Social security in theory and practice (II): Efficiency theories, narrative theories and implications for reform

166 countries have some kind of public old age pension. What economic forcescreate and sustain old age Social Security as a public program? Mulligan and Sala-i-Martin (1999b) document several of the internationally and historically common features of social security programs, and explore "political" theories of Social Security. This paper discusses the "efficiency theories", which view creation of the SS program as a full of partial solution to some market failure. Efficiency explanations of social security include the "SS as welfare for the elderly" the "retirement increases productivity to optimally manage human capital externalities", "optimal retirement insurance", the "prodigal father problem", the "misguided Keynesian", the "optimal longevity insurance", the "governmenteconomizing transaction costs", and the "return on human capital investment". We also analyze four "narrative" theories of social security: the "chain letter theory", the "lump of labor theory", the "monopoly capitalism theory", and the "Sub-but-Nearly-Optimal policy response to private pensions theory".The political and efficiency explanations are compared with the international and historical facts and used to derive implications for replacing the typical pay-as-you-go system with a forced savings plan. Most of the explanations suggest that forced savings does not increase welfare, and may decrease it.

Optimal regulation of a fully insured deposit banking system

We analyze risk sensitive incentive compatible deposit insurancein the presence of private information when the market value of depositinsurance can be determined using Merton's (1997) formula. We show that,under the assumption that transferring funds from taxpayers to financialinstitutions has a social cost, the optimal regulation combines differentlevels of capital requirements combined with decreasing premia on depositinsurance. On the other hand, it is never efficient to require the banksto hold riskless assets, so that narrow banking is not efficient. Finally,chartering banks is necessary in order to decrease the cost of asymmetricinformation.

Mandatory accounting disclosure by small private companies

This article analyzes how mandatory accounting disclosure is grounded on differentrationales for private and public companies. It also explores technological changes, such ascomputerised databases and the Internet, which have recently made disclosure of companyaccounts by small companies potentially less costly and more valuable, thanks to electronicfiling and universal online access to credit information systems. These recent developmentsfavour policies that would expand the scope of mandatory publication for small companies incountries where it is voluntary. They also encourage policies to reduce the costs and enhancethe value of disclosure through administrative reforms of filing, archive and retrieval systems.Survey and registry evidence on how the information in the accounts is valued and used bycompanies is consistent with these claims about the evolution of the tradeoff of costs andbenefits that should guide policy in this area.

Optimal contracts, adverse selection and social preferences: An experiment

It has long been standard in agency theory to search for incentive-compatible mechanisms on the assumption that people care only about their own material wealth. However, this assumption is clearly refuted by numerous experiments, and we feel that it may be useful to consider nonpecuniary utility in mechanism design and contract theory. Accordingly, we devise an experiment to explore optimal contracts in an adverse-selection context. A principal proposes one of three contract menus, each of which offers a choice of two incentive-compatible contracts, to two agents whose types are unknown to the principal. The agents know the set of possible menus, and choose to either accept one of the two contracts offered in the proposed menu or to reject the menu altogether; a rejection by either agent leads to lower (and equal) reservation payoffs for all parties. While all three possible menus favor the principal, they do so to varying degrees. We observe numerous rejections of the more lopsided menus, and approach an equilibrium where one of the more equitable contract menus (which one depends on the reservation payoffs) is proposed and agents accept a contract, selecting actions according to their types. Behavior is largely consistent with all recent models of social preferences, strongly suggesting there is value in considering nonpecuniary utility in agency theory.

Stabilization versus insurance: Welfare effects of procyclical taxation under incomplete markets

We construct and calibrate a general equilibrium business cycle model with unemployment and precautionary saving. We compute the cost of business cycles and locate the optimum in a set of simple cyclical fiscal policies. Our economy exhibits productivity shocks, giving firms an incentive to hire more when productivity is high. However, business cycles make workers' income riskier, both by increasing the unconditional probability of unusuallylong unemployment spells, and by making wages more variable, and therefore they decrease social welfare by around one-fourth or one-third of 1% of consumption. Optimal fiscal policy offsets the cycle, holding unemployment benefits constant but varying the tax rate procyclically to smooth hiring. By running a deficit of 4% to 5% of output in recessions, the government eliminates half the variation in the unemployment rate, most of the variation in workers'aggregate consumption, and most of the welfare cost of business cycles.

