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Land supply in China is planned by governments, and the supply ratios of various types of land are in relatively rigid administrative control. This paper constructs a DSGE model to study the relationship between land supply marketization in China and economic fluctuations. Moreover, this paper evaluates the social welfare gains from land marketization. We document that the government's land planning constraint impacts consumption and social welfare through the land price and final output, causing resource misallocation losses in aggregate investment and output. Quantitatively, the optimal upper limit of industrial land supply is about 40% to achieve the maximum social welfare. This paper stresses the necessity of revitalizing China's land market, and simultaneously speeding up the marketization of collectively operated construction land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the uncertainty and resentment that many persons with disabilities feel concerning their disability services in the welfare state of Finland. This paper elaborates on the theme through the lived citizenship of persons with disabilities using the key theory of disability tax as an analytical tool. The empirical data were collected through an online survey (n = 541) and six group interviews (n = 41) of persons with disabilities in 2023. The disability tax experiences are elaborated through four aspects: (1) rejected applications, (2) uncertain realisation, (3) laborious complaint mechanisms, and (4) the psycho–emotional effect. The findings of this study establish collective experiences of multi-layered disability tax throughout the disability services process. It concludes that disability services, which were originally planned to specifically ensure equal opportunities to participate in society for persons with disabilities, are increasingly becoming the very sources of burden as austerity has silently grown deeper over recent years and has become the clear policy of the current government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Discussion Papers is the property of Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Menstruators facing period poverty often struggle with menstrual hygiene and waste management, which can result in harmful short- and long-term health outcomes such as urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and vulvar contact dermatitis. Research indicates that 42% of menstruators in the United States have difficulty affording period products. Traditional methods of distributing period products through social services may unintentionally undermine menstruators' agency, leading to disempowerment and inefficient resource allocation. Period product pantries are a novel approach aimed at addressing period poverty, inequity, and inadequate menstrual health education in the United States. Objectives: This paper aims to examine the development, organization, and implementation of two distinct period product pantry networks in Ohio and New York. It seeks to compare the advantages and challenges of grassroots versus nonprofit-led models and to provide practical insights for future pantry operators. Design: The study examines two models of period product pantries: a grassroots effort led by three local residents in Ohio and an initiative spearheaded by a nonprofit organization in New York. The design includes a comparative analysis of both models' organization, funding methods, and operational structures. Methods: The authors gathered data on the construction, operation, and usage of two pantry networks, focusing on factors such as accessibility, community engagement, and sustainability. The study employed a combination of qualitative methods, including interviews with organizers, and a review of organizational documents to analyze the effectiveness and scalability of each model. Results: Both pantry networks increased accessibility to period products in low socioeconomic neighborhoods, which are disproportionately affected by period poverty. The grassroots model, while resource-limited, fostered strong community ties and local engagement. The nonprofit-led model benefited from dedicated staff and a more stable funding structure but faced bureaucratic challenges. Despite their differences, both models demonstrated the potential to empower menstruators by preserving their dignity and autonomy. Conclusions: Period product pantries represent an innovative and equitable approach to addressing period poverty and inequity. The analysis of the two models offers valuable insights for organizations and individuals interested in establishing similar initiatives. While each model has its unique benefits and challenges, both are effective in empowering menstruators and providing accessible menstrual hygiene products to those in need. Registration: Not applicable. Plain language summary: Fighting for menstrual equity through period product pantries Period product pantries are a new way to help people who can't afford period products and don't have enough education about menstrual health in the U.S. Many people who experience period poverty, or trouble getting products like pads and tampons, also face barriers to staying clean and managing period waste. This can cause health issues like infections. About 42% of people who get periods in the U.S. say they've had trouble paying for these products. Period product pantries are different from older methods of getting free products, like through social services, because they let people get what they need without feeling embarrassed or losing their sense of control. This paper looks at two types of period pantries: one started by three local people in Ohio and another run by a nonprofit group in New York. Both help people in neighborhoods where it's hard to afford period products. The paper talks about how these pantries were set up, how they are funded, and what worked well or didn't. The goal is to show how these pantries can be a good, fair way to help people while giving advice to others who might want to start their own pantries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes data from A-share listed companies between 2011 and 2020 to empirically investigate the impact and mechanism of public welfare donations on the internal income gap of enterprises. The research findings indicate that public welfare donations significantly increase the per capita salary of management, while their impact on the per capita salary of ordinary employees is not significant, thus leading to an expansion of the internal income gap within enterprises. The results from mechanism testing reveal that the income tax benefits resulting from charitable donations and the rise in corporate operating income have contributed to an increase in excess rent shared by enterprises and employees. Due to a stronger bargaining power, management shares more excess rents, thereby widening the income gap within the enterprise. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that public welfare donations have a greater impact on the internal income gap of non-state-owned enterprises; however, limiting executive compensation and enhancing employees' bargaining power can mitigate this widening effect caused by public welfare donations on enterprise's internal income gap. The research value of this study is threefold. Firstly, there is a scarcity of studies on the impact of public welfare donations on the income gap within enterprises, and this study contributes to enriching the research in this area. Secondly, this paper examines the effect of tax incentives for public welfare donations on the internal income gap of enterprises, thereby deepening the research on the impact of tax reduction and fee reduction, as well as expanding our understanding of corporate income tax preferential policies. Thirdly, it offers insights into improving enterprise compensation systems and enhancing corporate governance. Senior executives can potentially allocate more excess rent through their strong bargaining power. If their compensation remains unrestricted, it may lead to a widening internal income gap and negatively affect company operational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyprus is a nation of great history, old and new, that makes up a controversial and often stressful environment in which social work is practiced. The intent of this paper is to highlight the Cypriot context and discuss how the Global Agenda is integrated in it. Drawing on the key objectives of the Global Agenda — promoting social and economic equalities; promoting the dignity and worth of peoples; promoting community and environmental sustainability; and, strengthening recognition of the importance of human relationships — the paper explores the challenges and barriers that social work in the nation faces in an attempt to promote the wellbeing and growth of communities, families and individuals. With consideration to the many and rich initiatives toward increasing social solidarity, collaboration and community engagement, the paper makes suggestions to overcome the challenges that prevent social work from fully committing to the agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view that Culture and Creative Industries (CCI) are multi-sector, emergent, and complex, this paper couples the theoretical perspective of Margaret Archer's Morphogenetic Approach with Adam Kahane's Tansformative Scenario Planning (TSP) as its strategic framework to discover, articulate, and connect cross-sector (community-based organizations, industry, government, and education) CCI efforts. This study has sought to understand how and in what ways the actions found in the creative sector can be leveraged to enhance participation and ameliorate the outputs of socio-economic efforts across the full spectrum of the greater Seattle region. Thus, though this example it contributes to the creation of vital places of public welfare, where public frameworks and policies nurture accessibility and participate in connected culture and creative ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way in which we describe processes of automation, the digital society and the technology companies that deliver many of its services carry implicit and sometimes contradicting values and ideas about the society envisioned. In this paper, we are interested in unfolding some of the metaphors that guide political discourses on digitalisation in Denmark, particularly those related to the nexus between the welfare state and the market. We propose that metaphorical analysis of policy documents serves to tease out and confront the implicit values and tensions related to how welfare ideologies are reconciled with market logics. This carries important messages about the Danish government's imaginary of digitalisation and citizens, such as which role citizens are expected to play vis-à-vis digital services and welfare provisions. This paper argues that in contrast to the EU's declared goal of human-centric digitalisation, the Danish government relies on metaphors that are technology-centric rather than human-centric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent decades, Europe has seen a steady increase in psychiatric diagnoses, which, besides affecting the population in many ways, also challenges the organization of welfare. This paper explores how welfare classification processes impact the contemporary production of mental (ill) health and social inequality in the German welfare state. Methods: Based on comprehensive ethnographic research in the public mental healthcare landscape in Berlin between 2011 and 2017, this paper discusses in detail the case of a mandatory prescription of a psychosocial rehabilitation measure for Ms Reisch, a psychiatric service user and ethnographic research partner. The analysis draws on the methodological approach of praxeography to examine how this case challenges the social determinants of mental health framework and the conceptual work of the sociology of inequality on which the categories of welfare are largely built. Results: The paper highlights the essentializing properties of social categories, whether in the sociology of inequality or in social and mental health policy. It also demonstrates the strength of praxeography to expose how multiple welfare categorization processes shape experiences and events of dis/ability in practice, potentially contradicting the stated intentions of social policy. Conclusion: The results suggest that the attachment of categories to people in public welfare needs to be changed to make public administration more flexible to responding to the situated processes that bring about differentiations of equal and unequal in practice. The paper, therefore, encourages social inquiry into the potentialities of a post-categorical social policy framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines critical comments hidden behind the humorous topic of self-mockery. Based on a discourse analysis of 51 critical comments identified by GooSeeker of a self-mockery event from Weibo, this paper aims to unpack how the commenters actively exploit the relevancy of a topic to fulfill socio-political functions. Three strategies are found to be key in enabling them to accomplish socio-political functions: immoralizing the peripheral party, deauthorizing privilege and irrationalizing competitiveness, the meanings of which are discursively constructed across the critical comments. In this process, the self-mockery event serves as a weapon of social power to formulate critique and articulate discontent without breaking a consistent performance. The creative (re)appropriation in use is believed to be triggered by the policy of the platform and user's self-motivated interactional practice. These findings are expected to have implications for understanding comments as a social behavior at the nexus of language and social power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the reasons children and young people leave school early in Merauke, Papua, and advances education policy initiatives to address these causes. Indonesia has a policy of 12 years of compulsory schooling, but many in Papua leave school early. The Indonesian government considers that children mainly leave school early for economic reasons, and addresses the problem through its social welfare programmes, as well as 'supply- side' factors such as the number of schools. This paper uses mainly ethnographic data, especially life histories collected from 22 young people and adults who left school early, to argue that besides economic reasons, the on-again- off-again history of schooling, the extremely problematic nature of that schooling, as well as socio-cultural causes such as the stigmatisation of the local Marind people, self-stigmatisation and cultural discontinuity, combine to push children to leave school early. Multiple initiatives are suggested to improve the quality of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Social Prescribing has an established recognition regarding the benefits provided to the health-related social needs of adults, but little is known about how the intervention addresses young people's needs. There is optimism regarding the central role of two core mechanisms that allows social prescribing to be effective, such as the empathetic role of Link Workers and the connection with community resources. This paper aims to describe the role played by Link Workers working a Social Prescribing intervention targeting young people. Description: This paper adopts a case study methodology to describe the role of Link Workers addressing young people's needs and implementing Social Prescribing scheme in Sheffield (UK). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four of the seven link workers of one organisation based in Sheffield. Data were analysed through an inductive approach for emerging themes. Discussion: We provided a description of the profiles and background of Link Workers and described the three models of referral pathways into the intervention. The paper also shows how Link Workers identify young people's needs and how they connect with the community. Conclusion: Based on the insights and the internationally accepted definition of Social Prescribing, we provide a visual representation of the Social Prescribing model and discuss challenges. The paper highlights lessons learned and future directions regarding the role of Link Workers from the case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment subsidies are important active labour market policy (ALMP) tools, suited to a variety of labour market challenges. This paper engages with recent ALMP categorisation debates by appraising Cronert's (2019) recent typology of employment subsidies. It uses empirical material to assess the typology's explanatory power and produce insights to inform further typological development. The illustrative case of the British ' Wage Incentive' (2012-2014) is used to assess the typology's analytical purchase. Cronert's typology helpfully identifies key distinctions in the distributional profiles of employment subsidies, but further understanding of the category is impeded by the practice of defining them as demand-side interventions. The paper argues for a reappraisal of their supply-side characteristics, maintaining that the (potential) worker should be included in the analysis, and that employment subsidies' relationship with training and job creation should be acknowledged. It proposes a redefinition of employment subsidies reflecting their real-world use, and suggests a framework for further exploring varieties of employment subsidy design from the perspective of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-take-up, i.e. individuals not applying for a benefit they are eligible for, is a widespread problem limiting the reach of welfare and protection systems. This paper seeks to understand it by means of a theoretical framework comprising two levels of analysis: the claimants' individual characteristics in relation to the information barriers they face, and the administrative logic and functioning regarding the communications strategy used by public institutions. To test the hypotheses of these two levels of analysis, the paper analyses the B-MINCOME pilot scheme, a cash transfer programme implemented in the city of Barcelona between 2017 and 2019. Findings indicate that, although claimants' characteristics may play a significant role, the administrative functioning and the communications strategy are fundamental in determining take-up rates. The conclusions briefly address some of the technical and moral concerns raised by non-take-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental/economic dispatch (EED) of power systems addresses the environmental pollution problems caused by power generation at the operational level, offering macroscopic control without requiring additional construction and remediation costs, garnering widespread attention in recent years. This paper undertakes a comprehensive review of existing EED models, categorizing them according to the control of atmospheric pollutants into total air pollutant control (TAPC) and control considering the spatial and temporal diffusion (STD) of atmospheric pollutants. In addition, various methods employed to address the EED problems, as well as the current state of research on multi-area EED models, are presented. Finally, this paper analyzes and summarizes the literature on existing EED models, highlighting the deficiencies of the current work and future research directions. Through these explorations, the authors find that controlling the EED model by considering TAPC is more suitable for general macro planning, whereas the EED model considering the STD of air pollutant emissions enables more precise and effective control. Summarizing such models and techniques is conducive to developing dispatch plans adapted to local conditions, which is significantly beneficial for public welfare and government management, promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly power system dispatch methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) serves as an effective mechanism to secure justice for the public. It works as a commendable legal instrument for fetching public welfare. It has the capacity to compel the system to implement beneficial policies for all. PIL possesses its distinctive characteristics from the private interest litigation (PL). PIL operates primarily for public interest, whereas, the PL focuses on personal grievances. This paper underscores to maintain the distinction between these two legal recourses. This study explores the potential misuse of PIL for private interests: it has analysed leading case laws from both the Indian and Pakistani jurisdictions. Through this analysis, this article illustrates how PIL is often attempted to be misused. In the end, this study has provided certain recommendations for our courts to follow when they entertain PIL cases. It concludes that PIL is a collaborative effort of all us to give voice to the voiceless. It should never be allowed to be misused. The courts have a primary role in this regard to play in maintaining the integrity and proper use of PIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paperwork has always been a central part of bureaucratic work. Over the last few years, bureaucratic procedures have become increasingly standardised and digitalised. Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork within welfare offices in Switzerland and Belgium, we reflect on the way evidence is constructed within social policy and cases built for or against noncitizen welfare recipients in order to show how paper truths are established and challenged. The focus on digital practices within public policy implementation highlights how it contributes to enhanced control mechanisms on the implementation level and how migration law continues to guide welfare governance for noncitizens. This allows targeting of the most marginalised groups, whose rights to access state support are institutionally impeded. Through database information flows, official forms, paper reports and face-to-face meetings, we further show how a hybrid form of bureaucratic work emerges, where direct contact with the client is still key, yet highly influenced by standardisation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare is a fundamental aspect of animal management and conservation. In light of growing public awareness and welfare concerns about captive elephants, there is an urgent need for comprehensive, globally coordinated efforts for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) that participate in religious, logging, or tourist activities in range countries where the majority reside, and where welfare issues have been identified but not addressed. This review provides a comparative analysis of available animal assessment tools. Each offers distinct features for assessment that allow institutions to select criteria for specific needs and available resources. Most are applied to general animal welfare assessments, although some are tailored to particular species, including elephants. The tools span diverse formats, from digital to primarily paper-based assessments. Assessments operate at individual and institutional levels and across multiple welfare domains. Methodologies rely on keeper ratings or expert evaluations, incorporate numerical scoring and Likert scales for welfare grading, and encompass inputs including behaviors, health, and physiological indicators. For tourist camp elephants, one challenge is that the tools were developed in zoos, which may or may not have application to non-zoological settings. Digital tools and assessment methodologies such as keeper ratings face logistical challenges when applied across tourist venues. As with any tool, reliability, validity, and repeatability are essential and must address the unique welfare challenges of diverse captive settings. We propose that a holistic, context-specific, evidence-based, and practical tool be developed to ensure high elephant welfare standards in non-zoological facilities throughout Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to maximize voter registration opportunities and correct a century of discriminatory and overly complicated State voter registration laws. Section 7 of the NVRA was designed to increase voter registration among low-income and minority citizens by requiring States to provide voter registration services at public assistance agencies. However, a three-decade campaign by state governments to resist implementing the NVRA has undermined its