1,344,338 research outputs found
Distributive concerns when replacing a pay-as-you-go system with a fully funded system
No full textThe author uses a simulation model to quantify the impact on income distribution of having a neutral social security program that is fully funded replace a progressive social security program that redistributes income toward the poor but is financed by a pay-as-you-go method. He finds that if the original pay-as-you-go system is large enough to yield an income replacement rate of at least 40 percent for the middle class and 200 percent for the poor, then the proposed change helps the poor in the long run, so long as public debt does not increase by more than 40 percent of GDP during the transition. Such a reform allows an increase in the capital stock per worker, so in the long run the poor benefit more through higher real wages than they lose because progressive redistribution has ended. In the short run, however, a compensatory program is needed because the poor lose their subsidy before receiving the long-term benefit. In most cases, the 40 percent of GDP available from the increase in public debt is enough to finance a transfer program that compensates the poor in the"short"run (the first 50 years). The author concludes that concern about the welfare of the poor is unwarranted, in both the short and long runs, if the compensatory program is implemented.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Safety Nets and Transfers,Services&Transfers to Poor,Rural Poverty Reduction
A way out of pay-as-you-go without a double burden
No full textIt has repeatedly been proposed to reduce conventional pay-as-you-go-systems to a base level, leaving advanced retirement provision for private funded systems. However, pay-asyou-go systems are, in a sense, one way roads, with no available Pareto efficient way out. The paper discusses a combined public debt and taxing strategy which distributes the transition burden equally between future generations, leaving them with only moderate losses in terms of present value. It is shown within both a two generations model and a multiple-generations model of OLG type, that, with this strategy, there results only a temporary increase in public debt ratio, which even turns into a public surplus in the long run. The paper argues that such a transformation towards a base pension system would be both economically advisable and politically feasible. --
Giving the ageing of the population how can countries afford pay-as-you-go social insurance pensions?
No full textThe paper examines formation and sustainability of Pay-As-You-Go pension systems within the consequences of the ageing of population. Parametric reforms rather than institutional transformation of Pay-As-You-Go systems into funded pension schemes are advocated. Following the modern theories of family economics and contrary to the mainstream works on the issue, reciprocal causation between pension systems and ageing is stressed. The paper concludes that the World Bank’s first pillar adjustment for maintaining the Pay-As-You-Go schemes achieves its objectives only if it is focused on all elements of the Pay-As-You-Go system.Pensions; Pay-As-You-Go; Ageing
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Machine-Learning of Shape Names for the Game of Go
No full textComputer Go programs with only a 4-stone handicap have recently defeated professional humans. Now that the strength of Go programs is sufficiently close to that of humans, a new target in artificial intelligence is to develop programs able to provide commentary on Go games. A fundamental difficulty in this development is to learn the terminology of Go, which is often not well defined. An example is the problem of naming shapes such as Atari, Attachment or Hane. In this research, our goal is to allow a program to label relevant moves with an associated shape name. We use machine learning to deduce these names based on local patterns of stones. First, strong amateur players recorded for each game move the associated shape name, using a pre-selected list of 71 terms. Next, these records were used to train a supervised machine learning algorithm. The result is a program able to output the shape name from the local patterns of stones. Including other Go features such as change in liberties improved the performance. Humans agreed on a shape name with a rate of about 82 %. Our algorithm achieved a similar performance, picking the name most preferred by the humans with a rate of about 82 %. This performance is a first step towards a program that is able to communicate with human players in a game review or match.14th International Conference, ACG 2015, Leiden, The Netherlands, July 1-3, 2015, Revised Selected Paper
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Fertility Decisions and the Sustainability of Defined Benefit Pay-as-You-Go Pension Systems
No full textThe sustainability of a defined benefit pay-as-you-go (DBPAYG) pension system is investigated in the context of an overlapping-generations model of endogenous fertility with heterogeneous agents. The model places particular emphasis on the time costs of child rearing. It illustrates the mechanism by which such a pension system can increase the opportunity cost of having children and hence sow the seeds of its own destruction. The model is then extended to allow for fertility-based payments. Such a system is more likely to be sustainable. The model highlights a number of issues that are of relevance to a number of OECD countries that have generous DBPAYG pension systems and falling fertility rates.Pay-as-you-go pension; Defined benefit; Overlapping generations; Endogenous fertility; Labor participation Rate; Heterogeneous agents
Go-No-Go task trial structure.
No full textOne of four abstract stimuli was presented, followed by a waiting period (+). This, as well as the inter-trial interval, were jittered as shown to aid fMRI analysis. The participant’s decision, either to ‘Go’ or to ‘not Go’, was implemented when the target (o) appeared. The best action was followed by the best outcome 80% of the time. For example, if the second stimulus down was a ‘Go to avoid loss’ one, then quickly pressing the button when the circle appeared would result in a null outcome (yellow horizontal line) 80% of the time, and a loss outcome (downward arrow) 20% of the time. The stimuli were randomized as to their best action and outcome across participants. Before scanning, in the ‘discovery’ version of the task, suboptimal action would attract 20% best outcomes, but during scanning suboptimal action never led to the best outcome. No deception was involved at any point.</p
Video_S5_Go-No-Go
No full textMovie S5: Go/No-Go Task. The experimenter places a piece of food on the far end of the table (out of the chimpanzee’s reach) and an object cuing the chimpanzee as to whether it is “go” or “no-go” trial in the center of the table, near the chimpanzee. If chimpanzees emit a response to the “go” object (here, a white overturned cup) by touching it, E gives them the food. In contrast, on trials where E presents the “no-go” option (here an overturned orange container, with cues counterbalanced across chimpanzees), if chimpanzees emit a response, E throws the food away. Here, the chimpanzee emits a response to both cue types, but hesitates before the “no-go” cue
Equilibrium dynamics with different types of pay-as-you-go pension schemes
No full textWe analyse the steady-state equilibrium dynamics of an OLG economy with a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension scheme that relates old-age pensions to previous earnings. Contrary to an economy where PAYG pensions depend on the earnings of those currently working, such an economy may experience complex equilibrium dynamics with endogenous cycles and bifurcations.bifurcations
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