Carl-Ulrik Schierup
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198280521
- eISBN:
- 9780191603730
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280521.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The ‘Swedish Model’ has been taken to represent the quintessential social democratic welfare regime. Sweden enjoys a reputation for having one of the world’s most far-sighted immigration policies and ...
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The ‘Swedish Model’ has been taken to represent the quintessential social democratic welfare regime. Sweden enjoys a reputation for having one of the world’s most far-sighted immigration policies and is still referred to as an international model with respect to its policies for the incorporation of immigrants and new ethnic minorities. However, these policies experienced deep-seated changes and serious setbacks from the 1990s. This chapter focuses on a truly puzzling disjuncture between a strong commitment to sustainable welfare and diversity on the one hand, and deepening structurally and institutionally grounded ethnic-class divisions on the other. General trends in migration are described, and the historical specifics of the so-called ‘Swedish model’ and its subsequent transformation are presented. This is the basis for an analysis of the changing forms of racialized marginality. The chapter concludes by setting out Swedish policies on migration and incorporation, and discusses migrants’ ambivalent position in a changing social democratic welfare state.Less
The ‘Swedish Model’ has been taken to represent the quintessential social democratic welfare regime. Sweden enjoys a reputation for having one of the world’s most far-sighted immigration policies and is still referred to as an international model with respect to its policies for the incorporation of immigrants and new ethnic minorities. However, these policies experienced deep-seated changes and serious setbacks from the 1990s. This chapter focuses on a truly puzzling disjuncture between a strong commitment to sustainable welfare and diversity on the one hand, and deepening structurally and institutionally grounded ethnic-class divisions on the other. General trends in migration are described, and the historical specifics of the so-called ‘Swedish model’ and its subsequent transformation are presented. This is the basis for an analysis of the changing forms of racialized marginality. The chapter concludes by setting out Swedish policies on migration and incorporation, and discusses migrants’ ambivalent position in a changing social democratic welfare state.
James Halteman and Edd Noell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199763702
- eISBN:
- 9780199932252
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199763702.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
Is economics like car building or car repair? Are we working toward a finished product, or are we attempting to answer pertinent questions that arise and change from time to time? These questions are ...
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Is economics like car building or car repair? Are we working toward a finished product, or are we attempting to answer pertinent questions that arise and change from time to time? These questions are entertained in this chapter in order to explore the nature of the methods economists employ. The subjective nature of data and the relevance of predicting from past trendsis explored. The proof that rational choice analysis predicts better than any alternative process is seen to be less than definitive by typical standards of proof. Welfare economics comes closest to philosophy when it optimizes social welfare with a social welfare function, but the ramifications of that model are rarely explored. Finally, it is suggested that key questions change and economic thinking then adapts to deal with the new challenges. The vignette for this chapter looks at John Maynard Keynes and his rethinking of mainstream macroeconomics.Less
Is economics like car building or car repair? Are we working toward a finished product, or are we attempting to answer pertinent questions that arise and change from time to time? These questions are entertained in this chapter in order to explore the nature of the methods economists employ. The subjective nature of data and the relevance of predicting from past trendsis explored. The proof that rational choice analysis predicts better than any alternative process is seen to be less than definitive by typical standards of proof. Welfare economics comes closest to philosophy when it optimizes social welfare with a social welfare function, but the ramifications of that model are rarely explored. Finally, it is suggested that key questions change and economic thinking then adapts to deal with the new challenges. The vignette for this chapter looks at John Maynard Keynes and his rethinking of mainstream macroeconomics.
Sharan Jagpal
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195371055
- eISBN:
- 9780199870745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371055.003.0020
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Marketing
This chapter analyzes how the firm's marketing strategies affect consumers and society. The topics covered include the effects of: the firm's pricing policy for durables; volume-based pricing (e.g., ...
