Voluntary Plans Research Articles

Dynamic evolution of policy mix in response to COVID-19: Practice from China.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic. In response to this unprecedented crisis, Chinese government formulated a series of policies. This research is dedicated to exploring the dynamic evolution of China's policy mix in response to COVID-19 in different crisis response stages from a network perspective. First, a three-dimensional analysis framework of "policy subject-policy target-policy instrument" was developed. Then, based on the data sets collected by textual analysis, the dynamic evolution of policy subject, policy target, policy instrument in China's policy mix in response to COVID-19 was discussed by using the method of SNA. This study concluded that the core policy subject, policy instrument, and policy target of China's response to COVID-19 changed with time. National Health Commission (NHC), Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Transport (MOT) and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) have important influences in the network of policy subjects. Other subjects are more at the edge of the network, and there are few joint issuances among policy subjects. The study also found that the core policy target was adjusted over time, with phased dynamic characteristics. At the initial stage of China's response to COVID-19, "reduce infection and mortality" and "steadily carry out economic and social work" were the core policy targets. With the COVID-19 under control, "enterprise development and work resumption" becomes a new core policy target. In addition, this study also revealed the dynamic evolution and unbalanced use of China's policy instruments in response to COVID-19 in different stages. The combination of policy instruments is mainly composed of "mandatory administration instruments" and "economic incentive instruments", and supplemented by "health promotion instruments" and "voluntary plan instruments". These findings may enrich the literature on COVID-19 policy to help researchers understand the dynamics of policy from a network perspective. Moreover, these findings may provide several valuable implications for policymakers and other countries to formulate more effective policies for epidemic response.

Price elasticity of demand for voluntary health insurance plans in Colombia

BackgroundSince 1993, Colombia has had a mandatory social health insurance scheme that aims to provide universal health coverage to all citizens. However, some contributory regime participants purchase voluntary private health insurance (VPHI) to access better quality health services (i. e., physicians and hospitals), shorter waiting times, and a more extensive providers’ network. This article aims to estimate the price elasticity of demand for the VPHI market in Colombia.MethodsWe use data from the 2016–2017 consumer expenditure national survey and apply a Heckman selection model to address the selection problem into purchasing private insurance. Using the estimation results to further estimate the price semi-elasticity for VPHI, we then calculate the price elasticity for the households’ health expenditure and acquisition of VHPI.ResultsOur main findings indicate that a 1% VPHI price increase reduces the proportion of households affiliated to a VPHI in the country by about 2.32% to 4.66%, with robust results across sample restrictions. There are relevant differences across age groups, with younger households’ heads being less responsive to VPHI price changes.ConclusionsWe conclude that the VPHI demand in Colombia is noticeably elastic, and therefore tax policy changes can have a significant impact on public health insurance expenditures. The government should estimate the optimal VPHI purchase in order to reduce any welfare loss that the current arrangement might be generating.

Longitudinal study of the mcr-1 gene prevalence in Spanish food-producing pigs from 1998 to 2021 and its relationship with the use of polymyxins

BackgroundResistance to colistin was an uncommon phenomenon traditionally linked to chromosome point mutations, but since the first description of a plasmid-mediated colistin-resistance in late 2015, transmissible resistance to colistin has become a Public Health concern. Despite colistin is considered as a human last resort antibiotic, it has been commonly used in swine industry to treat post-weaning diarrhoea in piglets. However, the progressively increase of colistin resistance during the last decade led to the Spanish Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (AEMPS) to launch a strategic and voluntary plan aimed to reduce colistin consumption in pig production. Our longitudinal study (1998–2021) aimed to evaluate the trend of colistin resistance mediated through the mcr-1 mobile gene in Spanish food-producing pig population and compare it with published polymyxin sales data in veterinary medicine to assess their possible relationships.ResultsThe first mcr-1 positive sample was observed in 2004, as all samples from 1998 and 2002 were mcr-1 PCR-negative. We observed a progressive increase of positive samples from 2004 to 2015, when mcr-1 detection reached its maximum peak (33/50; 66%). From 2017 (27/50; 54%) to 2021 (14/81; 17%) the trend became downward, reaching percentages significantly lower than the 2015 peak (p < 0.001). The abundance of mcr-1 gene in PCR-positive samples showed a similar trend reaching the highest levels in 2015 (median: 6.6 × 104mcr-1 copies/mg of faeces), but decreased significantly from 2017 to 2019 (median 2.7 × 104, 1.2 × 103, 4.6 × 102mcr-1 copies/mg of faeces for 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively), and stabilizing in 2021 (1.6 × 102mcr-1 copies/mg of faeces) with similar values than 2019.ConclusionsOur study showed the decreasing trend of colistin resistance associated to mcr-1 gene, after a previous increase from among 2004–2015, since the European Medicines Agency and AEMPS strategies were applied in 2016 to reduce colistin use in animals, suggesting a connection between polymyxin use and colistin resistance. Thus, these plans could have been effective in mcr-1 reduction, reaching lower levels than those detected in samples collected 17 years ago, when resistance to colistin was not yet a major concern.

