Open Journal Systems Trinity College Dublin
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Tapping the Culturati: An Underexploited Source of Private Finance for the Arts in Ireland
Get PDFThe paper asks why cultural organizations in Ireland, in contrast to the UK, raise so little finance from private individuals, and in particular from those who go regularly to live performances or to galleries and museums. The rationale for cultural subsidies, including the offer of relief from income tax on the value of individual donations is reviewed and accepted. Income tax relief in Ireland has several unique features which probably explain why it has been such a limited source of finance. These include the high minimum value required for a donation to be eligible for tax relief, the administrative complexity of reclaiming tax on behalf of PAYE taxpayers, and the very restrictive interpretation of the tax legislation that is applied to determine a donation’s eligibility. Ways of overcoming these obstacles, in the light of changes announced in the December 2012 budget, are suggested. In particular, cooperation among cultural organizations could both facilitate the reclamation of income tax on donations and carry out cost-effective fundraising campaigns
Challenging the Literacy of ‘Literacy and Numeracy’: The Potential for Film and Moving Image Media in the Irish Educational Landscape
Get PDFThis paper argues that despite a nationally sanctioned plan of action that sees media literacy as little more than the capacity to send an email, recent changes to curricular policy and intent at subject-specific and cycle-wide levels are making spaces for the possibility of wider film usage within Irish education. In its overview of the contemporary pedagogical landscape, the assertion is made that many benefits would come from such inclusion. The analysis asserts that the unique capacities of dialogic, multimodal engagement can incentivise learning and strengthen direct curricular support as well as wider outcomes-based objectives oriented within, and beyond, the four walls of the Irish classroom. It is argued that the time to engage in such thinking is now. Coupled with a host of initiatives and arguments from educational, cultural and media industry stakeholders, the exploration of such possibilities, new models of filmic engagement, and a greater emphasis on media literacy skillsets, is necessary to equip Irish students for both scholastic endeavour and wider civic participation
Transforming the Conditions for Indigenous Innovation
Get PDFIreland joined the international patent system in 1925 in total ignorance of its implications, and this membership has done very little for indigenous innovation. India refused to join, which enabled its own firms to become significant international players in several fields, especially generic drugs. The contrast with the foreign-owned Irish pharmaceutical industry, facing decline as its patents expire, is stark. The government’s adoption of a simplistic linear model of innovation, in which public money put into university research was supposed to result in valuable patents, high-tech firms and jobs, has also been a grave disappointment. Ground could be made up by adopting direct protection of innovation (DPI). The theory for this was developed in EU-commissioned research, now proved by empirical results. This paper discusses practical arrangements for DPI in Ireland, as well as a proposal for enabling Irish firms engage in effective litigation to protect their patents in the United States
ELA, Promissory Notes and All That: The Fiscal Costs of Anglo Irish Bank
Get PDFThis paper describes the cost to the Irish state of its bailout of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC). The paper discusses the IBRC’s balance sheet, its ELA debts to the Central Bank of Ireland and the promissory notes provided to it by the Irish government to pay off its liabilities. Options for reducing these costs are discussed
Participation, Expenditure and Regressivity in the Irish Lottery: Evidence from Irish Household Budget Survey 2004/2005
Get PDFThis paper estimates, using the most recent Irish Household Budget Survey of 2004/2005, a double hurdle model to determine the socio-economic and socio-demographic factors affecting participation and expenditure of Irish households on the national lottery. Of particular interest is the effect of income on the decisions of how much participants spend on the lottery. The paper also determines the extent to which the tax inherent in lottery purchases is regressive in its incidence on purchasers. It is found that gender, social class, marital status, the presence of children in the home and household size significantly effect lottery participation. Lottery expenditures are affected by income, location of the household, gender, age, education, social class and whether the household has positive betting expenditures. Furthermore, there is evidence that the implicit lottery tax is regressive and that the allocation of lottery proceeds does not compensate for this regressivity
Still Unequal at Birth: Birth Weight, Socio-economic Status and Outcomes at Age 9
