Reforming against all odds: Multi‐pillar pension systems in the Czech Republic and Romania

Attempts to replace pay‐as‐you‐go pension schemes with private funded systems came to a halt in Central and Eastern Europe after 2005. However, more recently, the region has witnessed two belated reformers: the Czech Republic and Romania. Both countries decided to partially privatize pensions despite the rising tide of evidence concerning the challenges associated with the policy. We argue that while part of the domestic political elite remained supportive of private funded pensions, the difficulties experienced by earlier reformers and reduced support from International Financial Institutions led to the adoption of small funded pension pillars. Such cautious attempts at privatization might become more common in the future as large reforms have proven politically unsustainable.     

A call for more elaborate and transparent pension data to inform policy‐making: A critical examination of World Bank data for Eastern Europe

This article offers a critical analysis of the methods by means of which data relating to the performance of second pillar pension schemes are collated, compared and reported. This is done with regard to the performance of mandatory private second pillar pension funds in Eastern Europe. By critically examining data published in a number of World Bank studies, and through the identification of data problems and irregularities, the article argues that a much more elaborate and transparent approach to the collation, comparative analysis and reporting of data is needed. Required is the establishment of a consensus regarding what should represent a robust basis for making credible policy recommendations, not least with regard to pension re‐reforms in the countries of Eastern Europe and elsewhere. In the absence of such a consensus, unresolved data problems and irregularities may potentially continue to influence the formulation of incomplete national policy conclusions regarding the performance of second pillar pension funds and, in turn, the ability of policy‐makers to evaluate appropriately the need for, and assess the feasibility of implementing in a sustainable manner, pension re‐reform.     

From pension funds to piggy banks: (Perverse) consequences of the Stability and Growth Pact since the crisis

As part of their strategy for economic and monetary union, European governments committed themselves to fiscal discipline – particularly by placing limits on annual deficits and on public debt. Subsequently, and as they sought to respond to the “current crisis”, they embraced the view that only if public finances were kept under control would sustainable recovery be possible. Rules of fiscal governance were strengthened. To help them meet these rules, the governments of many member States of the European Union made changes to their pension systems or to funds they had established specifically to pay the costs of population ageing. The intention was not to cut retirement benefits or to improve the efficiency of the relevant pension schemes and institutions. Rather, it was to free up resources immediately. Funded pension schemes and pension funds were treated like “piggy banks” that were raided when times became hard. Moreover, the policies pursued succeeded in meeting their objectives only because the system of national accounts according to which outcomes are judged does not recognize the way in which most of the fiscal gains are matched by future fiscal liabilities.     

Religion and parenting: ignored relationship?

Even though the social work profession has been increasingly sensitized to the spiritual needs of those that they are working with, recent history has demonstrated that professionals lack the knowledge and skills needed for understanding those who are subscribing to strong religious beliefs. The research reported in this paper draws on a qualitative study that examined the perceived caregiving practice of parents from the Seventh‐day Adventist faith community associated with the conservative Protestant sub‐culture. Twenty‐five participants aged 20–50 were invited to recall their experiences of being reared by practicing Adventist parents in the UK. An integrative phenomenological analysis yielded a number of themes that shed light on the relationship between religion and parenting. This paper will focus on the three key ideas that emerged: parenting was influenced by beliefs that parents held; a combination of warm and strict parenting was found with some evidence of stricter upbringing amongst black respondents; responses to parenting reported varied between acceptance and discomfort. The study gave valuable insight into individuals' experiences of a religious upbringing received within a secular environment.     

Divorced mothers' self‐perception of their divorce‐related communication with their children

This is a qualitative study of divorce‐related communication between mothers and children, as recounted by 20 Jewish Israeli mothers. We adopt the communication privacy management theory, focusing on mothers' subjective experiences of communication, their management of dialectic tension between concealment and disclosure – namely, not only what mothers choose to disclose to and hide from their children, but also the feelings, concerns and perceptions that drove their communication. The mothers' reports convey the challenges and dilemmas they faced when communicating with their children about their divorce and its repercussions; the main one being their obligation to maintain a good father image and their wish to preserve a strong maternal figure. The ‘child's well‐being’ was the dominant criterion in the mothers' decision to reveal or conceal divorce‐related information. Clinical suggestions are made.     

