Voluntary Funds Research Articles

Private Pension Funds Portfolio Optimization with UPM/LPM Algorithm

Global environmental problems and climate changes in recent decades have brought to the fore the questions related to the sustainable development of economies and the impact of these processes on the long-term returns of widely diversified portfolios. Consideration of all risk factors and potential opportunities is key to the investments of pension funds, which are called to act “in the best interest” of beneficiaries, providing secure and stable income. To unlock their potential to finance the economy’s low-carbon transition, pension funds must be convinced that the financial characteristics of green assets match the profile they are look­ing for and have a good understanding of their benefits and risks. The current paper aims to research the effect of including green assets in the portfolio of voluntary private pension funds in Bulgaria, applying the UPM/LPM model for portfolio optimization.

Effectiveness of private medical organizations in the Russian healthcare system

The article is devoted to the development of the private sector of medical services in our country in order to improve the health of the population, which is the main task of healthcare in general. Private clinics have advantages over public institutions: no queues, courtesy of staff, increased comfort, etc. Despite the progressive development of private medicine, there are certain problems that cannot be solved without an integrated approach to healthcare in general. The object of the study is commercial medical organizations; the subject of the study is the efficiency (profitability) of the activities of commercial medical organizations. The methodological basis of this study is comparative analysis, empirical and systematic approaches. The author pays special attention to the problems of interaction between the public and private segments in the field of medical services provided to the population. As a result of the conducted research, it was concluded that the solution of the identified problems is facilitated by the optimization of interaction between the public and private health sectors, including the optimization of financial flows of mandatory, voluntary health insurance funds and direct payments of patients. The novelty of the study lies in determining the main criterion for the effective optimization of the interaction between the public and private health sectors – the economic accessibility of paid medical services to the population. The approaches indicated in the article will not only increase the opportunities of the population in the field of healthcare, but also improve the quality of medical services in both private and public spheres.

Voluntary Private Pension Funds and Capital Market Development

We examine voluntary private pension funds and their relationship to capital market development. Using data from Turkey, we analyse depth, efficiency and liquidity indicators of capital markets after the introduction of voluntary private pension funds in 2003. Overall, our findings indicate that the introduction of voluntary private pension plans are positively associated with indicators of capital market development, focusing on market depth (such as market capitalisation and trading volume) in both debt and equity markets. We also observe that indicators for other more recently established markets are also positively associated with the introduction of voluntary pension plans. In contrast, equity market turnover shows a negative association. These findings, along with the positive association with the corporate governance index, suggest that pension funds are important for capital market development and for corporate governance of firms as they are long-term investors. However, the introduction of state contributions in 2013 is not robust to alternative specifications.

Peer Foster Student Program in the Formation of Character Value Gotong royong Students in School

The purpose of this study is to find out the strategy of the character-building mutual character of students through the Peer FosterIng Student program. To answer the topic raised, researchers chose the study using a qualitative approach because researchers want to know in-depth about the phenomenon that actually occurs in schools. In the process of analyzing data, researchers used the help of the NVivo program to find the output of data reduction, field records, and documentation studies. Peer Foster Student Program (PFS) itself is a movement to build awareness among students in Banyuwangi. The management is done from students, by students, and for students in the school. Assistance programs were between students to foster a sense of care and divided love. This activity was carried out by the establishment of a group of managers from students to raise voluntary funds from all students in the school that will be distributed to the recipient students in the form of school supplies. The formation of mutual character values through peer foster student programs is carried out by fostering the value of caring, helping, responsible, cooperative, helping to achieve common welfare goals. Through this program, the value of gotong royong (communal work) character is seen and becomes an essential concern for the future provision of learners when plunged directly into the vast ocean in public life.

Dana Tabbaru’ Sebagai Jaminan Pembiayaan Anggota Baitul Maal Wa Tamwil Dalam Perspektif Hukum Pembiayaan

Tabbaru' fund is one of the funds raised in insurance sourced from voluntary funds which is different from premiums on sharia insurance. The purpose of insurance is to mitigate the risks that will be faced by Sharia financial institutions including Baitul Maal Wa Tamwil, one way is to raise Tabbaru's Funds. Dana Tabbaru' has several principles in its implementation, so in its application must be in accordance with the principles and laws of sharia. In practice, Tabbaru' Fund is also applied by other Sharia Financial Institutions such as Baitul Maal Wa Tamwil as a financing guarantee.

