation and Sustainable Use

This study investigates the Impact of determinants of Human capital such as health, education, population and life expectancy on unemployment in case of Pakistan over the period 1981-2010. The prime objective of the study is to identify and establish a link between human capital and unemployment. The Johansen co-integration approach is used to determine the long-run relationship among variables. Further it applied VECM for short run adjustments to achieve equilibrium in long-run. The results show that our independent variables have significant and strong impact on the dependent variables in long run. The research also provides some suggestions for the policy purpose to reduce the unemployment in the country. Keywords : Unemployment, Human capital

On Ambiguity Reduction and the Role of Decision Analysis during the Pandemic.

The COVID‐19 pandemic has created a multitude of decision problems for a variety of fields. Questions from the seriousness and breadth of the problem to the effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures have been raised. We assert that the decision sciences have a crucial role to play here, as the questions requiring answers involve complex decision making under both uncertainty and ambiguity. The collection, processing, and analysis of data is critical in providing a useful response—especially as information of fundamental importance to such decision making (base rates and transmission rates) is lacking. We propose that scarce testing resources should be diverted away from confirmatory analysis of symptomatic people, as laboratory diagnosis appears to have little decision value in treatment choice over clinical diagnosis in patients presenting with symptoms. In contrast, the exploratory use of testing resources to reduce ambiguity in estimates of the base rate of infection appears to have significant value and great practical import for public policy purposes. As these stances may be at odds with triage practices among medical practitioners, they highlight the important role the decision analyst can play in responding to the challenges of the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Modelling the Spread of the Coronavirus: A View from Economics.

This article reviews the modelling of the spread in Australia of COVID‐19 from the point of view of the discipline of Economics. After a brief overview of the epidemiological approach, we show that other modelling is needed for policy purposes and especially to provide a full understanding of the economic and social costs of disease control. We look at microeconomic aspects of infection, focusing on individual behaviour, the choices facing the individual and implications for policy. The use of a cost–benefit approach and macroeconomic aspects of the pandemic are examined together with the economic consequences of policy response.

What Would Settlor Do? Immortal Trust Settlors, Federal Transfer Taxes, and the Protean Irrevocable Trust

The increasingly protean irrevocable trust puts substantive trust law and the federal transfer taxes at cross-purposes. State trust law’s overriding objective is simply to carry out the intent of the trust settlor. Settlors intend to manage or control the benefits from gifts over some period of time—that is, after all, the purpose of the donative trust. In contrast, the federal transfer taxes seek, by major policy purpose, to decrease the incidence of dynastic wealth—wealth locked into single-family possession and passed on from generation to generation. Yet state legislative changes to trust laws—abandoning or extending the terms of rules against perpetuities, for example—pave the way for dynastic wealth by allowing trusts to entrench that wealth in families for generations, or even indefinitely. Evolving trust laws also increasingly permit trust settlors, often by postmortem proxy, to repeatedly modify, refresh or even completely restructure irrevocable trusts in response to post-transfer events. This essay looks critically at a change to the common law equitable deviation doctrine that ensures that irrevocable trusts can always be optimized in the face of circumstantial uncertainty. This modified equitable deviation doctrine invites trustees and courts to first imagine how the settlor would respond to unanticipated circumstances affecting an irrevocable trust, then further directs modification of the trust terms accordingly. Although this development expands settlor control over irrevocable trusts qualitatively and chronically, thereby increasing both the durability and duration of dynastic wealth, current federal transfer tax provisions are likely insufficient to discourage its proliferation. Trust settlors privileged to take advantage of the post-disposition control offered by trust laws already own a vastly disproportionate share of the nation’s wealth. Perpetual post-transfer control of wealth by a trust settlor or his proxy further entrenches this inequality of ownership and contributes to the problems it causes, including the erosion of democratic institutions. Unmitigated allegiance to the expansive value of freedom of disposition and its corollary, “the intent of the donor,” should be tempered, in post-transfer analyses, with a view to its consequences. Failing that, especially but not exclusively where costs to third parties are implicated, certain post-disposition trust modifications should be deemed new dispositions that bring about transfer tax penalties to the trust corpus.