Pay-as-you-go social security and the distribution of bequests

This paper studies the impact of an unfunded social security system on the distribution of bequests in a framework where savings are due both by life cycle and by random altruistic motivations. We show that the impact of social security on the distribution of bequests depends crucially on the importance of the bequest motive in explaining savings behavior. If the bequest motive is strong, then an increase in the social security tax raises the bequests left by altruistic parents. On the other hand, when the importance of bequests in motivating savings is sufficiently low, theincrease in the social security tax could result in a reduction of the bequests left by altruistic parents under some conditions on the attitude of individuals toward risk and on the relative returns associated with private saving and social security. Some implications concerning the transitional effects of introducing an unfunded social security scheme are also discussed.

Expectativas dos Stakeholders versus Objectivos das Empresas: Estudo de Caso do Cabo Verde Telecom

As empresas necessitam de construir parcerias honestas e justas com todos os seus stakeholders tratando-os com ética e respeito como forma de assegurar que as suas expectativas e necessidades sejam consideradas pelos gestores, uma vez que são aqueles que garantem o sucesso de qualquer organização. É essa parceria que garantirá a sustentabilidade da empresa e a ajudará no cumprimento da sua missão, como uma conjunto harmonioso, justo e socialmente responsável. Neste sentido o trabalho que se apresenta tem como objectivo principal analisar se o desempenho da empresa Cabo Verde Telecom contribui para a satisfação das necessidades dos seus stakeholders e para a criação de valor para a empresa e, como objectivos específicos temos: fazer um estudo na empresa e verificar se as políticas levados a cabo procurem conciliar os interesses da empresa e dos seus stakeholders. Para que os objectivos fossem atingidos recorreu-se à metodologia do estudo de caso, onde foi feita uma pesquisa e análise de vários documentos da empresa. Os resultados obtidos através da análise dos documentos permitiram verificar que a empresa CVTelecom já percebeu que para sobreviver enquanto empresa responsável, ou seja para que possa ter sucesso no negócio e no ambiente onde está inserida ela tem que ter capacidade de interagir com os seus diversos stakeholders criando valor para ambas as partes o que tem sido prática na empresa, construindo assim, a sua reputação e credibilidade a partir da transparência, ética, cidadania organizacional e responsabilidade social empresarial.

Generating global brand equity through corporate social responsibility to key stakeholders

In this paper we argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) to various stakeholders(customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, and community) has a positive effect on globalbrand equity (BE). In addition, policies aimed at satisfying community interests help reinforcecredibility to social responsible polices with other stakeholders. We test these theoreticalcontentions using panel data comprised of 57 global brands originating from 10 countries (USA,Japan, South Korea, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands) forthe period 2002 to 2008. Our findings show that CSR to each of the stakeholder groups has apositive impact on global BE. In addition, global brands that follow local social responsibilitypolicies over communities obtain strong positive benefits in terms of the generation of BE, as itenhances the positive effects of CSR to other stakeholders, particularly to customers. Therefore,for managers of global brands it is particularly productive for generating brand value to combineglobal strategies with the satisfaction of the interests of local communities.

Gerontocracy, retirement, and social security

Why are the old politically successful? We build a simple interest group model in which political pressure is time-intensive, showing that in the political competitive equilibrium each group lobbies for government policies that lower their own value of time but the old do so to a greater extent and as a result are net gainers from the political process. What distinguishes the elderly from other political groups (and what makes them more succesful) is that they have lower labor productivity and/or that we are all likely to become elderly at some point, while we are relatively unlikely to change gender, race, sexual orientation, or even ocupation, The model has a variety of implications for the design of social security programs, which we test using data from the Social Security Administration. For example, the model predicts that social security programs with retirement incentives are larger and that the old are more "single-minded" in their politics, implications which we verify using cross-country government finance data and cross-country political participation surveys. Finally, we show that the forced savings programs intended to "reform" the social security system may increase the amount of intergenerational redistribution. As a model for evaluating policy reforms, ours has the attractive feature that reforms must be time time consistent from a political point of view rather than a public interest point of view.