Making Retail Banks Resolvable

The EU bank resolution framework relies heavily on banks' internal capacity for loss-absorption and recapitalization through the issuance of bail-inable financial instruments (MREL). Meanwhile, the existing collective funding arrangements (resolution and deposit insurance funds) seem inadequate to support other alternatives, such as resolution transfer strategies or administrative liquidation. Based on resolution experience and evidence thus far, such regulatory architecture cannot work effectively on all EU banks regardless of size and business model. Many retail banks – both significant and less significant with deposits higher than 40% of their total liabilities and own funds (TLOF) – struggle to comply with the existing framework due to their funding model and difficulty to tap capital markets. Ultimately, efforts to improve their resolvability could threaten their viability. In order to improve the resolvability of retail banks, regulators need to enhance resolution transfer strategies which would ultimately reduce MREL requirements. Credible transfer strategies though require credible financing arrangements when a buyer is not readily available. Therefore, resolution funds would need to be able to contribute more than the current 5% TLOF in order to credibly supplement bail-in. Otherwise, regulators should incentivize banks to establish voluntary collective industry funds – similar or identical to institutional protection schemes, which would finance transfer-based resolution strategies integrated into the resolution plans. Participation in such voluntary funds would occur in exchange for lower MREL requirements. The use of transfer strategies in conjunction with the establishment of voluntary industry funds would significantly reduce MREL requirements for retail banks.

The role of Perceived Behavioural Control as mediator on financial incentives towards saving in a voluntary retirement fund

The purpose of the mediation analysis is to investigate how perceived behavioural control mediates the relationship between the cash and tax incentives towards the intention to save in a voluntary retirement fund. A quantitative approach was adopted analysing 384 responses collected through a nationwide multistage proportionate cluster sampling. A nonparametric sampling procedure using bootstrapping following the Preacher and Hayes technique in mediating analysis were employed. The specific indirect effect from the bootstrapping result concluded that tax incentives influence the saving intention via perceived behavioural control, in contrast to cash incentives which is not significant. Predicting a person’s intention to save in a voluntary retirement fund is an important issue, and the findings of this study would have practical implications on policymakers and commercial marketers alike, as it would help to encourage retirement savings through voluntary funds to prevent financial insufficiency in the golden age.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ В РОССИИ

The article touches upon the problem of financing health care in the world today, which is carried out mainly at the expense of budget funds, employers, population and enterprises in different proportions. The share of each of these sources in the total amount of funds allocated by society to health care determines the model of financing this economic sector. The budget model of financing the health care does not fully cover the needs of the population in the guaranteed volume of free medical care. In recent years, such sources as direct payment for medical services and voluntary health insurance programs have brought a certain amount of money to the Russian health care system. The conducted analysis of the financial support of the health care system in Russia proved that the cost of the program of state guarantees increases throughout the whole period. Means of compulsory medical insurance as well as budgetary allocations of the entities of the Russian Federation are used to finance the program of State guarantees. The volume of compulsory health insurance funds is increasing, the growth rate of compulsory health insurance in 2017 outpaced the rate assigned by the program. In 2016 revenue growth and spending cuts brought the Federal Fund of compulsory medical insurance to a deficit-free budget, but in 2017 the growth of spending outpaced revenue growth, which leads to a deficit. There can be seen the positive dynamics of growth rates of insurance premiums for voluntary health insurance. Currently, underfunding of territorial programs is compensated by the population independently through the use of voluntary health insurance and paid medical services. The main objective of the further transformation of compulsory medical insurance system is stated to increase the volume of financing of the system. In the process of adjusting state obligations the deficit of financial provision of territorial programs of state guarantees should be taken into account, which has already been redistributed due to its insecurity, but without legislative consolidation. The reserve of redistribution will be the increase in payments under contracts of voluntary medical insurance and funds received by medical organizations from the provision of paid medical services.

INSURANCE FUNDS AS FORM TO FINANCE SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

European regulations and mechanisms call for creation of unified social structures of collaboration and communications. As such could be social associations, insurance companies, insurance funds, clusters, voluntary social funds..The financing of social activities is carried out by various mechanisms, approaches and organizational forms. It could be used at the management of health insurance, social insurance, social activities etc. The purpose of the article is to outline the possibilities to us insurance funds at some social payments, mainly in the system of social insurance and social activities. Those social payment in the shape of social an pension incomes from insurance funds do not exhaust opportunities to apply the methods of payments with disability people of monetary compensations at sickness, social and health insurances and others. The methods could be implemented in other areas as health insurance, social assistance, health insurance etc., taking into consideration the nature of their activities.

