Les politiques de revenu minimum dans les provinces canadiennes : une étude comparée de l’aide sociale au Canada

L’objectif de ce mémoire est d’identifier les déterminants de la générosité de l’aide sociale au Canada. Plus précisément, quels sont les facteurs qui expliquent les variations entre les montants d’aide sociale entre les provinces canadiennes de 1990 à 2009? Pourquoi le Québec, la Saskatchewan et Terre-Neuve-Labrador sont plus généreux que le Nouveau-Brunswick et l’Alberta? L’analyse de ces 10 politiques distinctes est produite à partir d’un cadre théorique quadripartite qui inclut le rôle des acteurs (partis politiques et syndicats), les traits institutionnels (dépenses publiques et engagement à la redistribution), les contraintes budgétaires (taux d’assistance sociale, dette, économie) et le rôle du gouvernement fédéral (montant et type de transfert). Les résultats démontrent que l’aide sociale est une politique hautement dépendante au sentier et incrémentale. Des transferts fédéraux à coût partagé et un taux de syndicalisation élevé sont des facteurs qui exercent une influence positive sur la générosité des provinces. À l’inverse, les partis de droite ainsi qu’une situation budgétaire difficile ont un impact négatif. Il faut noter que la richesse économique des provinces n’est pas associée à une plus grande générosité de l’aide sociale, au contraire les prestations d’aide sociale étaient plus faibles en 2009 qu’en 1990 malgré un PIB qui a presque doublé. De plus, des provinces riches comme l’Alberta et la Colombie-Britannique sont peu généreuses. Finalement, il faut noter que les partis politiques de gauche n’ont pas l’effet positif escompté sur la générosité des politiques de revenu minimum.

Exploring Perceptions of Middle Class Urban Indian Women Regarding Socio-Cultural Deterrents Influencing Participation in Adult and Continuing Educational Programs

Unlike its childhood counterpart, adult and continuing education is a voluntary activity, where adult learners partake in educational programs for the sake of realizing some explicit or implicit goal. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between socio-cultural influences and deterrents to participation of middle class urban Indian women in adult and continuing educational programs. Darkenwald and Merriam’s (1982) theory of non-participation was selected as the theoretical lens used to guide this study. This study involved collecting qualitative data to analyze participant views and was collected through 16 semi-structured interviews to explore participants’ individual perceptions concerning socio-cultural deterrents influencing participation of middle class urban Indian women in adult and continuing educational programs. Qualitative data were analyzed to discover emerging themes and sub-themes. In the second phase of the study, a modified Deterrent to Participation Scale – General (DPS-G) was used to measure data collected from the surveys completed by participants, that included specific demographic questions. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the relationships between the demographic questions and the deterrent identified on the DPS-G. The interview and survey data were used convergently to understand the relationship between socio-cultural influences and deterrents impacting participant participation in adult and continuing educational programs. The findings of the study indicated that the biggest socio-cultural influence deterring participation among middle class urban Indian women in adult and continuing educational programs is marriage. It is an Indian social norm that comes with a set of pre-defined roles and expectations, and married women find themselves consumed by fulfilling the marital and familial expectations and responsibilities and participation in adult and continuing educational program is furthest from their mind. Middle class urban Indian women do realize the importance of educational pursuits, but do not feel that they can, after marriage. They are open, however, to pursuing adult educational programs in the form of short-term skill development programs leading to income generation, although they would lead primarily to home-based work enterprises.

Do Multiculturalism Policies Erode the Welfare State (Working Paper 33)

The past 30 years have witnessed a dramatic change in the way Western democracies deal with ethnic minorities. In the past, ethnic diversity was often seen as a threat to political stability, and minorities were subject to a range of policies intended to assimilate or marginalize them. Today, many Western democracies have adopted a more accommodating approach. This is reflected in the widespread adoption of multiculturalism policies for immigrant groups, the acceptance of territorial autonomy and language rights for national minorities, and the recognition of land claims and selfgovernment rights for indigenous peoples. We refer to these policies as “multiculturalism policies” or MCPs. The adoption of MCPs has been controversial, for two reasons. The first is a philosophical critique, which argues that MCPs are inherently inconsistent with basic liberal-democratic principles. Since the mid-1990s, however, this philosophical debate has been supplemented by a second argument: namely, that MCPs make it more difficult to sustain a robust Welfare State (hereafter WS). Critics worry that such policies erode the interpersonal trust, social solidarity and political coalitions that sustain a strongly redistributive WS. This paper reviews the reasons why critics believe that MCPs weaken political support for redistribution, and then examines empirically whether the adoption of MCPs has, in fact, been associated with erosion of the WS. This examination involves two steps: we develop a taxonomy of MCPs and classify Western democracies as “strong”, “modest” or “weak” in their level of MCPs. We then examine whether the strength of MCPs is associated with the erosion of the WS during the 1980s and 1990s. The evolution of the WS is measured through change in four indicators: social spending as a percentage of GDP; the redistributive impact of taxes and transfers; levels of child poverty; and the level of income inequality. We find no evidence of a consistent relationship between the adoption of MCPs and the erosion of the WS. Our analysis has limits, and we hope it stimulates further research. Nevertheless, the preliminary evidence presented here is clear: the case advanced by critics of MCPs is not supported. The growing ethnic diversity of Western societies has generated pressures for the construction of new and more inclusive forms of citizenship and national identity. The evidence in this paper suggests that debates over the appropriateness of multiculturalism policies as one response to this diversity should not be pre-empted by unsupported fears about their impact on the WS.