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This chapter analyzes how the firm's marketing strategies affect consumers and society. The topics covered include the effects of: the firm's pricing policy for durables; volume-based pricing (e.g., quantity discounts); the distribution of free samples; cost dynamics; demand dynamics; informative, persuasive, and mixed advertising; the product life cycle; bundling innovative and commoditized products; mixed bundling plans; sequential new product introduction over time; and secondhand markets for durables. In particular, it shows how the combined effect of the firm's marketing and finance strategies affect consumer well-being and social welfare.Less
This chapter analyzes how the firm's marketing strategies affect consumers and society. The topics covered include the effects of: the firm's pricing policy for durables; volume-based pricing (e.g., quantity discounts); the distribution of free samples; cost dynamics; demand dynamics; informative, persuasive, and mixed advertising; the product life cycle; bundling innovative and commoditized products; mixed bundling plans; sequential new product introduction over time; and secondhand markets for durables. In particular, it shows how the combined effect of the firm's marketing and finance strategies affect consumer well-being and social welfare.
Duane Swank
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The first of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Swank first provides an overview of two key domestic and ...
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The first of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Swank first provides an overview of two key domestic and international pressures on developed welfare states: domestic fiscal stress and international capital mobility. He then outlines the theoretical argument that democratic institutions fundamentally determine government responses to domestic and international structural change, focusing on formal and informal institutions and drawing on and fusing insights from ‘power resources’ theory, the new institutionalism, and new cultural arguments about the determinants of social policy in advanced capitalist democracies. The next two sections utilize new data on social welfare effort, national political institutions, and internationalization to provide an econometric assessment of the social policy impacts of domestic fiscal stress and capital mobility during the period 1965 to 1995, looking first at the direct impacts of rises in public sector debt and in international capital mobility on social welfare provision, and second at the welfare state effects of fiscal stress and global capital flows across nationally and temporally divergent democratic institutional contexts; the initial focus is on total social welfare effort and then the analysis is shifted to changes in cash income maintenance and social services. The conclusion assesses the implications of the arguments and findings for the future course of social policy in developed democracies, and potentially bolsters the evidence for the central assertion that domestic institutions systematically determine the direction of welfare state restructuring.Less
The first of three chapters on the implications of electoral politics and the design of political institutions for welfare state adjustment. Swank first provides an overview of two key domestic and international pressures on developed welfare states: domestic fiscal stress and international capital mobility. He then outlines the theoretical argument that democratic institutions fundamentally determine government responses to domestic and international structural change, focusing on formal and informal institutions and drawing on and fusing insights from ‘power resources’ theory, the new institutionalism, and new cultural arguments about the determinants of social policy in advanced capitalist democracies. The next two sections utilize new data on social welfare effort, national political institutions, and internationalization to provide an econometric assessment of the social policy impacts of domestic fiscal stress and capital mobility during the period 1965 to 1995, looking first at the direct impacts of rises in public sector debt and in international capital mobility on social welfare provision, and second at the welfare state effects of fiscal stress and global capital flows across nationally and temporally divergent democratic institutional contexts; the initial focus is on total social welfare effort and then the analysis is shifted to changes in cash income maintenance and social services. The conclusion assesses the implications of the arguments and findings for the future course of social policy in developed democracies, and potentially bolsters the evidence for the central assertion that domestic institutions systematically determine the direction of welfare state restructuring.
Peter Flaschel and Alfred Greiner
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199751587
- eISBN:
- 9780199932825
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751587.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
This book on Flexicurity Capitalism provides four rigorously formulated approaches to an analysis of the current and future evolution of capitalism from a Marx-Keynes and Kalecki- Schumpeter (MKS) ...