effectiveness. As a part of this campaign, States interpret Section 7 narrowly to limit its scope. Under Section 7, each State must designate as Voter Registration Agencies (VRAs) "all offices in the State that provide public assistance." Congress used this broad language out of a concern that states would limit the number of Voter Registration Agencies. However, this is exactly what States have done. Notably, no State has ever designated Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) as Voter Registration Agencies. Public Housing Authorities are state agencies that administer housing aid programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). PHAs serve millions of low- income and minority citizens who are least likely to be registered to vote. Providing voter registration services at PHAs would effectively increase democratic participation and diversify the electorate. This paper argues that the plain text and legislative intent of the NVRA require States to designate Public Housing Authorities as Voter Registration Agencies. This paper uses prior case law and statutory interpretation techniques to demonstrate that PHAs are "offices in the State" that "provide public assistance." These are the only requirements under Section 7. Therefore, States are out of compliance with the NVRA for failing to designate PHAs as VRAs. This paper recommends that the U.S. Department of Justice and private citizens use the statutory right of action included in the NVRA to force State compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussion of government is deeply intertwined with the Science of Government itself, tracing back centuries to classical government science and evolving into contemporary forms. Within government implementation, symptoms, actions, and events constitute its essence. Symptoms signify its existence, actions denote activities by government entities to serve public welfare, and events encapsulate official government activities recorded as historical records. These components collectively aim to establish order, peace, and societal well-being. Government actions and events often exhibit intelligence in various forms, including information, administrative products, and activities. For instance, the reliance on accurate data and facts in decision-making processes underscores the importance of intelligence in governance. Effective public policies should be grounded in credible information that addresses societal needs and garners support. Information, data, and facts serve as vital elements in policymaking and governance, contributing significantly to leadership processes. Recognizing this, there's a burgeoning field termed Government Intelligence, aimed at furthering the understanding and utilization of intelligence in governmental practices. This paper serves as an inaugural step in developing Government Intelligence, offering practical insights for governmental practices at all levels. It underscores the importance of early vigilance tasks and national unity in governance. While acknowledging its limitations, the author invites feedback and suggestions to enhance the content, fostering the growth and refinement of this emerging field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparative study of housing decommodification lags behind classical welfare state research, while housing research itself is rich in homeownership studies but lacks comparative accounts of private and social rentals due to missing comparative data. Building on existing works and various primary sources, this study presents a new collection of up to forty-eight countries' social housing shares in stock and new construction since the first housing laws around 1900. The interpolated benchmark time series generally describes the rise and fall of social housing across a residual, a socialist, and a Northern-European housing group. The decline was steeper than for the classical welfare state, but the degree of erosion was surprisingly small in some countries where public housing associations remained resilient. Within the broader housing welfare state, social housing correlates positively with rent regulation and allowances, but negatively with homeownership subsidies and liberal mortgage regulation. A multivariate analysis shows that social housing is rather explained by housing shortages and complementarities with rental and welfare policies than by typical welfare state theories (GDP, political parties). Generally, the paper shows that conventional housing typologies are difficult to defend over time and argues more generally for including housing decommodification in welfare state research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on two articles on the necessity of a new constitutional convention in the U.S. He explains his support for a new national constitutional convention. He examines the first paper in which the author contrasts the First and Second Amendments as instantiating two completely different visions of politics. He addresses several points raised in the second paper, including the positive value of social welfare guarantees listed in a constitutional text.

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Non-resident fathers are rarely researched from a critical perspective. Becoming a non-resident father often results in major dislocation, presenting challenges and hindrances to a meaningful relationship with children. Dislocation is increased by the involvement of the family court, legal issues, false abuse allegations, and ex-partners. Changing family configurations may marginalize non-resident fathers, with their own perspectives, voices, and lack of power remaining largely unmapped. This paper identifies what hinders non-resident fathers' relationships with their children from a critical and Australian perspective. In-depth interviews using open-ended questions with 19 non-resident fathers were used to collect data, followed by a five-step critical thematic analysis to focus on the locus of power. Non-resident fathers' perceptions included a lack of agency and decision-making power; the mother, legal obstacles, and agencies hindered their desired relationships with children. Hindrances were magnified by descriptions of false allegations and IPV from the ex-partner and/or her agents, resulting in a sense of marginalization, silencing, and disempowerment. Australian non-resident fathers in this study identified that desired relationships with their children were hindered by the roles of legal and welfare services, policing, and their ex-partners. The highlighting of these issues points to ways that non-resident fathers with similar experiences of a lack of agency and decision-making power might be better supported by more streamlined and balanced legal processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxes are a crucial instrument in determining a country's revenue. However, challenges remain, especially in the face of societal resistance to tax collection. To achieve people's welfare, tax regulations are needed, namely tax laws, which require public awareness. Therefore, this paper will discuss the effect of tax law on the welfare of the Indonesian people. This paper uses the type of data that produces descriptive evidence, collects information about the relationship between variables, and deepens the data used in the study in this paper. This study uses secondary documents in the form of writing and figures from articles and news with trusted sites as the object of discussion in this report. The results show that taxes play a central role in Indonesia's economy, and the main source of state revenue is the income sector. Tax amnesty can be a solution to increase tax revenue by capturing new taxes and increasing public awareness about the importance of adherence to tax laws. Increased public awareness is needed so that facilities, education, services, and security can be improved to achieve better public welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial system has an important component which adds to social welfare. Investment and consumption expenditures contribute to the increase in production by meeting the capital requirement. The study examines the impact of financial development on