Agricultural policies and migration in a U.S.-Mexico free trade area: A computable general equilibrium analysis

A United States-Mexico agreement to form a free trade area (FTA) is analyzed using an 11-sector, three-country, computable general equilibrium model that explicity models farm programs and labor migration. The model incorporates both rural-urban migration within Mexico and international migration between Mexico and the United States. In the model, sectoral import demands are specified with a flexible functional form, an empirical improvement over earlier specifications, which use a constant elasticity of substitution function. Using the model, we identify trade-offs among bilateral trade growth, labor migration, and agricultural program expenditures under alternative FTA scenarios. Trade liberalization in agriculture greatly increases rural- urban migration within Mexico and migration from Mexico to the United States. Migration is reduced if Mexico grows relative to the United States and also if Mexico retains farm support programs. However, the more support that is provided to the Mexican agricultural sector, the smaller is bilateral trade growth. The results indicate a policy trade-off between rapidly achieving gains from trade liberalization and providing a transition period long enough to assimilate displaced labor in Mexico without undue strain.     

从分税制到项目制:制度演进和组织机制

分税制改革以后,中国随之进行了公共预算体制改革,由此形成了一种新的国家治理体制——项目制。地方政府的项目支出主要有三种类型：上级专项转移支付、上级非补助性项目支出和本级项目支出。三类项目支出在地方得以汇聚和重组,在很大程度上形塑了基层政府的财政结构。项目制本质上不是对科层制的一种摆脱或超越,而是国家主动对政府科层体系的一次完善和补充,是近代国家政权建设在新时期的延续与拓展。项目制的直接目的是“硬化”预算约束,深层目的是增强政府的回应能力,二者在实践中呈现一定张力,政府治理的理性化和技术化并不必然增强其对公共需求的回应能力,甚至可能形成反向效应。     

The Changing Conception of Pension Rights in Canada, Mexico and the United States

Relying on four conceptualizations of the welfare state (universalism, redistribution, state capacity, and intergenerational equity), this article presents an overview of recent pension reforms in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Each country has introduced important reforms in the past 25 years and is currently engaged in debates to make other adjustments. The state is reducing its financial and programmatic commitment towards current and future retirees and is promulgating reforms tightening the link between contributions and benefits. In Canada, the government raised contribution rates substantially to maintain the same level of benefits while it sought to alter its universal flat-rate benefit. In the USA, changes to Social Security have resulted in a higher retirement age and lower replacement rates. In the case of Mexico, the most important public schemes have actually been privatized.     

Asset markets and foreign exchange intervention: A model of the Belgo-Luxemburg economic union

In this article a general formulation of government intervention policies in the foreign exchange market is integrated in the framework of an asset market model. The policy reaction function is based on a trade off between exchange rate and reserve stock fluctuations; constant exchange rates and a pure float are derived as limiting cases of the intervention schedule. An exchange rate equation is derived from the short run portfolio equilibrium of the model and is successfully tested using data for the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union (1967–1979). Our policy conclusions contrast the European Snake constraints for the Belgian Franc with Artus's findings (IMF Staff Papers XXIII(2), July 1976) for the leading DM.     

Calculable Power: A Case Study of IMF Quotas and Voting Rights Reform*

Voting procedure is an important mechanism for public choice in collective bodies such as international organizations. This paper measures and compares IMF member countries’ voting power before the 2008 reform and after the 2010 reform on the basis of datasets on IMF quotas and voting rights distribution provided by IMF. Our study verifies that IMF’s quotas and voting rights reforms do help to reduce the voting power gap among member countries. The 2008 and 2010 reforms produce a greater improvement in emerging members’ voting power under the 70 percent majority rule than the 85 percent rule; the 70 percent majority rule means the United States would lose its absolute veto. Moreover, the paper disproves the underlying assumption that regards a member’s voting power as proportional to its voting rights. Countries with different amounts of voting rights can still have the same voting power.     