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This book on Flexicurity Capitalism provides four rigorously formulated approaches to an analysis of the current and future evolution of capitalism from a Marx-Keynes and Kalecki- Schumpeter (MKS) perspective. It does so in self-contained ways, focusing on macrodynamical models of the working of modern capitalist societies in the tradition of Classical and Keynesian authors, augmented by a modern reformulation of Schumpeterian ’Competitive Socialism’, the flexi(bility-se)curity approach currently intensively debated in the EU area. On this basis the book provides a novel approach to the study of the future of capitalism, a topic that has never been more important than now -- since the prosperity phase after World War II. It supplies an alternative to those discussions of current forms of capitalism which focus on the status quo of such economies, instead of providing an ideal scenario first, on the basis of which compromises between the status quo and the 'ideal' can be discussed. The employed modelling approaches, of an advanced type, are aimed at the post-graduate level of economic teaching. The chapters of the book can be utilised independently of each other but, nevertheless, provide a unique approach to macrodynamic theorizing that is firmly rooted in the MKS tradition of the understanding of the growth dynamics of capitalist economies.Less
This book on Flexicurity Capitalism provides four rigorously formulated approaches to an analysis of the current and future evolution of capitalism from a Marx-Keynes and Kalecki- Schumpeter (MKS) perspective. It does so in self-contained ways, focusing on macrodynamical models of the working of modern capitalist societies in the tradition of Classical and Keynesian authors, augmented by a modern reformulation of Schumpeterian ’Competitive Socialism’, the flexi(bility-se)curity approach currently intensively debated in the EU area. On this basis the book provides a novel approach to the study of the future of capitalism, a topic that has never been more important than now -- since the prosperity phase after World War II. It supplies an alternative to those discussions of current forms of capitalism which focus on the status quo of such economies, instead of providing an ideal scenario first, on the basis of which compromises between the status quo and the 'ideal' can be discussed. The employed modelling approaches, of an advanced type, are aimed at the post-graduate level of economic teaching. The chapters of the book can be utilised independently of each other but, nevertheless, provide a unique approach to macrodynamic theorizing that is firmly rooted in the MKS tradition of the understanding of the growth dynamics of capitalist economies.
Neil Gilbert
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195140743
- eISBN:
- 9780199834921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140745.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
An account is given of the movement towards the privatization of social welfare activity that has taken place since the mid 1980s. Various aspects of this are discussed: the different paths that have ...
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An account is given of the movement towards the privatization of social welfare activity that has taken place since the mid 1980s. Various aspects of this are discussed: the different paths that have been taken; public erosion of retirement income; contracting out services from the public to the private sector; the larger trend of devolving responsibility for social welfare from central to local government units, and from local government to community‐based private agencies; the commodification of social care; and private ‘safety net’ accounts.Less
An account is given of the movement towards the privatization of social welfare activity that has taken place since the mid 1980s. Various aspects of this are discussed: the different paths that have been taken; public erosion of retirement income; contracting out services from the public to the private sector; the larger trend of devolving responsibility for social welfare from central to local government units, and from local government to community‐based private agencies; the commodification of social care; and private ‘safety net’ accounts.
Gøsta Esping‐Andersen
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198742005
- eISBN:
- 9780191599163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198742002.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The first part re‐examines the three worlds’ typology of welfare capitalism: the liberal welfare regime, the social democratic welfare regime, and the conservative welfare regime. A summary overview ...
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The first part re‐examines the three worlds’ typology of welfare capitalism: the liberal welfare regime, the social democratic welfare regime, and the conservative welfare regime. A summary overview of the three regime characteristics is provided. The second part looks at the historical and comparative robustness of regime typologies, and examines whether a three‐way typology adequately exhausts the variance of the different regimes found in different countries. Three cases are identified that call for an additional fourth ‘world’; these are the Antipodes, the Mediterranean, and Japan.Assuming the validity of these three claims, a total of six models is reached for 19–20 nations. These three cases are examined under the headings The Antipodean Fourth World, The Mediterranean Fourth World, and The East Asian Fourth World (Japan possibly with Korea and Taiwan). This second section of the chapter also looks at families and welfare regimes.Less
The first part re‐examines the three worlds’ typology of welfare capitalism: the liberal welfare regime, the social democratic welfare regime, and the conservative welfare regime. A summary overview of the three regime characteristics is provided. The second part looks at the historical and comparative robustness of regime typologies, and examines whether a three‐way typology adequately exhausts the variance of the different regimes found in different countries. Three cases are identified that call for an additional fourth ‘world’; these are the Antipodes, the Mediterranean, and Japan.
