Responsibilisation,social work and inclusive social security in Finland

ABSTRACT

In this article responsibilisation in social work is studied by analysing two Finnish state-level policy documents (called final report and research report) which concern a current activation initiative called inclusive social security (ISS). It is asked how social workers and clients are constructed as responsible subjects in these documents. Responsibilisation refers to the advanced liberal mode of governmentality, which aims to strengthen citizens’ abilities to self-governance through various techniques that include the intertwined elements of surveillance and empowerment. It is demonstrated that the policy documents construct the social workers’ and the clients’ responsibilities partly in different ways. The final report leads activation to be based on shared responsibility and social work to be more community-based, whereas the research report strengthens more individual-based responsibility of clients and social workers. For the clients, the interpretation of ISS based on shared responsibility would probably be less stigmatising and paternalistic than the one based on individual responsibilities, i.e. approaching long-term unemployed citizens as being personally ‘at risk’ and thus a justified target group of individualised techniques for activation. For social workers and clients, future activation appears to be a wide mix of different techniques, moral expectations and possible ways of being a responsible subject.     

Does a universal non-contributory social pension make sense for rural China?

China’s pension reform during the past three decades has allowed a majority of China’s population to be covered by a pension scheme. Of particular note has been the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS), a voluntary programme introduced starting in 2009. One goal of our analysis is to assess that pension scheme, using a variety of sources of information including data drawn from recent (2013 and 2015) nationwide China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Surveys (CHARLS). Our analysis involves an exploration of differences between the generosity and structure of the NRPS and other pension schemes currently in place. We also explore the feasibility of reforming the current “quasi-social pension” component of the NRPS by substituting a universal non-contributory social pension pillar. In connection with our assessment of the NRPS, we note the unusually low benefit levels for rural China.     

Who Should Pay for Interdependent Risk? Policy Implications for Security Interdependence Among Airports

We study interdependent risks in security, and shed light on the economic and policy implications of increasing security interdependence in presence of reactive attackers. We investigate the impact of potential public policy arrangements on the security of a group of interdependent organizations, namely, airports. Focusing on security expenditures and costs to society, as assessed by a social planner, to individual airports and to attackers, we first develop a game-theoretic framework, and derive explicit Nash equilibrium and socially optimal solutions in the airports network. We then conduct numerical experiments mirroring real-world cyber scenarios, to assess how a change in interdependence impact the airports' security expenditures, the overall expected costs to society, and the fairness of security financing. Our study provides insights on the economic and policy implications for the United States, Europe, and Asia.     

Security Investment in Contagious Networks

Security of the systems is normally interdependent in such a way that security risks of one part affect other parts and threats spread through the vulnerable links in the network. So, the risks of the systems can be mitigated through investments in the security of interconnecting links. This article takes an innovative look at the problem of security investment of nodes on their vulnerable links in a given contagious network as a game‐theoretic model that can be applied to a variety of applications including information systems. In the proposed game model, each node computes its corresponding risk based on the value of its assets, vulnerabilities, and threats to determine the optimum level of security investments on its external links respecting its limited budget. Furthermore, direct and indirect nonlinear influences of a node's security investment on the risks of other nodes are considered. The existence and uniqueness of the game's Nash equilibrium in the proposed game are also proved. Further analysis of the model in a practical case revealed that taking advantage of the investment effects of other players, perfectly rational players (i.e., those who use the utility function of the proposed game model) make more cost‐effective decisions than selfish nonrational or semirational players.     

试论投资基金的治理结构

投资基金的治理结构包含三个层次,即基金的各方当事人权利义务的制度安排、基金内部约束机制、外部市场压力及监管制度。针对我国基金治理结构目前存在的问题,可通过引入独立董事制度、将基金经理的报酬机制与公司的经营业绩挂钩、增强外部市场的竞争压力等途径,使之逐步完善。     

Urban cultivation in Accra: an examination of the nature, practices, problems, potentials and urban planning implications

The literature on urban farming in Sub-Saharan African cities reveals that most studies have been conducted in Eastern, Southern and Central African cities. A few have focused on West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Cameroon. In Ghana there is a paucity of information on urban farming. The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of urban cultivation in Accra, Ghana's capital, reviewing existing research, and to present new empirical findings on urban cultivation emphasizing on its history, nature, practices, problems, potentials and urban planning implications.     

试论佛山企业境外投资

企业境外投资应该成为佛山市发展外向型经济的战略任务之一。佛山市企业境外投资,具备着所有权、内部化和区位等方面的相对优势。境外投资是佛山市企业占领国外市场、扩大出口的有力手段;可享受国内外双重的优惠政策和待遇;是增加外汇收入、利用外资的新型方式。九十年代,佛山市企业应注重对东南亚国家的直接投资,对国外高科技,新产品、新服务部门和行业的直接投资。     

关于规范地方财政投融资体系的若干思考

地方财政投融资是以地方政府信用为基础 ,为实现政府基本目标 ,采取有偿融资和投资方式所进行的经济活动及所形成的制度体系。改革开放以来 ,投融资业务对地方经济发展起到了积极作用 ,但由于理论研究的严重滞后 ,以及政策措施不配套 ,地方财政投融资尚处于初步发展阶段 ,我们有必要总结其在发展中面临的问题 ,促进地方财政投融资体系的进一步完善     

人力资本投资与个人收入能力

讨论了人力资本的经济价值，通过建立教育投资模型，训练投资模型及流动投资模型，指出了正规教育投资，在职培训投资，迁移与流动投资对人力资本收入能力的影响。经分析表明，个人的人力资本现时存量与个人的未来收入能力之间存在正相关。     

试析我国房地产投资运作模式及其发展

随着我国房地产市场由卖方市场逐渐过渡到买方市场,房地产投资运作模式由作坊生产式投资模式逐渐向社会化大生产式投资模式椎进。