Countering corruption in modern Russian legal life (Review materials of the “Round Table” of journals “State and Law” and “The legal culture”)

The “Round Table”, being essentially interregional, is due to reflect the main aspects of countering corruption considered as the mostly destructive phenomena of modern legal life of many societies including the Russian one. These aspects contain the following activities of state power bodies, municipalities, institutions of civil society, organizations and citizens aimed to: a) prevent corruption and to indicate and eliminate causes of corruption (corruption prevention); b) indicate, prevent, suppress, solve and investigate corruption crimes (countering corruption); c) minimize and (or) liquidate the consequences of corruption offenses. Overall conclusion based on combined analysis of speeches and reports assumes that countering corruption must be permanent and leaded by such priorities as introducing appropriate standards for state and municipal bodies' services and reduction of corruption capacity of the Russian laws. The authors claim to face strict necessity to create state anti-corruption legal policy represented by reasonable, logic and systematic activities of state and society institutions of countering corruption. The general purpose of such policy is to minimize corruption practices in legal life of the society

Global Trend of Regional Policy Greening as a Factor of Social and Economic Growth of Regions in the Russian Federation

Research background: Sustainable development, social and economic growth not damaging the natural environment are one of the most acute problems in the modern world. The issues of the regional sustainable development in the Russian Federation as the purpose of regional policy and aspects of correlation between socio-economic development and state of regional environment were discussed in scientific papers of D.V. Novachenko, D.V. Malova, O.K. Tsapieva, L.V. Shchukina, E.A. Khrabrova, O.V. Vilchinskoy, Yu.G. Neudakhina, A.V., Okuneva, Boronnikov, D.V., E.A. Guseva, D.A., N.N. Yashalova, N.L. Yatsukova, A. Yu. Davankova, L.K., Kazantseva, T.O. Tagaeva, M.F. Zamyatina, P.V. Druzhinin, G.T. Shkiperova, O.V. Potasheva, A.A. Bashirova and others. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to develop measures to improve socio-economic growth in regions on the base of theoretical and methodological substantiation of greening regional policy. Methods: Systematic approach, methods of analysis and synthesis, logical and econometric modelling were used in this research. Findings & Value added: The necessity of including the environmental component in the regional policy structure was approved; the process of regional policy greening was determined; the author’s methodical approach to evaluate the performance of regional policy greening was elaborated; positive changes in social and economic growth were identified with the intensification of regional policy greening; by the example of Perm Krai measures to promote the regional policy greening performance were developed.

THE ROLE OF THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE IN SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN RESOURCE FORMATION IN THE TAX SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN

The issue of creating a favorable tax environment in any country plays an important role in solving the problem of human resource development. Foreign investors are more interested in the stability and evolution of the tax system, which allows them to predict their activities in the long run, rather than tax benefits and privileges. The main purpose of the state investment policy is to ensure the renewal of fixed assets and the reconstruction of production through the application of scientific and technical achievements. The formation of a favorable investment climate, the effective use of attracted domestic and foreign investment resources in the priority areas of the national economy is one of the urgent problems of the Azerbaijani economy. Enterprises become increasingly aware that proper investment into human resources can have a significant impact on their performance, which of course also affects their competitiveness. The corporate culture exactly offers the greatest source of competitive advantage of enterprises. Continual adaptation to changing market conditions attracts businesses to invest their energy and finance to staff by improving their competencies.