Get PDFThe prevalence of low birth weight is an important aspect of public health which has been linked to increased risk of infant death, increased cost of care, and a range of later life outcomes. Using data from a new Irish cohort study, I document the relationship between birth weight and socio-economic status. The association of maternal education with birth weight does not appear to be due to the timing of birth or complications during pregnancy, even controlling for a wide range of background characteristics. However, results do suggest intergenerational persistence in the transmission of poor early life conditions. Birth weight predicts a number of outcomes at age 9, including test scores, hospital stays and health. An advantage of the data is that I am able to control for a number of typically unmeasured variables. I determine whether parental investments (as measured by the quality of interaction with the child, parenting style, or school quality) mediate the association between birth weight and later indicators. For test scores, there is evidence of non-linearity, and boys are more adversely affected than girls. I also consider whether there are heterogeneous effects by ability using quantile regression. These results are consistent with a literature which finds that there is a causal relationship between early life conditions and later outcomes
Determinants of Default: Evidence from a Sector-level Panel of Irish SME Loans
Get PDFThis paper uses unique SME loan-level data complete with quarterly loan ratings assigned by the lending institution over the period 2008-2010. This allows us to examine the evolution of loan performance throughout the period of economic and financial crisis. We document the shift in the distribution of loans across ratings as economic conditions deteriorated, but also show that this effect was heterogeneous across sectors. In panel data estimations, changes in employment across sectors are shown to be a leading indicator of loan performance, demonstrating the importance of the link between real economy demand and loan impairment. Levels of outstanding credit in a sector cannot explain current loan performance. However, in keeping with a growing literature on the dangers of post-boom debt overhang, we calculate a measure of excess credit using deviations from a long-run trend that is strongly associated with higher levels of current impairment. This provides new evidence on the effect of relaxed credit standards during a boom on crisis-era loan delinquency
Competition Policy in Ireland’s Recession
Get PDFRecessions pose something of a dilemma for policymakers with respect to competition policy. Despite compelling evidence that relaxing competition policy during a recession is likely to have quite profound adverse economic consequences in terms of, for example, retarding the subsequent recovery, policymakers may nevertheless relax competition policy to try to prevent job losses and firm insolvency. In Ireland the policy response has been ambivalent. At first, between 2008-2010, competition policy carve out/exemptions were proposed, senior appointments to the Competition Authority were delayed or not made. However, in December 2010 the EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland set a strongly pro-competition agenda. But will it last beyond the end of 2013, when the programme expires? There is reason for optimism. If the economy has recovered or is at least growing there will be less pressure for the state to accede to demands for carve outs and other such anti-competitive measures. If the EU-IMF reforms have successfully bedded down in terms of, for example, introducing greater competition in the service sector, turning back the clock may be difficult, since there will be public support for the results of the reforms. The EU-IMF inspired reforms to competition policy and their underlying rationale may be successful in persuading senior decision makers in government, both elected and nonelected, of the merits of competition. Policymakers often claim that they want evidence based policy. The reforms in the EU-IMF Programme are firmly grounded on the literature concerning the impact of relaxing competition policy as well as the Competition Authority’s research into the professions. In contrast, there is little or no evidence to support the 2008-2010 interregnum
The Welfare Impact of Price Changes on Household Welfare and Inequality 1999-2011
Get PDFThis paper attempts to use applied micro-economic research to understand the impact of price changes over the period 1999-2011 in Ireland. This measure combines an efficiency component using a Linear Expenditure System (LES) and an equity component using the Atkinson Index of Inequality. The efficiency component includes the behavioural response to price changes for non-subsistence expenditures thereby producing a Cost of Living Index. The Atkinson Index of Inequality produces an inequality measure and this is combined with the Cost of Living Index to produce an overall welfare measure. This extends upon the existing Irish literature on this issue by accounting for this broader set of components. The results show that changes in the cost of living have differed substantially between households both in terms of demographics and the position of the household in the income distribution and that behavioural response can potentially improve the welfare position of households in response to price changes in most years