Clinical Outcomes in 3343 Children and Adults with Rheumatic Heart Disease from 14 Low and Middle Income Countries: 2-Year Follow-up of the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study)

BACKGROUND: -There are few contemporary data on the mortality and morbidity associated with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) or information on their predictors. We report the two year follow-up of individuals with RHD from 14 low and middle income countries in Africa and Asia.

METHODS: -Between January 2010 and November 2012, we enrolled 3343 patients from 25 centers in 14 countries and followed them for two years to assess mortality, congestive heart failure (CHF), stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), recurrent acute rheumatic fever (ARF), and infective endocarditis (IE).

RESULTS: -Vital status at 24 months was known for 2960 (88.5%) patients. Two thirds were female. Although patients were young (median age 28 years, interquartile range 18 to 40), the two year case fatality rate was high (500 deaths, 16.9%). Mortality rate was 116.3/1000 patient-years in the first year and 65.4/1000 patient-years in the second year. Median age at death was 28.7 years. Independent predictors of death were severe valve disease (hazard ratio (HR) 2.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.80-3.11), CHF (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.70-2.72), New York Heart Association functional class III/IV (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.32-2.10), atrial fibrillation (AF) (HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.10-1.78) and older age (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01-1.02 per year increase) at enrolment. Post-primary education (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.54-0.85) and female sex (HR 0.65, 95%CI 0.52-0.80) were associated with lower risk of death. 204 (6.9%) had new CHF (incidence, 38.42/1000 patient-years), 46 (1.6%) had a stroke or TIA (8.45/1000 patient-years), 19 (0.6%) had ARF (3.49/1000 patient-years), and 20 (0.7%) had IE (3.65/1000 patient-years). Previous stroke and older age were independent predictors of stroke/TIA or systemic embolism. Patients from low and lower-middle income countries had significantly higher age- and sex-adjusted mortality compared to patients from upper-middle income countries. Valve surgery was significantly more common in upper-middle income than in lower-middle- or low-income countries.

CONCLUSIONS: -Patients with clinical RHD have high mortality and morbidity despite being young; those from low and lower-middle income countries had a poorer prognosis associated with advanced disease and low education. Programs focused on early detection and treatment of clinical RHD are required to improve outcomes.

Iowa Highway Programs, Finances, and Progress, 1951

(a) Iowa has a total of 101,620 miles of rural roads, both primary and secondary. (b) On January 1, 1951, a total of 68,869 miles of these rural roads were surfaced - mostly with gravel and crushed stone. (c) Additional roads are being surfaced at the rate of 2676 miles per year. (d) Iowa's highway program provides for a surfaced road to every reasonably located rural home and a paved or other type of dustless surface on all primary roads. (e) Iowa's highway funds come 26.0 per cent from property taxes, 63.5 per cent from road use taxes, 10.5 per cent from Federal aid. (f) Annual income under present laws, available for highway construction, is approximately For primary roads ----------------- $24,000,000 For secondary roads---------------- $41,967,000 (g) Iowa's highway improvements are being paid for as built. No new bonds are being issued. (h) Unobligated available farm to market road funds are rapidly being placed under contract. (i) The letting of highway contracts is increasing rapidly. (j)- Iowa's highway program is estimated to cost $945,000,000 and will require twenty years to build. These are the highlights of Iowa's highway program. The details will follow in succeeding paragraphs.