Modern methods of working with scientific competent young people and their characteristics

The purpose of the youth policy of any state is to strengthen the economic and political potential of the country in advance, that is, to create the future reserves of the foundations of statehood, to lay the foundation for economic, social and political development. The implementation of youth policy, firstly, imposes specific tasks and responsibilities on the state, and secondly, sets a number of requirements for young people, such as education, acquisition of modern skills, finding a place in society, becoming a useful person for himself, his family and society. One of the important factors in ensuring not only social stability, but also the social development of the country as a whole is the implementation of an effective state policy in the field of educating young people with scientific potential and the improvement of mechanisms and technologies for its implementation. This, in turn, increases the need to develop a model of public policy on youth in general, the issues of long-term scientific potential of the younger generation, using innovative mechanisms and technologies that synthesize global standards and national-regional characteristics.

Minority Integration Policies at the National and European Level

The purpose of public policies in the field of national minorities can be dual, namely, to protect the specific (cultural, linguistic, ethnic) identity of people belonging to national minorities, and to ensure harmonious coexistence between majority and minorities, as well as between minorities themselves. Thus, this paper aims to analyses the policies and measures defined at national level in the field of minority integration, as well as European models or regulations with rank of recommendations for Member States. To this end, have been resorted to qualitative methodology instruments as data analysis and case study. According to the OSCE, ”to support the integration process, [are needed], policies, to create a society in which diversity is respected and in which all people, including all members of ethnic, linguistic, cultural or religious groups, contribute to building and maintaining a civic, common and inclusive identity”. Therefore, the research questions on which the paper focuses, refer firstly to the extent to which Romania has managed to apply minority integration policies, and secondly, what are the European models that Member States could follow in order to ensure an efficient and substantial regulation and application of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities.

UNIVERSALITY, VULNERABILITY, AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Vulnerability theory as developed in the Vulnerability and Human Condition Initiative is an alternative to a rights-based or social contract paradigm for thinking about foundation concepts of state responsibility. One fundamental premise of the theory is that the individuals and groups currently described as “vulnerable populations” should not be labelled vulnerable, nor should they be sequestered in discreet categories for the purposes of law and policy. This plea for their inclusion in a larger whole is not to deny that discrimination, harm, and relative disadvantage arising from all sorts of circumstances and situations exist. Nor is it to suggest that particular instances of harm should not be addressed by appropriate state action. Rather, it is an argument that “vulnerability” is the wrong concept to use to define and isolate these groups, or any other specific group, from the whole of humanity. Human vulnerability is universal and constant, inherent in the human condition. Recognizing the theoretical mandates of accepting the universal, vulnerability theory presents a “vulnerable subject” as the only appropriate object of law and policy. This inclusive, universal legal subject incorporates the realities of the ontological body and its life-long dependence on social institutions and relationships, building a theory of essential (not voluntarily or consensual) social cohesion and reciprocity in which the state (or governing system) has the responsibility to see that these vital social institutions and relationships operate justly.

РОЛЬ ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВА В РАЗВИТИИ НАУЧНО-ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОГО КОМПЛЕКСА РЕГИОНА

The purpose of work consists in preparation of suggestions for improvement of the regional legislation in the sphere of scientific and scientific and technical activity. In article the detailed analysis of federal and regional regulations on a subject of a research is carried out and the conclusion is drawn that support of deve- lopment of science is a priority national objective, and technological support of breakthrough deve- lopment of the Russian Federation – one of main objectives of the state policy determined by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “About the National Purposes of Development of the Russian Federation until 2030”. Considering that in recent years in Russia was serious reorganization of the high school sector of science is initiated the universities have to become leaders of social and economic development of the country, and, therefore, the key part in achievement of the national purposes in science, including on the long-term horizon of planning is assigned to them [1, 2]. During the analysis of regulations of federal level the control system of the sphere of science in the Russian Federation is defined, at the same time it is noted that the general management of the sphere of science is performed by the President of the Russian Federation. In the territory of the Tomsk region scientific and scientific and technical activity is regulated by regulations of the federal and regional level, including the Law of the Tomsk region "About Scientific Activity and Scientific and Technical Policy of the Tomsk Region" which action is directed to creation of additional guarantees for use of results of scientific and technical activity in production of goods and social life of the region. The purpose of scientific and technical policy of the Tomsk region – development and effective use of scientific and technical potential and also the material and financial resources directed to creation and introduction of high technologies, strengthening of interrelation of science and education. The regulatory legal base of the federal and regional level creates prerequisites for effective functioning of a scientific and educational complex of the region. Results of work and also a number of priority pilot initiatives planned to realization by a scientific and educational complex of the region, on the basis of integration and cooperation of scientific and educational and industrial complexes, are presented in a substantial part of article. Results of monitoring of law enforcement of regulations in the sphere of scientific and scientific and technical activity are presented in article, and in end valid conclusions and suggestions for improvement of the legislation of the Tomsk region are presented.

