Con a voluntary workfare program change the behavior of welfare recipients? new evidence from washington state's family independence program (FIP)

This article examines a voluntary workfare demonstration program in Washington state—the Family Independence Program (FIP)—designed to encourage longer-term investments in employment and training (E&T) activities, with the ultimate objective of achieving economic self-sufficiency for welfare recipients. A unique longitudinal data set is used to compare E&T enrollment and the labor market and welfare outcomes for a sample of FIP clients and a comparison group of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients subject to the state's mandatory workfare requirements. Correcting for self-selection, the estimates obtained indicate that FIP's combination of financial incentives, enhanced support services, and a more client-centered environment results in an E&T enrollment rate that is from 9 to 12 percentage points higher during the post-FIP June 1989 to May 1990 period than the rate for respondents subject to the state's workfare program. Relative to the enrollment rate calculated for nonparticipants, FIP net impact estimates in this range represent a 33 to 44 percent increase in E&T enrollment. These results offer a more positive assessment of the potential of a voluntary workfare program to affect the behavior of welfare recipients than does the large-scale FIP evaluation carried out by the Urban Institute. However, both the evidence presented here and the Urban Institute's evaluation suggest that FIP had little impact on employment and earnings but significantly increased welfare receipt and the level of welfare benefits.     

Storytelling and fraught histories: Phila Ndwandwe’s Blue Dress

Twenty years after the final hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, researchers are unearthing and examining the stories, discourses and processes that formed the transition from the apartheid to post-apartheid periods. In this paper, I investigate the story of Phila Ndwandwe, killed by the security police in the late 1980s, whose body was the first to be exhumed by the commission. Ndwandwe’s story has been framed through various narrative devices, most prominently by an artwork by Judith Mason colloquially titled the Blue Dress. Tracing the stories constructed about Ndwandwe, I consider the performative and transformative potentials of storytelling and argue for a commitment to listening that resists mere understanding.     

Eu merger control and the compatibility test:a review of recent developments

The compatibility test contained in Article 2 of the Merger Control Regulation (MCR) is at the very heart of EU merger control, for it determines whether a concentration with a community dimension is deemed compatible or incompatible with the common market. Incompatibility can lead to prohibition of a concentration, although this is rare. The paper reviews the recent developments to the conditions of the test itself as well as the analytical methods employed to determine compatibility. Concerning the former, the new foreseeable dominance interpretation, put forward by the European Commission and made law by the Court of First Instance (CFI), is explored. This new variant of the dominance condition is important on its own right but it is also of major interest because of the explicit legal requirement placed on the Commission to assess the future likelihood of abusive behaviour by the merging parties in its prospective analysis. This is not the case with the original dominance compatibility condition. The unexpected but important clarification by the CFI of the notion of substantial part of the common market, as contained in the express wording of the compatibility test, is also commented upon. Concerning the determination of compatibility, the Commission's controversial employment in certain conglomerate concentrations of the range effects of competitive harm theory is examined, as is the need to take cognisance of merger specific efficiencies when determining if a merger increases societal welfare. The EU is making progress toward such an efficiencies assessment as part of the compatibility determination. EU merger control – and hence the compatibility test – do not exist in a vacuum. The EU has played a major role in shaping the new multilateral architecture and its goal of increasing international convergence in competition matters. This in turn has led the EU to rethink the nature of the compatibility test. For example, it has sought to evaluate the dominance condition of the compatibility test with the substantial lessening of competition (SLC) approach used by some other regulators, like the US. The paper concludes by looking at a fundamental issue that has arisen from recent CFI judgements and the GE/Honeywell merger: the competence of the Commission, or more accurately the Merger Task Force (MTF), to carry out the compatibility determination. Proposals are outlined so as to ensure that the Commission's prospective analysis in a concentration case meets the requisite legal standard. It is essential for this standard to be met if EU merger control is to remain credible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

EC Merger Control: From Separate Jurisdictional Zones to a Cooperation Based Architecture?

The EC Merger Control Regulation(MCR) established an architecture ofconcentration control based on separate,non-overlapping jurisdictional spheres forMember states and the European Commission, withthe Commission alone having jurisdiction overconcentrations with a competition concern thatpotentially have a Community interest. Therationale is that this will help guarantee thelevel playing field for business and safeguardthe Single Market. This, of course, is verymuch dependant on the architecture working inpractice. The Community Dimension (CD) testsare at the centre of the architecture ofseparate jurisdictional zones, determiningwhich concentrations have a CD and hence aCommunity interest. The paper reveals that thecurrent form-based CD tests are flawed,undermining the effective operation of thearchitecture. It explores three competingproposals put forward to remedy the above flaw:an enhanced role for Article 22 MCR, a singlefine-tuned threshold test and, thirdly, theCommission's multiple notification approach.The paper contends that these proposals aloneare not sufficient to make the architectureeffective. It argues that what is required isan improved CD test applied in conjunction witha harmonised Articles 2 and 9 MCR approach. Inline with the Commission's desire to considerthe long term shape of EC merger control, thepaper concludes by looking at a radicalalternative to the efforts to fine-tune thearchitecture of separate jurisdictionalspheres. By way of stimulating debate, itconsiders an EC merger control based on anetwork of cooperation involving Member states'regulators and the Commission, and with allapplying EC merger law.     

Women,microfinance, and savings: Lessons and proposals

Microfinance--both credit and savings--has potential to improve the well-being of poor women in developing countries. This paper explores practical ways to achieve that potential. Based on lessons from informal savings mechanisms that women already use, the paper proposes two savings services designed to address the development issues that confront women. The proposals call for safe-deposit boxes and for matched-savings accounts for healthcare or education.     

Steroid Use and School Violence,School Violent Victimization,and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents

School violence, school violent victimization, and suicidal ideation among adolescents are serious public health concerns. This pilot study investigated the influence of steroid use on problem behaviors. Secondary data analyses of the 2014 PRIDE Questionnaire were performed based on information collected from 38,414 high school adolescents. Results indicated high rates of school violence, school violent victimization, and suicidal ideation. Steroid use was directly related to all three problem behaviors. Results varied based on sex, race, grade level, and ethnicity. Health professionals, schools, and prevention specialists may benefit from the findings of this study. Examination of other factors related to steroid use in relation to the aforementioned problem behaviors is imperative.