The 2015 welfare reform of the National Basic Livelihood Security System in South Korea: Effects on economic outcomes

In July 2015, South Korea’s National Basic Livelihood Security System (NBLSS) was reformed for the purposes of eliminating welfare blind spots and reducing poverty. The reform is expected to affect the recipients’ economic behaviours and choices. In this study, we used changes in benefits and eligibility for the NBLSS under the customised benefit system to identify the effects of the change in the NBLSS on a proposed set of economic outcomes – income, labour supply, consumption, savings, poverty reduction. To estimate the effects, we used data from the 10th–12th waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study and employed a difference‐in‐differences framework integrated with the propensity scores. We found that the NBLSS helps the poor to reduce financial and material hardships through income and consumption increments, but that it does not provide disincentives to the recipients from participating in the labour market or from saving.     

Alcohol consumption among undergraduate social work students at a South African university

ABSTRACT

Alcohol consumption among tertiary level students is a public health problem that can adversely affect students’ performance at university. This study therefore investigated the drinking patterns; reasons for drinking; and the perceived impact of drinking on academic performance of undergraduate social work students at a South African university. Of the 145 students who completed a group administered survey questionnaire, 88% reported using alcohol mainly for social purposes and enjoyment, with two-fifths admitting to participating in binge drinking. Despite these findings, a high proportion (78%) reported not performing poorly on a test or exam due to alcohol consumption in the preceding 12 months. Recommendations are provided for the education and support of social work students as future healthcare professionals.     

我国新型农村社会养老保险经济支持能力研究

老农保的失败让人们对新农保充满期待的同时也存有几分担忧,他们担心农民的经济承受力。更怕财政不堪重负。为坚定领导层试点、推广新农保的信心和决心,加快新农保发展步伐,本文在测算新型农村社会养老保险的经济负担的基础上,对农民个人和政府两方面的经济支持能力进行分析,认为只要制度设计合理,农民个人和政府是有能力承担这部分支出的。     

日本护理保险的制度效应分析

面对人口老龄化程度的不断加深以及由此带来的社会保障制度困境,日本政府以建立护理保险制度为突破口,拉开了社会保障基础体制改革的序幕。经过8年的制度运作,日本护理保险的制度效应得失并存,一方面在一定程度上实现了老年护理服务的"由国家到地方"、"由官到民"和"由家庭到社会"的转型,初步达到了制度设计之初的目标;另一方面也带来公平性、地方财政困难和制度整合缺失等问题,对护理保险制度的可持续性带来挑战。     

第一代农村独生子女父母养老意愿实证分析——兼论农村养老保险的效用

通过对江苏和四川两省810户农村居民入户问卷调查数据分析,重点考察第一代农村独生子女父母与同时代非独生子女父母在养老意愿上的差异。是否参加农村养老保险是影响农村独生子女父母养老意愿的一个重要因素。所有参加养老保险的两类父母,在养老意愿三个维度上不存在显著性差异。而对于未参加养老保险的群体而言,两类父母在养老经济打算、养老担心度上均表现出显著性差异。从农村社会养老保险政策和养老观念转变两个方面,进一步探讨第一代农村独生子女父母如何应对养老。     

Interacting mechanisms of time inconsistency

We interact two prominent behavioral mechanisms of time inconsistency that have been used to study inadequate saving: hyperbolic discounting and short-term planning. Hyperbolic discounting is a conventional way to model impulsive decision making, and short planning horizons have been used to represent myopia. One might expect that interacting both mechanisms within the same model would compound the inadequacy of saving. However, our key finding takes the form of a paradox: hyperbolic discounting does not affect consumption and saving allocations if the planning horizon is short and fixed, although it will affect allocations if the planning horizon is equal to the remaining life span. We demonstrate analytically that this finding is robust to the shape of the disposable income path, to the coarseness of the time grid, and to alternative forms of the period utility function.     

文化产业化背景下电视剧《胡杨女人》的商品消费性特征解析

《胡杨女人》是文化产业化背景下生产的蒙古族题材电视剧。该剧得以在央视1套和8套连续4次反复播出,与其在创作方面的创新性探索不无关联,尤其突出表现为剧作的商品消费性特征明显,即注重讲故事、民俗文化参与叙事、自然景观的奇异化。该剧的成功为文化产业化时代蒙古族题材电视剧的创作提供了可供借鉴的范式。     

影视产业融资机制分析研究——以加拿大影视产业资金保证体系为例

中央提出文化强国的发展战略,无疑为文化产业的全面推进创造了发展机遇。就影视产业的发展来看,虽然这些年出了不少佳作,进行了有益的尝试,但一些瓶颈问题仍然困扰着我们。他山之石,可以攻玉,别人的经验可以让我们少走弯路,文章正是以此为出发点,提供出一个借鉴的视点。     

银行证券保险业监管比较

银行、证券、保险三行业因其业务特性不同,从而面临的主要风险及风险表现的特征也不同。各行业的风险管理既表现出针对主要风险、服从业务特征的共性,也表现出在具体管理技术、方法上的差异性。因此,三行业的监管导向及监管实践都存在着差异和侧重：银行业突出系统性、监管协调和对资产的监管;证券业强调监管对象的多层次性、监管的透明性和对业务的监管;保险业以承保风险为核心,突出母国鉴定和对负债的监管。     

社会主义生态文明建设的重要内容: 生态消费模式

当前,我国消费伴随着经济的快速发展日益被异化为“病态式消费”模式,这使得国民经济的协调发展遭到了严重破坏,甚至生态系统也面临着崩溃的危险。我国新富群体缺乏正确的消费观念,加上西方消费主义影响,引发了诸多的社会问题。实践证明,只有树立正确的消费观念、克制消费欲望、调整消费行为,才能建立生态消费模式,才能符合社会主义生态文明的要求,实现人与自然的协调发展。