САНКЦІЇ США ПРОТИ СРСР У ЗВ’ЯЗКУ ІЗ РАДЯНСЬКОЮ АГРЕСІЄЮ В АФГАНІСТАНІ (1980 – 1988 рр.)

The aim of the article is to studу the sanctions against the Soviet Union imposed by the United States in response to Soviet aggression in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. At the core of the research methodology is the method of a content analysis of historical sources, problem-chronological, typological, comparative methods. Main results and conclusions. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 was condemned by most countries in the world. The reaction to those events on the part of the United States, which led to the escalation of the Cold War and the deterioration of Soviet-American relations, was especially sharp. The continuation of the policy of sanctions announced by President J. Carter in 1980 became the main means of putting pressure on the USSR under the Reagan΄s Administration. The stages of introduction of trade, economic and scientific-technological restrictions on the USSR and discussions about them in American political and business circles have been observed. Thanks to the efforts of American diplomacy, the US allies in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries joined the sanctions. It was found that the main direction of sanctions was the restriction on the sale to the USSR of equipment for the fuel and energy complex, high-tech products and the refusal to provide «cheap» loans. The effects of the sanctions were exacerbated by falling oil prices in 1985–1986, in which, according to the author, could be involved the United States. The purpose of American sanctions policy was to force the Soviet leadership to make internal changes, as well as to revise the principles of foreign policy, in particular, in the «Afghan question». American sanctions had a detrimental effect on the Soviet economy, deepened the crisis of the Soviet system and contributed to the further technological backwardness of the USSR from developed countries. Scientific novelty. The sanctions against the Soviet Union imposed by the United States in connection with the Soviet aggression in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan on the base of new US sources are specified for the first time.

Labour migration: Legal means of regulation in the context of contemporary challenges

For a long time, the Russian Federation has been one of the world’s leaders in terms of the number of international migrants, a significant proportion of which are labour migrants. This required the development of a legal framework that would make it possible, on the one hand, to ensure the security of the state and the host society, create conditions for a prompt and flexible response to the situation in the labour market, and, on the other hand, protect the rights and freedoms of foreign nationals working in Russia, and create an attractive migration climate. The article highlights the current developments in the statutory regulation of labour migration, the legal means used to respond to modern challenges and formulates the major problems facing government bodies. Purpose: on the basis of an analysis of the development of the migration legislation of the Russian Federation, to identify the features of the regulation of labour migration and determine the areas of modernisation of the legal framework in that field. Basic methods: formal-logical, system-structural, special-legal, comparative-legal; content analysis, etc. Results: by evaluating the dynamics of legal regulation of labour migration in the Russian Federation in recent decades, the following features can be distinguished: detailed and differentiated legal status of various categories of foreign nationals involved in labour activities in Russia; the focus of legislation on the use of flexible mechanisms for foreign labour intake, which presuppose taking into account professional qualities and the level of qualifications; increased role of supranational regulators in the legal regulation of migration relations (CIS, EAEU, etc.); introduction of the technological advance achievements into the public administration mechanism which made it possible to improve control measures and migration registration etc. The developed legal means for regulating migration processes need interval updating in order to ensure an adequate response to changes in political, social, economic and other conditions, effective impact on the migration situation by taking into account the purpose and intent of the state migration policy.