Industry says voluntary plan to curb antibiotic pollution is working, but critics want regulation

Industry says voluntary plan to curb antibiotic pollution is working, but critics want regulation

Monetary Value and the Cost Analysis of a Youth Voluntary Program of Road Safety in Iran

Background: Volunteering has great economic and social benefits, but it is neglected due to the nature of the work. This study aimed to assess the monetary aspect of the voluntary activities in the National Plan of Safety and Health of Nowruz Passengers and analyze the cost of the implementation of this plan, regarding youth volunteers. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 1574 volunteers outlined in the plan were analyzed with the wage replacement and replacement cost approach for the monetary evaluation of voluntary activities. Also, the cost-benefit analysis of the Red Crescent voluntary plan was calculated by the volunteer investment and value audit technique. Results: In the mentioned road safety plan, the sum of the economic values of volunteering work was multiplied by the number of working hours of youth volunteers per day. Thus, the number of young people was determined, considering the average wage per hour for these people, the monetary value of $69 885.6 was obtained for the voluntary activities. Also, the volunteer investment and value audit rate was $10.6; it means that every dollar spent by Red Crescent would cost more than $10 if it were not voluntary. Conclusion: According to the present findings, it seems that the National Plan of Safety and Health of Nowruz Passengers had been economically profitable for the Red Crescent population and the government because of its high revenue, compared with its cost.

Supplemental Retirement Savings Plans in the Public Sector: Participation and Contribution Decisions by School Personnel

Virtually all full-time state and local government employees are covered by a retirement plan, typically a defined benefit plan, in which they are required to participate. In addition, most school employees have the option of choosing to contribute to a voluntary retirement savings plan offered by their school district. Relative to private sector workers, public employees face an expanded choice of retirement savings plans. Federal tax policies allow state and local governments the opportunity to offer both 401(k) plans and 457 plans to their employees. In addition to these plans, public schools and certain other organizations can offer 403(b) plans to their employees. This paper examines the decision to participate in a voluntary savings plan and the level of contributions for those that enroll in at least one of the plans. The analysis begins by describing the savings options available to public school employees and how these plans differ. The findings indicate that the same economic and demographic factors that influence saving decisions by private workers also drive the decisions of school employees. The three savings plans offered to public employees have many similar characteristics; however, several differences in the plans imply that certain workers may prefer one plan type over the others. Probit and Tobit models of participation in any plan and total annual contributions are estimated. Finally, we estimate the determinants of the decision to choose any one or a combination of savings plans.

School Desegregation 2.0: What is Required to Finally Integrate America's Public Schools

More than ten years have passed since the United States Supreme Court last addressed school desegregation. In its abbreviated tenure in the decades following Brown v. Board of Education, school desegregation was successful in many respects. Longstanding policies of state-sponsored educational apartheid eventually ended. A great many school buildings became more diverse. Countless students of color gained access to improved academic opportunities and better life outcomes. A consensus formed around the positive impacts that desegregation could have on both students of color and white students. When courts retreated from upholding desegregation policies, many communities developed their own voluntary plans, some of which even continue today. Yet by any measure, the original goals of Brown remain unfulfilled. Desegregation has nearly disappeared from the lexicon of educational reform, and America’s schools are becoming dramatically more segregated. While the courts are certainly to blame, the design and implementation of desegregation itself contributed to its own downfall. Desegregation has almost exclusively focused on balancing the number of students of different races in public schools, and nothing more. School district plans for addressing segregation often passed constitutional muster by merely moving students of color into previously all-white schools. As a result, schools became desegregated but were never fully integrated. Integration, as compared to desegregation, naturally requires the removal of the structures of segregation, but it also seeks to address more than just diversity in terms of numbers. Actual integration requires going beyond demographics, to include reforming the classroom and curriculum, and diversifying the teaching ranks. It breaks through school district boundaries to forge metropolitan-wide solutions. It requires changes beyond education, connecting housing and education policy. And because of the most recent Supreme Court decision, it requires using other metrics, in addition to race, to promote broad diversity in the public schools. After providing a brief overview of desegregation’s main achievements and its largest setbacks, this article examines successful desegregation programs from around the country and describes what has made these efforts worthwhile and legally sound. It then makes policy recommendations as to how to strengthen desegregation, such as avoiding the legal pitfalls of recent Supreme Court cases through geographic based-solutions, increasing diversity of our teaching ranks, and linking housing and education policy.