Investor Responses to IMF Program Suspensions: Is Noncompliance Costly?*

Objective. This article reinvestigates the “catalytic” effects of IMF programs on investment controlling for the implementation of the program, allowing us to ascertain if capital markets respond to the mere announcement of a Fund program or its sustained positive implementation. Methods. Using a panel of data based on the experience of 106 developing countries entering Fund programs between 1979 and 1995, I employ both probit and tobit estimations to assess the effects of the announcement of a Fund program (and performance under it) on inflows of portfolio investment. Results. I find mixed evidence that good implementation serves to slow capital flight. I find consistently strong evidence that failed Fund programs produce portfolio flight. Conclusion. The findings suggest that we should think about the Fund's influence (both positive and negative) in light of how capital markets respond to its signals.     

Risk management in a globalizing world: An empirical analysis of individual preferences in 26 European countries

The risks that individuals face in everyday life, such as illness and unemployment, can be covered using market, government, or community mechanisms. The market can function with a lower level of solidarity compared to the other two mechanisms; the government mechanism requires the highest level of compulsory solidarity and communities are associated with voluntary solidarity. Social context affects individual preferences with regard to any one of these mechanisms. This article investigates to what extent these preferences are influenced by globalization: the economic, social and political openness of countries. The dataset used in this study combines data from the European Values Study 1999-2000 (EVS), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the KOF Index of Globalization, and contains information about 31,554 people living in 26 European countries. The results derived from logistic multilevel analysis show that preferences towards the organization of solidarity are related to the different dimensions of globalization.     

我国电子政务发展的问题与完善措施

知识经济时代,信息化程度是一个国家现代化水平和综合国力的重要标志,电子政务的发展,对促进信息化建设将起到不可估量的重要作用。鉴于当前我国电子政务发展过程中,缺乏整体统一的可操作规划,缺乏各部门之间信息资源和共享机制,以及管理上存在障碍造成跨部门政务协同困难,推进电子政务深入实施应采取的举措为:加大宣传力度,提高人们对电子政务的深刻认识;改革政府管理模式,优化工作流程;整合政务信息资源,完善政府专用通讯网络,建立健全政务数据库;制定相应的政策法规,保护网络安全。     

The impact of ethnicity on attitudes toward health care reform in New Mexico

Latinos tend to have significantly lower levels of access to general and top quality medical care than do non-Latino whites, and although disparities in access to health care have diminished for all other minority groups over time, they have widened for Latinos. Given these trends, current attempts to provide universal health care at both the national and state levels across the United States have large implications for the health status of Latinos. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether Latinos have different attitudes regarding health reform than non-Latino whites. Our data are from a statewide random digit dialing telephone survey of New Mexico residents, age 18 and older, conducted in the Fall of 2007. With a Latino population of 44% and ongoing health care reform efforts by the state legislature, New Mexico is an ideal location for this analysis. After controlling for a host of individual level factors, our findings suggest that while Latinos are less likely to identify health care as a salient state issue relative to the economy and crime, they are more likely than non-Latino whites to believe affordable health care programs are important. Finally, Latinos view employers, more than government or individuals, to be responsible for expanding health care coverage.     

在校大学生对“村官”计划的参与意愿、参与动机及影响因素研究——以南京财经大学为例

大学生“村官”计划不仅是促进大学生就业的有效方式,更是加强社会主义新农村建设的战略举措。近几年来,在中央和地方政府的高度关注和有力推动下,广大在校大学生参与大学生“村官”计划的热情持续高涨。在校大学生的理性参与是“村官”计划顺利实施的内在动力。研究在校大学生对于“村官”计划的参与意愿、参与动机及其影响因素,将有助于进一步明确国家、高校、社会各方的职责定位,推动大学生“村官”计划的制度性建设。     

Has the Targeted Poverty Alleviation program improved household welfare in rural China?

China's government launched the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program in 2015 as a part of a multipronged framework to lift every Chinese above the national poverty line by 2020. This study is devoted to examining the effects of the TPA program on household welfare indicators. To this end, the China Family Panel Studies data for the period 2010–2018 are analyzed. The propensity score matching and difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) method is employed to address the sample selection bias and endogeneity inherent in program participation. The results show that TPA program participants earn significantly higher incomes than non-participants. However, the program's effect on consumption expenditure is insignificant, suggesting that the program has contributed to lifting people out of poverty mainly by increasing incomes. Furthermore, even though the program seeks to deliver precisely targeted interventions, it is more effective in some regions than in others. Removing regional disparities is an area of opportunity for improving the efficacy of the TPA program.     