Design principles for protected area certificates: a case study on strategic investor groups

Biological capacity of earth is limited. While it is obvious at first glance, it has been ignored for decades. Policy makers attempt to overcome the persistent depletion of the human livelihood base through the establishment of protected areas. However, the financial means to sustainably manage a representative network of protected areas on a global scale do not yet exist, and particularly, private sector investment is extremely modest. One option for increasing private investment flows is the development of a market place for protected area certificates (PACs) issued for geographical areas managed according to social and environmental best practices. This paper utilizes semi-structured expert interviews with 39 German companies to analyze major product and market requirements for the sound implementation of an international certification scheme for PACs. Based on a triangulation approach that combines quantitative and qualitative evaluations with the two-step clustering procedure for strategic investor groups, seven design principles are determined that might encourage voluntary investment funds from the private sector, and thus support the sustainable management of protected areas. Having a look at existing markets for protected areas, one scheme provides a good foundation for the defined design principles: the LifeWeb initiative—an online clearing house for protected area developers and potential investors.

The Main Challenges and Risks for Social Security Systems in the European Union: The Essence of Reforms in Hungary After 2010

In all Member States social security systems are used to help secure social goals such as protection against poverty. In the majority of European Union (EU) countries public schemes also play a core role in securing levels of pension benefits and health services that to a reasonable degree allow people to maintain the living standards from their active years into retirement. After 2010 the objective of comprehensive pension reform in Hungary was to return to the two-pillar pension system, based on social solidarity on the one hand and voluntary contributions on the other, which is in place in eighteen EU Member States, from the former Hungarian three-pillar system which is hopelessly threatening the budget balance, and is financially unviable in the short, medium and long run. Having accomplished this transformation, the government is committed to maintaining and supporting voluntary private pension funds parallel to the state-run social security pension pillar. In the second half of 2010, as a result of the world economic crisis and the restriction measures linked to it, a major crisis evolved which required a series of immediate measures from the new Hungarian government formed in that year. How did the new government manage to consolidate the Hungarian pension system? You can find more details in this article.

The Main Challenges and Risks for Social Security Systems in the European Union. The Essence of Reforms in Hungary After 2010

In all Member States social security systems are used to help secure social goals such as protection against poverty. In the majority of European Union (EU) countries public schemes also play a core role in securing levels of pension benefits and health services that to a reasonable degree allow people to maintain the living standards from their active years into retirement. After 2010 the objective of comprehensive pension reform in Hungary was to return to the two-pillar pension system, based on social solidarity on the one hand and voluntary contributions on the other, which is in place in eighteen EU Member States, from the former Hungarian three-pillar system which is hopelessly threatening the budget balance, and is financially unviable in the short, medium and long run. Having accomplished this transformation, the government is committed to maintaining and supporting voluntary private pension funds parallel to the state-run social security pension pillar. In the second half of 2010, as a result of the world economic crisis and the restriction measures linked to it, a major crisis evolved which required a series of immediate measures from the new Hungarian government formed in that year. How did the new government manage to consolidate the Hungarian pension system? You can find more details in this article.

“There is no trace of him”: the Australian Red Cross, its Wounded and Missing Bureaux and the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign

One of the lesser known stories of the Gallipoli campaign was the significant support provided to the Australian Imperial Force by the array of voluntary patriotic funds. Mobilized from the beginning of the war and operating both on the Home Front and in Egypt, the large support network of individuals and organizations varied from sandbag funds, the provision of recreational equipment and hostel accommodation, to foodstuffs and medical supplies. This article focuses on the Australian Red Cross, formed on the outbreak of war in August 1914 as a branch of the British Red Cross Society. Its considerable contribution as a humanitarian organization concentrating on sick and wounded soldiers in war included Wounded and Missing Bureaux. Using the records of the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau, this article explores the beginning of this programme and its efforts to trace missing soldiers from the Gallipoli campaign for family members and friends. Through this case study analysis, we find another lens with which to examine the effects of the Gallipoli campaign on the Home Front and explore the broader social and familial effects of the war more generally.

Money and multilateralism: how funding rules constitute IO governance

International relations scholarship largely accepts that multilateralism lies at the heart of the liberal international order and is instantiated in formal, intergovernmental organizations. This paper revisits the conventional wisdom regarding the multilateral character of international organization (IO) governance by drawing attention to the funding methods used to finance contemporary IOs. I argue that different funding rules constitute different modes of governance. While mandatory funding rules are easily reconciled with traditional conceptions of multilateralism, voluntary rules are not. In particular, restricted voluntary funding rules devolve authority over funding decisions to individual actors, undercutting the collective decision making that is central to multilateral governance. I demonstrate the relevance of the argument in the case of the United Nations, which has transformed from an institution reliant primarily on mandatory contributions, to one disproportionately reliant on restricted, voluntary funds. The counterintuitive result is an increasingly bilateral United Nations. The paper contributes to our understanding of the relationship between multilateralism and IO governance, and has implications for literature related to institutional design, delegation, and development aid. In addition, it raises empirical and normative questions regarding reliance on voluntary funding.

