Reforming pensions: Principles, analytical errors and policy directions

This article, sets out a series of principles for pension design rooted in economic theory: pension systems have multiple objectives, analysis should consider the pension system as a whole, analysis should be framed in a second-best context, different systems share risks differently, and systems have different effects by generation and by gender. That discussion is reinforced by identification of a series of widespread analytical errors — errors that appear in World Bank work, but by no means only in World Bank work: tunnel vision, improper use of first-best analysis, improper use of steady-state analysis, incomplete analysis of implicit pension debt, incomplete analysis of the impact of funding (including excessive focus on financial flows, failure to consider how funding is generated, and improper focus on the type of asset in trust funds), and ignoring distributional effects. The second part of the article considers implications for policy: there is no single best pension design, earlier retirement does little or nothing to reduce unemployment, unsustainable pension promises need to be addressed directly, a move from pay-as-you-go towards funding in a mandatory system may or may not be welfare improving, and implementation matters — policy design that exceeds a country's capacity to implement it is bad policy design. We illustrate the ranges of designs of pension systems that fit the fiscal and institutional capacity constraints typical at different levels of economic development. The potential gains from simplicity imply that a country capable of implementing an administratively demanding plan does not necessarily gain from doing so. New Zealand has a simple pension system through choice, not constraint.     

Sharpest Tool in the Shed - Accounting Concepts for Managing the Collections Budget

Abstract

This segment of Sharpest Tool in the Shed provides an overview of acquisitions accounting principles and how these concepts can help acquisitions staff and budget managers monitor, track, and project the collections budget to prevent overspending or underspending. Focusing primarily on encumbrances, this article will review the basic accounting equation for library funds, identify common encumbrance problems and pitfalls, and briefly discuss the impact of library system migrations on encumbrances and fund data.     

Angle of regard: The effect of vertical viewing angle on the perception of facial expressions

Two studies were conducted using video records of real faces and three-dimensional schematic faces to investigate the perceptual distortions introduced by viewing faces at a vertical angle and their influence on the attribution of emotional expressions and attitudes. The results indicate that faces seen from below were perceived as morepositive and lessnegative, while faces seen from above appeared morenegative and lesspositive. This effect seems to be moderated by interindividual differences in facial morphology, and perhaps by differences in dynamic aspects of expressions. The second study investigated the respective contribution of the upper half and the lower half of the face to the perceptual distortion found. In general, judges based their attributions of emotional state more on cues from the upper half of the face.     

Problematic emotions and maternal grief

The study was an empirical examination of the relation of personality proneness to "problematic social emotions"--envy (Dispositional Envy Scale), jealousy (Interpersonal Jealousy Scale), and shame and guilt (Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2)--to maternal grief (Perinatal Grief Scale-33) following miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant/child death. The 441 women who participated in the study were enrolled from the Website, e-mail contact lists, and parent support groups of an organization that offers information and support to bereaved parents. All four problematic emotions were positively correlated with maternal grief. Envy, jealousy, and guilt made significant unique contributions to the variance in maternal grief. Overall, time lapse since the loss and the four problematic emotion predispositions explained 43% of the variance in maternal grief following child bereavement.     

Preferences,the Agenda Setter,and the Distribution of Power in the EU

In this paper, we present a generalization of power indices which includes the preferences of the voters. Using a Multilinear Extension perspective (Owen in Manage Sci 18:p64–p72, 1972a) we measure the probability of the players’ voting “yes” for a particular political issue. Further, we randomize the issues and show the influence that the Agenda Setter can have on a player’s power. We demonstrate these results using data from the European Union to show how the power distribution may shift after enlargement and under the new Constitutional Treaty.     

Decentering constructs predict experience and tolerance of pain: evidence from a cold pressor study / Constructos relacionados con el descentramiento predicen la experiencia y la tolerancia al dolor: evidencia obtenida mediante la prueba del frío

Abstract

Decentering is a detached, observer perspective on one’s current mental contents. Recent work has identified two potential aspects of decentering, Observer Perspective (OP) and Reduced Struggle (RS), that independently predict the effects of decentering. Specifically, both OP and RS predict reduced psychological distress in response to negative affect, with some variability in predictive utility across outcomes. In this study, we sought to extend previous work by examining OP and RS as predictors of responses to an external source of distress, a painful stimulus. Participants completed measures of decentering, followed by a cold pressor task for up to four minutes. We recorded time that participants were able to withstand the cold-water bath and the intensity of the pain experienced. We found that both OP and RS predicted partiacipants’ pain tolerance and pain intensity, but that only RS did so uniquely. Results are discussed with respect to theory on decentering.     

A profile of childminding: implications for planning

After friends and relatives, childminders are the most common form of child care. This paper reports the results from a postal survey of a nationally representative sample of over 1,000 childminders. Results are reported concerning childminders' training and employment histories, working conditions, motivation, commitment and satisfaction with their work. Two groups of childminders emerge; a group where childminding may be a passing phase in their employment career and a group who consider it as a long‐term career. The findings are discussed with reference to the aims of the National Childcare Strategy and the role of Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Television Viewing Patterns in 6‐ to 18‐Month‐Olds: The Role of Caregiver–Infant Interactional Quality

The present study examines coviewing of Baby Mozart by 6‐ to 18‐month‐old infants and their caregivers under naturalistic conditions. We had two questions. First, extending the method of Barr, Zack, Garcia, and Muentener ( Infancy, 13 [2008], 30–56 ) to a younger population, we asked if age, prior exposure, and caregiver verbal input would predict infant looking to a Baby Mozart video from 6 to 18 months. Second, we asked if caregiver–infant interactional quality, defined as the amount of shared focus and turn taking between infant and caregiver, would be associated with infant looking time. We found that, in addition to the anticipated effect of prior exposure and caregiver verbal input, interactional quality measures were related to infant media‐directed looking. Infants who engaged in more shared focus and turn taking looked more to the program than infants who interacted less with their caregivers. These results are discussed in terms of social mediation of coviewing during early infancy.     

Feminized cultural capital at work in the moral economy: Home credit and working-class women

One of the defining features of the home credit sector is the role played by its agents—workers who act as intermediaries between lending companies and borrowers to facilitate lending and collect repayments. There is a prevailing and pervasive narrative in the sector that women make superior agents, largely based on the belief that female agents can manage relationships with borrowers more successfully than their male counterparts. This article analyzes data from 349,078 home credit accounts (loans), as well as 71 interviews with home credit agents and lending company managers, to evaluate both the myths and realities of women's roles in home credit. The data is also used to explore the opportunities for—and potential constraints on—women's career progression in home credit work, based on an understanding of the moral economy in which they operate. By exploring the moral economy of low-income communities, the article highlights the role of working-class women's cultural capital within the labor market. Despite women forming the majority of the agent workforce in home credit, women's capital is undervalued in comparison with their male counterparts' capital. The analysis within this article allows a greater understanding of the highly classed and gendered nature of the moral economy of low-income communities and the exchange value of women's capital within the labor market.     

Beyond Triangulation: Reconstructing Mandela’s Writing Life through Propulsive Facilitation at the Archive

Qualitative Sociology - Multimethod studies generally fall under what are referred to as “confirmatory” or “complementary” approaches. Yet in addition to these two...