income inequality for 13 member nations of the OECD between 1993 and 2017 in light of the panel data method. In the study, income inequality is used as a proxy for the GINI coefficient, while the banks' domestic credit to the private sector is utilized to represent financial development. In addition, the model utilizes control variables, including per capita income, trade openness, inflation, and public spending. The panel data regression results reveal that financial development has a positive effect on income inequality. The results of the paper support the Income Inequality Widening Hypothesis, which suggests that the situation which favours individuals with high income levels who have access to financial resources continues when financial development increases, which in turn increases income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars in different disciplines claim that the implementation of Universal Basic Income (UBI) at a large scale has the potential to address and even eradicate poverty and inequalities. Taking into account this context, the present paper seeks to explore views on how this utopian scenario can impact the social work profession and society as a whole. Even though the social workers’ insights on the UBI debate are somehow marginal, their voices are highly relevant. As known, social workers are those who have direct contact with marginalised groups and can, therefore, contribute with their formal and informal experience in the field. Additionally, considering their role as advocates of social change and justice, social workers can provide an informed perspective on the potential reform of the welfare system if UBI were to be implemented. Based on these aspects, this article invites social work professionals and researchers to reflect upon the future and consider further opportunities and challenges that UBI could pose for our societies. These discussions also have the potential to engage with a wider range of social work theories and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While bats are tremendously important to global ecosystems, they have been and continue to be threatened by loss of habitat, food, or roosts, pollution, bat diseases, hunting and killing. Some bat species have also been implicated in the transmission of infectious disease agents to humans. While One Health efforts have been ramped up recently to educate and protect human and bat health, such initiatives have been limited by lack of adequate data on the pathways to ensure their support. For instance, data on the role of bats in supporting different components of human welfare assets would be utilized as a stepping stone to champion conservation campaigns. Unfortunately, these data are limited and efforts to synthesize existing literature have majorly focused on few components human welfare leaving other important aspects. Methods: Here, we analyze benefits associated with bats in the context of welfare economics considering all the asset components. We surveyed scientific and gray literature platforms utilizing particular keywords. We then classified these values using integrated approaches to understand different values across human welfare assets of "health," "material and immaterial assets," "security or safety" and "social or cultural or spiritual relations". Results: We found 235 papers from different countries indicating that bats play fundamental roles in supporting human welfare. These benefits were more prevalent in Asia and Africa. In terms of the use of bats to support welfare assets, bats were majorly utilized to derive material and immaterial benefits (n = 115), e.g., food and income. This was followed by their use in addressing health challenges (n = 99), e.g., treatment of ailments. There was a similarity in the benefits across different regions and countries. Conclusion: These results indicate potential opportunities for strengthening bat conservation programs. We recommend more primary studies to enhance understanding of these benefits as well as their effectiveness in deriving the perceived outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In emerging economies like India, the focus of public health policies is shifting toward the treating non-communicable diseases to preventing communicable diseases. The public welfare demands appropriate targeted healthcare subsidies for non-communicable diseases. In this paper, we investigate whether out-of-pocket expenditure toward mitigating non-communicable diseases for the poorer section of the population is catastrophic by nature. In a representative futuristic scenario for an emerging economy, we have collected the cancer patients' expenditure data from the patients and hospital management in a not-for-profit cancer hospital located in the state of Kerala. We have analyzed the variation of expenditure categorized as government subsidy toward treatment, private expenditure toward medical goods and services, and private expenditure toward non-medical goods and services against different socio-economic variables. The analysis of catastrophic health expenditure data reveals that relatively lower income lower-income households face more risk of catastrophic health expenditure and are in greater need of government subsidy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we estimate the causal effects of a set of active labor market programs for male unemployed refugees on welfare who entered Germany between, 2013 and September, 2016. Using rich administrative data, we employ covariate balancing propensity scores combined with inverse probability weighting to estimate effects up to 33 months after the start of treatment. Our results show that relatively short-term training in the form of Schemes by Providers and In-Firm Training, as well as longer-term Further Vocational Training programs have a positive impact on both the employment chances as well as labor market earnings of refugees in the medium run. So-called "One Euro Jobs", a public employment program, does not yield positive effects on employment or earnings. Sensitivity analyses confirm that our results are unlikely to be driven by unobserved confounding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criticisms against international aid in Africa focus mainly on the notion that aid creates dependency, induces corruption, fosters currency overvaluation, hurts economic development, and doesn't allow aid recipient countries an opportunity to take advantage of the global economy. Neglected by these arguments are how aid efforts weaken the cultural capital, resourcefulness, and ways of life of recipient communities. The strength and sustainability of any community lies in its cultural values and systems. In this paper, we frame indigenous beliefs in the context we know and work (Namibia), outline indigenous social welfare practices, and argue that aid is not neutral or value-free, but loaded with assumptions, motives, and beliefs alien to the recipient country, which can harm local systems, practices, and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the basic idea of efficiency in economic analysis of law (EAL) and at the same time promote its efficacy by using the optics of its studies that use 'economic eyes' while providing justice as a legal goal. Starting with the points of utility from Bentham's thought which was then conceptualized as an economic concept of justice because in EAL, law and justice view society as an economic entity. Three models were raised, then the analysis of efficiency became an economic tool to be used to achieve the goal of maximizing welfare. The goal is to get answers to whether it is possible to valuate and monetize all aspects of efficiency in order to get benefits. Each model is constructed with different assumptions and scenarios but still under one framework, namely how efficiency works according to EAL in order to maximize the widest social utility. As a result, it becomes inefficient when faced with circumstances that are contrary to the basic principles of EAL so that it cannot be monetized. There are circumstances where valuations are difficult or even impossible to monetize at decent values, especially against certain costs and benefits. These results show that the difficulty in quantifying some aspects tends to replace one's subjective values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to generate a better understanding of how challenges and opportunities for sustainable change during digitalization relate to the organizing work of change agents mandated to facilitate technology adoption from within local work organizations. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the work of welfare technology coordinators, health-care professionals who are mandated to facilitate the use of technologies in home-based services in a Norwegian city. Data comprise ethnographic observations of meetings and work practices, interviews and documents collected over one year. A practice-based approach was applied to analyze how the welfare technology coordinators go about integrating technologies with the work practices, and the forms of negotiations this work implies in their work community. Findings: The analysis identified four sets of practices in the coordinators' work: exploring and integrating new technologies into work practices, legitimizing aims and values, formalizing routines and responsibilities and critically considering existing and envisioned service practices. Through these practices, emerging problems and disconnections in the service organization were attended to in a continuous manner. Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature by examining the work of internal change agents mandated to facilitate multiple and simultaneous technology adoption and demonstrates the importance of recognizing the continuous efforts and negotiations of these agents as significant to sustainable organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay embraces a notion of critical scholarship concerned with proposing normative and actionable alternatives that can create more inclusive societies and focuses on the role of institutionalizing experimental places for inclusive social innovation as a bottom-up strategic response to welfare state reforms. By mobilizing the notions of utopias and heterotopias in Foucault, the paper sheds light on the opportunity to move from policy utopias to democratic heterotopias, discussing the politics embedded in this cognitive shift and the democratic nature of social innovation changing social and governance relations by interacting with politico-administrative systems. Some obstacles to institutionalizing social innovation are highlighted, as well as some key governance mechanisms that can be activated either by public and/or social purpose organizations to try to overcome those obstacles. Finally, we discuss the importance of linking inclusive social innovation with democratic, rather than market logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduced in the United Kingdom in 2012, Universal Credit (UC) is a welfare benefit that replaces six working-age 'legacy' benefits for out-of-work and low-income people. Designed with the aim of simplifying benefits and incentivising paid work, UC represents a deepening of conditionality in the British welfare state. Considering these developments, this paper quantitatively investigates the effect of UC on recipients' life satisfaction. Data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study is analysed, primarily using a fixed-effects regression approach. Results reveal a significantly negative effect of UC recipience on life satisfaction. Robustness checks and alternative model specifications, including difference-in-differences and inverse probability weighting, confirm this finding. Additionally, mediation models give credence to the idea that UC also negatively affects life satisfaction indirectly by increasing psychological distress. Heterogeneity tests indicate that UC has a less negative effect on single parents' life satisfaction compared to non-parents. Meanwhile, UC has a significantly more negative effect on the life satisfaction of people not in paid work (for reasons other than unemployment) than those in paid work. Discussion focuses on the potential effect of welfare conditionality specifically, and implications for future research and policy are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early years of Islamic civilization, the Waqf institution served many important purposes for Muslims, offering essential services across various sectors. However, the role of Waqf has declined since the 19th century. At the present time, most Waqf properties have been neglected, become unproductive, or illegally occupied. As a result, the Waqf institution's ability to provide crucial services has weakened considerably. However, according to estimates, the global value of Waqf assets ranges from USD 100 billion to USD 1 trillion. This means that if used correctly, Waqf has the potential to improve the lives of Muslims significantly. This paper discusses some of the challenges that the Waqf institution must overcome in order to, once again, regain its crucial position in the Muslim community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa has negatively affected the lives of many individuals and families. Undocumented migrants were not an exception to this challenge. Despite encountering a number of challenges such as unemployment and being excluded from the welfare services of the country, undocumented migrants also battled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced them to develop survival strategies. It is from this background that this, study sought to explore survival strategies of undocumented migrants post COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa. The study used a qualitative approach wherein Musina was used as a case study. Ten migrant youth were purposively and conveniently selected to participate in this study. Data was collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and analysed thematically through Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). Resilience theory was used to guide this study. Findings, conclusions and recommendations are provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factual welfare television has been described as stigmatising and individualising – representing its participants as failures in a meritocratic society. This paper, however, revisits the 2014 British documentary Benefits Street and argues that it tends to humanise its cast, showing them as trapped in two social structures of benefits (i.e. the social security system) and street (i.e. the deprived local community). Using a multimodal critical discourse studies approach, the paper analyses the verbal, visual and sound tracks of the most popular episode to explore how these modes combine to portray the structure of benefits as stultifying, and the street as a restrictive community. These structures are selectively foregrounded at the expense of the wider, arguably more impactful structures of neoliberal austerity and welfare reform that characterised the political economy of Britain in 2014. The residents' troubles, therefore, appear to be grounded in the two restrictive structures of benefits and street, and individualistic post-welfarism – surely implicated in their problems – becomes the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper presents a re-analysis of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data presented by Briggs et al. (2022). Methods: We review five components of that article: The aims, variables, analytic strategy, analysis, and conclusions. Results: We conclude that several of the NCANDS variables used are invalid at the national level, and that this is sufficient to call the research into question. We find concerning issues in analytic strategy and analysis as well, many stemming from a failure to account for the serious underreporting of services in NCANDS, and the wide variability in data quality and consistency across states. We also found what we consider to be issues with their statistical analysis. Discussion: The reanalysis presented in this article shows no pattern of disparate within Child Protective Services (CPS) outcomes by race and, therefore, no support for the Briggs et al. claim of pervasive anti-Black racism within the CPS system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated