Negative Effects of the Canadian GIS Clawback and Possible Mitigating Alternatives

Abstract

In Canada there are three main sources of government-provided retirement income: the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans (C/QPP), which have benefits and contributions based on earnings up to the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings; Old Age Security (OAS), which is a fixed amount for most but does include a “clawback” of benefits for high-income individuals; and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which is designed to supplement those persons with extremely low income. The annual GIS benefit is reduced, or clawed back, by 50 cents for every dollar of annual income the person has in retirement, including C/QPP and income from Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and other savings. OAS benefits are not included in determining the GIS clawback.

The result of this is that low-income individuals who attempt to enhance their retirement replacement ratio actually see a decrease in government-provided support the more they save for retirement. Savings in an RRSP can effectively be taxed at more than 100% through corresponding reductions in the GIS, social housing, home care, GAINS (Ontario’s Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement), and other benefits that are based on one’s personal retirement income.

This paper explores alternatives to the 50% GIS clawback, including a basic GIS exemption, a GIS clawback rate lower than 50%, and a combination of the two. The goal is to improve the fairness of the GIS and reduce the disincentive to save for retirement, without increasing the overall cost of the program significantly.     

Educational technology in hospitality management programs: adoption and expectations

Educational technology has been widely adopted to support students’ learning. However, existing literature provides fractional pictures of the current adoption and expectations of educational technology in hospitality programs in higher education. This study examines the perspectives of hospitality management students on educational technology adoption, its advantages, their concerns and expectations regarding the integration of educational technology. The findings reveal flexibility as the main advantage of educational technology, while the need for stronger self-motivation is the main concern. Students expect more adoption of multimedia in education, while the current adoption of social software suffices their expectation. Also, different technology adoption is recommended to satisfy lower and upper classmen respectively.     

Online Feedback and Attraction Management: An Exploration of the Critical Factors in Effective Operations

The objective of this study was to identify the critical factors about which future visitors to attractions want information, based on online reviews. An NVivo-based content analysis was conducted using 4831 traveler reviews posted on Tripadvisor.com. In total, seven critical factors were identified: environment (e.g. hygiene and cleanliness); experience (e.g. being in good order, overcrowding); location and/or transportation (e.g. subways); price, purpose (e.g. taking photos); target group and suitability (e.g. with/without children); and time. The findings provide guidance for attraction managers on how to make an effective and efficient response to negative reviews on social media channels and how to identify and meet future customer needs. This study supports the attraction industry to improve service quality and attract more visitors in future.     

Child Labor and Multinational Conduct: A Comparison of International Business andStakeholder Codes

Increasing attention to the issue of child labor has been reflected in codes of conduct that emerged in the past decade in particular. This paper examines the way in which multinationals, business associations, governmental and non-governmental organizations deal with child labor in their codes. With a standardized framework, it analyzes 55 codes drawn up by these different actors to influence firms external, societal behavior. The exploratory study helps to identify the main issues related to child labor and the use of voluntary instruments such as codes of conduct. Apart from a specific indication of the topics covered by the code, especially minimum-age requirements, this also includes monitoring systems and monitoring parties. Most important to company codes are the sanctions imposed on business partners in case of non-compliance. Severe measures may be counterproductive as they do not change the underlying causes of child labor and can worsen the situation of the child workers by driving them to more hazardous work in the informal sector. This underlines the importance of a broad rather than a restrictive approach to child labor in codes of conduct. The paper discusses the implications of this study, offering suggestions for future research.     

Improving companies' impacts on sustainable development: A nexus approach to the SDGS

Companies play a decisive role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, most of the world's sustainable development challenges are interconnected and systemic in their nature. How can companies ensure that their strategies effectively contribute to sustainable development? This interdisciplinary paper draws from the social-ecological systems, corporate sustainability, and sustainability sciences literatures, in order to introduce a nexus approach to corporate sustainability. A nexus approach induces companies to assess and manage their positive and negative interactions with the SDGs—which may arise directly and indirectly—in an integrated manner. Instead of treating SDGs as isolated silos, a nexus approach aims to advance multiple SDGs simultaneously (creating “co-benefits”) while reducing the risk that contributions to one SDG undermine progress on another (avoiding “trade-offs”). Through managing the interactions between the SDGs, a nexus approach to corporate sustainability enables companies to improve their societal and environmental impacts. This nexus approach is a step towards developing a theory of sustainability management that helps companies improve their impacts on sustainable development. Such systemic corporate sustainability strategies are sorely needed to drive progress towards achieving the SDGs and to safeguard companies from “SDG-washing.”     

INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE AGREEMENTS UNDER INDUCED TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

We examine the impact of technological change on the stability of climate coalitions and explore how international cooperation on abatement affects the incentives of signatories to invest in R&D to reduce emissions. We compare the case of no technological change with exogenous technological change and induced technological change. In the latter case R&D investments are endogenous. We find that the highest equilibrium pay‐offs are achieved in the case of induced technological change. Furthermore, the formation of a climate coalition boosts R&D investments in carbon abatement technologies in signatory countries.