Virtual autopsy with multiphase postmortem computed tomographic angiography versus traditional medical autopsy to investigate unexpected deaths of hospitalized patients: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: "Virtual" autopsy by postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) can replace medical autopsy to a certain extent but has limitations for cardiovascular diseases. These limitations might be overcome by adding multiphase PMCT angiography. OBJECTIVE: To compare virtual autopsy by multiphase PMCT angiography with medical autopsy. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01541995) SETTING: Single-center study at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013. PATIENTS: Hospitalized patients who died unexpectedly or within 48 hours of an event necessitating cardiopulmonary resuscitation. MEASUREMENTS: Diagnoses from clinical records were compared with findings from both types of autopsy. New diagnoses identified by autopsy were classified as major or minor, depending on whether they would have altered clinical management. RESULTS: Of 143 eligible patients, 50 (35%) had virtual and medical autopsy. Virtual autopsy confirmed 93% of all 336 diagnoses identified from antemortem medical records, and medical autopsy confirmed 80%. In addition, virtual and medical autopsy identified 16 new major and 238 new minor diagnoses. Seventy-three of the virtual autopsy diagnoses, including 32 cases of coronary artery stenosis, were identified solely by multiphase PMCT angiography. Of the 114 clinical diagnoses classified as cardiovascular, 110 were confirmed by virtual autopsy and 107 by medical autopsy. In 11 cases, multiphase PMCT angiography showed "unspecific filling defects," which were not reported by medical autopsy. LIMITATION: These results come from a single center with concerted interest and expertise in postmortem imaging; further studies are thus needed for generalization. CONCLUSION: In cases of unexpected death, the addition of multiphase PMCT angiography increases the value of virtual autopsy, making it a feasible alternative for quality control and identification of diagnoses traditionally made by medical autopsy. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Predictive value of the MGMT promoter methylation status in metastatic melanoma patients receiving first-line temozolomide plus bevacizumab in the trial SAKK 50/07.

The O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status is a predictive parameter for the response of malignant gliomas to alkylating agents such as temozolomide. First clinical trials with temozolomide plus bevacizumab therapy in metastatic melanoma patients are ongoing, although the predictive value of the MGMT promoter methylation status in this setting remains unclear. We assessed MGMT promoter methylation in formalin-fixed, primary tumor tissue of metastatic melanoma patients treated with first-line temozolomide and bevacizumab from the trial SAKK 50/07 by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the MGMT expression levels were also analyzed by MGMT immunohistochemistry. Eleven of 42 primary melanomas (26%) revealed a methylated MGMT promoter. Promoter methylation was significantly associated with response rates CR + PR versus SD + PD according to RECIST (response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) (p<0.05) with a trend to prolonged median progression-free survival (8.1 versus 3.4 months, p>0.05). Immunohistochemically different protein expression patterns with heterogeneous and homogeneous nuclear MGMT expression were identified. Negative MGMT expression levels were associated with overall disease stabilization CR+PR+SD versus PD (p=0.05). There was only a poor correlation between MGMT methylation and lack of MGMT expression. A significant proportion of melanomas have a methylated MGMT promoter. The MGMT promoter methylation status may be a promising predictive marker for temozolomide therapy in metastatic melanoma patients. Larger sample sizes may help to validate significant differences in survival type endpoints.

Policy attitudes, ideological values and social representations

This article reviews research on policy attitudes and ideological values from the perspective of social representations theory. In the first part of the paper, key features of lay political thinking are presented, its pragmatic imperative, its focus on communication and the social functions of shared knowledge. Objectification transforms abstract and group-neutral ideological values into concrete and socially useful knowledge, in particular stereotypes of value-conforming and value-violating groups. Such shared understandings of intergroup relations provide citizens with common reference knowledge which provides the cognitive and cultural basis of policy attitudes. Social representations theory further suggests that lay knowledge reflects the social context in which it has been elaborated (anchoring), an aspect which allows conceptualising aggregate-level differences in policy attitudes. In the second part of the paper, a model of lay conceptions of social order is outlined which organises four shared conceptions of social order, along with the stereotype-based thinking associated with each conception: Moral order, Free Market, Social diversity and Structural inequality. We conclude by arguing that policy attitudes are symbolic devices expressed to justify or to challenge existing social arrangements.

The evolution of recent research on Catalan literature through the production of PhD theses: a bibliometric and social network analysis

Introduction. This paper studies the situation of research on Catalan literature between 1976 and 2003 by carrying out a bibliometric and social network analysis of PhD theses defended in Spain. It has a dual aim: to present interesting results for the discipline and to demonstrate the methodological efficacy of scientometric tools in the humanities, a field in which they are often neglected due to the difficulty of gathering data. Method. The analysis was performed on 151 records obtained from the TESEO database of PhD theses. The quantitative estimates include the use of the UCINET and Pajek software packages. Authority control was performed on the records. Analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample and the distribution of responses to each question. Sex differences on key questions were analysed using the Chi-squared test. Results. The value of the figures obtained is demonstrated. The information obtained on the topic and the periods studied in the theses, and on the actors involved (doctoral students, thesis supervisors and members of defence committees), provide important insights into the mechanisms of humanities disciplines. The main research tendencies of Catalan literature are identified. It is observed that the composition of members of the thesis defence committees follows Lotka's Law. Conclusions. Bibliometric analysis and social network analysis may be especially useful in the humanities and in other fields which are lacking in scientometric data in comparison with the experimental sciences.