Assuming the validity of these three claims, a total of six models is reached for 19–20 nations. These three cases are examined under the headings The Antipodean Fourth World, The Mediterranean Fourth World, and The East Asian Fourth World (Japan possibly with Korea and Taiwan). This second section of the chapter also looks at families and welfare regimes.
Elizabeth Ann Danto
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195333060
- eISBN:
- 9780199864119
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333060.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Research and Evaluation
What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to ...
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What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to professionalize previously random, subjective allocations of benefits and entitlements? This book is a guide to the systematic exploration of such questions and debates in social work and social welfare history. Mastering how to pose historical questions is as essential as finding the answers. This book offers practical research tools: how to design a study, select primary sources, understand the vocabulary of archives, determine useful secondary sources, and analyze them all. The book also features a directory of archives and special collections that details their holdings, access and locations, and research grants.Less
What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to professionalize previously random, subjective allocations of benefits and entitlements? This book is a guide to the systematic exploration of such questions and debates in social work and social welfare history. Mastering how to pose historical questions is as essential as finding the answers. This book offers practical research tools: how to design a study, select primary sources, understand the vocabulary of archives, determine useful secondary sources, and analyze them all. The book also features a directory of archives and special collections that details their holdings, access and locations, and research grants.
Neil Gilbert
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195140743
- eISBN:
- 9780199834921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140745.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The principle of universalism in the allocation of social benefits, that is the availability of social benefits to everyone as of right, is contrasted with allocation on a selective basis in which ...
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The principle of universalism in the allocation of social benefits, that is the availability of social benefits to everyone as of right, is contrasted with allocation on a selective basis in which benefits are allocated on the basis of need as determined by means testing of income. The increasing drift towards income‐tested benefits is described, and the possible stigma of means testing discussed. The implications of methods of targeting social welfare benefits other than by means testing are discussed; these include age, behaviour (e.g. searching for work, training, and voluntary work), and functional impairment (disability). The lack of transparency of restrictive targeting is noted.Less
The principle of universalism in the allocation of social benefits, that is the availability of social benefits to everyone as of right, is contrasted with allocation on a selective basis in which benefits are allocated on the basis of need as determined by means testing of income. The increasing drift towards income‐tested benefits is described, and the possible stigma of means testing discussed. The implications of methods of targeting social welfare benefits other than by means testing are discussed; these include age, behaviour (e.g. searching for work, training, and voluntary work), and functional impairment (disability). The lack of transparency of restrictive targeting is noted.
Alexander Kaufman
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294672
- eISBN:
- 9780191599637
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294670.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Many scholars view Kant's explicit rejection of the principle of ’welfare’, as a basis for legislation, as decisive in favour of the traditional (libertarian) interpretation of Kant's political ...
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Many scholars view Kant's explicit rejection of the principle of ’welfare’, as a basis for legislation, as decisive in favour of the traditional (libertarian) interpretation of Kant's political thought. This reading, in fact, misconstrues both the subject matter and analytical level of Kant's claims. First, the traditional interpretation conflates the notion of welfare to which Kant objects with the general notion of social welfare. Second, the traditional interpretation misconstrues the level of generality of Kant's argument: Kant argues against a principle of welfare as the ground of a system of legislation, not as the ground of individual legislative acts.Less
Many scholars view Kant's explicit rejection of the principle of ’welfare’, as a basis for legislation, as decisive in favour of the traditional (libertarian) interpretation of Kant's political thought. This reading, in fact, misconstrues both the subject matter and analytical level of Kant's claims. First, the traditional interpretation conflates the notion of welfare to which Kant objects with the general notion of social welfare. Second, the traditional interpretation misconstrues the level of generality of Kant's argument: Kant argues against a principle of welfare as the ground of a system of legislation, not as the ground of individual legislative acts.
