September 2018
28Sep

Women in Finance: A Case for Closing Gaps

By Ratna Sahay ; Martin Cihak Women are underrepresented at all levels of the global financial system, from depositors and borrowers to bank board members and regulators. A new study at the IMF finds that greater inclusion of women as users, providers, and regulators of financial services would have benefits beyond addressing gender inequality. Narrowing the gender gap would foster greater stability in the banking system and enhance economic growth. It could also contribute to more effective monetary and fiscal policy....

September 28, 2018
Books, Corporate Governance, Labor Market, ,
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28Sep

Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Evaluation of the Effects of Corruption on Public Projects

By Robert J Brent (Fordham University) Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is the basis for rational economic decision making, whether it is for the government or individuals. If benefits are greater than costs, then a project or activity should be expanded. If costs are greater than the benefits, the project or activity should be contracted. And if benefits equal costs, the existing scale of operations is optimal. A social CBA obtains its measurement principles concerning the benefits and costs from applied welfare...

September 28, 2018
Articles, System Sustainability, ,
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August 2018

18Aug

Defining and Measuring Green Investments

Georg Inderst (Inderst Advisory), Christopher Kaminker (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)) & Fiona Stewart (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)) This definitional, stocktaking paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the concepts and definitions related to "green" investments that are currently used in the market place. The purpose of this research is not to take a position on a specific definition but rather to explore what is being generally used, whether there are commonalties and inconsistencies,...

August 18, 2018
Articles, Investing,
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11Aug

Financial Incentives and Earnings of Disability Insurance Recipients: Evidence from a Notch Design

By Philippe Ruh Most countries reduce Disability Insurance (DI) benefits for beneficiaries earning above a specified threshold. Such an earnings threshold generates a discontinuous increase in tax liability—a notch—and creates an incentive to keep earnings below the threshold. Exploiting such a notch in Austria, we provide transparent and credible identification of the effect of financial incentives on DI beneficiaries’ earnings. Using rich administrative data, we document large and sharp bunching at the earnings threshold. However, the elasticity driving these responses...

August 11, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, Pension design,
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July 2018

23Jul

Retirement, Pensions and Justice: A Philosophical Analysis

By Mark Hyde &‎ Rory Shand This book addresses the tendency to mischaracterise liberalism as a “neoliberal” reform project, arguing that liberal political philosophy is concerned only to sustain the conditions that make individual freedom possible. This is illustrated with reference to the design of pensions. Considered in terms of liberal justice, retirement systems require redistributive transfers to help the poor, measures to ensure that retirees are rewarded on their merits, and provisions that treat everyone with equal dignity and...

July 23, 2018
Books, Labor Market, ,
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16Jul

Social Protection Goals in East Asia: Strategies and Methods to Generate Fiscal Space

By Mukul G Asher,‎ Fauziah Zen,‎ Astrid Dita The book examines the conceptual, economic, and fiscal impact(s) of the Social Protection Floor (SPF) initiative of the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and other policy influencers by first critically examining the methodologies used by the international agencies to estimate the fiscal costs of designated minimum package(s) of social protection programs. The book also briefly reviews the methodologies used and usefulness of the Social Protection Index (SPI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Second,...

July 16, 2018
Books, System Sustainability
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16Jul

Immigration and Redistribution

By Alberto Alesina, Armando Miano, Stefanie Stantcheva We design and conduct large-scale surveys and experiments in six countries to investigate how natives' perceptions of immigrants influence their preferences for redistribution. We find strikingly large biases in natives' perceptions of the number and characteristics of immigrants: in all countries, respondents greatly overestimate the total number of immigrants, think immigrants are culturally and religiously more distant from them, and are economically weaker – less educated, more unemployed, poorer, and more reliant on...

July 16, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, ,
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07Jul

The Changing Face of Debt and Financial Fragility at Older Ages

By Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell & Noemi Oggero We investigate changes in older individuals' financial fragility as they stand on the verge of retirement. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we compare how debt has changed for successive cohorts of people age 56–61. Our analysis shows that recent older Americans close to retirement hold more debt, and hence face greater financial insecurity, than earlier generations. This is primarily due to having bought more expensive homes with...

July 7, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, , , ,
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June 2018

25Jun

Aging and Disability: Beyond Stereotypes to Inclusion: Proceedings of a Workshop

By Engineering and Medicine National Academies of Sciences Many different groups of people are subject to stereotypes. Positive stereotypes (e.g., “older and wiser”) may provide a benefit to the relevant groups. However, negative stereotypes of aging and of disability continue to persist and, in some cases, remain socially acceptable. Research has shown that when exposed to negative images of aging, older persons demonstrate poor physical and cognitive performance and function, while those who are exposed to positive images of aging...

June 25, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market,
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04Jun

Age Discrimination in European Employment Law: Problems and Potential Reforms

By Dáire McCormack-George (School of Law at Trinity College, Dublin) Irish employment equality law is driven by European Union policy. However, the law on age discrimination in employment is currently in a deeply worrying state. In this essay, I will make two arguments in relation to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the lawfulness of mandatory retirement ages. First, I will argue that the case law of the Court is, in the main,...

June 4, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, ,
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