Monopoly and competition on Bulgarian pension market

Challenges facing social security system in Bulgaria occurred as a result of radical political and economic changes after 1989 call for a reform and a new philosophy in the social security system. Multi-pillar pension system was introduced and the operation of private pension insurance companies was launched. Amid deepening demographic crisis and worsening economic climate the future role of supplementary pension insurance is essential for the achievement of expected results of the pension reform. The article’s main goal is to study how pension insurance companies in Bulgaria operate in the free market environment. To achieve this goal the following tasks are completed: ● Analyzed are the market concentration and market shares of the pension insurance companies and the net assets managed by them from mandatory and voluntary funds; ● Analyzed are some of the existing problems and measures are proposed to overcome them. The methods utilized during the study are the system approach, statistical evaluations, analysis and synthesis, comparison methods and others.

Modelos de inversión social para empresas mineras: experiencias y propuestas

Peru is experiencing a boom through growing mine operations and projects. This has created expectations among the benefi ts that activity may create for the mines’ neighboring communities. Although in most cases results have not been very encouraging, this paper seeks to demonstrate whatever progress has been made in the mining companies’ social management, and the scope of their proposals for improvement by presenting and comparing successful social investment models used in Peru in recent years. It also examines the issue of the mining industry’s voluntary contributions, social contributions and social trust funds, and explains how the money is allocated.

When Past Reforms Open New Opportunities: Comparing Old‐age Insurance Reforms in Bismarckian Welfare Systems

Abstract France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain have all gone through several waves of pension reforms both in the 1990s and in the early 2000s. Comparing the politics of these reforms shows some similar trends: reforms were usually postponed until European integration and/or economic recession forced governments to act. Before the first wave of reforms, the main form of ‘action’ had been to increase payroll taxes to finance pensions. In the 1990s, reforms were usually negotiated on the basis of a quid pro quo: benefits were intended progressively to decrease in exchange for non‐contributory pensions being financed from general tax revenues instead of through the insurance schemes. The second wave of reforms (during the 2000s) seems to have brought more innovation, with new goals such as the development of voluntary private pension funds and the need to increase employment rates among the elderly and to stop early retirement. The article aims, first, to trace the political processes leading to these reforms; second, to reveal the commonalities in these processes between the various cases; and third, to highlight the differences between the first and second waves of pension reform. It will emphasize the role of ‘sequencing’ and demonstrate how each pension reform facilitates the adoption of the next one.

From Voluntary Funds to National Loans: The Financing of Israel's 1948 War Effort

The funding of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence illustrated the importance attributed to the support of the Yishuv in the war effort. In addition to recruitment of man power and mobilization of the economy that support also included the public's participation in raising the means to fund the war. This article discusses the characteristics of this process, which began with the voluntary loan For the Security of the People in November 1947 and ended with the national loan in December 1948. The effects of the change and transition brought about by acceleration of the fighting and the establishment of the State of Israel, and at its core the increasing involvement of the State and its centralist power, are apparent in the public's participation in raising the funds. This paper focuses on the mobilizing role of the civil organizations and at their core the middle class economic organizations and the Histadrut. The paper delineates the manner in which the structure of the society, the effort to widen the scope of the mobilization, and the endeavor to obtain the public's support in the war effort required setting cooperative arrangements and economic and political coordination. Evasion of fund raising was revealed and the demand for increased involvement of the State as part of the realization of the "equality in sacrifice" principle during war was brought to the forefront of the public agenda.

From Voluntary Funds to National Loans: The Financing of Israel's 1948 War Effort

From Voluntary Funds to National Loans: The Financing of Israel's 1948 War Effort

Social insurance claims as morbidity estimates: sickness or absence?

Historians have closely examined sickness claims by members of British friendly societies. Hoping that insurance records may offer insight into past health conditions, they have generally found that sickness rates increased as mortality rates declined. Aggregated fund level data from a variety of continental sickness insurance programmes from 1885 to 1908 cast doubt on this research strategy. Mortality rates fell among all funds with available data, but absenteeism trended in both directions in different groups of sick funds. Among funds that took in workers who were required to buy sickness insurance, absenteeism rose over time. Among funds in which membership was voluntary, absenteeism fell. To explain these differing trends, I note that voluntary funds attracted older and sicker workers and that the resulting financial problems made it difficult for them to pay out benefits. Social insurance claim records are so heavily influenced by governmental requirements and financial concerns that they may be better understood as records of worker absence rather than of morbidity.