Search results for "8. Economic growth"
showing 10 items of 256 documents
Getting support in polarized societies: Income, social networks, and socioeconomic context
2013
AbstractThis paper explores how unequal resources and social and economic polarization affects the size of social networks and their use to access resources. We argue that individual resource position generates divergent expectations with regard to the impact of polarization on the size of networks on one hand, and their usefulness for accessing resources on the other. Social and economic polarization encourages reliance on informal networks, but those at the bottom of the social structure are forced to rely on more extensive networks than the wealthy to compensate for their isolated and underprivileged position. At the same time, social and economic polarization limits the resources the po…
Excluding the Poor : globalisation and educational systems
2002
02062; International audience; The article starts from the fact that one billion adults are illiterate world-wide, that more than 100 million children of school age are not schooled, and that the democratisation of the access to education is often only rhetorical. On the basis of available statistics it tackles successively three questions. First, who finances education and how much do they spend? Secondly, what resources or means are devoted to the education of an individual, and how can these data be evaluated. And finally, do the inequalities between individuals, social groups or nations tend to de- or increase with respect to education access. It will be shown that, for example, in deve…
Social Inequalities in the French Education System : The Joint Effect of Individual and Contextual Factors
2000
This paper presents a synthetic picture of social inequalities in pupils' scholastic careers in France. Individual factors such as socio-economic backgroun remain important for both academic results from the beginning of schooling on and option and streaming choices at the secondary level. Moreover, families have unequal resources to manage their children's schooling careers in a system which is becoming more complex and decentralized. This means that contextual factors are also very important. Decentralization has in fact increased the importance of choice of schooling context : the class or the school attented does make a difference and this has the effect of widening social gaps in acade…
Focus on Women in Microfinance Institutions
2013
Abstract We provide empirical evidence on focusing on women in microfinance and its consequences for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Based on a global dataset, the results indicate that a focus on women is associated with group-lending methods, international orientation, smaller loans, and non-commercial legal status. We find that a focus on women significantly improves repayment but does not enhance overall financial performance because of higher relative costs. Moreover, the higher relative costs do not stem from servicing women per se but from the smaller loans offered to women and the group-lending methodology practised by MFIs focusing on women.
Is fiscal fatigue a threat to consolidation programmes?
2015
Building on a narrative approach to identify episodes of fiscal consolidation, data for a group of 17 industrial countries over the period 1978-2009 and continuous-time duration models, we find evidence suggesting that the likelihood of a fiscal consolidation ending increases over time, but only for programs that last less than six years. Additionally, fiscal consolidations tend to last longer in non-European than in European countries. Our results emphasize that chronic fiscal imbalances might lead to a vicious austerity cycle, while discipline in the behaviour of fiscal authorities is a means of achieving credible and shorter adjustment measures. Therefore, fiscal fatigue is likely to com…
A Shift Towards Academic Capitalism in Finland
2013
Academic capitalism is currently a widely studied topic amongst higher education scholars, especially in the United States. This paper demonstrates that the theory of academic capitalism also provides a fruitful perspective for analysing the restructuring of Finnish higher education since the 1990s, although with reservations. It will be argued that many reforms in Finnish universities since the 1990s, and especially in the early 2000s, have integrated Finnish universities more tightly with the new knowledge-based economy. As some recent empirical studies indicate, activities and practices related to academic capitalism remain, however, unevenly distributed among different disciplines, and …
Innovation in the Rural Areas and the Linkage with the Quintuple Helix Model
2016
Abstract In this paper we analyze some specific conditions for local development. Our interest is oriented towards a multidimensional aspect of peripheral and rural areas. The rural areas considered as a productive system reflects a strong relationship between the agriculture and the other economic activities, In addition eco-systems must be protected and enhanced to develop innovation models that propose new roles and responsibilities for a new development vision. Following the implementation of the Smart Specialization Strategy and the Quintuple Helix Model this paper underlines the importance of connecting the innovation process with rural territories. We have considered some environment…
ICT-driven disruptive innovation nurtures un-captured GDP : Harnessing women's potential as untapped resources
2017
The harnessing of untapped resources has become essential for inclusive growth in digital economies particularly as developed economies continue to age demographically. The harnessing of women's potential is an urgent subject in this context, and successive initiatives have been flourishing in many countries. However, given the institutional complexity of the issue, as well as considerable variety across nations, uniformed non-systematic approaches are hardly satisfactory in achieving a timely solution. Against this back drop, this paper analyzed a new information communication technology (ICT)-driven disruptive innovation that may nurture un-captured GDP by harnessing untapped resources su…
Working under pressure: economic recession and third sector development in Europe
2016
Purpose – The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have significantly changed as a result of the global economic crisis, including decreasing levels of public funding and changing modes of relations with the state. The effect of economic recession, however, varies across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to understand why this is the case. It analyses the impact of economic recession and related policy changes on third sector development in Europe. The economic effects on TSOs are thereby placed into a broader context of changing third sector policies and welfare state restructuring. Design/methodology/approach – The paper focusses on two research questions…
Spillovers from the oil sector to the housing market cycle
2017
We assess the spillovers from the oil sector to the housing market cycle using quarterly data for 20 net oil-exporting and -importing industrial countries, and employing continuous- and discrete-time duration models. We do not uncover a statistically significant difference in the average duration of booms and normal times in the housing markets of those net oil-importers and net oil-exporters. Similarly, the degree of exposure to commodity price fluctuations does not seem to significantly affect the housing market cycle. However, we find that housing booms are shorter when oil prices increase than housing busts when oil prices decrease. We also show that the net oil-importers are more vulne…