the economic effectiveness of welfare state reforms that follow the Danish flexicurity model, broadly specifying the combination of highly flexible labor market policies and generous protection schemes. Notwithstanding, it has also been argued that large and generous welfare states may erode civic attitudes, defined here as people's willingness to cheat on taxes and claim transfers to which they are not entitled. Combining data from all available waves of the World Values Survey and the European Values Study with a self-constructed flexicurity index, this paper finds that welfare state reforms involving a combination of higher benefits, lower labor market regulations, and active labor market policies are not significantly associated with an erosion of civic attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a form of communion between persons that the philosophy of value has a tendency to ignore. In discussions of interpersonal relationships and experiences, focus is almost always directed to the phenomenon of friendship and family: two or more individuals that share a history, have longstanding relationships of mutual care. Friendship is said, among other things, to be of intrinsic value, to directly benefit the friend, to generate special obligations, and to yield advances in a person's virtue. But friendship constitutes a small fraction of the valuable interactions we have with others. Friendship is compatible with, but is not necessary for, what we might call "fellowship": the experience of being with others (whether or not one has any deeper personal relationship with said others). In this paper, I provide an account of the nature of fellowship, and explore its evaluative merit. I argue that there are good reasons to think that, like friendship is often taken to be, fellowship is of intrinsic value, and should be counted as part of the pantheon of robust human goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patents are hybrid instruments: as publicly granted property rights, they are the creature of statutes designed to maximize social welfare and further other public policies. But they are also private entitlements that serve as the centerpiece to numerous economically important private orderings. I begin this paper by carefully separating out these two dimensions of patent rights, the public-regarding and the private-facing: patents as public grants, but also private entitlements. Understanding the dual nature of patent rights leads to a novel critique of the Supreme Court doctrine of patent misuse that originated in the 1940s and continued through the 1970s. Misuse doctrine in this era largely ignored the private entitlement side of patent law. The Court repeatedly found that certain bilateral contracts "extend" the stategranted patentright in various ways that upset the legislative balance behind the Patent Act. These cases, as with cases on preemption of state IP law, championed the supremacy of federal policy. The Court was not shy about finding incursions into that supremacy, but in the case of state contract law, this was a mistake. Contracts are a natural complement to IP entitlements, which must often be transferred, aggregated, bundled, etc., in the course of the modern economy. The Court muddled important conceptual issues as well: while a private contract can, of course, affect third parties in important ways, a patent, as property, cannot be "extended" by contract in a way that binds third parties. The Patent Misuse doctrine is also not needed as an adjunct to antitrust law. Potentially anticompetitive patent contracts can be looked at using conventional antitrust law as well as judicious application of the longstanding "void as against public policy" doctrine within contract law. This is an especially auspicious time for patent law to shift from its tradition of hostility toward licensing to a much more appreciative and supportive stance. A wave of contemporary research shows how important licensing and other patent-centered transactions are, especially for new entrants and specialized input supplier firms-crucial parts of an effective innovation ecosystem. With this research, armed with a more analytically defensible understanding of patent contract doctrine, I make some normative suggestions designed to encourage and support patent licensing. Specifically, I argue that (a) private parties should be able to bargain over whether a licensee has the right to challenge licensed patents (i.e., overrule Lear v. Adkins (1969)), and (b) private parties should usually be permitted to agree to pay royalties after a patent expires or is invalidated (i.e., overrule Brulotte v. Thys (1964)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The aim of this article is to analyse the activities carried out by selected Social Welfare Centres (Ośrodki Pomocy Społecznej - OPS)1 in Poland, in terms of programmes and educational tourism activities offered to different groups of the excluded. The phenomenon of exclusion is increasingly permeating various aspects of our lives. Today, we already speak of "rejection", "exclusion from life", "marginalisation", "exclusion from life", "alienation from life", "outcasting from society", "exclusion", etc. The term is used to describe a situation in which individuals or, increasingly, entire social groups are unable to normally participate in social life, in civic, political, economic, cultural or professional activities; to have access to services, offers, consumption, to pursue their interests, hobbies, desires and thus, to fulfil their basic social roles and needs. Yet, these groups have the right to be treated like other citizens, without any restrictions. In addition to the above-mentioned aspects of life, there are also situations of inaccessibility by certain communities to, for example, freely undertake physical, sporting, recreational or tourist activities. The task of entities and organisations responsible for pro-social policy in our country (not only the government level, but especially the local level - i.e. Social Welfare Centres) is to enable hitherto excluded and marginalised persons to fully participate in social life, also in terms of universal and unhindered access to physical activities in the broad sense. According to the United Nations, for many marginalised groups, tourism is a tool for integration and social empowerment [CSONET UN 2023]. Method. The activities of 341 centres operating in Poland (a total of 2,426 centres were approached and responses were received from 341) and the responses received from staff responsible for educational tourism programmes and projects, and from participants engaging in the activities, were analysed. The authors treat the notion of educational tourism within the framework of activities undertaken by the OPS in relation to excluded groups, in two ways, namely as: a) social educational activities, excluding "into tourism" (enabling universal access for the excluded to participate in tourist activities, to tourist services and to tourist destinations, etc.) and b) social educational activities (including institutional), excluding "through tourism" (enabling universal access for the excluded to undertake work in tourism). Accordingly, analysis of the activities of the above-mentioned centres has been conducted taking this division into account. Findings. The results of the research showed that the offer of the selected centres in the field of this type of tourism proposed for various excluded groups is diverse, and successfully contributes to their "inclusion" in the generally accessible mainstream of social life. Research and conclusions limitations. It would be necessary to carry out more research on the centres in order to learn more about the full participation of their wards in educational tourism activities. Practical implications. Achieving greater mutual understanding will help increase sustainability for both sectors. Originality. The authors is not aware of any similar endeavour or publications. Type of paper. A case study. This article was supported under project NP-KSV-ET-01-2023-12/ST-International cooperation in the field of development, management and law of tourism and sports between the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and