Keeping up with the Joneses and the welfare effects of monetary policy

This paper examines the implications of “keeping up with the Joneses” preferences (jealousy) for the welfare effects of monetary policy. I develop a New Keynesian model, where households are jealous and the central bank follows the Taylor rule. I show that the welfare effects of monetary policy over time depend significantly on the relative strength of the consumption externality caused by jealousy and the monopolistic distortion. When a first-order approximation of the utility function is used, then the main result is the following: If jealousy (the monopolistic distortion) dominates, then a decrease in the interest rate reduces (increases) welfare in the short run, but increases (reduces) welfare in the medium run. However, the use of a second-order approximation changes the sign of the overall welfare effect of monetary policy if the initial level of employment is at the optimal level or just below it.     

Keeping up with Schengen: migration and policy in the European Union

"There is an inescapable relationship between the existence of migration movements and the resulting policies which are adopted by the authorities of the area concerned towards encouraging these movements, or more commonly towards attempting to control or to reduce them.... This paper aims to bring together some of the wide variety of policy issues and responses which may be observed in Europe at the present time and in the recent past, and in particular to make an assessment of the approaches being taken by the European Union member states as a whole, and also by the so-called Schengen group of member states. This article also attempts to look at the perceptions of these policies and their effects from the point of view of both the 'western' and the 'eastern' European countries, as migration policy issues are rarely onesided. In conclusion, it considers some of the research issues and problems which are raised by geographers and others working in this area...."     

Aggregation of binary evaluations for truth-functional agendas

In the problem of judgment aggregation, a panel of judges has to evaluate each proposition in a given agenda as true or false, based on their individual evaluations and subject to the constraint of logical consistency. We elaborate on the relation between this and the problem of aggregating abstract binary evaluations. For the special case of truth-functional agendas we have the following main contributions: (1) a syntactical characterization of agendas for which the analogs of Arrow’s aggregation conditions force dictatorship; (2) a complete classification of all aggregators that satisfy those conditions; (3) an analysis of the effect of weakening the Pareto condition to surjectivity. This is a sequel to the paper “Aggregation of binary evaluations.” The contents of both papers were presented, under the title “An Arrovian impossibility theorem for social truth functions,” at the Second World Congress of the Game Theory Society, Marseille, July 2004. The first version of “Aggregation of binary evaluations” was completed in June 2005. That working paper was subsequently split into two parts, of which this is the second. The comments of an anonymous referee are gratefully acknowledged. Part of R. Holzman’s work was done while he was a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.     

Elicitation of farming agendas in a complex environment

Agricultural and environmental issues are currently the subject of a great deal of debate. Many feel that policies affecting farming and the countryside are formulated without sufficient research into their full implications. In this paper a semi-structured interview technique is used to highlight the complexity of the agenda facing a small section of the farming community. Current policy is creating high levels of uncertainty within farming, forcing the farming community into an economic straight-jacket based on short-term survival. It is concluded that policy-makers need to be aware of the complexity of the farming agenda and that a policy framework needs to be constructed which gives clear long-term objectives to farmers and encourages the diverse practice which is central to long-term continuity. The need to develop improved techniques for eliciting information about farming agendas will be seen as a central requirement of this framework.     

Educating children with special needs: An interorganizational perspective on policy implementation

Educating handicapped children is dependent upon the relations among organizational and agency implementors. In this paper, factors influencing successful policy implementation are examined relative to the implementation of Massachusetts Special Education Law, Chapter 766. Case exploration suggests several possible strategic points of intervention for other states faced with implementing a later, but similar law, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94–142). Seen within the larger context of degree of change required by a policy and consensus on policy goals, recommendations at the guideline development, resource distribution, and oversight stages can affect such implementation problems as organizational capability, dispositional conflicts of key actors, and interorganizational communications. The paper supports early analysis and feasibility estimates of policy implementation to enhance the needed interorganizational coordination for the education of handicapped children in the least restrictive environment.     

Power at the top

Theory and Society -     

Agency policy and the participation of children and young people in the child protection process

This article explores agency policy in relation to children's participation in the child protection process. This was done by examining policy documents and conference minutes and by interviewing social workers and conference chairs working in child protection in Wales. Issues and dilemmas surrounding the participation of children and young people in the child protection process are identified and examined. The lack of children's more direct participation was noted, but many agencies were taking action to inform themselves of children's views indirectly. Advocacy was being more frequently used, and highly valued where it was available, but did raise some role dilemmas. The essentially child‐unfriendly nature of child protection processes (particularly the conferences) was identified as a significant barrier to promoting children's voices. The contradiction of trying to promote children's direct participation in a process that is inherently not geared towards their direct involvement was noted. The total lack of children's input into service planning for child protection services was seen as significant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Keeping Parents in the Driver's Seat

Parents receive social work services (both voluntary and involuntary) in a variety of settings. Although the parents may have come to need social work interventions for different reasons, one reason is constant: They are experiencing some difficulty with their children. Children are likely to benefit when parenting ability is strengthened. In all settings, social workers have a unique opportunity to assist parents in establishing, restoring, or maintaining healthy family dynamics.     

