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Background Debate continues in public health on the roles of universal or targeted policies in providing equity of access to health- related goods or services, and thereby contributing to health equity. Research examining policy implementation can provide fresh insights on these issues.Methods We synthesised findings across case studies of policy implementation in four policy areas of primary healthcare (PHC), telecommunications, Indigenous health and land use policy, which incorporated a variety of universal and targeted policy structures. We analysed findings according to three criteria of equity in access – availability, affordability and acceptability – and definitions of universal, proportionate-universal, targeted and residual policies, and devolved governance structures.Results Our analysis showed that existing universal, proportionate-universal and targeted policies in an Australian context displayed strengths and weaknesses in addressing availability, affordability and acceptability dimensions of equity in access.Conclusion While residualist policies are unfavourable to equity of access, other forms of targeting as well as universal and proportionate-universal structure have the potential to be combined in context-specific ways favourable to equity of access to health-related goods and services. To optimise benefits, policies should address equity of access in the three dimensions of availability, affordability and acceptability. Devolved governance structures have the potential to augment equity benefits of either universal or targeted policies.

Background: Debate continues in public health on the roles of universal or targeted policies in providing equity of access to health-related goods or services, and thereby contributing to health equity. Research examining policy implementation can provide fresh insights on these issues. Methods: We synthesised findings across case studies of policy implementation in four policy areas of primary healthcare (PHC), telecommunications, Indigenous health and land use policy, which incorporated a variety of universal and targeted policy structures. We analysed findings according to three criteria of equity in access - availability, affordability and acceptability - and definitions of universal, proportionate-universal, targeted and residual policies, and devolved governance structures. Results: Our analysis showed that existing universal, proportionate-universal and targeted policies in an Australian context displayed strengths and weaknesses in addressing availability, affordability and acceptability dimensions of equity in access. Conclusion: While residualist policies are unfavourable to equity of access, other forms of targeting as well as universal and proportionate-universal structure have the potential to be combined in context-specific ways favourable to equity of access to health-related goods and services. To optimise benefits, policies should address equity of access in the three dimensions of availability, affordability and acceptability. Devolved governance structures have the potential to augment equity benefits of either universal or targeted policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper contributes to the understanding of the taste heterogeneity of travelers to pre-peak discount pricing strategy. • Naturalistic data from smart card data users in Beijing before and after a policy intervention is used in this regard. • Four groups of travelers with heterogeneous characteristics are classified by constructing a latent class model. • Different targeted policy recommendations for each group of travelers are proposed in order to improve the policy effect. Studies of travelers' response behavior to transportation demand management is receiving substantial attention among researchers and transport operators in recent years. While previous studies in this area have generally assumed that the sensitivity of travelers to different factors is homogeneous and relies on survey responses, which may be prone to self-reporting errors and/or subject to behavioral incongruence. Relying on naturalistic data, this paper aims to investigate the behavioral response to pre-peak discount pricing strategy in the context of the Beijing subway with a special focus on the heterogeneity among the travelers. Anonymous smart card data from 5946 travelers before and after the introduction of a peak avoidance policy in Beijing are used to construct a latent class choice model to capture the sensitivity to different factors and the associated taste heterogeneity of travelers. Given the passive nature of the data, the model can offer more realistic outputs. The results indicate that there is substantial heterogeneity in travelers' responses to the peak avoidance policy, and that they can be probabilistically allocated to four latent classes. For all classes of travelers, the decision to shift their departure to off-peak is affected by the monetary saving, the required change in departure time and the frequency of travel, but in different magnitudes. In particular, only two classes of travelers (who exhibit lower standard-deviation in pre-intervention departure time) show significant sensitivity to price changes indicating that the discount policies are more likely to be effective for these groups. The rest of travelers are largely price insensitive – warranting the need for non-monetary incentives as opposed to fare discounts. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to innovatively apply the LCC framework to analyze travelers' heterogeneous behavior using large-scale smart card data without socio-demographic information. The findings can provide guidance to the subway authority in devising differential peak avoidance policies targeted for different groups of users, which are likely to be more effective than the current 'one size fits all' approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, an extensive program of cutting subsidies was implemented in Iran; and at the same time, a cash subsidy was redistributed to vast majority of country population. One announced goal of this plan was to improve income distribution. In this study, we evaluate the effects of targeted subsidy program on income distribution. This is important because the program is to be continuing and studies such as this one may be useful for identifying possible issues to avoid future drawbacks. To achieve this, using the data of "Household Income and Expenditure Survey" by Statistical Center of Iran, we run an Oxaca-Blinder micro-simulation model during the years before and after the implementation of the first phase of this policy. In this model, mitigations are provided for sampling error, differences in regional price index and the coexistence of sanctions. Based on our results, while distribution of expenditures is sharply more equal after 2010, the simulated purchasing powers are not so; moreover, more equitable distribution of expenditures is mostly because of losing opportunities.

Land use change is the most pervasive force driving the degradation of watershed ecosystems. This article combines an econometric model of land use choice with models of watershed health indicators to examine the effects of land use policies on watershed ecosystems through their effect on land use. Our results suggest that incentive-based land use policies and property acquisition programs can have relatively large positive impacts on watershed health, while policies that change the returns to land use are less effective. The results suggest that there is potential for targeting these policies because their impacts vary across watersheds with different land use mixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Repair, reuse and recycling differ in labour intensity and working conditions. • Structural heterogeneity of circular activities implies the need for targeted policies. • Potential for genuine circular job creation in repair and reuse activities. • Repair and reuse are currently low-wage activities in the European union. • Targeted tax policy can spur revalorization and competitiveness of repair and reuse. The socio-economic structural conditions for the transition towards a circular economy (CE) are little explored, as most of the research is concerned with technical and organizational aspects. The few studies addressing the matter focus on the estimation of GDP growth and job creation potential of certain "circular activities" (CA). These CA are assumed to be labour-intensive, so job losses resulting from the paradigm shift should be offset by the overall gains. However, significant structural differences in the economic characteristics of these activities suggest that their development may have dissimilar socio-economic implications, while their promotion would require diverse policy instruments. This paper aims to study the current sectoral structure, main economic features and recent evolution of the CA in the European Union. The focus is on the 24 activities that, according to the NACE Rev. 2, compose the repair, reuse and recycling sectors, as a limited yet representative subset of all the CA currently bound and constrained within the predominant linear economy. Results show that significant differences in labour intensity exist between repair and reuse, on the one hand, and recycling, on the other. Besides, employment concentrates in low-wage labour-intensive CA, suggesting that more attention should be paid to improving competitiveness and working conditions in activities such as repair and reuse which are by definition both ecological and inclusive. Also, the structural heterogeneity of the activities under analysis imply the need for targeted policy instruments tailored to the specificities of each of the various CE sub-sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]