‘He didn't mean to hit mom,I think’: positioning,agency and point in adolescents' narratives about domestic violence

This paper analyses the narratives of adolescents who have experienced domestic violence. It focuses on what we can learn about being an adolescent who experiences domestic violence, using a narrative approach. Attentive to both form and content, the paper sheds light on why the narrative is being told, who the actors in the narratives are, who are positioned in the forefront/background and what the point of the narrative is. The analysis shows that through the storytelling, the father's position as the reluctant/dangerous/weak aggressor is negotiated, the mother is positioned both in the background as a victim and in the forefront as an actor resisting his violent behaviour. The children position themselves as actors with power to alter the progress, to protect and stop the violence. The point of the narratives is to describe the father as the aggressor, and to describe the important role of the children. This picture of the father, mother and child questions the traditional understanding of the father as the aggressor, the mother as the victim and the child as a powerless bystander being exposed to the violence, and underlines the complexities of the dynamics in families living with domestic violence.     

劳动力转移与粮食安全

中国快速城市化和工业化导致的大量农村劳动力向城市转移引起了决策者和学术界对粮食安全问题的担忧,但本文利用县级和农户面板数据研究发现：首先,即使到2010年,农村劳动力转移对粮食总产量的影响并不大,对主产区的粮食总产量的影响更小,这背后的机制是主产区农户会通过更多地增加其他农业生产要素来替代劳动力投入的减少;其次,劳动力转移对主产区和非主产区农户的粮食生产行为的影响以及对主要粮食作物和次要粮食作物的影响都有所不同。总之,农村劳动力迁移尚未严重威胁到中国的粮食安全,当然,政府应针对粮食主产区和非主产区实施不同的政策以保持粮食总产量的稳定,特别是要鼓励主产区的耕地流转以降低劳动力迁移的负面影响。     

Behavioral responses and the distributional effects of the Russian ‘flat’ tax

This paper simulates the distributional impact of the Russian personal income tax (PIT) following the flat tax reform of 2001 using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. I decompose the change in the distribution of net income into a direct (tax) effect and an indirect effect. The indirect effect is further decomposed into evasion and productivity effects using existing estimates of these respective elasticities. As expected, the direct tax effect increased net income inequality. Changes in the pre-tax distribution (indirect effect), on the other hand, had a large negative impact on inequality thus leading to an overall decline in net income inequality. I also find that the tax-induced evasion response increased reported net income inequality while reducing consumption inequality. To the extent that consumption approximates actual income, these results demonstrate that the flat tax reform had a much smaller effect on actual income inequality than on reported income inequality. More importantly, relative to non-tax factor, the reform had little overall effect on income inequality. This suggests that objection to flatter tax schedules on the grounds of income inequality is mostly misguided, especially in transitional countries with high levels of evasion.     

和平手段掩盖下的领土扩张:日本外交中的“小笠原问题”

论及日本在近代的领土扩张时,国内学者往往将注意力集中在日本通过武力对领土的强取豪夺上。然而,标榜"文明开化"的日本为扩张自身领土手段频出,除了诉诸武力外,还通过外交谈判来满足其领土野心,小笠原群岛正是日本通过外交手段获得的领土。无论是幕末至明治初期,日本通过与英、美谈判确立了在小笠原群岛上的主权,还是"二战"结束后日本通过对美谈判实现了小笠原群岛的"复归",日本都是通过外交途径实现了疆域的扩张。深入探讨日本外交中的小笠原问题,将有助于对日本近代以领土扩张为目的外交手段的认识。     

五代十国的流民问题

流民问题是古今中国的一大社会问题。五代十国时期是中国历史上一次大动荡、大分裂时期,农民流亡甚众,带来了许多社会问题。自唐末以来独霸一方的节度使,相互混战,许多农户被迫迁徙;加上天灾不断,加剧了农民的流亡。面对处于水深火热中的流民,开明的统治者采取了一些急救措施,开仓放粮,废除暴敛法令,减轻租赋,以纾民困,从而来挽救统治危机。统治阶级采取的措施,收到了一定的成效,但从整体上来看,收效甚微,流亡现象依然屡有发生。