Moving beyond the child care debate toward implications for social and political agendas

Early nonmaternal child care, for at least some portion of the week, is now the reality for most families in the United States. Ongoing debates surrounding what these changes mean for our society have focused on the possible negative consequences of extended nonmaternal care and the potential impact of such arrangements on children's later development. The NICHD-Early Child Care Research Network (ECCRN) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development has made great strides toward addressing methodological limitations in previous research through a series of landmark examinations of child functioning from transition to school through 15 years-of-age. The primary goal of this commentary is to put the child care findings into a broader developmental, social, and political context by reframing the discussion to move beyond the current daycare debate and consider implications for social policy and research agendas. Given that daycare has become a normative social institution, we first consider what the research findings mean for the healthy social–emotional and cognitive growth of children. Second, we articulate the implications of the data for social interventions to improve those outcomes. Finally, we address the issue of what political changes are necessary to produce those improvements.     

New Zealand children in the 1990s: beneficiaries of New Right economic policy?

This paper questions the extent to which New Zealand children have benefited from New Right economic policies and argues that the invisibility of children, the role of public concern about children and the social construction of childhood are factors which have facilitated implementation of these changes. Attention is drawn to the ways in which the personal and the political spheres intersect in children's lives. Rather than focusing on either the micro level of intervention in the lives of individual children or the macro level of societal change it is argued that the dualism itself must be transcended in order to move forward from the current position. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

(Mis)taking policy: Notes on the cultural policy debate

Abstract

The article argues that terms like ‘postcolonialism’ and ‘multiculturalism’ can be totalizing and themselves elide difference. In terms of recent argument in cultural studies in Australia, approaches drawn from postcolonialism referring to Orientalism and race have been contentiously applied to multicultural discourse referring to migration and ethnicity. In such discourse there is a ruling binary distinction between the migrant and Australian society. I seek to complicate the analysis of multiculturalism by pointing to a heterogeneity of shifting centres and margins, for example, between and within ethnic communities, and in diasporic relationships.     

Benefits of preventive dentistry in children: Cost factors and public policy

Dental caries in children is now recognized as a preventable disease. The use of fluoride and sealants has produced a major reduction in caries prevalence among school aged children in the United States and other countries. A portion of the child population who are educationally and socioeconomically disadvantaged are not fully receiving these benefits. Public policy, insurance and medicaid groups must be made aware of these preventative measures and strategies developed to implement them.     

Language delays among foster children: implications for policy and practice

This article highlights the centrality of language in early childhood development and the potential for language delays to negatively affect long-term outcomes in educational and social domains. Given the high rate of language delays in the foster care population, an emphasis should be placed on assessing language skills among children ages 6 and younger entering foster care. The authors describe several existing approaches to assessing language skills and discuss obstacles to the widespread implementation of systematic evaluation among foster children. Finally, the authors discuss the need for research and programming to establish evidence-based practices that encourage the remediation of language delays in this highly vulnerable population.     

Social policy and intervention with chemically dependent women and their children

The increase in drug dependency among infants has significant implications for social service providers and must be addressed on the policy level. The policy debates and legislation which have surfaced to date need to be examined more closely and considered in the context of social service needs. This article considers policy options from the framework of social needs and individual needs in relation to the problem of maternal and infant chemical dependency.     

Unemployed fathers and their children: Implications for policy and practice

This paper reviews the literature on the family effects of unemployment in order to specify how changes in the economy might effect fathering during periods of unemployment. The purpose for doing so is to provide information to clinicians on how job loss effects family dynamics. This paper is organized around three variables that are seen as influencing the father and child relationship. These variables are: the father's reaction to job loss, the mother's reaction to job loss, and the characteristics of the child. The paper ends with a discussion of the policy and practice implications of the literature.     

Intercandidate agenda-setting in presidential elections: Issue and attribute agendas in the 2004 campaign

This study examined the role of political public relations in the process of intercandidate agenda-setting. Specifically, a content analysis of news releases, political speeches, and issue platform statements was conducted to assess the salience of issues and attributes in the 2004 presidential election from the Bush, Kerry, and Nader campaigns. While modest evidence for intercandidate agenda-setting associations regarding issue salience was obtained, more robust support was detected for attribute salience relationships. In light of these findings, the theoretical and practical implications for political public relations are discussed.     

Developing evidenced-based policy and practice in social interventions with children and families

This review article focuses on a series of reports commissioned by Barnardo's, the largest children's charity in the UK.¹ The series examines ‘what works?’ in different forms of social intervention with children and families. The publication of these reports is very timely. There is growing interest, indeed a demand, from many quarters for a strengthening of the evidence base that informs social policy. This, in turn, has opened a debate among researchers and users of research about what constitutes evidence. What sort of information enables us to make claims that a particular initiative works? This series considers the question of appropriate research methodologies and in so doing raises many further questions, which are the theme of this review.