We develop a theoretical model of the ethical preferences of individuals, combining individual social welfare functions and random utility theory. The model is applied by conducting a choice experiment regarding safety-enhancing road investments that target different age groups and road user types. The relative value of a saved life is found to decrease with age, such that the present value of ...

This review of social welfare expenditures in the United States carries forward the data and analyses on trends in Federal, State, and local government spending that have been presented in the Bulletin beginning in 1951.1 Data for theJisca1 year 1955-56 and some estimates going back to 1890 are given in the article, which also discusses some of the reasons for including or excluding certain ite...

We consider a multimarket framework where a set of firms compete on two interrelated oligopolistic markets. Prior to competing in these markets, firms can spy on others in order to increase the quality of their product. We characterize the equilibrium espionage networks and networks that maximize social welfare under the most interesting scenario of diseconomies of scope. We find that in some s...

Adopting a zonal structure of electricity market requires specification of zones’ borders. In this paper we use social welfare as the measure to assess quality of various zonal divisions. The social welfare is calculated by Market Coupling algorithm. The analyzed divisions are found by the usage of extended Locational Marginal Prices (LMP) methodology presented in paper [1], which takes into ac...

A problem of the provision of a discrete public good is considered. All members in the society are homogeneous and they decide simultaneously whether to contribute to the provision. Contribution cost per person is …xed and non-refundable. Because of the free-rider problem, ine¢ ciency in the provision is inevitable, even in the most e¢ cient symmetric Nash equilibrium. However, when we add a pr...

This article critiques the Fuzzy-set Qualitative Analysis (fs/QCA) methodology by examining its applicability in three studies in the field of comparative social policy. In each of these three test cases, I focus on the validity of fuzzy-set’s claimed function – its ability to combine theoretic discourse and evidence analysis. All three studies investigate welfare state reform in the late twent...

A Theoretical Model of the Chinese Labor Market This paper constructs a theoretical labor market model for China, and utilizes the model to examine the effects of various labor market policies on economic well-being. Two key features of the model are a segmented labor market involving three sectors – state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, and agriculture – and China’s unique household re...

In Europe in particular, the so-called Lisbon Strategy has enhanced efforts to mobilize active economic and social forces around education, innovation and knowledge intensive sectors and activities such as information and communications technologies. At the same time, European institutions and national governments have pursued their efforts to deepen and strengthen a European social model where...

In this article, the focus of which is research with children, Peter Allmark considers ethical issues in relation to both quantitative and qualitative research. Guidelines on the ethical conduct of research with children focus primarily on issues to do with quantitative research (e.g. RCPCH 2000 ). For this reason, this article tries to draw out points of particular importance to qualitative re...

There is a widespread presumption that Islamists have an advantage over their opponents when it comes to generating mass appeal and winning elections. The question remains, however, as to whether these advantages-or, what we refer to collectively as an Islamist political advantage-actually exist. We argue that-to the extent that Islamists have a political advantage-the primary source of this ad...