A Measure to Target Antipoverty Policies in the European Union Regions

In a Search for Equity: Do Direct Payments under the Common Agricultural Policy Induce Convergence in the European Union?

The European Union (EU) is an integrated alliance of equally treated Member States sharing mutual values, legal principles and markets. Close cooperation, deep integration and convergence are the major priorities for the EU. Anyway, these principles are not always reflected in the EU-wide policies which are implemented through financial support mechanisms. The direct payments financial support mechanism under the Common Agricultural Policy, the main instrument for promoting convergence in development of Member States’ agricultural sectors and rural sustainability, faces critique for failing to meet its objectives. One of the major deficiencies of the direct payments scheme is that it allocates more resources to already developed agricultural sectors of the older Member States and less resources to developing ones thus increasing the divergence among the Member States. The aim of this paper is to suggest new mechanisms for direct payment funds redistribution across the EU Member States which are based on the methodological principles that would more precisely correspond to the aims of convergence, transparency and fair redistribution. The results show that, regardless of the method chosen (to support more or less effective agricultural sectors of EU Member States), the proposed methodology lowers differences in direct payment rates among the EU Member States by two-fold. This ensures correspondence to the goal of convergence within the EU.

Human Flourishing in Cross Cultural Settings. Evidence From the United States, China, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Mexico

This paper investigates human flourishing in five culturally distinct populations. Empirical differences in human flourishing were examined using the recently proposed Flourish Index (FI) and Secure Flourish Index (SFI). Five domains for human flourishing are proposed for FI: (D1) happiness and life satisfaction; (D2) physical and mental health; (D3) meaning and purpose; (D4) character and virtue; and (D5) close social relationships. Specification of SFI was augmented by an additional financial and material stability domain (D6). Psychometric properties of FI and SFI were examined using data from the SHINE Well-Being Survey. Between June 2017 and March 2018, a total of 8,873 respondents participated in the study - in the US (4083 participants), Sri Lanka (1284 participants), Cambodia (587 participants), China (419 participants), and Mexico (2500 participants). US participants were customers of a financial institution, while non-US participants were clothing industry workers in the supply chain of a global brand. Exploratory and confirmatory factor models were used to validate the proposed indices. An exploratory approach informed analysis for item groupings. Confirmatory factor models were used to investigate the hierarchical structure of the indices. Configural, metric, and partial scalar measurement invariance were established, which not only supported the universal character of the indices but also validated use of the indices for culturally distinct populations. Findings from our study enrich our knowledge about human flourishing in five culturally distinct populations. With the exception of happiness and life satisfaction, respondents in the US, despite enjoying the highest financial and material stability, scored the lowest in all other domains of human flourishing. Respondents in China excelled in close social relationship and health domains. In addition to life satisfaction and happiness, character and virtue were relatively high in Cambodia. Respondents in Mexico, despite having the lowest scores in financial and material stability, had the greatest meaning and purpose to their lives. Respondents in Sri Lanka were the least happy and satisfied with life.

Financial Planning for Retirement: A Psychosocial Perspective

Retirement is a time of life that has grown ever longer in the developed world, and the number of pensioners has increased accordingly, questioning the strength of Social Security systems and the social safety net in general. Financial Planning for Retirement (FRP) consists of the series of activities involved in the accumulation of wealth to cover needs in the post-retirement stage of life. The negative short-, mid-, and long-term consequences of inadequate Financial Planning for Retirement do not only affect individuals, but also their extended families, homes, eventually producing an unwanted impact on the entire society. The Capacity-Willingness-Opportunity Model has been proposed to understand FPR, combined with Intentional Change Theory, a framework for understanding the process, antecedents and consequences of FPR. From this perspective, we propose this promising model, but there are a large number of variables that have not been included that offer novel ways to deepen our understanding of FPR. A focus on each dimension of the model, the role of age and psychosocial variables associated with demographic indicators such as gender, health status, and migration, allow us to provide a proposal of scientific advancement of FPR.

Economic Cognitions Among Older Adults: Parental Socialization Predicts Financial Planning for Retirement

Drawing on the model on financial planning for retirement (FPR), the aim of this work is to explore how parental economic socialization both directly and indirectly affects FPR through the mediation of financial literacy, financial planning decisions and financial management. Data from a sample of 280 participants aged between 45 and 63 years were used. The results show that parental economic socialization directly and indirectly influences FPR. Moreover, parental economic behavior acts as a positive model for the development of financial literacy and skills and for decisions about FPR. All the variables increased the explained variance of FPR. Lastly, we discuss the process by which parental economic socialization is positively related to financial literacy and skills that impact on FPR, indicating some implications and future lines of research.

Spatial Variation in EU Poverty with Respect to Health, Education and Living Standards

We examine the European Union (EU) countries and within-country areas (i.e., large urban areas, small urban areas, and rural areas) that are the most disadvantageous with respect to multidimensional poverty and in each of the investigated dimensions, i.e., health, education, and living standards. To this end, we construct the Multidimensional Poverty Index and its sub-indices: the Poverty in Health Index, Poverty in Education Index, and Poverty in Standard of Living Index. All of these indices provide information regarding the fraction of people who live in poverty, as well as information on the poverty intensity experienced by the poor. Our results indicate that the scale of poverty in the EU countries is diversified, with Denmark and Sweden being the most affluent countries, and Latvia, Bulgaria, and Romania being the most disadvantageous. We demonstrate that there are countries with no differences in the levels of poverty within a country, such as Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Finland, and the Czech Republic, and countries, usually less affluent ones such as Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania, where considerable geographical inequality is present. In general, in countries with a high and moderately high number of poor, the worst situation with respect to the scale of poverty is observed in rural areas, and the best situation is observed in large urban areas, with the exception of Greece, Italy, and Portugal, where in large urban areas, the situation is the worst. In countries with a low number of poor, in general, the poverty is relatively higher in large urban areas.