Avner Offer
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter focuses on alternative ways of measuring social welfare. These alternative measurements follow three approaches. The first involves extending the national accounts to incorporate ...
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This chapter focuses on alternative ways of measuring social welfare. These alternative measurements follow three approaches. The first involves extending the national accounts to incorporate non-market goods and services and to eliminate detrimental components. A second approach identifies social norms and evaluates their satisfaction through social indicators. The third approach involves the use of psychological indicators and attempts to reach directly into the experience of welfare using surveys of subjected well-being and research on the dynamics of hedonic experience.Less
This chapter focuses on alternative ways of measuring social welfare. These alternative measurements follow three approaches. The first involves extending the national accounts to incorporate non-market goods and services and to eliminate detrimental components. A second approach identifies social norms and evaluates their satisfaction through social indicators. The third approach involves the use of psychological indicators and attempts to reach directly into the experience of welfare using surveys of subjected well-being and research on the dynamics of hedonic experience.
Francis G. Castles
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199202812
- eISBN:
- 9780191708008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202812.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Democratization
This chapter presents a multivariate time-series analysis of social welfare spending that compares Greece, Portugal, and Spain with other OECD countries, between the years 1960 and 1990. Included in ...
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This chapter presents a multivariate time-series analysis of social welfare spending that compares Greece, Portugal, and Spain with other OECD countries, between the years 1960 and 1990. Included in this analysis are factors commonly found to affect social spending (e.g., per capita wealth and population age). These contributed to low levels of social spending in these three countries, but are insufficient to explain lagging program development. Three different measures of democratization, however, produce strong evidence that the authoritarian regimes of Spain and Portugal had seriously retarded program development, while the short duration of the “colonels' regime” in Greece had less of an impact. Indeed, the type of transition to democracy had a discernible impact on policy change: the Portuguese revolution was accompanied by immediate increases in social welfare spending; while the more gradual transition in Spain led to incremental policy change. In all three, democratization has allowed social welfare policies to converge on typical OECD levels over the following two decades.Less
This chapter presents a multivariate time-series analysis of social welfare spending that compares Greece, Portugal, and Spain with other OECD countries, between the years 1960 and 1990. Included in this analysis are factors commonly found to affect social spending (e.g., per capita wealth and population age). These contributed to low levels of social spending in these three countries, but are insufficient to explain lagging program development. Three different measures of democratization, however, produce strong evidence that the authoritarian regimes of Spain and Portugal had seriously retarded program development, while the short duration of the “colonels' regime” in Greece had less of an impact. Indeed, the type of transition to democracy had a discernible impact on policy change: the Portuguese revolution was accompanied by immediate increases in social welfare spending; while the more gradual transition in Spain led to incremental policy change. In all three, democratization has allowed social welfare policies to converge on typical OECD levels over the following two decades.
Sharan Jagpal and Shireen Jagpal
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195371055
- eISBN:
- 9780199870745
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371055.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Marketing
This book shows how to fuse marketing, finance, and other disciplines to improve performance for the corporation or organization. Specifically, it shows decision makers at different levels in the ...