Determination of Gap in Accreditation Standards Establishment Process Using Zachman Framework at a Health-Educational Hospital

Background: Accreditation is usually a voluntary plan supported by a non-governmental institution and trained evaluators that examine the competency of organizations providing health service according to pre-specified performance standards. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the degree of establishment of accreditation standards using logical framework of Zachman. Methods: This descriptive research was conducted during year 2015. The population of the study included people involved in the establishment of accreditation standards. Sampling was conducted in the form of complete enumeration according to 36 standards of accreditation. The instrument used for data collection was the “Logical framework of Zachman”. Columns of framework consisted of people involved in conducting the work (Who), the purpose of the work (Why), strategy of the work (What), work time (When), and sub-system of doing work (Where) and way of doing work (How), and rows of framework included the view of hospital chief, director/assistants of hospital, officials and personnel. Test chi-square was used to compare between accreditation standards text and studied hospital gap. Descriptive statistical method was used for variables. Results: People involved in doing work and sub-systems of doing work at the hospital were consistent with specified accreditation standards. In 27% of the standards, time interval of doing work in the hospital was not conducted according to accreditation standards. In terms of way of doing work, 25% of standards had not been established, and 26% of them had been established incompletely. During interviews, it was found that 59% of personnel of purpose of doing work, and 94% of them are not informed about the strategy of doing work, according to accreditation standards in the hospital. Conclusions: Uncertainties in the accreditation standards in dimensions of purpose, people involved, strategy and time interval of doing work, respectively, led to a lack of understanding the intention of author/developers of standards by personnel. As a result, this led to lack of complete establishment of accreditation standards in the studied hospital. Keywords: Accreditation, Establishment, Gap, Hospitals, Tehran

Analysis of willingness for relocation of the local communities living in the Critical Tiger Habitat of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, India

ABSTRACTMany Indian Protected Areas (PAs) act as a support system for the communities living in and around them. Large-scale human interventions in these PAs have resulted in biodiversity loss, threat to wildlife and habitat fragmentation. The Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) is no exception. In this reserve, tiger (Panthera tigris) became extinct in 2004.To create inviolate space for the reintroduced tigers, government has planned voluntary relocation of villages located inside Critical Tiger Habitat. The voluntary relocation plan will be more challenging if people are not willing to get relocated from PAs. Therefore, we have empirically analysed the identified factors influencing local communities’ willingness in getting relocated outside the STR using logit model. Results revealed that “restriction of access” and “market access” are the most influential factors and positively associated while forest dependency is negatively associated with local communities’ willingness. Based on these results, it was recommended that policy should be directed towards restriction on accessing forest resources along with reduction in forest dependency by nurturing and strengthening villagers’ livelihood to ensure successful relocation. Displacement of existed small markets around the reserve will also persuade them to relocate in areas more connected to market and other facilities.

Household preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for freshwater quality improvement in Pakistan’s Swat River Valley

This two-part study investigates household preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality improvement of the Swat River in Pakistan. First, a four-point Likert scale was used to rank preferences for water quality benefits without using any financial metric. Results show that households have comparatively strong preferences for non-use benefits. Second, a contingent valuation question was designed to determine WTP for adopting a management plan developed exclusively for water quality improvement in the Swat River. The estimated annual mean WTP per household for water quality improvement is $2.40 when donating to an NGO. Generalizing this value to households living in Swat Valley would generate up to $544,000 per year. The present value aggregate benefit for 15 years would be sufficient to cover the present value of aggregate costs to adopt the management plan. A mandatory program that would require paying for the management plan generates half the WTP compared to the voluntary plan, but is still sufficient to cover costs and may be more feasible than a voluntary program because payment is assured.