Based on a True Story: The Ever-Expanding Progeny of Rogers v. Grimaldi

Trademark law limits the extent and manner to which individuals can use a surprisingly large percentage of common words in the English language. In assessing the resulting discord from such a conflict, a court has several measures by which it can determine the metes and bounds of the First Amendment’s priority over trademark law; in the case of an expressive or artistic work which uses the trademark of another (or the name of an individual), one such test that has developed is the Rogers test, named for a 1989 lawsuit involving the actress and dancer Ginger Rogers. This article examines the most recent development in the ever-expanding ambit of the Rogers test: the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in VIP Products LLC v. Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. First, this article summarizes the policy goals and purposes of trademark law, provides a brief overview of the Lanham Act’s false endorsement right of action and of trademark dilution, and synopsizes both Rogers v. Grimaldi and the development of the Rogers test in the Ninth Circuit. It then analyzes the Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products district court and appellate decisions, and considers the consequences of the Ninth Circuit’s decision. In its opinion, the Ninth Circuit not only stretched the purpose of the Rogers test to a breaking point, but also improperly relied upon the test’s basic premise as grounds to incorrectly dispose of a claim for trademark dilution, despite the different standards, purposes, and policy goals of trademark infringement and trademark dilution statutes; the consequences of such precedent going forward are yet to become clear. Finally, the article concludes by considering how to remedy the ever-increasing scope of the Rogers test in Ninth Circuit jurisprudence, and reflects on the potential effects that VIP Products could have on future trademark false endorsement claims. As a whole, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in VIP Products is distinguished by its overly expansive view of the Rogers test and its misunderstanding of the fragile balance between the First Amendment and trademark dilution law. As the Supreme Court has denied certiorari, there is little to no chance to correct the faulty decision itself. Were the Ninth Circuit to reform its understanding of Rogers to conform with its restricted application in its home circuit, the Second Circuit, perhaps some of the more pernicious consequences of VIP Products could be avoided. Nevertheless, short of the panel’s decision sua sponte to issue an amended opinion, the consequences of this case are likely to be widespread in Ninth Circuit jurisprudence, and will significantly curtail the trademark rights of mark holders for years to come.

A Proposal of Method for Developing Criteria that Meet the Purpose of Policies Aimed at Creating Innovation by the Funding Agency:Based on the division of roles between the activities of the private sector and public sector

A Proposal of Method for Developing Criteria that Meet the Purpose of Policies Aimed at Creating Innovation by the Funding Agency:Based on the division of roles between the activities of the private sector and public sector

Is the monetary policy behaviour of the South African Reserve Bank nonlinear

In spite of the apparent asymmetry in monetary policy behaviour, monetary policy rule exposition continues to be carried out in the linear context. The burgeoning literature on nonlinear monetary policy rules fail to capture nonlinearity appropriately, putting the precision and accuracy of such estimates in doubt for policy purposes. With the aid of sample splitting and threshold estimation technique, the current study considers the monetary policy behaviour and responses of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in the Taylor rule context. The chosen technique delivers a threshold estimate after 5,000 bootstrap replications with confidence intervals based on asymptotic theory devoid of nuisance parameters. The study finds nonlinear Taylor rule to adequately capture the policy behaviour of the SARB with threshold inflation of 5.2% and asymmetric responses below and above this threshold.

