The generosity of the welfare state towards the elderly

This paper distinguishes among three types of generosity of social security systems: average generosity, generosity towards early retirement and generosity towards the poor. On the basis of theoretical predictions, it examines the statistical correlations among those types of generosity for 14 OECD countries over the period 1985–2000. It also shows how they have evolved over time and tries to relate this evolution to the process of economic integration. There are three main findings, the first one being a positive relation between average social security spending and poverty alleviation. There is the negative relation between average spending and inequality reduction. Finally, over the period 1985–1995 one sees that poverty alleviation increases on average, but to a degree that decreases with economic openness.     

Best Value and the Control of Local Government: Challenges and Contradictions

This article offers some understanding of the early experience of implementing Best Value in the local authority sector. Implementation is dependent on how local government understands the concept; what local government is able to deliver; and what central government is prepared to accept. For the case study authority described in this article, Best Value is understood to depend on three deliverable 'cornerstones', embedded in a context that emphasises accountability, seeks to develop 'learning' and pursues change in organizational culture, emphasising the tenets of 'business excellence'. The authors conclude that Best Value represents an unusual cocktail of top-down concept and bottom-up realization, providing a new twist in the control of the local government sector.     

Distortion effects and extreme observations in empirical research: An analysis of the incremental information content of cash flows

Linear regression models are used in a number of studies examining the presence or absence of incremental information content in cash flows. The results of these studies are not consistent. This paper provides evidence of the impact that extreme observations can exert on parameter estimates in a regression model. Two techniques commonly used to address the problem of extreme observations are considered. These techniques, winsorising the data and trimming the data, are compared to a regression diagnostic technique, Cook's distance. The comparison of these techniques provides evidence that the choice of technique can determine the significance or otherwise of regression results. This paper concludes that the inconsistency in reported results examining the incremental information content in cash flows may be attributed to the techniques adopted to address the issue of extreme observations.     

Controlling monopoly power in a double-auction market experiment

There is robust evidence in the experimental economics literature showing that monopoly power is affected by trading institutions. In this paper, we study whether trading institutions themselves can shape agents' market behavior through the formation of anchors. We recreate experimentally five different double-auction market structures (perfect competition, perfect competition with quotas, cartel on price, cartel on price with quotas, and monopoly) in a within-subject design, varying the order of markets implementation. We investigate whether monopoly power endures the formation of price anchors emerged in previously implemented market structures. Results from our classroom experiments suggest that double-auction trading institutions succeed in preventing monopolists from exploiting their market power. Furthermore, the formation of price anchors in previously implemented markets negatively impacts on monopolists' power in later market structures.     

Missing poor and income mobility

Higher mortality among the poor prevents standard poverty measures from quantifying the actual extent of old-age poverty. Whereas existing attempts to deal with the ”missing poor” problem assume the absence of income mobility and assign to the prematurely dead a fictitious income equal to the last income enjoyed, this paper relaxes that assumption in order to study the impact of income mobility on the size of the missing poor bias. We use data on poverty above age 60 in 12 countries from the EU-SILC database, and we compare standard poverty rates with the hypothetical poverty rates that would have prevailed if (i) all individuals, whatever their income, had enjoyed the same survival conditions, and if (ii) all individuals within the same income class had been subject to the same income mobility process. Taking income mobility into account has unequal effects on corrected poverty measures across countries, and, hence, affects international comparisons in terms of old-age poverty.     

The effects of relationship length on customer profitability after a service recovery

Marketing Letters - Relationship length and its implications for service recovery have rarely been quantified in terms of cross-buying and customer profitability. Based on a sample of 935 customers...     

Meeting Magnet research evidence-based practice expectations through hospital-based research centers

Hospital-based nursing research centers can create the structures and processes needed to promote and sustain research and evidence-based practice (EBP) and assist in the monitoring of care delivery outcomes. At the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, a highly successful nursing research center has succeeded in creating a Magnet environment that incorporates research and EBP into strategic planning, individual employee performance review, and organizational processes. Support of a hospital-based research center can provide the foundation for an infrastructure that supports achievement of Magnet designation research and EBP criteria. The costs pertain primarily to the staff required to develop and manage the center and the educational programs offered through it. Based on the experience at this center, administrators should plan 3-5 years before significant impact is seen in terms of numbers of consultations performed and tangible increases in staff and leadership participation in research and EBP initiatives.