Government support for Indigenous cultural and natural resource management in Australia: The role of the Working on Country program

In Australia national concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss, water quantity and quality and land degradation have high priority on the government's environment agenda. With this comes the opportunity to strategically integrate Indigenous land and sea management into plans for tackling these challenges, not least because the Indigenous estate—which includes some of the most biodiverse lands in Australia—continues to increase as a result of successful land and native title claims and the declaration of more Indigenous Protected Areas. This paper explores government support for Indigenous land and sea management focusing on the Commonwealth government's Working on Country program. The paper outlines the development of formalised Indigenous cultural and natural resource management, and the emergence of the Working on Country program is discussed in the past and current policy context. The opportunities and challenges for the future of the program, and formalised Indigenous land and sea management in Australia more broadly, are outlined. To finish, a note of cautious optimism: while an expanded Working on Country program underpinned by community‐led priorities and aspirations has the potential to simultaneously ameliorate Indigenous poverty and ensure natural resource management occurs, this will require targeted investment and a more holistic and less sectoral approach from government.     

How does policy advice of the international monetary fund differ along the income of advised countries?

ABSTRACT

The policy advice literature has paid little attention to the role of international organizations in policy advisory systems. This article offers a systematic analysis of policy advice provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the framework of the IMF’s regular Article IV consultations. The article argues that the content of IMF advice differs according to the income of the advised countries. Content analyses of the Article IV consultation reports of 18 countries show correlations between the gross national income (GNI) of the advised countries and the function of advice in the policy cycle, the specificity of advice, the recommended policy instruments and the targeted policy issues. Results show that the IMF rather points to policy problems, advices on policy goals and focuses on improving implementation when advising lower income countries. When advising higher income countries, the IMF’s advice focuses on means and specific policy tools.     

Self‐policing and reinforcement as alternatives to government regulation for quality assurance in research

The issue of government regulation of scientific research exists in the context of an increasingly litigious society and a growing reliance on legal contracts in lieu of informal agreements. These trends suggest regulation of research may intensify in the absence of countermeasures by the researchers themselves. This paper explores the possibility that increased or altered discipline within the research community itself could result in sufficient quality control to obviate the need for increased government regulation. Possible actions are suggested for program managers, for universities, and for researchers.     

Social welfare and social work: the meaning of poverty programs in Latin America

During the last decade, the concern about poverty has turned into a key issue in the government discourse, and participatory poverty programs have multiplied all over Latin America. Nevertheless, poverty and social unrest keep growing. The objective of this article is to explain this apparent paradox. First there is an analysis of the relationship between structural adjustment, the growth of poverty, and the reorientation of broad social policy away from social rights towards selective and targeted poor relief. In order to illustrate the content and operation of a typical Latin American poverty program, the Mexican National Solidarity Program is examined. The initial question posed is whether this program alleviates poverty and grants a social minimum for the poor in view of the magnitude of poverty, the quantity of resources and their allocation. Next the participatory approach of the program is analyzed in relation to the empowerment of poor groups and communities. Finally, there is a reflection on the place of social work in this program and how the role of the social worker has been transformed.     