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This book shows how to fuse marketing, finance, and other disciplines to improve performance for the corporation or organization. Specifically, it shows decision makers at different levels in the organization and in different functional areas (e.g., marketing, finance, new product development, and human resources management) how to overcome the problems resulting from function- and discipline-based “silos.” The book has several novel features. All concepts are presented in a simple and easily accessible question-and-answer format. The book provides an in-depth analysis of a broad spectrum of important managerial topics (e.g., how to allocate advertising funds between Internet and conventional advertising, how to evaluate brand equity for mergers and acquisitions, and how to coordinate product design, marketing strategy, and production). In addition, because of its fusion-based methodology, the book provides decision makers with new tools to address familiar managerial problems (e.g., resource allocation and the design of managerial contracts in multiproduct or multidivisional firms). Throughout the book, the focus is on providing managers with actionable theories and metrics that are rigorous yet practical, and that allow the firm or organization to fuse — not merely interface — different functional areas.Less
This book shows how to fuse marketing, finance, and other disciplines to improve performance for the corporation or organization. Specifically, it shows decision makers at different levels in the organization and in different functional areas (e.g., marketing, finance, new product development, and human resources management) how to overcome the problems resulting from function- and discipline-based “silos.” The book has several novel features. All concepts are presented in a simple and easily accessible question-and-answer format. The book provides an in-depth analysis of a broad spectrum of important managerial topics (e.g., how to allocate advertising funds between Internet and conventional advertising, how to evaluate brand equity for mergers and acquisitions, and how to coordinate product design, marketing strategy, and production). In addition, because of its fusion-based methodology, the book provides decision makers with new tools to address familiar managerial problems (e.g., resource allocation and the design of managerial contracts in multiproduct or multidivisional firms). Throughout the book, the focus is on providing managers with actionable theories and metrics that are rigorous yet practical, and that allow the firm or organization to fuse — not merely interface — different functional areas.
Richard Gunther, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, and Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199202812
- eISBN:
- 9780191708008
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202812.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Democratization
This book is the fourth in a five-volume series examining the cultural, economic, political, and social changes that have transformed Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) in the final ...
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This book is the fourth in a five-volume series examining the cultural, economic, political, and social changes that have transformed Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) in the final three decades of the 20th century. Like the preceding three volumes, it examines the impact of three powerful transformative forces that, in general, have eroded away the “exceptional” status of these countries and moved them toward the mainstream of Western industrialized societies: democratization, socioeconomic modernization, and Europeanization. Four public policy sectors (taxation, environmental protection, social welfare programs, and aggregate levels of social spending) and three institutional arenas of the state itself (the judiciary, public administration, and relationships among the national, subnational, and supranational levels of government) serve as the analytical foci of these studies. In contrast with the rapid, “leapfrogging” processes of political change identified in the first two volumes (especially with regard to democratic consolidation and the emergence of “modern” political parties and patterns of electoral behavior), transformations of the state and public policies in these four countries have entailed considerable time-lags, persisting rigidities in some sectors, and striking divergences in the evolution of state structures. At the same time, there have been substantial cross-national differences and divergences among policy sectors (with taxation, aggregate levels of social spending, and, in Spain, political decentralization evolving rapidly, while other policy domains and state institutions have resisted change). The book concludes that these three broad social forces alone cannot account for these patterns. It concludes that they can only be accounted for by political processes, involving the extent to which institutions or policy subsectors had been closely linked to or autonomous from the former, pre-democratic regime, as well as the resources available to defenders of the status quo.Less
This book is the fourth in a five-volume series examining the cultural, economic, political, and social changes that have transformed Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) in the final three decades of the 20th century. Like the preceding three volumes, it examines the impact of three powerful transformative forces that, in general, have eroded away the “exceptional” status of these countries and moved them toward the mainstream of Western industrialized societies: democratization, socioeconomic modernization, and Europeanization. Four public policy sectors (taxation, environmental protection, social welfare programs, and aggregate levels of social spending) and three institutional arenas of the state itself (the judiciary, public administration, and relationships among the national, subnational, and supranational levels of government) serve as the analytical foci of these studies. In contrast with the rapid, “leapfrogging” processes of political change identified in the first two volumes (especially with regard to democratic consolidation and the emergence of “modern” political parties and patterns of electoral behavior), transformations of the state and public policies in these four countries have entailed considerable time-lags, persisting rigidities in some sectors, and striking divergences in the evolution of state structures. At the same time, there have been substantial cross-national differences and divergences among policy sectors (with taxation, aggregate levels of social spending, and, in Spain, political decentralization evolving rapidly, while other policy domains and state institutions have resisted change). The book concludes that these three broad social forces alone cannot account for these patterns. It concludes that they can only be accounted for by political processes, involving the extent to which institutions or policy subsectors had been closely linked to or autonomous from the former, pre-democratic regime, as well as the resources available to defenders of the status quo.