Iowa Highway Programs, Finances, and Progress, 1952

(a) Iowa has a total of 101,620 miles of rural roads, both primary and secondary. (b) On January 1, 1952, a total of 71,493 miles of these rural roads were surfaced - mostly with gravel and crushed stone. (c) Additional roads are being surfaced at the rate of 2662 miles per year. (d) Iowa's highway program provides for a surfaced road to every reasonably located rural home and a paved or other type of dustless surface on all primary roads. (e) Iowa's highway funds come 26.0 per cent from property taxes, 63.5 per cent from road use taxes, 10.5 per cent from Federal aid. (f) Annual income under present laws, available for highway construction, is approximately For primary roads------------------$23,000,000 For secondary roads---------------- 41,967,000 (g) Iowa's highway improvements are being paid for as built. No new bonds are being issued. (h) The surplus of farm to market road funds created during and immediately following the War have now been placed under contract, with only a minimum working balance remaining in the fund. (i) Iowa's highway program was estimated to cost $945,000,000 and to require twenty years to build, by the 1948 Legislative Committee. This estimate would now have to be increased due to price increases and higher required standards. These are the highlights of Iowa's highway program. The details will follow in succeeding paragraphs.

The Effect of Marine Protected Areas on Fishers' Income in the Philippines

The fisheries sector is vital to the Philippine economy, providing substantial employment and income, contributing export earnings, and meeting local food security and nutrition requirements. To protect coastal and marine habitat and to sustain fisheries, over 1000 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established, in the Philippines. This paper provides empirical evidence on the variance of net revenues linked with MPA establishment and the possible range of relocation costs for fishing effort displaced by an MPA. A total of 424 households were randomly selected from 18 barangays (villages) adjacent to MPAs in three regions in the Philippines. Results show that incomes decrease significantly for both fulltime and seasonal types of fishers after 1-3 years of MPA establishment. The loss occurring through MPA is higher than expected and at least on the short run (up to 4 years) the spill-over effect does not compensate. This information helped to determine the necessary conditional cash transfers for coastal communities who are highly dependent on coastal and marine resources.

ESSAYS ON THE WTO ACCESSION, HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

In the course of integrating into the global market, especially since China’s WTO accession, China has achieved remarkable GDP growth and has become the second largest economy in the world. These economic achievements have substantially increased Chinese incomes and have generated more government revenue for social progress. However, China’s economic progress, in itself, is neither sufficient for achieving desirable development outcomes nor a guarantee for expanding peoples’ capabilities. In fact, a narrow emphasis on GDP growth proves to be unsustainable, and may eventually harm the life quality of Chinese citizens. Without the right set of policies, a deepening trade-openness policy in China may enlarge social disparities and some people may further be deprived of basic public services and opportunities. To address these concerns, this dissertation, a set of three essays in Chapters 2-4, examines the impact of China's WTO accession on income distribution, compares China’s income and multidimensional poverty reduction and investigates the factors, including the WTO accession, that predict multidimensional poverty. By exploiting the exogenous variation in exposure to tariff changes across provinces and over time, Chapter 2 (Essay 1) estimates the causal effects of trade shocks and finds that China’s WTO accession has led to an increase in average household income, but its impacts are not evenly distributed. Households in urban areas have benefited more significantly than those in rural areas. Households with members working in the private sector have benefited more significantly than those in the public sector. However, the WTO accession has contributed to reducing income inequality between higher and lower income groups. Chapter 3 (Essay 2) explains and applies the Alkire and Foster Method (AF Method), examines multidimensional poverty in China and compares it with income poverty. It finds that China’s multidimensional poverty has declined dramatically during the period from 1989-2011. Reduction rates and patterns, however, vary by dimensions: multidimensional poverty reduction exhibits unbalanced regional progress as well as varies by province and between rural and urban areas. In comparison with income poverty, multidimensional poverty reduction does not always coincide with economic growth. Moreover, if one applies a single measure ─ either that of income or multidimensional poverty ─ a certain proportion of those who are poor remain unrecognized. By applying a logistic regression model, Chapter 4 (Essay 3) examines factors that predict multidimensional poverty and finds that the major factors predicting multidimensional poverty in China include household size, education level of the household head, health insurance coverage, geographic location, and the openness of the local economy. In order to alleviate multidimensional poverty, efforts should be targeted to (i) expand education opportunities for the household heads with low levels of education, (ii) develop appropriate geographic policies to narrow regional gaps and (iii) make macroeconomic policies work for the poor.

Ready for Transition: Factors that facilitate transfer to undergraduate engineering programs among Black African and American students

This study examines the factors facilitating the transfer admission of students broadly classified as Black from a single community college into a selective engineering college. The work aims to further research on STEM preparation and performance for students of color, as well as scholarship on increasing access to four-year institutions from two-year schools. Factors illuminating Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minority (URM) student pathways through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degree programs have often been examined through large-scale quantitative studies. However, this qualitative study complements quantitative data through demographic questionnaires, as well as semi-structured individual and group. The backgrounds and voices of diverse Black transfer students in four-year engineering degree programs were captured through these methods. Major findings from this research include evidence that community college faculty, peer networks, and family members facilitated transfer. Other results distinguish Black African from Black American transfers; included in these distinctions are depictions of different K-12 schooling experiences and differences in how participants self-identified. The findings that result from this research build upon the few studies that account for expanded dimensions of student diversity within the Black population. Among other demographic data, participants’ countries of birth and years of migration to the U.S. (if applicable) are included. Interviews reveal participants’ perceptions of factors impacting their educational trajectories in STEM and subsequent ability to transfer into a competitive undergraduate engineering program. This study is inclusive of, and reveals an important shifting demographic within the United States of America, Black Africans, who represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the immigrant population.