should not be taken as reflecting the position of any body, entity or institution. The article presents the legal situation as of 10 January 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the connection between social sustainability and participatory processes in the realm of social work, through a theoretical reflection. The guiding research questions for the work are: a) How can user participation enhance the social sustainability of social work? b)What should be the dynamic of participation between institutions and users to ensure the social sustainability of social work? In an effort to address these inquiries, we will initially conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current state of social sustainability literature to underscore the significance of user participation in social work. Subsequently, our focus will shift towards examining various forms and dynamics associated with user participation at the meso level of social work practice within the domain of welfare services in Italy. Our aim is to advocate for the adoption of co-creation processes, characterised by a bottom-linked dynamic, as an innovative approach with the potential to enhance the social sustainability of social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of NPM reforms on two prominent welfare state professions; medical doctors and teachers. The case study context is Sweden, where the impact of NPM led to a series of reforms in health care and education after 1990. The focus in the paper is on professional autonomy, which can be seen as a core trait in professional work. The findings in the article point to both medical doctors and teachers having lost professional autonomy as a result of NPM-reforms, particularly with regards to the dimensions of work organization and evaluation. Autonomy in individual decision-making seems to have been least affected, even if there are indications of this being infringed upon as well. Despite these broad similarities, the loss of autonomy is found to be more pronounced in the case of teachers. One reason behind this difference, which manifests itself in teachers having become subject to higher level of direct administrative control by school managers while at the same time experiencing a more distinct loss of autonomy to evaluate their work, appears to be that medical doctors have been more successful in establishing themselves as experts in relation to new public audit agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In liberal welfare systems, social security policy has been increasingly shifting towards conditionality and individualisation (Knotz, 2019). It is within this context that failure to meet the set conditions becomes personal rather than systemic. This has been enabled by policy discourses that construct poverty and unemployment as the result of personal failure and poor social behaviour. While this area of study over emphasises 'the constraints imposed by discourse' (Bacchi, 2000: 55), alternative discourses are often developed. This paper draws on ethnographic research investigating the development of self-reliant groups (SRGs) in Scotland. SRGs are small groups of women supporting each other in creating opportunities for personal development. We find that the process of involvement and sharing of experiences between women at the forefront of welfare reform led to the development of a counter public sphere. Yet, the experience doesn't move fully towards actions for transformative social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of reliable predictive algorithm for house price as the housing market is a stand-out among the most involved regarding valuing the price and continues to fluctuate, is constantly a need for socio-economic advancement and welfare of citizen. In this paper, we develop machine learning algorithms for forecasting UK housing Price, and find an optimal algorithm that forecasts housing price accurately on the premises of the presence of many features or covariates. After applying correlation analysis to remove correlated variables in order to avoid multicollinearity, thereby increasing the statistical power, a novel method of using regression analysis to first of all understand and select statistically significant features for the various regions in England based on North South divide is adopted. These features are then used in the machine learning algorithm to further increase the statistical power of the algorithm, increase the level of accuracy for each of them and ultimately increase the predictive values for the algorithms. The model construction involves 3 stages: 1- correlation analysis to identify and remove correlated variables thereby avoiding multicollinearity and increasing the statistical power of the linear regression, 2 - using linear regression to determine variables that are statistically significant and 3 - building the machine learning algorithms based on the variables that are statistically significant from the linear regression. A comprehensive dataset of UK Paid housing Price from 2010 to 2019 was linked to a number of other datasets to generate a total 21 variables or features used for the models. Catboost, Gradient Boosting, Bagging, Random Forest, Extra Tree all achieved the excellent model's performance result in all the regions considered. The comparison of the seven models showed that Extra Tree algorithm consistently achieved the best performance in term of level of accuracy in all the regions. K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) is the only algorithm with less than 50% level of accuracy. Noticeably, the regions considered had varying or differing insignificant variables, implying that although many variables are common (statistically significant) to all the regions, there are regional differences and impact when modelling or predicting housing prices. This study validates the practicability of developing a machine learning methodology for the prediction of housing price. This research offers a reference for future house price prediction based on machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waqf is a philanthropic institution in Islam that has been the subject of has been the subject of debates on Islamic law since classical times to the modern era. The topics of discussion include the existence of the waqif, mauquf 'alaih (nadzir), mauquf (object), and sighat (proclamation). Fiqh and Indonesian law, referred to as UU (Act), have given significant attention and analysis to these topics. The latest efforts have focused on combining and accommodating these laws to reconstruct and expand the implementation scope of waqf. The philanthropic objective of the organization is to achieve public welfare through reinterpretation of its earliest concept. This paper will also discuss emerging issues such as cash waqf (waqf al-nuqud) and productive waqf, which have arisen due to lack of professionalism and mismanagement of waqf objects. These elaborations aim to analyze the content substance of Act 41/2004 as a compromised solution conducted by the Rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Legislation governs both the admittance and treatment of forced migrants in the United States. Increasingly, many forced migrants are offered few welfare benefits, temporary protection, and no pathway to permanent residency. This paper explores forced migrants' legal categories and access to social welfare, focusing on five humanitarian protection statuses: Temporary Protected Status, Humanitarian Parole, Asylum Seeker, Refugee, and Asylee. Based on the concepts of welfare nationalism and the Protestant Work Ethic, our historical analysis examines the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 to see how this landmark legislation shaped access to welfare for noncitizens. We then focus on the emergence of humanitarian statuses since the 1950s and the legislation that constructed them. We conclude that immigration legislation governing forced migrants underlies an ideology of deserving, where some are treated as more meritorious than others. Thus, we call for welfare scholars to elevate immigration status as a key category in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]