Funded Retirement Plans in France

As in other countries around the world, where reductions to the pension system have become all too common, a growing concern of French employees is how to achieve financial security in their years of retirement. PERCO ( Plan d’épargne pour la retraite collectif, or Group Retirement Savings Plan ) schemes have the purpose to encourage workers to use voluntary, funded plans to supplement the traditional pay-as-you-go retirement pillars. Similar to a 401(k) plan, its dual nature of voluntary savings scheme and occupational retirement plan offers a flexible approach that allows employers to respond to variable business conditions as well as offer a third-pillar retirement option to the workforce. This article provides an overview of the general features of PERCO schemes.

Voluntary Health Plan Subsidies and Public Expenditure

Countries that seek to provide universal health coverage deal with considerable publicly funded expenses. This article discusses if a private health insurance subsidy policy can reduce the expenses covered by the public system. A theoretical model is developed in which individuals are characterized by two dimensions: inherited risk of illness and preferences for prevention activities. It is shown that when beneficiaries of a voluntary plan have lower risk, i.e. advantageous selection scenario, a subsidy raises heath expenses if articulation between coverage is complementary. On the contrary, in adverse selection scenarios a subsidy reduces expenditure if articulation is supplementary. Intermediate scenarios are also considered where articulations between coverages have both complementary and supplementary components, which is apparently the case for the Colombian health system. Calibrated numerical simulations are provided using the Colombian system data. The calibration strategy employed reveals that selection is adverse in the Colombian voluntary health insurance market. Furthermore, we identify the level of subsidy and changes in articulation (towards supplementarity) that could lead to a reduction in public spending.

How much do respondents in the health and retirement study know about their contributions to tax-deferred contribution plans? A cross-cohort comparison

AbstractWe use information from Social Security earnings records to examine the accuracy of survey responses regarding participation in tax-deferred pension plans. As employer-provided defined benefit pensions are replaced by voluntary contribution plans, employees’ understanding of the link between their annual contributions and their post-retirement wealth is becoming increasingly important. We examine the extent to which wage-earners in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) correctly report their inclusion in tax-deferred contribution plans and, conditional on inclusion, their annual contributions. We use three samples representing different cohorts in three different periods: the original HRS cohort interviewed in 1992 at ages 51–56, the War Babies cohort interviewed in 1998 at ages 51–56, and the Early Baby Boomer cohort interviewed in 2004 at the same ages. Our findings indicate that while respondents interviewed in 1998 and 2004 were more likely to correctly report whether they were included in defined contribution plans, they were no more accurate when reporting whether they had contributed to their plans than respondents interviewed in 1992. Contributors in the three cohorts, moreover, overstated their annual contributions and thus would be likely to realize lower than expected account balances at retirement. The magnitude of this error is not negligible. In all three cohorts, the mean reporting error (the absolute difference between respondent-reported and Social Security earnings record contributions) was approximately 1.5 times larger than the mean contribution in the W-2 earnings record.

Long-Range Planning Attitude in a Declining Welfare: When Individual Behaviours Inhibit Retirement Voluntary Plans

Declining welfare systems increase the importance of self-determination in pension decisions. Thus, the stability of long-life consumptions markedly relies on the individual longrange planning attitude. Our paper investigates how behavioural components affect this attitude, by observing in which conditions individuals hold voluntary integrative pension schemes (VIPS). We find that psychological and psycho-physiological heterogeneity, together with saving/indebtedness behaviours, plays a relevant role in predicting the demand for VIPS, taking socio-demographical variables under control. Subjects with high degree of impulsivity, precisely a non-planning impulsiveness, and with high emotional arousal, in terms of somatic response to events, are less likely to demand for VIPS. Our results implicate that behavioural features might bring individuals to lack integrative resources able to maintain stable lifestyles in the long-range.

