Suchergebnisse

Every day there are millions of people around the world who struggle with food security. Currently, Australia is in an enviable position of food security, being rated as food secure by the IPC. However, as weather patterns around the world become more and more volatile and unpredictable, current food production outcomes and techniques might not always be possible. To find an example of this, one only needs to look back to the intense droughts all over Australia in 2006. It is because of these uncertainties in weather patterns that can and do affect food security that Australia needs to be forward looking and progressive with the issue of food security, and the best way to do so would be to try and achieve food security sustainably. It is an unfortunate fact that many of the resources used today in food production will one day be gone. Non-renewable resources such as petroleum (used in countless items including gasoline and plastics) and phosphorus (used in fertilizers) will run out, and when they do there will be a need for an alternative. Because of this sustainability becomes important, as without sustainability, the current system will not be able to be continued for much longer. As weather patterns are becoming more and more volatile, a belief held by many is that climate change is a contributing factor. Though there are those who would contest this view, it should not be overlooked. Food production undoubtedly releases multitudes of greenhouse gasses (through animal waste, burning of fossil fuels for energy, and other factors), which are thought to cause climate change. This means that strategies to reduce greenhouse gasses are needed to help make food production sustainable, and food security more stable and safe for all. There are many ways discussed in this research in which greenhouse gas emissions could be drastically lowered, and food security made more sustainable overall. Whether it is by replacing meat proteins with plant proteins wherever possible (as meat production emits massive amounts of greenhouse gasses and uses huge amounts of resources), switching meat consumption to livestock less damaging to the environment (kangaroos over pork, for example), capturing greenhouse gasses (such as methane) and using them for fuel, reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, or any of the other hundreds of possibilities. Steps must be taken to achieve sustainable food security, and many of the steps are already out there, with even more waiting to be discovered. In this research there are many examples of ideas that would contribute to or help attain sustainable food security, but there is a common thread between all. What this research has found is that there is no singular solution to the sustainable food security issue. Governments can only help so much without the input and efforts by the population, and vice versa. Sustainable food security is only possible when broken up into small pieces, all with a common goal. Though there are those who would deny the effects of climate change on food security, or that sustainability is not worth focusing on, the International Fund for Agricultural Development says it best when they state, "uncertainty about the future is no reason for inaction." Sustainable food security requires an effort from all parties involved, but is certainly attainable and a worthwhile goal for Australia to be striving towards.

The purpose of this study is to examine municipal involvement in international relations in the United States. This municipal phenomenon is occurring concurrently with both a shift away from the traditional nation-centric structure of international relations under the influence of globalism as well as a sharp decline in intergovernmental aid. The research questions were: (1) What are the indicators that define municipal involvement in international relations? and (2) What is the extent of that involvement? Extensive qualitative and research was conducted in the form of an exploratory literature survey which was set forth in narrative analysis to overcome the paucity of specific research in this area. The qualitative research developed 121 indicators of municipal international involvement. The 121 indicators were analytically grouped into economic, technological, sociocultural, political, and intergovernmental relations indicator groups. The qualitative research concluded that municipal involvement in international relations was a spreading phenomenon and that many American municipalities are substantially involved in international activities. In support of the qualitative results, 32 of the 121 indicators were validated through analysis of an independent random sample quantitative cross-sectional survey of American municipalities. The survey indicated substantial but varied involvement in international activities by municipalities. Exploratory quantitative analysis indicated that 12 of the 34 indicator variables, split between the economic, sociocultural, and political constructs, contributed significantly to municipal strength as an indicator of municipal international involvement. Exploratory quantitative analysis also indicated that the 32 indicators grouped into three composite constructs; i.e., economic, sociocultural, and political activities. Analysis of the composite constructs determined that only sociocultural activities made a significant contribution to municipal strength as an indicator of the degree of international involvement. The results of this study indicated that many municipalities in the United States are involved in international relations and assisted in the definition of variables indicating the nature and extent of that involvement. Many avenues of future research are warranted.

"In recent years, employees have been shouldering an increasing share of the costs of employee-provided health care. At the same time, more and more employers have been allowing employees to pay their out-of-pocket health care costs using pre-tax earnings, through tax-subsidized flexible spending accounts (FSAs). We use a cross-section of firm-level data from 1993 to show empirically that these FSAs can explain a significant fraction of the shift in health care costs to employees, and to evaluate the welfare impact of this shift. Correcting for selection effects, we find that FSAs are associated with insurance contracts with coinsurance rates that are about 7 percentage points higher, relative to a sample average coinsurance rate of 17 percent. Meanwhile, coinsurance rates net of the subsidy are approximately unchanged, providing evidence that FSAs are welfare-neutral"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

Aid conditionality forces countries to adopt policies that they would not otherwise choose. We examine how government discretion should be so constrained when the donor cannot fully control public expenditures, but instead can influence a less disaggregated indicator of public policy, namely the allocation of public spending between the social sectors (e.g. education, health, etc.) on the one hand and more traditional public goods (e.g. infrastructure) on the other. We first show how budget allocations will be altered when recipient government preferences are known – i.e. we characterize what policies the donor should "buy"– and how a given aid budget should be allocated between different types of countries. When recipient government preferences are not known by the donor, the permitted policies are distorted due to incentive constraints, and the extent to which aid flows are optimally differentiated between different countries is reduced.

As part of the reforms of their systems for financing and delivering health care, many transition economies, particularly in central and eastern Europe, have adopted national insurance funds that are institutionally separate from ministries of health. Most of these countries have also grappled with the problem of restructuring the delivery system, especially the need to reduce hospital capacity. Although improving the performance of medical care providers through a shift from passive budgeting to explicitly incentive mechanisms is important, why this change in financial relations between the government and providers could not be implemented simply by reforming the role of health ministries is not obvious. This paper presents an explicit rationale for the separation of powers between the regulator (the ministry of health) and the financing body (the insurance fund), based on the inability of a single agency to commit to closing hospitals.JEL classification: L51, P20, P35, I18.

This article examines rationales for public intervention in health insurance markets from the perspective of public economics. It draws on the literature of organizational design to examine alternative public intervention strategies, including issues of contracting, purchaser provider splits, and regulation of competition. Health insurance reforms in four Latin American countries are then considered in light of the insights provided by the theoretical literature. This article addresses the role of government in spreading and reducing health risks with particular emphasis on the design and organization of the relevant institutions in Latin America.

This paper examines the design of social investment funds (SIFs) and explores the ways they affect agents incentives to propose, select, and implement good projects. Compared with other forms of decentralized service provision, SIFs possess features of administratively delegated authority and deep political devolution. Where existing political institutions fail to deliver assistance to vulnerable groups, a well-designed SIF may represent a useful administrative alternative. This article reviews several features that provide incentives for both SIF staff and project beneficiaries and concludes with practical guidelines for designing and appraising social investment funds.