The role of big data in governance: a regulatory and legal perspective of analytics in global financial services

This paper discusses how global financial institutions are using big data analytics within their compliance operations. A lot of previous research has focused on the strategic implications of big data, but not much research has considered how such tools are entwined with regulatory breaches and investigations in financial services. Our work covers two in-depth qualitative case studies, each addressing a distinct type of analytics. The first case focuses on analytics which manage everyday compliance breaches and so are expected by managers. The second case focuses on analytics which facilitate investigation and litigation where serious unexpected breaches may have occurred. In doing so, the study focuses on the micro/data to understand how these tools are influencing operational risks and practices. The paper draws from two bodies of literature, the social studies of information systems and finance to guide our analysis and practitioner recommendations. The cases illustrate how technologies are implicated in multijurisdictional challenges and regulatory conflicts at each end of the operational risk spectrum. We find that compliance analytics are both shaping and reporting regulatory matters yet often firms may have difficulties in recruiting individuals with relevant but diverse skill sets. The cases also underscore the increasing need for financial organizations to adopt robust information governance policies and processes to ease future remediation efforts.

Trade in services in Latin America and the Caribbean: an analysis of recent trends

Includes bibliography

Modernization and foreign trade in the health services

Includes bibliography

The development of services in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

The Effectiveness of Court Mandated Intervention Versus Voluntary Services in Child Protective Services:

The general objective of this research was to compare the relative effectiveness of court mandated services versus a voluntary service plan in preventing in child maltreatment recidivism. Four-thirty-two children were selected at random from among children in a large California County who were receiving in-home services under a court mandate or a voluntary plan. Protective services files of study children were reviewed to derive study data. Type of plan did not make a difference on case outcome. Children were more likely to remain in the home at the end of the service delivery period in families that received voluntary plans. However, when other factors are controlled, the advantage of a voluntary plan disappears. Moreover, similar rates of recidivism were noted between both types of plans after the case was closed.

Unresolved Grief in a National Sample of Bereaved Parents: Impaired Mental and Physical Health 4 to 9 Years Later

PURPOSE: To assess unresolved parental grief, the associated long-term impact on mental and physical health, and health service use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This anonymous, mail-in questionnaire study was performed as a population-based investigation in Sweden between August 2001 and October 2001. Four hundred forty-nine parents who lost a child as a result of cancer 4 to 9 years earlier completed the survey (response rate, 80%). One hundred ninety-one (43%) of the bereaved parents were fathers, and 251 (56%) were mothers. Bereaved parents were asked whether or not, and to what extent, they had worked through their grief. They were also asked about their physical and psychological well-being. For outcomes of interest, we report relative risk (RR) with 95% CIs as well as unadjusted odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: Parents with unresolved grief reported significantly worsening psychological health (fathers: RR, 3.6; 95% CI, 2.0 to 6.4; mothers: RR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.9 to 4.4) and physical health (fathers: RR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.8 to 4.4; mothers: RR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.6 to 3.3) compared with those who had worked through their grief. Fathers with unresolved grief also displayed a significantly higher risk of sleep difficulties (RR, 6.7; 95% CI, 2.5 to 17.8). Mothers, however, reported increased visits with physicians during the previous 5 years (RR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.6) as well as a greater likelihood of taking sick leave when they had not worked through their grief (RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.5). CONCLUSION: Parents who have not worked through their grief are at increased risk of long-term mental and physical morbidity, increased health service use, and increased sick leave.

THE EFFECTS OF COST-SHARING ON USE OF SERVICES AND CONSUMER CHARACTERISTICS IN A STATE'S CRIPPLED CHILDREN'S DIVISION

The present study analyzed some of the effects of imposing a cost-sharing requirement on users of a state's health service program. The study population consisted of people who were in diagnosed medical need and included, but was not limited to, people in financial need.^ The purpose of the study was to determine if the cost-sharing requirement had any detrimental effects on the service population. Changes in the characteristics of service consumers and in utilization patterns were analyzed using time-series techniques and pre-post policy comparisons.^ The study hypotheses stated that the distribution of service provided, diagnoses serviced, and consumer income levels would change following the cost-sharing policy.^ Analysis of data revealed that neither the characteristics of service users (income, race, sex, etc.) nor services provided by the program changed significantly following the policy. The results were explainable in part by the fact that all of the program participants were in diagnosed medical need. Therefore, their use of "discretionary" or "less necessary" services was limited.^ The study's findings supported the work of Joseph Newhouse, Charles Phelps, and others who have contended that necessary service use would not be detrimentally affected by reasonable cost-sharing provisions. These contentions raise the prospect of incorporating cost-sharing into programs such as Medicaid, which, at this writing, do not demand any consumer payment for services.^ The study concluded with a discussion of the cost-containment problem in health services. The efficacy of cost-sharing was considered relative to other financing and reimbursement strategies such as HMO's, self-funding, and reimbursement for less costly services and places of service. ^

Learning by Not Doing: Subsidy Disciplines in Services Trade

This paper explores the hitherto futile quest for developing disciplines on the trade- and investment-distorting effects of services subsidies. It sheds light on the multiplicity of factors that have weighed on the conduct of negotiations on subsidy disciplines in a services trade context at both the global and preferential levels, and advances a few thoughts on what the future may hold for the adoption of such disciplines. The analysis suggests that it is rather unlikely that WTO Members will any time soon reach a consensus on the matter of subsidy disciplines for services beyond those that currently (and timidly) obtain in the GATS and in many preferential trade agreements. The main reason behind such a conclusion stems from a marked rise in the value of preserving policy space in a trading environment characterized by considerably greater global market contestability than two decades ago.

Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Urban Bus Services in Spain Based on SBM Models

During the first decade of the new millennium, fueled by the economic development in Spain, urban bus services were extended. Since the years 2008 and 2009, the root of the economic crisis, the improvement of these services is at risk due to economic problems. In this paper, the technical efficiency of the main urban bus companies in Spain during the 2004–2009 period are studied using SBM (slack-based measures) models and by establishing the slacks in the services' production inputs. The influence of a series of exogenous variables on the operation of the different services is also analyzed. It is concluded that only the 24% of the case studies are efficient, and some urban form variables can explain part of the inefficiency. The methodology used allows studying the inefficiency in a disaggregated way that other DEA (data envelopment analysis) models do not.

A personal data framework for exchanging knowledge about users in new financial services

Personal data is a key asset for many companies, since this is the essence in providing personalized services. Not all companies, and specifically new entrants to the markets, have the opportunity to access the data they need to run their business. In this paper, we describe a comprehensive personal data framework that allows service providers to share and exchange personal data and knowledge about users, while facilitating users to decide who can access which data and why. We analyze the challenges related to personal data collection, integration, retrieval, and identity and privacy management, and present the framework architecture that addresses them. We also include the validation of the framework in a banking scenario, where social and financial data is collected and properly combined to generate new socio-economic knowledge about users that is then used by a personal lending service.

Services Evolution of Two Groundwater Dependent Wetland Ecosystems in the “Mancha Húmeda” Biosphere Reserve (Spain)

A wetland that does not comply with the ecological standards of EU Directive 2000/60/EC cannot properly provide its services. This paper presents a review of the criteria for wetland assessment based on the Spanish experience in two specific Ramsar areas: the Tablas de Daimiel and the Ruidera Lakes. The aim of this article is to consider and promote a holistic awareness of the hydrological cycle and of the wetland area ecosystems within it. The methodology developed under the umbrella of the UNESCO project IGCP 604 is applied to describe the groundwater-wetland-human interrelationship. This methodology was chosen for two reasons: (a) it is designed to assess the services the wetlands provide; (b) it focuses on groundwater dependent wetlands such as the two cases presented here. In each case, although to a different extent, agricultural activities and water management have led to important changes in the services provided by the two ecosystems.

Barriers and facilitators to effective coverage of Intimate Partner Violence services for immigrant women in Spain

Objective: To explore service providers’ perceptions in order to identify barriers and facilitators to effective coverage of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) services for immigrant women in Spain, according to the different categories proposed in Tanahashi's model of effective coverage. Methods: A qualitative study based on 29 in-depth personal interviews and four group interviews with a total of 43 professionals working in public services (social and health-care services, women's refuges, the police force, the judiciary) and NGOs in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante (Spain) in 2011. Findings: Current IPV services in Spain partially fail in their coverage of abused immigrant women due to barriers of (i) availability, such as the inexistence of culturally appropriate services; (ii) accessibility, as having a residence permit is a prerequisite for women's access to different services and rights; (iii) acceptability, such as women's lack of confidence in the effectiveness of services; and (iv) effectiveness, for example, lack of specific training among professionals on the issues of IPV and immigration. However, interviewees also identified facilitators, such as the enabling environment promoted by the Spanish Law on Gender-Based Violence (1/2004), and the impetus it has provided for the development of other specific legislative tools to address IPV in immigrant populations in Spain (availability, accessibility and effectiveness). Conclusion: Whilst not dismissing cultural barriers, aspects related to service structure are identified by providers as the main barriers and facilitators to immigrant women use of IPV services. Despite noteworthy achievements, improvements are still required in terms of mainstreaming assistance tailored to immigrant women's needs in IPV policies and services.

The Services Dimension of TTIP. Paper No. 6 in the CEPS-CTR project “TTIP in the Balance’’ and CEPS Special Report No. 106, 8 May 2015

This CEPS Special Report examines the main facets of the debate about TTIP and services. First, it looks at the political and economic context and the various alternatives in terms of political support, stressing that only a partnership that ensures substantial economic gains will attract the support of the top policy-makers. Second, the paper makes the point that large economic gains in services require deep discussions on regulatory issues, and third, such discussions cannot rely on the negotiating techniques normally used for goods. There is thus a need to adopt a new approach, based on the mutual recognition and equivalence of regulations enforced in the services concerned, preceded by a mutual evaluation to grant such equivalence – all measures to be carried out by the regulatory bodies concerned, not by trade negotiators. This new game is a complex one but it has huge side benefits: it induces each TTIP partner to review the quality of their own regulations; it is at ease with the notion of a ‘living’ (evolving) agreement; and it can easily be open to third countries. All these benefits should reassure a general public that is fearful of a hastily baked deal.

Growth, convergence and trade: The services sector in India’s states

India’s success story in services is well documented at the national level, but similar literature does not exist for India’s states. In this paper, we bridge this gap in research by looking at India’s services growth at the sub-national level and in doing so, also challenge existing literature by arguing that this growth has positive implications for income distribution. We find that even as per capita income is not converging across India’s states, per capita services are; evidence is provided both in terms of traditional measures of sigma- and beta-convergence and more recent panel unit root tests. A more disaggregated analysis of services sectors reveals convergence in railways, public administration and financial services. Finally, a Jensen & Kletzer (2005) approach to determining tradability provides evidence of most services being “traded” across India’s states, suggesting the role of such trade in the services growth and convergence story.

A successful reorganization of human services in Illinois : a report to the Illinois Legislative Taskforce on Human Service Consolidation /

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