Is the monetary policy behaviour of the South African Reserve Bank nonlinear

In spite of the apparent asymmetry in monetary policy behaviour, monetary policy rule exposition continues to be carried out in the linear context. The burgeoning literature on nonlinear monetary policy rules fail to capture nonlinearity appropriately, putting the precision and accuracy of such estimates in doubt for policy purposes. With the aid of sample splitting and threshold estimation technique, the current study considers the monetary policy behaviour and responses of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in the Taylor rule context. The chosen technique delivers a threshold estimate after 5,000 bootstrap replications with confidence intervals based on asymptotic theory devoid of nuisance parameters. The study finds nonlinear Taylor rule to adequately capture the policy behaviour of the SARB with threshold inflation of 5.2% and asymmetric responses below and above this threshold.

Guiding principles to maintain public trust in the use of mobile operator data for policy purposes

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of mobile operator data to support public policy, although without a universal governance framework for its application. This article describes five principles to guide and assist statistical agencies, mobile network operators and intermediary service providers, who are actively working on projects using mobile operator data to support governments in monitoring the effectiveness of its COVID-19 related interventions. These are principles of necessity and proportionality, of professional independence, of privacy protection, of commitment to quality, and of international comparability. Compliance with each of these principles can help maintain public trust in the handling of these sensitive data and their results, and therefore keep citizen support for government policies. Three projects (in Estonia, Ghana, and the Gambia) were described and reviewed with respect to the compliance and applicability of the five principles. Most attention was placed on privacy protection, somewhat at the expense of the quality of the compiled indicators. The necessity and proportionality in the choice of mobile operator data can be very well justified given the need for timely, frequent and granular indicators. Explicitly addressing the five principles in the preparation of a project should give confidence to the statistical agency and its partners, that enough care has been exercised in the set up and implementation of the project, and should convey trust to public and government in the use mobile operator data for policy purposes.

Энергетические рычаги внешней политики

While employing their energy potentials for advancing their foreign policy interests, Russia and the USA apply various political tools and practices, that can be classified as “positive”, “negative”, regulating energy markets, and reinforcing one’s own potential. The author argues that in both cases the application of energy-related statecraft is largely related either to energy security or to advancing ideologically inspired political interests. These two kinds of incentives can both work together or conflict each other. To pursue their relevant interests, both Russia and the USA have distinctive potentials, resources, and instruments that to a large extent were developed under influence of geopolitical and economic shocks: dramatic growth of global oil prices in 1970s for the USA and centrifugal post-Soviet geopolitical processes in 1990s for Russia. As a negative tool, the USA most often uses various kinds of sanctions to target energy sectors of their opponents, while the strongest Russian weapon is energy supply restrictions. To safeguard one’s own energy security and solidify their political influences both states manage bilateral complementary “producer–consumer” relations, while to stabilize global oil price, both states participate in international energy alliances. For instrumental purposes, both states also take advantage of purposeful or spontaneous transformations of their energy sectors (e.g. consolidation of the Russian energy sector and the U.S. ‘shale revolution’) for foreign policy purposes. In most cases, the effectiveness of applying statecraft tools for advancing energy-related interests proved to be limited. Those sanctions and other ways of pressure that targeted opponents’ energy sectors (especially if applied unilaterally) themselves rarely led to desirable alterations in those opponents’ policies. The results of energy alliances building also have proved to be limited both for Russia and for the USA as those alliances do not secure full-fledged control over global oil prices and are not solid or representative enough.

Material Support Prosecutions and their Inherent Selectivity

The government’s maintenance of a list of designated foreign terrorist groups and criminalization of any meaningful interaction or transactions – whether peaceful or violent - with such groups are no longer novel concepts. Inherent in both listing these groups and prosecuting individuals for assisting them, even in trivial ways, is the government’s essentially unreviewable discretion to classify groups and proceed with any subsequent prosecutions. A summary review of the past quarter-century reveals the government’s predilection for pushing the boundaries of what it deems “material support” to terrorist groups, all the while making greater and greater use of a criminal statutory scheme for foreign policy purposes. This Article explores the dynamics of the designation process and material support prosecutions, highlighting the selectivity inherent at every turn, which tells who and from what major monotheistic faith the terrorist threat emanates.