The relation between population and health in a crisis

This work argues that the economic crisis in Latin America resulting from structural adjustment programs and recession has had deleterious effects on the relationship between demographic factors and health. 2 works presented at the 1989 International Union for the Scientific Study of Population meeting in New Delhi considered the difficulty of demonstrating unambiguously the demographic effects of the economic crisis. This work, instead of looking at overall rates which may not have been greatly affected, focuses on 3 specific areas that reflect the relationship between population and health in the context of the crisis. Although the infant mortality rate has continued to decline in almost all countries and regions of Latin America during the crisis, the decline has been unequal in different sectors. A comparison of data from the 1987 National Survey of Fertility and Health in Mexico with that of the 1982 National Demographic Survey shows that rural infant mortality declined by only 1% between the 2 surveys, while urban infant mortality declined by 21%. An indicator of available services in the household showed the same increase inequality. Disaggregation of infant mortality data for Mexico suggests that even a presumably biological determinant, maternal age, loses much of its weight when socioeconomic factors are considered. Other studies, on the impact of maternal education, similarly indicate that the relationship is different for different social sectors. The infant mortality data taken together suggest that infant mortality continues to ba a valid indicator of social inequality, and that the crisis has had the effect of increasing inequality and worsening the relative conditions of the least advantaged. In the area of fertility, data from the 1989 National Survey of Fertility and Health in Mexico are used to argue that family planning programs are integral components of an authoritarian governmental political style. The survey indicated that sterilization is now the most commonly used contraceptive method in Mexico and that fully 12.4% of sterilized women did not make the decision to be sterilized themselves. 34% of illiterate women who were sterilized did not make the decision themselves. 14% of all the women but 33% of illiterate women reported they would not be sterilized if they could make the decision again. These data and others on the high proportion of women who undergo sterilization at young ages and low parities and without being informed of other methods suggest that the attitude of the official family planning program is becoming more authoritarian and less respectful of human rights as it seeks to curb population growth. The area of health effects has usually been ignored in migration studies. The phenomenon of Mexican migrant workers in the US who return to Mexico after contracting AIDS is an obvious example of the link between population variables and health.     

Spatial Equity in the Allocation of Funds to State Secondary Schools

Disproportionate attention is often focused on government programs which are adopted as part of a political platform. Yet these are often marginal in terms of the expenditures involved. Such is the case with education. The disadvantaged schools program introduced by the Whitlam Labor government involved only a very small outlay compared with the annual expenditure on education in Victoria. This paper argues that it is important to find ways of evaluating the spatial and social impact of the main bulk of government programs. Evidence is adduced which casts some doubt on the equity with which state government funds for state secondary schools have been allocated spatially in metropolitan Melbourne.     

Rules rather than discretion: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

This paper explores options for programs to be put in place prior to a disaster to avoid large and often poorly-managed expenditures following a catastrophe and to provide appropriate protection against the risk of those large losses which do occur. The lack of interest in insurance protection and mitigation by property owners and by public sector agencies prior to a disaster often creates major problems following a catastrophic event for victims and the government. Property owners who suffer severe damage may not have the financial resources easily at hand to rebuild their property and hence will demand relief. The government is then likely to respond with costly but poorly targeted disaster assistance. To avoid these large and often uneven ex post expenditures, we consider the option of mandatory comprehensive private disaster insurance with risk-based rates. It may be more efficient to have an ex ante public program to ensure coverage of catastrophic losses and to subsidize low income residents who cannot afford coverage rather than the current largely ex post public disaster relief program.     

Medical and housing needs of older part-time migrant workers and the role of government: the Linyi model in China

The political, social and academic attention on migrant workers in China has been focused on the full-time worker while those who seek part-time work are rarely studied. We explore the effect of part-time day-labour employment of older migrants in an odd-job market in Linyi City. The medical, housing needs and available services for them are analysed. The Linyi government pioneered a program providing comprehensive services to part-time migrant workers, allowing this study to explore the strengths and weakness of the model. Building the appropriate social service industry competencies demands a joint effort from the government, community, organizations, researchers and enterprises.     

Ensuring equitable access to public health care: Two steps forward,one step back

Advancements by the federal government to extend access to health care to Medicaid eligible populations have been countered by state government efforts to curtail program benefits and eligibility. Fiscally and philosophically-based legislation and Medicaid waivers have created a patchwork of state policies that contradict the original civil rights orientation of the program. This examination of equitable access to Medicaid programs and services reviews individual and community factors and fiscal and institutional barriers that contribute to discriminatory practices and then explores ways in which the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) addresses those issues. We find that the ACA funding authorizations for numerous innovative programs strives to substantially redress issues of discriminatory and inequitable service provision.