Suchergebnisse

THIS PAPER EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIES AND THE OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICYMAKING. THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT LIMITATIONS INHERENT IN APPLYING THE ABSTRACT AND FRAGMENTARY CONCLUSIONS OF ECONOMIES DIRECTLY TO PUBLIC POLICY MATTERS WITHOUT FIRST RESYNTHESIZING THOSE CONCLUSIONS TO THE LARGER BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE. THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF DISCRETENESS AND ABSTRACTION IN THE ANALYTIC SCIENCES ARE DISCUSSED, AS WELL AS THE TYPES OF PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED WHEN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY WORK IS ATTEMPTED. SEVERAL EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN OF ECONOMIC PRESCRIPTIONS THAT ARE OFF THE MARK DUE TO A FAILURE TO INCORPORATE BASIC KNOWLEDGE FROM OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES. POSSIBLE ADAPTATIONS ARE LAID OUT, INCLUDING THE USE OF "POLICY SCIENCE" AS A LESS ANALYTIC BUT MORE ENCOMPASSING LEVEL OF ANALYSIS RELEVANT TO POLICYMAKING IN THE COMPLEX AND UNFRAGMENTED WORLD OF REAL PHENOMENA.

Job displacement represents a serious earnings risk to long-tenured workers through lower re-employment wages, and these losses may persist for many years. Moreover, this risk is often poorly insured, although not for a lack of policy interest. To reduce this risk, most countries mandate scheduled wage insurance (severance pay), although it is provided only voluntarily in others, including the US. Actual-loss wage insurance is uncommon, although perceived difficulties may be overplayed. Both approaches offer the hope of greater consumption smoothing, with actual-loss plans carrying greater promise, but more uncertainty, of success.