Andrew W. Dobelstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195366891
- eISBN:
- 9780199894208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366891.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
This chapter provides a broad overview of the social welfare programs authorized by the Social Security Act, both when it was created in 1935 and as they exist in 2009. A timeline shows how the ...
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This chapter provides a broad overview of the social welfare programs authorized by the Social Security Act, both when it was created in 1935 and as they exist in 2009. A timeline shows how the Social Security Act has developed into the form in which we know it today, with twenty-one Titles, or parts, generating more than fifty of the nation's most significant social programs. The chapter distinguishes between the Act's social policy construction and the specific programs created from the policy — a distinction applied to all the Act's specific programs, discussed in subsequent chapters.Less
This chapter provides a broad overview of the social welfare programs authorized by the Social Security Act, both when it was created in 1935 and as they exist in 2009. A timeline shows how the Social Security Act has developed into the form in which we know it today, with twenty-one Titles, or parts, generating more than fifty of the nation's most significant social programs. The chapter distinguishes between the Act's social policy construction and the specific programs created from the policy — a distinction applied to all the Act's specific programs, discussed in subsequent chapters.
Neil Gilbert
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195376630
- eISBN:
- 9780199865499
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376630.003.0007
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
What types of public expenditure can be computed to assess “stateness” and state action? And once these measures of expenditure are agreed upon, what meaning can be drawn from simple rank-order ...
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What types of public expenditure can be computed to assess “stateness” and state action? And once these measures of expenditure are agreed upon, what meaning can be drawn from simple rank-order comparisons (or more sophisticated statistical clusters) of where the United States and the European nations stand, according to the computations employed? Conventional measures of state action often focus on two major realms of activity — defense and social welfare — and involve some metric of public expenditure, typically calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). In examining what meanings can be drawn for comparative measures of similarities and differences in United States and European activity in these realms, this chapter comments on defense, but concentrates mainly on the realm of social welfare.Less
What types of public expenditure can be computed to assess “stateness” and state action? And once these measures of expenditure are agreed upon, what meaning can be drawn from simple rank-order comparisons (or more sophisticated statistical clusters) of where the United States and the European nations stand, according to the computations employed? Conventional measures of state action often focus on two major realms of activity — defense and social welfare — and involve some metric of public expenditure, typically calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). In examining what meanings can be drawn for comparative measures of similarities and differences in United States and European activity in these realms, this chapter comments on defense, but concentrates mainly on the realm of social welfare.
Geoffrey Finlayson
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198227601
- eISBN:
- 9780191678752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198227601.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines the role of participation, perception, and pluralism in the relations between citizen, state, and social welfare in Great Britain during the period from 1949 to 1991. During ...
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This chapter examines the role of participation, perception, and pluralism in the relations between citizen, state, and social welfare in Great Britain during the period from 1949 to 1991. During this period, the various elements of the mixed economy of welfare became somewhat more closely defined. Some of the functions of the mutual-aid and charitable sides of the voluntary sector were incorporated into the statutory, which resulted in the state becoming like the mutual-aid and charitable society of the nation as a whole.Less
This chapter examines the role of participation, perception, and pluralism in the relations between citizen, state, and social welfare in Great Britain during the period from 1949 to 1991. During this period, the various elements of the mixed economy of welfare became somewhat more closely defined. Some of the functions of the mutual-aid and charitable sides of the voluntary sector were incorporated into the statutory, which resulted in the state becoming like the mutual-aid and charitable society of the nation as a whole.