Les politiques de revenu minimum dans les provinces canadiennes : une étude comparée de l’aide sociale au Canada

L’objectif de ce mémoire est d’identifier les déterminants de la générosité de l’aide sociale au Canada. Plus précisément, quels sont les facteurs qui expliquent les variations entre les montants d’aide sociale entre les provinces canadiennes de 1990 à 2009? Pourquoi le Québec, la Saskatchewan et Terre-Neuve-Labrador sont plus généreux que le Nouveau-Brunswick et l’Alberta? L’analyse de ces 10 politiques distinctes est produite à partir d’un cadre théorique quadripartite qui inclut le rôle des acteurs (partis politiques et syndicats), les traits institutionnels (dépenses publiques et engagement à la redistribution), les contraintes budgétaires (taux d’assistance sociale, dette, économie) et le rôle du gouvernement fédéral (montant et type de transfert). Les résultats démontrent que l’aide sociale est une politique hautement dépendante au sentier et incrémentale. Des transferts fédéraux à coût partagé et un taux de syndicalisation élevé sont des facteurs qui exercent une influence positive sur la générosité des provinces. À l’inverse, les partis de droite ainsi qu’une situation budgétaire difficile ont un impact négatif. Il faut noter que la richesse économique des provinces n’est pas associée à une plus grande générosité de l’aide sociale, au contraire les prestations d’aide sociale étaient plus faibles en 2009 qu’en 1990 malgré un PIB qui a presque doublé. De plus, des provinces riches comme l’Alberta et la Colombie-Britannique sont peu généreuses. Finalement, il faut noter que les partis politiques de gauche n’ont pas l’effet positif escompté sur la générosité des politiques de revenu minimum.

The impact of household size on poverty: An analysis of various low-income townships in the Northern Free State region, South Africa

Poverty is a multi-dimensional socio-economic problem in most sub-Saharan African countries. The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between household size and poverty in low-income communities. The Northern Free State region in South Africa was selected as the study region. A sample of approximately 2 900 households was randomly selected within 12 poor communities in the region. A poverty line was calculated and 74% of all households were found to live below the poverty line. The Pearson’s chi-square test indicated a positive relationship between household size and poverty in eleven of the twelve low-income communities. Households below the poverty line presented larger households than those households above the poverty line. This finding is in contradiction with some findings in other African countries due to the fact that South Africa has higher levels of modernisation with less access to land for subsistence farming. Effective provision of basic needs, community facilities and access to assets such as land could assist poor households with better quality of life. Poor households also need to be granted access to economic opportunities, while also receiving adult education regarding financial management and reproductive health.

Atuação dos conselhos de políticas públicas do fundo de manutenção e desenvolvimento da educação básica e de valorização dos profissionais da educação no combate à corrupção

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração, Mestrado Profissional em Administração, 2015.

Iowa Finance Authority Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program 2007 Qualified Allocation Plan, April 3, 2008

As the Housing Credit Agency responsible for allocating Tax Credits in the State of Iowa, IFA must adopt a written Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The purpose of the QAP is to set forth the criteria that IFA will use in evaluating and monitoring Projects submitted to it by the Developer/Ownership Entity for consideration in making an allocation of Tax Credits. The Governor must approve the QAP after the public has had the opportunity to comment through a public hearing.

Iowa Finance Authority Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program 2008 Qualified Allocation Plan, June 14, 2007

As the Housing Credit Agency responsible for allocating Tax Credits in the State of Iowa, IFA must adopt a written Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The purpose of the QAP is to set forth the criteria that IFA will use in evaluating and monitoring Projects submitted to it by the Developer/Ownership Entity for consideration in making an allocation of Tax Credits. The Governor must approve the QAP after the public has had the opportunity to comment through a public hearing.

Iowa Finance Authority Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program 2009 First Amended Qualified Allocation Plan, February 10, 2012

As the Housing Credit Agency responsible for allocating Tax Credits in the State of Iowa, IFA must adopt a written Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The purpose of the QAP is to set forth the criteria that IFA will use in evaluating and monitoring Projects submitted to it by the Developer/Ownership Entity for consideration in making an allocation of Tax Credits. The Governor must approve the QAP after the public has had the opportunity to comment through a public hearing.