Institutional Strategies and Effective Mechanism of Fisheries Self-governance in Korea

s In Korea, the role of FC(Fisheries Cooperatives) in self-governance is of significance for the sustainable development of fisheries. It should be understood from the view that the FC exists for fishing management of inshore and coastal fisheries. It is coastal fisheries consisting mostly of small-scale fishermen that need collaborations of small-scale fishermen in the fishing industry. One of the reasons why the fishermen association FC should have an important role in self-governance is that the spread of self-governance and new fishing and fishery management modes nationwide is the responsibility and role of FC as a deliverer of cooperative movements. Self-governance should be connected to economic projects of FC. As a self-governance is for increased income of fishermen, the scheme should be linked to resources man- agement and raise added value of products, going beyond the establishment of biological resources management. Self-governance is a collaborative movement of fishermen, by which therefore, FC should play its part in the sustainable development of inshore and coastal fisheries. In nature, perfect fisheries self-governance is difficult, so certain government regulations such as limits on access will continue, once fisheries self-governance succeeds. However, the government should boldly reduce and transfer regulations other than the minimum management means, to expand fisheries self-governance. It is important to find cases of conflicts/disputes actively and conduct follow-up management of them in collaboration with local governments, FC, and councils of leaders. Even tasks of which excavation and coordination is completed should be checked for their implementation records on a regular basis and complemented or further adjusted, when necessary. Voluntary restructuring plans by type of inshore and coastal fisheries should be set up and upon request, assessed to promote voluntary participation in consideration of characteristics by business type for coastal fisheries re- structuring, such as collaborative support with local governments.

Retracted: Conserving and Extending the Useful Life of the Largest Aquifer in North America: The Future of the High Plains/Ogallala Aquifer

The water-level decline of the High Plains/Ogallala aquifer is one of the largest water management concerns in the United States. The economy and livelihood of people living in that vast region depend almost exclusively on water extracted from that aquifer. A debate about its future is ongoing, and questions remain as to how best to conserve the groundwater resource. Maintaining the aquifer will require reductions in pumping and irrigated hectarage and adopting additional conservation measures. Eventually, the agricultural system will have to be based dominantly on the renewable water resources of the region. In effect, this means a limited-irrigation and/or dry-farming regime. What Kansas is currently doing to further extend the life of the aquifer is presented here together with additional measures that could be taken. A key management approach to help sustain the aquifer in western Kansas is to divide the aquifer into subunits on which to base localized management decisions. Another recently adopted measure is the establishment of local enhanced management areas, which would allow locally agreed upon specific corrective controls in those areas. History has shown that incentive and voluntary plans alone have not been successful in halting water-level declines. Thus, limits and timelines need to be set and checks must be in place to enforce strict administration of conservation measures. It is advocated that water laws be reformed and modernized so that "water rights" are constrained by the current availability of water and the preservation of the resource base for future generations.

Geography of Savings in the German Occupational Pension System

Burger C. Geography of savings in the German occupational pension system, Regional Studies. The German pension reform of 2001 significantly decreased the level of public pensions for future generations, and created instead voluntary supplementary plans. This paper analyses the regional structure of savings amounts in the case of occupational pensions using a unique, commercial dataset containing the records of 286 000 employees joining between the years 2002 and 2009. The analysis applies different location definitions in explaining financial behaviour. The differences in the relationship between metropolitan and non-metropolitan, East and West, and North and South are explained with the geographical nature of decision contexts. Implications are drawn on human behaviour and geography.

Los Alamos looks to cut its workforce

Tight budgets have forced the nuclear weapons lab to institute a voluntary separation plan.

Why Did Americans Reject Compulsory Health Insurance after WWI? An Application of the Lifecycle Model

Progressive reformers failed to gain support to implement compulsory health insurance in the US after WWI. Modeling results presented in this paper, using a lifecycle model with sickness risk and precautionary savings, support the conclusion that existing voluntary insurance plans were adequate and welfare-enhancing in the US, that compulsory health insurance as proposed would not be welfare-enhancing, and that Americans' preference to self-insure during most of their working lives was rational, utility-maximizing behaviour.

Adoption Patterns of Occupational Pensions in Germany

The withdrawal of the welfare states from pensions underscores the need for a better understanding of the spatial characteristics of adoption processes in the case of financial innovations. In 2001 the German pension reform reduced publicly provided pensions, and introduced subsidised, voluntary occupational plans to replace the loss in retirement income. This paper looks at the spatial and temporal adoptions of the newly created occupational pensions by analysing a unique, proprietary database, containing data on 12 000 employers and 286 000 employees working in the German metal and electric industry. The study identifies metropolitan/nonmetropolitan, East–West, and further geographical differences in the employers' timing to adopt, which in turn influences employees' decisions to enrol. Differences are identified among employee-level adoptions depending on the employers' timing and further, individual-level factors. The results emphasise the importance of geography in the transformation of old-age finances in the German welfare state.