Rebecca M. Blank
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195376630
- eISBN:
- 9780199865499
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376630.003.0009
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
Observers have long discussed American “exceptionalism” in social policy. Throughout the 20th century, the United States had a more limited welfare state than most Western European nations. Over the ...
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Observers have long discussed American “exceptionalism” in social policy. Throughout the 20th century, the United States had a more limited welfare state than most Western European nations. Over the last 15 years, the United States has made substantial changes in its social assistance programs. These changes place the United States at the forefront of developing a new model for the provision of social assistance, under which more dollars are delivered to able-bodied recipients through work-conditioned transfers rather than through cash assistance programs to non-workers. This chapter describes these changes, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this new American system.Less
Observers have long discussed American “exceptionalism” in social policy. Throughout the 20th century, the United States had a more limited welfare state than most Western European nations. Over the last 15 years, the United States has made substantial changes in its social assistance programs. These changes place the United States at the forefront of developing a new model for the provision of social assistance, under which more dollars are delivered to able-bodied recipients through work-conditioned transfers rather than through cash assistance programs to non-workers. This chapter describes these changes, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this new American system.
Michael D. Minta
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149257
- eISBN:
- 9781400840342
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149257.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines the advocacy efforts of members of Congress for policies designed to help poor people. It investigates whether the differences that exist between black, Latino, and white ...
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This chapter examines the advocacy efforts of members of Congress for policies designed to help poor people. It investigates whether the differences that exist between black, Latino, and white legislators in racial and ethnic hearings also occur in social welfare hearings. It examine legislators' interventions in committee deliberations during part of the Clinton era (1993–1997) and the first term of the George W. Bush presidency (2001–2003). It focuses on how actively legislators engaged in the deliberations in terms of questioning witnesses and interacting with fellow members of Congress. It also examines other legislative interventions, such as testifying at hearings in favor of social welfare policies that benefit the poor and requesting hearings designed to help poor people, who are disproportionately minorities.Less
This chapter examines the advocacy efforts of members of Congress for policies designed to help poor people. It investigates whether the differences that exist between black, Latino, and white legislators in racial and ethnic hearings also occur in social welfare hearings. It examine legislators' interventions in committee deliberations during part of the Clinton era (1993–1997) and the first term of the George W. Bush presidency (2001–2003). It focuses on how actively legislators engaged in the deliberations in terms of questioning witnesses and interacting with fellow members of Congress. It also examines other legislative interventions, such as testifying at hearings in favor of social welfare policies that benefit the poor and requesting hearings designed to help poor people, who are disproportionately minorities.
Andrew W. Dobelstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195366891
- eISBN:
- 9780199894208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366891.003.0010
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
The story of the Social Security Act documents the growth and development of America's social welfare commitments within the framework of a monumental social, economic and political document. The ...
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The story of the Social Security Act documents the growth and development of America's social welfare commitments within the framework of a monumental social, economic and political document. The 75-year debate over the proper social welfare role of the Federal government enters the 21st century with a well-institutionalized policy certificate, but the incremental tinkering with the Act's social programs over the years has left a bewildering array of policies and programs, many unsuited to today's social welfare needs. Unemployment insurance offers a striking example of the need for renovation. Yet the need for overhaul remains a reluctance that, once opened for debate, some of the social welfare advances assured by the Social Security Act may be lost.Less
The story of the Social Security Act documents the growth and development of America's social welfare commitments within the framework of a monumental social, economic and political document. The 75-year debate over the proper social welfare role of the Federal government enters the 21st century with a well-institutionalized policy certificate, but the incremental tinkering with the Act's social programs over the years has left a bewildering array of policies and programs, many unsuited to today's social welfare needs. Unemployment insurance offers a striking example of the need for renovation. Yet the need for overhaul remains a reluctance that, once opened for debate, some of the social welfare advances assured by the Social Security Act may be lost.
